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Discover effective SEO strategies tailored for contractors to enhance your online presence and attract more clients. Read our helpful guide to learn more!
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Get startedIn today's age of digital marketing, application of simple SEO techniques on your contractor website can help your construction business generate more leads from your target audience. If you’ve only been relying on word of mouth and classic marketing methods, it may be time to add SEO to your tool belt.
As a contractor, what's the best way to aim for SEO success? Many SEO services online can be expensive and time consuming. An expert contractor SEO agency sounds like the obvious answer, but most specialized contractor SEO services just aren't worth the money compared to what you can achieve for free by yourself.
You'd be surprised at how many SEO leads you can capture with a few simple tweaks to your online content, to make sure you appear in keyword search results, increase your keyword rankings, and keep pace with other websites utilizing SEO campaigns at their construction company.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through SEO strategies specifically tailored for general contractors, that you can execute to increase your website's visibility as part of your overall marketing strategy — so you can drive more leads into your marketing funnel, stay competitive in your local market, and win more jobs.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of fine-tuning your website so it appears higher on Google, Bing, and other search engines, in order to reach potential customers. For general contractors, this means:
Making it clear where you operate (e.g., “Austin electrician,” “Boston plumber”)
Highlighting your industry or service type (e.g., “residential HVAC repairs,” “kitchen remodeling”)
Detailing specific services you offer
A well-optimized contractor website is crucial for increasing website traffic and improving lead quality. When a potential customer searches for “kitchen remodel in Springfield” or “plumber in Boston,” SEO helps ensure they find your website—and potentially hire you for the job.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs) through various techniques and strategies. It involves understanding how search engines work, what people search for, and the keywords and phrases they use. By optimizing a website for search engines, contractors can increase their online presence, drive more qualified traffic to their website, and ultimately, grow their business.
Navigating SEO in a contractor's website can be complex based on Google algorithm and latest technology updates. Let's discuss 6 ways to get started in your SEO journey.
Local SEO for contractors is the cornerstone of early, quick success. It ensures that you appear in Google search results when people look for services in your specific geographic area, significantly improving visibility. Here’s how to improve local contractor SEO:
Claim Your Google Business Profile: Formerly known as Google My Business, this free listing is a quick, powerful way to appear in relevant local searches. Include all the essentials—your business name, phone number, hours, website link, and service areas.
Create a Yelp Listing: Just like Google Business Profile, Yelp listings are free, easy to set up, and can funnel more traffic to your website.
List Your Business on Directories: Register with major online directories like Thumbtack, Angi, or Nextdoor. These sites often rank well in Google and can amplify your local presence.
Consistency Counts: Make sure your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are correct across all platforms. Inconsistent info can cause confusion and hurt your rankings.
Customer reviews aren’t just for building trust—they’re also valuable for SEO. Many review sites (like Google and Yelp) show up in search results, helping you get in front of people ready to hire.
Request Reviews: After finishing a job, ask your client for a review. Specify the platform you’d like them to use (e.g., Google) so you can build a focused collection of social proof.
Automate Review Requests: If you use contractor software or another platform that offers automated follow-ups, set it to send a quick review request after each job is completed.
Keywords are the foundation of SEO—they tell search engines which topics you cover. As a contractor, your keywords might include things like “HVAC repairs,” “kitchen renovations,” or “commercial painting services.” Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial to assess the effectiveness of the contractor SEO process and ensure your strategies align with your business goals.
Be Natural: Incorporate keywords into your content in a way that flows and doesn’t disrupt the reader’s experience.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing: Using the same keyword repeatedly (e.g., “lawn care,” “lawn care,” “lawn care”) can backfire. Focus on clarity and readability first, then ensure your keywords fit naturally into place.
Write First, Optimize Later: Draft your web pages, blogs, or articles first. Then highlight where you’ve naturally used your target keywords. Adjust only if it helps your message and doesn’t make the text awkward to read.
