What You Will Learn
- Is SEO a needed service for an HVAC Company?
- What is SEO?
- is SEO just a fad?
- Point 1: Choosing Keywords
- Point 2: Engaging Content
- Point 3: Website Built The Right Way
- Point 4: Optimizing For Local Searches
- Point 5: User Accessible
- Point 6: Mobile Ready
- Point 7: Social Media Presence
SEO for HVAC contractors is an interesting discussion.
As an HVAC technician, you possess a lucrative skillset and offer viable services that prove valuable in almost any economy or landscape.
So, it’s probably safe to say you’re already doing just fine with your bottom line.
Yet, you must ask yourself: Now that we’re firmly entrenched in the fast-moving 2020s, can you rest on the laurels of doing “just fine?”
To illustrate our point, look no further than the pandemic. It’s clear how industries of all kinds–no matter how essential–can screech to a halt at the drop of a hat. And it’s even clearer how the digital space will drive society forward because of its versatility and ubiquitous, ever-present nature.
And while HVAC–and trades like it–are so essential as services, that doesn’t mean companies like yours won’t benefit from additional strategic components.
Even trillion-dollar corporations are looking for ways to innovate and seek new growth opportunities. So, why not learn from those giants, and strive for an even more substantial competitive edge by embracing the digital marketing space?
HVAC SEO Services Are a Crucial Component of a Big-picture Digital Marketing Strategies.
SEO for HVAC runs part and parcel with your overarching digital marketing strategy. And implementing a digital marketing strategy, like SEO for HVAC contractors, pays incredible dividends. In short, one hand feeds the other.
For instance, one HVAC company doubled its revenue through digital marketing efforts and enjoyed a 1,117% ROI. If you follow the correct path and execute correctly, your company might experience similar success.
So, it’s time to stop accepting “good” or even “very good” for your HVAC company and strive for exponential growth beyond your wildest dreams.
In the digital era, such lofty goals can only be met by fine-tuning and developing your HVAC SEO strategy (and paying for HVAC SEO services).
Defining HVAC SEO:
Since we’ll be talking about SEO for HVAC contractors from here on out, we’ll provide a concise definition.
With that said, what is HVAC SEO (aka search engine optimization)?
Specifically, it’s optimizing an HVAC company’s website to rank high on search results pages for relevant queries. The end result is more people clicking on your web pages. Ideally, their intent would be to start their buyer’s journey with you, ask for a quote, or even make a purchase.
There’s an important distinction to make with SEO: it’s entirely organic.
What does organic mean regarding search engines?
Okay, imagine someone searches for “air conditioning repair near me” on Google, Bing, or any other search engine. They’ll see paid results at the top, marked as being sponsored by the search engine. There will also be featured snippets. And then, there are organic results that get ranked by crawlers and algorithms.
How do algorithms base their rankings? Via many specific criteria that only a well-thought, insightful HVAC SEO campaign can satisfy.
Why is SEO for HVAC Contractors So Pivotal for Your Business?
Businesses in the HVAC can only thrive through lead generation. And to generate leads, you need to be visible.
Nowadays, online visibility doesn’t exist for your HVAC business if you fail to turn up on search engine results pages.
When it comes to HVAC services, your potential customers need to find information fast. Think about it–it’s a stressful prospect for consumers to require HVAC services. Whether commercial or residential, your target customer wants to find a solution ASAP instead of scouring the ends of the earth for the right fit.
So, it should be no surprise that 97% of consumers discover local businesses online. It only takes a few presses of a mouse and keyboard, and they’ve solved their problem. That desire for an immediate solution is further proven by how 75% of people don’t click beyond the first page of search results.
You’re only going to end up in those top results by employing an excellent HVAC SEO strategy.
Of course, there’s more to successful digital marketing in your industry than just SEO for HVAC contractors. But search engine optimization is one of an overarching strategy’s most vital digital marketing elements.
