420: Optimizing Your Construction Business Website For Local Searches

Contractor Success Map with Randal DeHart | Contractor Bookkeeping And Accounting Services

This Podcast Is Episode Number 420, And It's About Optimizing Your Construction Business Website for Local Searches

For most construction businesses, increasing sales during this time will be very beneficial and may provide some much-needed cash flow relief. Local search engine optimization (SEO) is an integral part of any online marketing strategy for traditional businesses which serve a specific geographical area. Local SEO works in much the same way as standard SEO, although some significant differences are considered. Taking the time and trouble to optimize your website for local is essential since about a fifth of desktop queries and more than half of mobile searches have local intent. To capitalize on this fact, you'll need to make sure that your website appears in local searches. Fortunately, local SEO is somewhat more straightforward than regular SEO, which is significant because it is less competitive.

The first step to optimize for local searches is to include your regional keywords, such as the name of your town or city or any other areas which your business services, in the following areas of your website:

• Your website URLs (particularly for landing pages)
• Page titles
• Meta titles and descriptions
• h1 and h2 HTML heading tags
• Throughout the content of your site, provided it is relevant and done sparingly

Any local business should also have a footer that appears on every page of their website. The footer should contain your address, postal code, and phone number. All information must be identical to any other online listings you have either on social networks or local directories. You should also provide a link to your Google Local listing.

Another critical element of local SEO is to have appropriate landing pages. Your landing pages should include keywords and phrases referring to your business's location or service area - be careful not to overdo it since Google will penalize sites for over-optimization.

Construction businesses with multiple service areas should ideally have separate landing pages for each one so that people will still find you in Google when carrying out local searches. Each of your landing pages should provide relevant content, including information specific to the particular service area it applies to.

Other Online Resources for Local SEO

Optimizing your website is only one part of the local SEO process. There are many other critical online resources which businesses should use to increase traffic and raise awareness. The most important ones, which any local company should use, include the following:

• Google My Business (GMB). It is a free tool that allows you to promote your business profile and business website on Google Search and Maps. Even if you don't have your website, the most crucial resource for local businesses is GMB. Claiming and verifying your business's listing on GMB will help enormously in your efforts to appear in local search results.
• Bing Places. Microsoft's version of GMB might not be as popular, but it is still too important to ignore. It works in much the same way, allowing you to claim and verify your business's physical location and have it appear in Bing Maps and on mobile devices running the Windows Phone operating system.
• Yelp. Yelp is an online urban guide providing local business listings. Yelp recently replaced the relatively unsuccessful Apple Maps app for iPhones and iPads, and these devices now use data from Yelp to display local information with their included mapping apps. Given the enormous popularity of iPhones, the advantages of getting listed on Yelp should be obvious.
• Foursquare. The number one location-based social media website, Foursquare, allows users to find local businesses quickly and 'check in' to specific locations. Setting up a profile on Foursquare is a quick and straightforward process that will also help you in your local SEO efforts.

Local SEO is mainly about getting listed in local online resources and optimizing your online content both on your website and other platforms, in such a way that it makes references to location-relevant key phrases and regional names rather than using generic keywords.

Your construction business listing must be entirely consistent across all of the platforms you use, particularly since it won't be easy or practical to change them later on.

(Related Blog post here)

Final thoughts

Everyone is trying to get more value for the money they spent in their business. Invest your marketing dollars wisely by optimizing your website to appear first on the local search engine page.

About The Author:

Sharie DeHart, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood, Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on how to manage the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. Call 1-800-361-1770 or [e-mail]