SEO for Contractors: A Simple and Effective Guide
Building a plumbing business is hard work. Once you have your plumber’s license, you need to put together a list of services. Then there’s equipment to acquire, marketing strategies to write, and jobs to price.
And that’s before you have actual plumbing to do.
With all these tasks, marketing may not be at the top of your mind. But it should be. Many people turn to the Internet to find plumbing services. If you have an optimized website, they’re more likely to find you, which is the first step toward hiring you. That’s why it’s worth thinking about SEO for plumbers.
Fortunately, SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. This guide explains how it works. You can also learn more about why SEO is so important and whether you should hire a service to help you find new plumbing leads online.
What is SEO for Plumbers?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. When you optimize your website, you use specific keywords and include particular page elements, like links or images. Having an optimized website means you rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP). With this visibility, people are more likely to click on your website and hire you when they need help.
The best SEO for plumbers will be localized to help you find customers nearby. Ideally, you’ll want your site to be one of the first ones people see for keywords like “plumbers in [Your Area].”
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Why is SEO Essential for Boosting Plumbing Leads?
A good SEO strategy is a vital part of effective marketing. Around 81% of customers search on the web to find and read reviews of plumbers. Every month, more than 700,000 people across the globe search for the term “plumbers near me,” while many thousands more search for similar phrases like “emergency plumber near me.”
If your site is one of the first ones they see, you can teach them about your services and convince them to call you for a quote. The hope is that an informative site turns them into paying customers.
Unfortunately, most people won’t see your website if it’s too low on the search engine results page (SERP). That’s why focusing on optimizing your site is important to ranking high enough to generate leads
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3 Key Benefits of SEO for Plumbing Services

Plumbing marketing is crucial to running a business in a field with a lot of competition. Here are some of the most significant benefits of using SEO for your marketing as a plumber.
Attracts targeted visitors to your website
When people search for a plumber, they usually need one. If they find you on the SERP and click, you’ve successfully brought targeted traffic to your site. There’s a good chance they’ll call you for services since they’re likely in need.
With thousands of people searching for plumbers every month, you can reach many potential customers who are ready and eager to act.
Focuses on mid and long-term business growth
Once you optimize your website, you’ll continue to benefit from a high ranking on search engines. If you keep adding quality content, your site should keep moving up on the list. Building a library of content on your site keeps visitors clicking long after you wrote it. This will help you to get more customers over the long term.
Contributes to business profits
Compared to many other marketing techniques, like printing out pamphlets or paying for radio ads, SEO can be inexpensive. Tools like Google Analytics are free with a business account, meaning you don’t need to invest a lot to see results.
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Best Strategies in SEO for Plumbers
If you want to succeed in SEO and drive traffic to your site, you can try different approaches. Here are a few strategies that might work for you.
Local SEO
Local SEO focuses on making sure people in your area find you. If you work in Chicago, you’d want your site to appear when someone searches for “plumbers in Chicago.” You’d create content optimized around key phrases mentioning Chicago and plumbers to make that happen.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO involves making sure that certain pages on your website rank highly. These pages can capture a lot of traffic and bring more people to your site. For example, you might want many people to find your site when they search for information about what a plumber does. You could highlight all the services you offer on that page.
You can optimize individual pages by writing updated, relevant content. Create descriptive titles and descriptions that include your target keywords. If possible, aim to get other reputable websites to link to your key pages. You can do this through partnerships, where you agree to link to each other’s sites. Another way is to create a strong blog with authoritative articles that other sites can use as sources or references.
SEO Content Strategy
Create an SEO content strategy to develop more high-ranking pages. These plans usually involve deciding what keywords to target and making a content calendar to write relevant pages or blog posts for each phrase.
SEO for Plumbing: Expert Tools

You can use many paid and free tools to optimize your website. Here are three tools you may want to try out to help you rank better on SERPs.
- Google Search Console. This free tool helps you see what keywords people use to find your site. It shows you which pages are performing well and which ones you should optimize.
- Google Analytics. This tool provides information on traffic to your site. You can see things like where customers are coming from or the bounce rate (how often customers leave after viewing a single page).
- Google Keyword Planner. This free tool helps you research keywords to optimize for. You can see volume and competition to make it easier to decide what terms to try to rank for.
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How to Get Started With SEO for Plumbers in 5 Steps
You don’t need to be an expert to start with SEO for plumbers. Just follow these steps.
1. Create Your Google Business Profile
Web searchers will want to see business profiles when they search for a local service. It should show your name, hours, contact details, and customer reviews.
Claim your profile by typing your company’s name into the Google Business Profile Manager. Then, complete your profile with the following information.
- Business category
- Service area
- Contact details
- Business information, including your hours
2. List Your Business in Online Directories
There are many business directories, like Yelp and Bing Places. Make sure your company is listed. Then check for local business directories in your area and list yourself. Joining your local Chamber of Commerce can also help you get listed in their directories.
3. Ask Customers to Leave a Review of Your Service
Reviews have a significant impact when customers search for a business online. Ask customers who are satisfied with your work to leave reviews on Google or Yelp.
4. Make Sure Your Website Is Responsive and User-Friendly on All Devices
Many people use their phones for most of their web browsing, including when they search for plumbers. Be sure your site looks good on both traditional computers and mobile devices.
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5. Consider Opening a Blog and Applying the SEO Strategy
Creating a blog makes it easy to add fresh content. You can target different keywords with different blog posts. People will interact with your blog as well, so you can develop a user base. You can find topics to write about by considering what potential customers search for.
5 Tips to Decide if You Should Hire SEO Services for Plumbers

Whether you’re an independent contractor or own a plumbing company, you have many expenses. Not only do you need materials, but you may also incur added costs if you do things like accept credit card payments. With all these expenses, paying for SEO services for plumbers can be a burden.
In some cases, though, it can pay off to hire professionals to optimize your site. Here are five signs that you should pay for an SEO service.
- You want to avoid common mistakes. SEO beginners sometimes make mistakes. These could include errors like using too many keywords or targeting the wrong keywords. You can avoid wasting time and money by hiring an expert to help you get your SEO efforts correct.
- You need to increase your website’s traffic. Hiring an expert can help you rank better on SERPs so more people will find you and potentially hire you.
- You’re launching or relaunching your website. Creating or revising a website is a big time commitment and expensive. You want people to visit your site so that your investment pays off. Hiring an SEO service that designs and develops sites increases those odds.
- Your team is too small. If you have a small team, you may need more staff to research SEO techniques, find keywords, and write optimized content. Bringing in an outside service lets you complete these tasks while your team focuses on their primary jobs.
- You can’t keep up with the trends in SEO techniques. SEO can be complicated. Google often changes its algorithm, and you need to make modifications. It’s hard to keep up. Hiring an expert means you won’t have to. SEO professionals will know how to ensure your site attracts the most potential customers possible to grow your business.
Win More Clients On-The-Spot With Quick and Professional Estimates
Finding effective marketing solutions is just one part of business success. Once customers find you, they’ll want an estimate before they hire you. Fortunately, Joist makes that easier.
With our easy-to-use mobile estimating tool, you can create and share estimates in minutes. Packed with powerful features built for contractors, including deposits, markups, contracts, and photos, Joist’s estimating tools can do it all.