Let’s Delve into the Most Crucial Components of HVAC SEO
Whether you want to DIY your own HVAC SEO or pay for HVAC SEO services, you should know the crucial aspects involved like doing an SEO audit for HVAC on your HVAC website, doing keyword research and even deciding if this would be a local SEO or national.
This way, even if you hire someone else to implement your strategies, you’ll know what works and what doesn’t. After all, you should be part of the discussion. Knowledge of these facets will offer the necessary insights for you to contribute in a high-value capacity.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #1: Choosing Strategically Sound Keywords
Your chosen keywords signal to Google and other search engines the purpose of your web pages, establishing relevance for your audience.
Delve into the mind of your target customer and ask what they type (or speak) into search fields when brainstorming appropriate keywords.
Here are examples using an HVAC company in Long Island:
- Long Island HVAC
- HVAC in Long Island
- Long Island cooling company
- Long Island HVAC repair
While you’ll need a broader keyword strategy, you’ll implement these terms and phrases page-by-page. So you can try out different executions, allowing you to get more specific. For example, you can localize your keyword even further with smaller regions and communities within Long Island.
The more you can streamline and personalize your audience’s potential search queries, the better your HVAC SEO results will be.
How and Where Do You Implement Your Keywords?
Keywords present a delicate balance. You want to use them as much as possible so that Google’s crawlers catch onto them. But you can’t do so at the cost of relevance, making sense, and sounding natural and concise.
The keywords you use must apply to their adhering web page’s subject matter. Otherwise, Google will consider it keyword cramming and won’t view your website all that favorably. In other words, say goodbye to those lucrative first-page results.
Be sure the keywords aren’t muddling up your message. Your audience needs to understand your content. An over-aggressive usage of keywords will disrupt that flow and rankle the feathers of algorithms and crawlers, working against your HVAC SEO results.
Last but far from least–sprinkle your keywords into your website’s array of headers, subheaders, body copy, and your HTML computer codes.
How Do You Find Keywords?
There are plenty of keyword research tools out there to bolster your HVAC SEO with relevant search terms and phrases.
You should publish many different web pages for a diverse mix of keywords that you want to rank for.
Also, try finding the ideal balance for your keywords. There’s no point in selecting ludicrously competitive terms and phrases that get millions upon millions of searches per week. You’ll get drowned out by the masses and won’t get the results you need.
That said, you can’t be too “niche” with your HVAC SEO keywords. There must be a decent amount of average queries per month. You want to hit the meaty middle with your selection so that you’re using relevant terms and phrases that are just competitive enough.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #2: Developing Engaging Content
Fine-tuning your on-page SEO with frequently published, top-quality content will vastly increase your chances of ranking for relevant search queries.
You can’t afford to get stagnant with your content creation. Google’s crawlers need new pages to crawl if they’re going to assess your website and its many pages. By constantly putting out new content, you’re signaling to the algorithms to come to check you out.
Additionally, frequently published content deals with the fact that crawlers aren’t ranking your website. They’re, instead, indexing your specific web pages. So, by giving algorithms more pages to index, you’re increasing the chances of gaining favorable, highly visible search engine results page (SERPs) positioning.
It’s almost a numbers game, if anything. However, don’t spam content. Google’s crawlers won’t look kindly upon that either.
Commonly Used Content Creation Methods for HVAC SEO
We always suggest starting with blogs for your HVAC SEO content creation strategy, as they allow for the dispersal of many keywords. The subject matter of your blogs can be DIY suggestions, energy efficiency tips, seasonal advice, or anything else educational. That’s just to name a few topics–there are plenty more to choose from.
The key with blogs is offering value and insightful takeaways. Your audience should leave feeling they’ve been given something of worth by your company, free of cost. And remember to include a call-to-action, providing the reader with your contact information or a link to a quote form.
Blogs are also an ideal place to rank for unique keyword phrases and long-tail keywords.
Also, repurposing product and service pages with valuable information and specifying them for various local communities is another way to always produce fresh content.
