Having high visibility on search engines is critical for HVAC companies. When your HVAC company doesn’t rank on the top of SERP rankings, it gives your competitors opportunities to be chosen over your own. Because HVAC companies are one of the most popular and most needed small businesses in existence, an excellent SEO strategy is needed to succeed. Heating up your SEO takes time and effort, but over time it helps simmer down the challenges of ranking against your competitors.
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What is HVAC SEO?
The addition of “HVAC” to the beginning of “SEO”, doesn’t significantly change the process of SEO. These process are standard and don’t function any differently than other normal SEO tasks. Search Engine Optimization is the organic process of increasing website traffic through improvements in visibility on a search engine results page. Every SEO campaign has different factors depending on the niche, audience, competition, or website. However, all SEO campaigns have the same goal in mind to rank your website higher in SERPs and generate more website traffic that can convert into customers.
When it comes to SEO for HVAC contractors, it simply focuses on different onsite and offsite recommendations to help improve HVAC companies rank against their competitors on SERPs. When HVAC companies utilize SEO through different SEO company services, the visibility of the site improves in organic search and traffic.
Why is Local SEO for HVAC Companies Important?
Search Engine Optimization is different than paid advertising. Implementing a solid localized SEO strategy can help drive more website traffic to your HVAC company organically. A quality local SEO strategy can improve your HVAC keyword rankings on Google and other search engines to help your business stand out against competitors within your industry and area.
Ranking high in both the Google search and Map Pack results also gets your HVAC company in front of a local audience that is looking for help now. This can mean more sales for your business!
What Does Local SEO for HVAC Companies Look Like?
K. Alexander conducts research for ranking keywords and building E-A-T to executing an effective local SEO strategy, there are so many opportunities to build up SEO for HVAC contractors and generate more website traffic and leads.
1. HVAC and Location-Targeting Keywords
Identifying the right keywords that match up with your customer intent is a crucial starting step in local SEO. Market research informs our team of which keywords people are using to look up HVAC services in your location. Keywords can be as simple as “HVAC services near me” or long form keyword phrases that are a better fit for an article or an FAQ like “why is my AC is not pumping cold air?”.
Some examples of HVAC keywords are:
- HVAC contractors
- Air conditioning repair
- Furnace repair
- How much does a furnace cost?
- Do I need to service my furnace?
Don’t forget about “near me” and location-specific keywords that can help you get in front of people looking for help now in a local region you can provide services to.
Keywords in most cases are searched with a location tied to it, such as “HVAC contractors in Columbia South Carolina or HVAC repair Richmond Virginia”. Incorporating a mixture of organic and local keywords into your strategy can get your HVAC company listed in twice as many spots on Google’s SERP (search engine results page)—the traditional organic listing and the Local Map Pack.
2. Build Your E-A-T
The theory behind eat E-A-T is to expand your brand. EAT stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trust, and refers to how search engines (and people) perceive your business. Some questions to ask yourself to better understand what E-A-T is and how it applies to your website are:
- Do you have enough expertise and accreditations to speak to a specific topic or provide HVAC services?
- How well are you demonstrating your expertise on your website to establish your business as the authority in the industry?
- Is your website a trustworthy source for website visitors looking for professional HVAC help?
- What are your previous customers saying about your business online (often through reviews)?
E-A-T is essential across the board but even more so for specialized and local businesses like HVAC contractors. Customers must trust you long before you enter their home to fix their furnace or air conditioning unit. And Google takes E-A-T into account in order to provide the best results possible for their users. Improving E-A-T helps improve your credibility as a trusted HVAC company for customers to choose. If you don’t work on improving E-A-T you will never rank on the first page of search results. So how do you E-A-T?
Keep in mind that building authority with SEO takes time. SEO doesn’t happen overnight no matter how hard you try. You build it over time with a combination of creating content that answers questions for your target audience, developing authority by earning trusted backlinks, generating authentic and positive reviews, building positive social signals, and improving your own expertise through certifications, continued education, etc.
But a good place to start is with the content found on your own site. Make sure that the copy, posts, videos, and photos that fill your site are authentic and reliable. Also, be consistent with your message across all of your websites and other social media profiles. Creating quality and consistent content is the best way to start building your E-A-T.
