If you are plumber in nearly any market in the US, you are probably up against some serious competition. In addition, you are probably being emailed and called multiple times a week about SEO/Search Marketing services that will get you to the top of Google.
Your Competitive Field
The fact of the matter is that it is no easy task for any SEO company to get you to the top for your best plumbing keywords: “plumbers in (your city)“ or “(your city) plumber”, or “emergency plumbers (city)”. These terms are ultra competitive and without extensive investment of writing content through new web pages, blogs, link building and social media you will probably be stuck with a low position. SEO is a long term strategy/investment and if you are just starting out either as a new business or just finally realizing you need a new site and need to build an online presence then you are way behind.
Check the Basics
From an internet marketing perspective there are some basic things you need to do, many of which will not make an immediate impact but must be done.
Target Those Keywords
Follow some SEO basics, make sure you have pages that talk about your different services and focus the content for those specific keywords. For example, if your desired keyword is “drain cleaning”, don’t just try to target that keyword. Add your local modifier – “drain cleaning Denver”. Your content should be geared about how you offer this service in your city and in surrounding cities.
Here are some other pages you should consider creating, adding your local modifier within the content
- Plumbing services
- Rooter Services
- Emergency Plumbing
- Sewer line inspections
- Drain inspections
- Water heater installation
- Clogged toilet repair
- Kitchen drain cleaning
Other Valuable Tips
Look at what your competitors are doing and mimic their efforts, no point in reinventing the wheel. Also, structure your pages so that there is a clear call to action. Tell the visitors what you want them to do and why. Save the meat of your content for the end of the page. Most people do not read that much anyway so keep your top content to the point and tell your visitors what to do – “Call Us Now to Schedule an Appointment”. Finally, make sure you claim all your directory listings. Google + (Google maps/places), Yelp, and any other maps or review sites.
Most of these items will take 6 months to a year to impact your rankings and traffic.
Paid Results
Now, for much quick results you need to consider paying for traffic. AdWords and BingAds are your best bets from this prospective. With any competitive industry the cost to get that traffic is expensive. In the Denver area, to show an ad for “Denver plumbers” in the first 3 spots will cost you, on average about $70 per click!! You can always take a lower position and pay less however we have seen for many service based business that there is a direct correlation between position and generating phone calls.
Can you afford $70/click? This is where the numbers game begins. How many visits does it take to get you a call or online lead? What is your close rate for those leads? Most importantly, what is that customer worth to you? If you are a new plumber with a brand new site, you probably don’t know these details. If you are established plumber, you still may not know which is where utilizing Google Analytics and a customer management program to track your leads and revenue is extremely important.
The reason CPCs are so high in this industry is due to the potential revenue earned from getting a customer. So when a prospective plumber tells me he only makes a $100 per customer I am very hesitant to believe that is all that can be made…Especially in an industry where the service techs/plumbers are just as much sales men as they are plumbers. The $89 drain cleaning/rooter service is just an opportunity to get a foot in the door for scoping, root removal services or sewer repair. All of these option lead to a much higher value per customer.
Still even with $1500 as revenue per customer, that isn’t leaving much in the way profits. It all depends on your lead rate and customer acquisition rate!
Play the numbers game with our profitability calculator! If you’d like more help and information with optimize your website and getting those paid advertising campaigns up and running, our team of experts are here for you. Contact us today!