We’d also be remiss not to bring up the value that YouTube videos bring to your HVAC SEO strategy. But the world’s preeminent video platform deserves its own subsection…
Using YouTube for On-Page HVAC SEO Content
We’ll first point out that you can embed YouTube videos directly onto the adhering web page. Thus, YouTube is a massively viable component of your on-page SEO content marketing.
But even on the direct YouTube page, you can add links to your website, quote forms, and product/service pages via the video descriptions. Such tactics drive visitors to your web pages, indirectly improving your HVAC SEO.
A well-crafted video grabs a website user’s attention more than any written text, even done on a shoestring budget.
Since video content is live-action, and the viewer sees your brand in action, it establishes a personal connection with potential customers. These videos also allow you to showcase key features and benefits your products/services bring to the table. And you can incorporate captivating graphics, a defined voice, catchy music, and engaging pictures to boot.
Need further proof that on-page YouTube videos are a massive boon for your HVAC SEO? For one company, the average user spent 7 minutes and 21 seconds on pages with video. That’s compared to the 2 minutes and 48 seconds spent on pages lacking video.
There’s a lot to unpack with the above stats.
No doubt, just because someone spends time watching one of your videos doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to reach out for a quote. However, it amounts to more time spent with your brand, establishing trust, and making it likelier a video viewer aligns with your company down the road.
On a strictly HVAC SEO level, users spending more time on your web pages is viewed kindly by crawlers and algorithms. Sure, someone watching a video might not lead to direct revenue. But the time spent on your site indirectly helps get more eyes on your brand, which means more leads, and eventually more sales.
Learn more about effective YouTube HVAC SEO by clicking here.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #3: Ensuring Your HTML Elements Are On Point
Like everything else on your website, HTML should be focused on your target keywords.
Otherwise known as Hypertext Markup Language, HTML helps structure your website content. When done properly, it ensures that your content is displayed in an eye-pleasing, easily readable and digestible manner in any browser.
Your HVAC SEO keywords should be prevalent in your website’s URL. And your targeted search terms should appear in meta title tags, meta descriptions, alt text tags, etc.
Web crawlers weigh the HTML factors listed above when indexing your web pages.
These elements provide information about their specific pages and show crawlers that you’re staying relevant and minding even the smallest details, ideally leading to higher rankings.
For a deeper dive into HTML elements for your HVAC SEO strategy, click here. This detailed guide will ensure you leave no stone unturned, giving Google every reason to make your company visible on organic search outcomes.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #4: Optimizing for Local Searches
Your HVAC SEO strategy depends primarily on lead generation to be successful. And you’ll generate the most leads by incorporating locally-based search engine optimization.
How can we say for sure that you’ll drive more leads with local HVAC SEO? Simple. Nearly 90% of homeowners end up hiring professionals like you by searching for local businesses online.
The closest, easiest option tends to win the day for homeowners. Of course, they’ll do some digging to ensure you do good work. Still, it all starts with your being visible for local search queries.
How to Better Localize Your HVAC SEO
Local HVAC SEO starts with leveraging Google My Business features, ensuring your company information is updated and correct.
The above task is very straightforward. But it makes a world of difference to your local HVAC SEO because it ensures your business turns up on local maps and related searches.
To further bolster your local Google presence, it could be wise to go beyond organic measures. Pay-per-click (PPC) digital advertising and Google local services can make a huge difference. Yes, you’re paying for many of these tactics, but typically only when someone clicks a link.
In fact, PPC marketing–on average–generates $2 of revenue for every $1 spent. That type of ROI is difficult to turn your back on.
We realize PPC isn’t HVAC SEO, as it’s paid and not organic. However, you’ll improve the performance of your HVAC SEO campaigns by making your digital marketing approach more well-rounded with tactics such as PPC.
Encouraging Customer Reviews
Encouraging your customers to leave positive reviews on your Google My Business page can pay dividends for your HVAC SEO because:
- Google prioritizes word-of-mouth marketing, carefully weighing the quality and quantity of reviews when deciding your search position.
- The crawlers and algorithms on Google view client reviews from a user’s/customer’s perspective. They’re validating spending on your HVAC business through real-life client experiences.
