Most construction contractors and businesses recognise the value of digital content in attracting interest in their services. However, the majority of construction businesses work within a specific geographical area, not nationally, meaning that any web traffic, leads, and engagement coming from outside that area will never result in a sale. At best, this is a waste of your time and skews your results from digital marketing when analysing your data, but it can also cost money, too, with marketing budget spent on irrelevant leads that could have been spent attracting your core customers.
What is the solution to this?
Local search engine optimisation (SEO) focuses on optimising your website, digital assets (blog articles, videos etc) and social media platforms specifically for local searches. Local SEO helps you rank more highly in search engine results when a potential customer searches for construction services in their area, bringing in more local clients and increasing your visibility in the community.
Benefits of local SEO for construction contractors
Improved visibility
By investing in local search marketing, your business will appear in the top results when someone searches for your services, or inputs keyword relevant to their local area.
Warmer leads, higher value
Optimising your online presence for local searches helps you to target more specific customer segments – individuals or businesses in your area who are actively looking for your construction services. This means that the leads generated from local SEO are often more likely to convert into paying clients, with a higher average value and ROI, than leads generated from more general search results.
If I’m searching for ‘driveway services’ or ‘bricklayers’ I might just be looking for information. In other words, I’m an awareness stage lead. However, if I’m searching for driveway services in Derby, or bricklayers in Nottingham, it’s more likely that I’m at a closer stage to making a purchase decision – at the consideration or even decision stage of my buyer journey.
Cost-effective marketing
Investing in local SEO is a more cost-effective way to market your construction services, as you can focus your budget on a tighter geographical area and smaller, potentially less competitive market, and you don’t waste money attracting searches from further afield.
Cultivates Trust
Many domestic and commercial customers specifically look for local businesses when sourcing construction services. When a business appears prominently in local search results, therefore, it creates a stronger sense of authenticity, trust, and an active presence in the searcher’s area.
How To Optimise Your Online Presence For Local Search Results
As a local business, you usually still have to compete with large national businesses and franchises who set up landing pages to target your area, whether or not they have a legitimate presence there. So, what is the best way to keep your business at the top of the search results for your services?
1. Claim your Google My Business Listing
Google My Business (GMB) is a free Google tool that lets businesses manage their online presence on Google Maps and Google Search. If you haven’t done so already, create and verify a GMB listing today, populating it with essential information such as your operating hours, phone number, website, area of operation, and more. This is an extremely useful tool for local SEO, as it gives your business greater prominence in local search results and a place on Google Maps, making it easier for your customers to find and contact you. Your GMB listing also allows customers to post reviews on Google, increasing your search visibility and credibility.
2. Use Keywords Relevant To Your Local Market
Whenever you publish new content on your website, blog, or social platforms, include local and location-based keywords that include the name of your city, town, or operating areas. This will help your content to rank more highly in local searches.
3. Create Locally Relevant Content
Local keywords are good for search visibility and for driving traffic. However, to maximise local conversions, it’s important to create regular content that is relevant to your local market. Local content often mentions recognisable landmarks, neighbourhoods, and information that resonates with your target market, or addresses local events and news stories. You could, for example, create articles around some of your construction projects or case studies in the area, provide tips for customers, homeowners, and businesses in your community, or showcase your support for local schools, apprenticeship schemes, sports clubs, and charitable causes.
4. Encourage Reviews From Local Customers
Positive reviews on your GMB listing and other review sites from local customers can greatly boost your local search visibility. Make a habit of emailing your clients asking them to leave a review on Google and engage with every review that is posted. For positive reviews, thank the reviewer for their comments publicly, and also respond to any negative reviews professionally and courteously. This two-way engagement not only boosts your search visibility but also demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
5. Use Local Schema Markup
Local schema markup is a structured data format that you, or your agency partner, can add to your website’s HTML code to give search engine bots more detailed information about your business and its operations. This is a ‘technical’ or ‘back-office’ SEO strategy, rather than directly customer facing, but it can improve visibility by helping search engine bots understand the context of your content, particularly in relation to where your company operates and the services you provide. Local schema markup can increase your click through rates from organic search engine results pages (SERPs), and improve the local relevance of your website traffic and leads. Free tools, such as the Google Structured Data Markup Helper can help you create the necessary code and implement it correctly on your site.
Find Out More
To find out more about local SEO strategies for construction businesses, please get in touch with JDR today by calling 01332 982197.
Image Source: Canva