To really power up your contractor SEO, go beyond listing your services—create helpful, informative content that demonstrates your expertise and answers common customer questions. For instance:
Guides & How-Tos: “A Complete Guide to Winterizing Your Home HVAC System”
Cost Breakdowns: “How Much Does It Cost to Remodel a Bathroom in [Your City]?”
FAQs & Tips: “Top 5 Reasons Your Furnace Keeps Turning Off”
Implementing a custom contractor SEO strategy is essential to effectively target new clients and maintain a competitive edge.
When you build a library of content on topics your customers care about, search engines start to see you as a trusted, authoritative source—and are more likely to show your website to potential clients.
A well-structured website is crucial for good SEO. If your site has only one page or is thin on information, you won’t rank well. Here’s how to optimize it:
Example: “[Business Name] | Professional HVAC Repair in [City]”
This includes your location, a keyword, and your business name all in one concise line.
Example: “Serving [City] since [Year]. We offer emergency plumbing repairs, installations, and remodels. Call today for your free quote!”
This snippet should entice users to click and learn more about your services.
Dedicate a page to each of your main service categories, like “Kitchen Remodeling,” “Bathroom Remodeling,” “New Construction,” etc. This helps you target specific keywords and gives visitors more detailed info on what you do. Optimizing each web page enhances user experience and maintains website performance, especially for image-heavy content.
Make it effortless for potential customers to reach you. Include a form, phone number, email, and address so leads can quickly request a quote or book a job.
Search engines look at backlinks (links from other websites to yours) as a sign that your business is credible.
Be a Subject Matter Expert: Volunteer to answer questions in online forums, in guest blog posts, or for local news outlets needing a professional opinion.
Partner with Local Businesses: Exchange referrals with complementary services (e.g., a landscaper teaming up with a local pool contractor). When they link to you, it boosts your SEO authority.
Sponsor or Host Events: Community events, charities, and sponsorships often link back to supporters’ websites—giving you a high-quality local backlink.
Stay away from paying for backlinks—search engines often penalize unnatural links. Focus on authentic partnerships and real community connections.
Without measuring results, your efforts to implement SEO campaigns at your construction company may be futile. By tracking how different SEO strategies affect your website as a general contractor in the long term, your SEO campaigns can become a consistent effort that generates leads long term instead of just a flash in the pan.
Not all contractor SEO is the same. Effective strategies are crucial for enhancing website rankings and improving online visibility, especially for contractors. This involves ongoing performance tracking and creating relevant content. Here’s a quick breakdown of the ones that matter most for contractors:
Optimizing each page’s content and structure (headings, meta tags, meta descriptions, keywords, images).
Building trust signals through backlinks or link building, online directories, and reviews.
Ensuring your site is fast, secure (SSL certificate), and mobile-friendly. Include schema tags and structure, making your site easier to crawl.
Targeting geographically relevant keywords and directories for better visibility in your service area.
Adding keyword-rich file names and alt tags to your images so they can appear in Google Image searches.
Developing an effective contractor SEO strategy is crucial for contractors who want to outrank their competitors in search engines. Here are some key steps to consider:
Identify relevant keywords and phrases that your target audience uses to search for your services. Audit other websites who appear high in search results, and replicate the keyword research they have done. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help you find the most effective keywords for your contracting business.
Ensure that your website is user-friendly, fast, and mobile-responsive. A well-optimized site not only improves user experience but also helps search engines understand and rank your content better.
Develop a content marketing strategy that includes creating informative and engaging content that targets your keywords. This could be blog posts, guides, or how-to articles that provide value to your audience.
Obtain links from authoritative websites to increase your website’s authority and ranking. This can be achieved through guest blogging, partnerships, and by being a subject matter expert in your field.
Link building using authoritative websites helps your website and pages appear in more organic search results, and makes it easier to rank pages in the future.
Use tools like Google Analytics to condut regular SEO audits, track your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions. Regularly reviewing your metrics will help you understand what’s working and where you need to make improvements.
Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website’s technical aspects to improve its search engine rankings. Here are some key considerations for contractors:
Ensure that your website loads quickly (less than 3 seconds) to improve user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading pages can lead to higher bounce rates and lower rankings.