3. Generate Positive and Authentic Reviews
Targeting local potential customers is a great way to start building your SEO. Start by mentioning the communities your HVAC company serves on your site, social media pages, and on online map packs. Then, encourage reviews from your customers. Not only will these reviews help make productive changes to your business and SEO campaigns, but they will also help your business become more trustworthy and credible online. With reviews, it’s important to remember to respond quickly to both positive and negative reviews online.
4. Get Listed in Relevant Directories
Having your business information and website listed on as many relevant and reputable local directories can help enhance SEO for your HVAC company because it builds your brand awareness, gets your business in front of prospective customers, increases exposure with search engines, and works towards developing your E-A-T (it’s another outlet for people to leave positive reviews for your business).
There are many options available for HVAC businesses including both free and paid subscriptions.
And if you want to have a chance at ranking high on Google for local SEO, you need to create a Google Business Profile which is also free! It gives you the ability to offer vital business information to prospective customers even before they visit your website. We get how ironic that sounds since the goal is to get more traffic to your website, but creating the best possible user experience includes providing essential information immediately to users even if it’s from the Google SERP or a directory listing!
Can I Do SEO for My HVAC Company?
Yes, you can, and K. Alexander Recommends this service! Just like any business, your online presence is important, and it can be optimized to help you find the right customers. Don’t just rely on word of mouth, print ads and older forms of marketing. Instead you should be actively trying to boost your business online. And you’re starting in the right place! Reading this guide is a great place to begin improving SEO as an HVAC contractor. You should research trending keywords, build your E-A-T, and constantly update your business information and content to rank on organically and in the Local Map Pack.
This can be a lot to keep track of on your own. Especially for busy business owners. As a small business SEO company, K. Alexander is dedicated to helping businesses like yours succeed online and give them the advantage to compete online against other local businesses. This is a long term solution that will lead to more organic leads and boost your other marketing efforts as well.
What Should You Look for in a HVAC SEO Company?
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Must Have a Good Track Record
When looking for SEO help for your HVAC company, it’s important to seek out an agency that has a successful track record. Finding an agency that aligns with your business will help grow your HVAC SEO strategy. Looking into their reviews and case studies is one excellent way to better understand their past success and track record.
While it’s important to read into resources that relate to your HVAC business, look into other industries and how an SEO provider works with them as well. Finding an agency that’s successful in a variety of industries shows a lot of credibility and value.
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Setting Goals
An SEO agency should understand an HVAC company’s goals and execute a productive campaign to help achieve those goals. When you don’t set goals and standards at the beginning of strategizing, there’s nothing to work towards. Having consistent discussions throughout the campaign will help clarify and make things easier on both sides. This also eliminates insignificant tasks and helps better manage time and services towards a local HVAC SEO campaign.
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Clarifying Expectations
Your HVAC company shouldn’t go into learning about an SEO campaign feeling out of place or unsure of the direction your marketing strategy is headed. Having clear expectations should be a priority so nothing gets overlooked or lost in translation. Having an SEO provider that sets clear expectations helps do away with overpromising and under delivering expectations. Going into an SEO campaign can have a variety of layers. Having clear expectations helps make understanding the process of SEO much easier.
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Communication is Key
Communication is key in any SEO campaign. One of the best ways to strengthen your communication is by communicating consistently. Keeping conversations open and frequent helps create more of an ease to convey thoughts, questions, or ideas more openly. Consistently communicating helps create trust and keep the client in the loop.
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Transparency
When working with an SEO provider, trust is an important factor. One way of building this trust is through transparency. Doing something that wasn’t promised in a campaign is one way of losing trust real fast. When an SEO provider opens the opportunity to be transparent and open with clients, real trust is built. SEO providers can be transparent with HVAC companies through reporting and having access to a central dashboard. Giving your company access to view how their strategy is functioning helps improve transparency and trust with each other.
K. Alexanders Approach to SEO for HVAC Companies
SEO can be a lot of work, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But for most HVAC companies, they focus on working hard and getting the job done, they don’t have time to improve their website all the time. And that’s where K. Alexander Creative comes in! We have the resources, bandwidth, and team of experts that’s needed to get your website ranking for relevant keywords, establish a strong link portfolio, and write content that gets you found for your specialties and business focus. We target the areas that matter most and don’t waste time you could be spending helping your customers and working on a job.