Local SEO for Contractors – Part 2

Now that the construction business is established with Google, it’s important to optimize the website so that you can further improve the likelihood of coming up in local search. What follows are some important tips forlocal SEO that go beyond GMB.

Digital Marketing Tips to Improve Local SEO

Increase the company’s chances to land on the search results page! There are a number of steps that can be taken to achieve this.

NAPs are Important

Be sure to include NAP information (name, address, phone number) and other important details in an easily crawlable HTML text format. Remember that images can’t be crawled, other than the alt text, so don’t include vital NAP information in image format; be sure it’s in text format.

Carefully Place Keywords

Make sure to use local or relevant keywords in the following places:

• Title tags
• Meta description
• H1 tags
• Body copy
• Anchor text
• Bold and italics tags
• URLs
• Alt text in images

This improves the keywords’ effectiveness, improving how the page ranks.

Local Mark-Up Code

When users search for local businesses on Google Search or maps, the search results may display the Knowledge Graph card with additional details about your business if it matches the user’s query.

Here are the steps to add Local Business (LocalBusiness without a space) Schema to your website (http://schema.org/LocalBusiness):

1) Pick your LocalBusiness sub-type*

2) Gather required details: name, address, etc.

3) Use Local Business Schema Generator

4) Paste code into Google’s Structured Data testing tool to validate

5) Add code to website

*Define your location as a LocalBusiness type, and then use the specific Local Business sub-type if possible. For example, https://schema.org/HomeAndConstructionBusiness.

HomeAndConstructionBusiness – a LocalBusiness that provides services around homes and buildings:

• Electrician
• GeneralContractor
• HVACBusiness
• HousePainter
• Locksmith
• MovingCompany
• Plumber

Now that you have picked the most relevant LocalBusiness sub-type, it is time to create your structured data. Here is a list of required information you will need:

• URL
• Business name
• Address

Some other items you should consider including (but not required) if applicable is hours, telephone number, department, etc.

Now, visit this handy tool: Local Business Schema Generator. Select your business type/sub-type and enter as much information as possible.

Next, validate the output from the generator above using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. Click on the Code Snippet tab, paste your code, and then click Run Test. Review the results to ensure there are no errors before adding to your site. Typically, you will see an error if you are missing a required item.

If the code has 0 errors, it is time to add it to your site! Do you currently have your address in the footer of your website? Because the footer typically appears on every page of your site, this is a great option for adding the code. Depending on your CMS, or internal resources/capabilities, you may need a developer to help you with this step.

Once the code has been added to your site, be sure to run another test with the Structured Data Testing Tool. Instead of pasting the code, run the URL(s) where it appears on your site to make sure there are no issues once implemented. Paste your URL on the Fetch URL tab and click Run Test.

Remember Local Interests

It’s not about what you find interesting, it’s all about what your target – the locals – find compelling. Discover their interests and create content centered around that. If the local community is a major city, they’ll likely be interested in content related to skyscrapers. If it’s somewhere rural, they’d be far less interested. Give the people what they want.

Consider a Case Study

Local happy client? Share the success via case study. Interview the client and provide relevant performance analytics. Put it all together in a visually compelling format. It may also be a good idea to require readers to provide some contact information before they download; this way, you’ve earned a new lead, one that’s familiar with your previous success. You can learn more about creating case studies here.

Give Back to the Community

It can be as small as sharing local news, supporting a local organization, or talking about a local event. Your business can also go one step further by sponsoring or organizing a local event of its own. This will draw attention to the business and get local publications buzzing about the company.

Involve a Special Guest

Guest bloggers can provide some variety to the content page. Find a blogger with a decent following, involved in either your industry or one similar to yours. Request that they create some local content and widely share it. The more on local issues, the better!

GMB and On-Page SEO: The Perfect Combo

Utilizing both Google My Business and the content on your website is ideal for standing out in local search results. Local’s prevalence is increasingly growing, especially with the adoption of hands-free search, where the third most searched topic is local information.Take care of locals, and they’ll be sure to take care of you.

Read Local SEO for Contractors – Part 1 here. Read more about local SEO here.

Also, be sure to read our Construction Marketing Association guest blog, Contractor Website Best Practices.