Ensure that your website is mobile-responsive and provides a good user experience on all devices. With more people using mobile devices to search for services, a mobile-friendly site is crucial.
Create and submit XML sitemaps to help search engines understand your website’s structure and content. This makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site.
Optimize your robots.txt file to ensure that search engines can crawl and index your website’s content. This file tells search engines which pages they can and cannot access.
Install an SSL certificate to secure your website and protect user data. A secure site is not only important for user trust but also a ranking factor for search engines.
Measuring and tracking SEO performance is crucial to understanding the effectiveness of your strategy. Here are some key metrics to track:
Track your website’s ranking for target keywords and phrases. This will help you understand how well your SEO efforts are paying off.
Track the number of visitors who come to your website from search engines. An increase in organic traffic indicates that your SEO strategy is working.
Track the number of leads or sales generated from your website. This metric helps you understand the quality of your traffic and how well your site converts visitors into customers.
Track the percentage of visitors who leave your website immediately. A high bounce rate can indicate issues with your site’s content or user experience.
Track your website’s speed and make improvements to improve user experience and search results rankings. Faster pages lead to better user engagement and higher rankings.
By tracking these metrics, contractors can gain insights into their performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve their online visibility and drive more qualified traffic to their website.
You have two main choices when it comes to SEO:
If you’re comfortable updating your website and tracking performance, you can learn SEO basics on your own. It’s a great option if you’re on a tight budget, but it can be time-consuming.
An experienced SEO company or specialist can do an initial audit, plan your keyword strategy, handle web design tweaks, and provide reports. Always choose someone who has experience with construction businesses to avoid guesswork. Hiring an SEO company that specializes in helping contractors can bring expertise and an effective SEO strategy, leading to increased visibility and business growth.
At Bolster, we believe in helping contractors streamline their processes so they can focus on what matters most—delivering amazing service. From organizing project details to tracking timelines, we’re here to support your contracting business at every step.
Stay Organized: Keep track of customer details, service areas, and projects in one place.
Automate Repetitive Tasks: Use scheduling, invoicing, or follow-up features to save time—so you can keep clients happy.
Improve Your Customer Experience: When your operations run smoothly, word spreads faster—and that’s another way to build your brand locally.
If you're looking to implement SEO at your construction company as part of your wider digital marketing strategy, ensure you have completed an SEO audit of your current website, and perform contractor keyword research for your target audience to ensure your web pages appear in organic search results.
Local SEO for contractors is the first easy step, making sure that you conquer the local search terms for customers looking for your construction company in your area.
Mastering SEO for contractors might feel overwhelming at first, but with consistent effort, you can make sure you’re not missing out on valuable leads. By prioritizing local SEO, soliciting reviews, choosing the right keywords, and creating relevant content, you’ll gain a stronger online presence.
With a well-structured website and a strategy to build quality backlinks, your general contractor business can move up in search results—and stay there.
Combine your contractor SEO efforts with a robust business organization platform like Bolster, and you’ll be well on your way to growing your reputation, landing more jobs, and earning bigger profits.
Ready to level up? Explore Bolster’s features today and start harnessing the power of digital marketing and contractor SEO to make your contracting business stand out.
Combine your contractor SEO efforts with a robust business organization platform like Bolster, and you’ll be well on your way to growing your reputation, landing more jobs, and earning bigger profits.
You’ll reach homeowners who are actively searching for your services.
As you show up more often in relevant searches, your name recognition grows.
Effective SEO strategies can help you obtain a competitive advantage, allowing smaller contractor businesses to level the playing field against larger firms with bigger budgets.
Reviews and trusted listings create social proof, which builds trust in your brand.
General contractors using Bolster are, on average, winning 15% bigger jobs, 20% more often.
"If you're willing to invest in your business and work with Bolster, you're going to exceed your expectations of what you can achieve. If you put in the work, you'll see a return on investment quickly."
Thousands of companies just like yours prefer Bolster.
