Introduction

Many construction businesses and tradespeople receive new customers via word of mouth.

However, no matter how strong a business’s reputation is, it often needs Google’s power to grow even further.

Whether that’s appearing regularly in the Google Business results, Google’s organic results or even now in the Google AI Overview answers businesses need as much visibility as they can get in this competitive business sector.

In this article, we will take a deep dive into how you can gain more customers for your construction business.

 

In this article, we will discuss:

• Why tradespeople often need to invest in digital marketing
• What the local pack is and how your business can benefit from being displayed there
• How to set up and better optimise your Google Business Profile
• How business reviews can have a large impact on your business’s visibility
• How to set up and design a winning construction website
• Content marketing, what to write about, when and why this is important
• Google EEAT what it is and why it matters
• Why construction businesses need strong backlinks

 

Then we answer some commonly asked questions, such as:

• How do we get our construction business to the top of Google?
• Is SEO worth the investment and waiting the lag period before it generates any leads
• We explain how we can help your business grow

 

We have worked with many construction businesses over the years; therefore, as we all know, the demand for electricians, plumbers, and general builders is strong here in the U.K.

Although there is strong demand, there is also fierce competition among construction businesses. Plus, businesses that are more trusted by potential customers are the ones that rank highly on Google or appear in Google Business listings alongside having many positive reviews.
This space is therefore fiercely contested, whether it be Google’s local pack of results or in the organic results.

 

46% of all searches have local intent

Imagine the billions of questions that Google answers every single day of the week.

Now, a whopping 46% of those questions have local buying intent, which means that if you run a service-based business, such as a construction business, well, can you afford not to advertise in this space?

The reason being, a competitor can often have more choice of work and more leads if they are investing in quality SEO services.

It’s fine if you want to tick-along through word of mouth.

But what if you want to grow your business seriously?

Well, this is often where leading SEO companies, such as Walsh & Partners, can help.

 

Here’s how we start the process of gaining you more customers locally:

 

Set up a well-optimised Google Business Profile

Millions of businesses have Google Business Profiles set-up, but how many electricians, plumbers, and builders have set them up on their smartphones during a lunch break and in a bit of a hurry?

This means that they are not often that well optimised. Sometimes the business is placed in the wrong category, the NAP information is simply missing or incorrect, or business descriptions are missing completely.

 

One of the most significant ranking signals in the Local Pack.

Setting the primary business category

First things first, make sure that you set the correct business category up correctly. This means, rather than choosing a general category such as “construction”- if you’re a plumber, specify “heating engineer” instead if this best describes the core and main service you offer.

Equally, if you’re a construction business and most of the work you want is in plastering, make sure you select plastering and rendering option for example.

Business description

Don’t copy and paste your business description from your Facebook page.

Instead, write a well-written and custom business description.

Regular posts
Your business’s Google Business account shouldn’t stagnate.

Keep it updated.

For example, keep posting jobs you have completed and also updates about your company.

Also, make sure you keep the information up to date; for example, if key information changes, such as the company’s address changes, make sure you update it.

On-page SEO will also need your attention

Location pages

So, these should be set up by your agency, because so many businesses who don’t have a clue about SEO over-optimise these pages.

For example, imagine how some skip hire firms actually optimise their websites; they still write a list of areas they cover as long as a shopping list!

It needs to be more sophisticated than that; using spammy search engine optimisation methods will damage your visibility.

Super-fast

Do make sure that your website and the mobile version are as fast as you can make them.

Therefore, super-fast hosting is normally much more expensive to buy, but worth it.

But slow hosting is a false economy.

As it will hold back your SEO.

Does a construction business need a blog?

We would say a resounding yes; however, the content marketing added needs to be strong and well-written.

It needs a high Google EEAT score. Plus, all the advice needs to be centred on the questions customers frequently ask the business.

How long does it take to get a construction business onto page one of Google?

This differs from city to city, ultimately dictated by how strong the competition is in that area.

No SEO business can accurately estimate how long it will take without first reviewing the website.

For example, how well-designed is the website?

And how well or poorly the SEO has been implemented in the past. Then there are other areas, such as how long the Google Business Profile has been live and how many positive reviews it has accumulated.

Do I need a website designed in order to appear in the organic search results?

The short answer is yes, to rank in Google’s organic results, you will need a well-designed website.

For the business to appear in Google Maps results, there often needs to be a link to the company’s website.
This is so that Google can crawl and index the website, gaining a much better understanding of the services the business offers.

 

How long would the construction business need to invest in SEO?

SEO is a continuous process.

The reason is simple: there will always be new businesses and established construction businesses looking to occupy a high position on Google.

From roofers through to general construction companies, there’s only limited space to advertise a company on the first page. Therefore, this space is fiercely contested; construction companies that want good, sustained visibility over a long period need to partner with a winning marketing agency.

 

Is it possible to be visible across two cities?

It most certainly is; you will need two separate business addresses, yet it can be achieved.

It does require more work and effort, as two separate business locations would need to be worked on.

This means strengthening the NAP in two different areas, content marketing that helps your business to be more visible in those areas. Also, more backlinks are often needed.

Who writes the content marketing?

This is a matter for the business and marketing agency to decide. In our humble opinion, it’s always a good idea to work as a collaborative team; that means the marketing agency works with the client to produce and publish simply winning content marketing.

 

Does where the business is based matter?

Most certainly, Google displays Google Business results based on proximity.

Therefore, if you’re looking for a local business, and you’re within a stone’s throw of one that offers what you’re looking for, this can greatly influence the results.

Therefore, businesses based in the beating heart of the capital will naturally attract more visitors.

 

What does U.X mean, and does this matter for construction companies?

Regardless of which business sector the company operates in, U.X matters.

U.X stands for user experience, which basically means how easy the business makes it to purchase a product.

How easy does the business make it to find an answer to a question that they have?

 

Why am I being told I should use a local phone number?

Tradespeople, especially sole traders, often use their mobile phone numbers as their primary means of communicating with customers.

However, a landline gives Google the reassurance that the business is based in, say, Cardiff, if it has a number starting with, say, 029 20.

Therefore, it’s important to use a local phone number whenever possible.

 

Why do I need to keep our NAP information up to date

Your business’s NAP information is key, including the trading name, address, and phone number. Now, if this information is not kept up to date across multiple places, some business citations list one address, which may conflict with others and not match, and this confuses Google’s algorithm.

For example, is the business based at location A, as stated on the company’s various business citations, or is it at location B, which is stated at a different address entirely on the Google Business Page?

This confusion results in Google dropping the business from its organic or Map results.

 

Does having a well-designed website matter- ours is a bit dated?

Yes, it does. Having a well-designed website contributes to offering a much better user experience. For example, offering crystal-clear advice on a fast, well-designed page improves UX.

Offering a good UX contributes to longer dwell times and much lower bounce rates, which all help improve a company’s SEO.

 

How we can help:

We are Walsh & Partners, and some of our most experienced SEO experts have more than 10 years of experience. This means that whether you run a construction business or a company in another sector, we can help you generate more sales.