- When potential customers enter local keywords into Google’s query field (e.g., HVAC company near me), the search engine uses these 3 factors to rank related websites:
- Prominence
- Relevance
- Distance
- Google lists HVAC companies in a potential customer’s most immediate vicinity regarding relevance and distance. Conversely, reviews impact prominence. And HVAC companies with hundreds of favorable reviews could outrank a local competitor that might be closer to a potential customer.
You can encourage these reviews via email, text, phone call, or simply asking in person when you’re providing your HVAC services. Compiling reviews is a mere matter of asking for them and reminding your customers to provide helpful feedback.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #5: Making Your Website User Accessible
User experience (UX) is at the heart of any SEO strategy, including HVAC SEO.
In short, consumers don’t have time for sub-par UX design. Nearly 90% of surveyed online shoppers stated they wouldn’t go back to a website that offered them a substandard user experience.
Really, the above statistic says it all. If your website offers a weak user experience, people won’t return. And Google’s crawlers, which index websites through the user’s perspective, will rank your website accordingly (i.e., not on the first page).
UX Starts with Page Loading Times
The first component of UX is page loading times, which must be exceptionally quick. Or else, your visitors are bound to abandon your website. Supporting this notion is the 25% of visitors that leave websites taking over 4 seconds in load times.
Speed is vital for HVAC customers, so the above message really hits home for your company. Leads visiting your website are in a bind. These consumers are often uncomfortable and anxious because their heating or air conditioning isn’t functioning properly.
A slow-acting website further compounds the stressors listed above, impeding a potential HVAC repair customer’s quality of life.
Organize a Top-Notch User Experience
Successful HVAC SEO hinges on your web pages being properly organized to display crucial information prominently. Thus, you must ensure the following information is easy to spot throughout your website:
- Phone numbers
- Hours of operation
- Email address
- Address
- Geographical service area
Lastly, immerse your site visitors in your branding. Utilize memorable advertising slogans where relevant, and ensure the design is eye-pleasing, unique, and straightforward to use.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #6: Optimizing for Mobile
Ask yourself an important question: what device do you primarily use to browse the internet?
If you’re like the rest of the world, you probably spend most of your time browsing the web on your smartphone (or on another mobile device). Over half the world’s internet users now access the internet via a mobile device, outperforming desktops.
More importantly, 64% of HVAC service searches occur on mobile devices.
So, you need to ensure your website layout and design are responsive and seamless on mobile devices. Users must be able to scroll and click easily on their smartphones. Failing to offer a heightened mobile experience will lead to subpar SERPs rankings.
What’s more, Google’s crawlers place more value in the mobile version of your website than in your desktop or laptop layouts. That’s because Google adheres to its mobile-first indexing practices, prioritizing the mobile online browsing experience.
HVAC SEO Checklist Item #7: Leveraging Your Social Media Presence
SEO for HVAC contractors goes beyond keywords and search terms.
You’ll also bolster your HVAC SEO strategy by being active on your social media channels.
Channels such as Facebook and Twitter allow you to increase brand recognition. They also enable you to post links back to your website.
Don’t overextend your social media presence, though. Instead, choose what best suits your target customer demographics, whether Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Furthermore, frequent social media publishing gives your audience the chance to share your content and website links for you.
In short, whether through brand recognition or link/thumbnail click-throughs, social media drives relevant audiences to your website. These are the people who will stick around and convert, factors that Google considers when ranking your web pages for search terms.
Bonus HVAC SEO Checklist Item: Work With an Expert Who Provides HVAC SEO Services
You already run an HVAC business, meaning you have a lot on your plate. And HVAC SEO takes a lot of work to make a lasting impact. Plainly put, you likely won’t have the time to put in the necessary grafting to do it all on your own.
So, work alongside an expert like us, who’s been providing HVAC SEO services for years, and together, we’ll take your business to new and exciting places. All while you can focus on what you do best, providing top-level HVAC services to your network of customers.
