Ever feel like your home service business is the best-kept secret in town? You're not alone. While you're expertly fixing leaks, repairing roofs, or eliminating pests, potential customers are searching online for services just like yours – but they're finding your competitors instead.
"The success of a page should be measured by one criteria: Does the visitor do what you want them to do?" says Aaron Wall. For home service businesses, this means turning searches into service calls.
Here's why this matters: With over 9 out of 10 of all online experiences beginning on a search engine, and according to Backlinko, only 8 out of 1,000 people ever click on page two of Google. Being invisible online is like having a service van with no phone number – it doesn't matter how good you are if customers can't find you.
If you're like most service professionals, you're too busy providing excellent service to master the constantly changing world of SEO. But ignoring it isn't an option anymore.
The solution? Hiring an SEO expert. But before you call the first "SEO guru" who promises to get you to #1 on Google (spoiler alert: if they promise this, run!), let's dive into what you really need to know.
Understanding Your SEO Investment
Before we dive into the technical details, let's talk about what matters most – your bottom line. SEO isn't just an expense; it's an investment in your business's future visibility and growth. According to industry data, a well-executed SEO strategy can deliver a significantly better ROI than traditional advertising methods.
Consider this: The average cost per lead from SEO is 61% lower than from paid search advertising. Plus, unlike paid ads that stop working the moment you stop paying, SEO creates lasting results as part of your overall digital marketing strategy.
What is an SEO Expert (And Why Should Home Service Businesses Care)?
An SEO expert is like a GPS for your business's online presence - they help potential customers find you when they're searching for services you offer. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing website traffic through search engine results. Think of them as the digital equivalent of those attention-grabbing signs you see on service vans around town, but way more effective.
In the context of home services, an SEO expert is someone who specializes in optimizing your website to appear when local customers search for phrases like:
- "emergency plumber near me"
- "best roofing company [your city]"
- "24/7 pest control services"
- "[city name] HVAC repair"
- "Same-day plumbing service near me."
What Types of SEO Matter for Home Service Businesses?
Not all SEO is created equal.
"SEO is like a puzzle. It takes time and patience to put all the pieces together, but the end result can be truly amazing." - Unknown
For home service businesses, where 97% of consumers search online for local services, some pieces of this puzzle are more crucial than others. Let's break down the four main types of SEO and see how each one can help your service business get found online.
Local SEO: Your Bread and Butter
This is the heavy hitter for service area businesses. Local SEO helps you show up in:
- Google Maps results
- "Near me" searches
- Local service ads
- City-specific searches
- Emergency service searches
- Google Business Profile listings
- Local review platforms
And with Google commanding over 90% of the mobile search market, showing up in their local results is crucial for service businesses.
(Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share)
Technical SEO: The Foundation
Think of technical SEO as the plumbing of your website (pun intended). Just like how you need to check various parts of a home's systems, an SEO expert proficient in technical SEO should be able to:
- Identify any crawl errors on a website
- Find out how Google views a website's pages through search queries
- Ensure a website is mobile-friendly
- Make sure a website is secured correctly
- Check a website's loading speed
- Fix any broken links
- Implement local business schema markup
- Optimize for voice search queries
- Ensure proper XML sitemap configuration
On-Page SEO: The Visible Work
"Content is the reason search began in the first place," says Lee Odden. And he's right - the average word count for pages ranking on Google's first page is over 1,400 words. (Source: Backlinko)
Therefore, an ideally optimized webpage should:
- Be relevant to a specific topic or keyword (discovered through keyword research)
- Include the subject or keyword in the title tag, URL, and image alt text
- Specify the subject or keyword several times throughout the text content
- Link back to its sub-category or category page, if applicable
- Link back to the homepage
- Include location-specific content for service areas
- Feature customer testimonials and reviews
- Incorporate emergency service keywords where relevant
Off-Page SEO: Your Digital Reputation
This includes:
- Link building
- Brand building
- Citation building
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- Local business directories
- Industry-specific directories
- Community involvement
- Review management
- Local partnerships
Setting Clear Goals Before Hiring
Before you start interviewing SEO experts, you need to know what success looks like for your business. Vague goals like "get more traffic" aren't enough. Instead, set specific, measurable objectives such as:
- "Increase service calls from [specific neighborhood] by 15% in 6 months."
- "Achieve top 3 ranking for 'emergency plumber [city]' within 9 months"
- "Generate 25 new leads per month from organic search."
- "Improve conversion rate from organic traffic by 20% in the next quarter.r"
These specific goals will help you:
- Choose the right SEO expert
- Track progress effectively
- Measure ROI accurately
- Make informed decisions about your SEO investment
Why Would a Home Service Business Need an SEO Expert?
Let's be honest - you wouldn't tell your customers to fix their own water heater or tackle their own termite problem. Similarly, DIY SEO might not be the best use of your time when you're running a service business.
"The beauty of SEO is that, instead of pushing a marketing message onto folks who don't want to hear what you have to say, you can reverse-engineer the process to discover exactly what people are looking for," says Cyrus Shepard.
Here's why this matters: The #1 result on Google gets nearly 1 in 3 clicks, and moving up just one spot in search results can increase your click-through rate by almost 31%. (Source: Backlinko)
HigherVisibility's Small Business Digital Marketing study found that only 40.9% of small business owners were very satisfied with their current website traffic. For home service businesses, this number can be even more challenging, given the competitive nature of local searches.
The Benefits of Hiring an SEO Expert:
Focus on What You Do Best
While you're out serving customers, your SEO expert is working to bring in new ones. According to a Databox report, 70% of marketers stated that SEO is more effective than PPC; this is time well invested.
(Image Source: Databox)
Get Found When It Matters Most
When someone's pipe bursts at 2 AM, you want to be the first company they find online. SEO does take time, but the long-term results are worth the investment.
Build Long-Term Success
Unlike paid ads that stop working the moment you stop paying, SEO creates lasting results as part of your overall digital marketing strategy.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Before we get into hiring tips, let's cover some warning signs that should make you think twice about hiring an SEO expert:
- Guarantees of #1 rankings (no one can guarantee this)
- Promises of overnight success
- Unclear or vague strategies
- No experience with home service businesses
- Unwillingness to share past results
- Lack of transparency about methods
- No regular reporting plans
- Use of black hat SEO techniques
4 Tips for Hiring the Right SEO Expert for Your Service Business
With the benefits clear and red flags identified, the next challenge is finding the right expert for your business. Here's your roadmap to making a smart hiring decision.
1. Know Your Goals
Before hiring anyone, know what success looks like:
- More service calls from specific neighborhoods?
- Higher ranking for emergency services?
- Better visibility for specific service types?
- Increased conversion rates from organic traffic?
2. Look for Industry Experience
Has the expert worked with other home service businesses? Ask for examples of:
- Local service area businesses they've helped
- Results they've achieved for similar companies
- Understanding your industry's unique challenges
- Experience with emergency service optimization
- Success stories in your specific service category
3. Check Their Track Record
Look for:
- Reviews from other service businesses (check sites like Clutch, BestSEOCompanies.com, or their Google Business Profile)
- Case studies showing real results
- Local business rankings have improved
- Client testimonials from your industry
- Verifiable success metrics
4. Verify Their Methods
Ensure they follow best practices and don't use risky techniques that could hurt your business. Any reputable SEO expert should be able to explain their SEO techniques clearly and transparently.
Questions to Ask Before Hiring an SEO Expert
Once you've identified potential candidates, it's time to separate the true experts from the pretenders. These key questions will help you make the right choice:
- "How do you approach Local SEO for service area businesses?"
- "What strategies do you use to compete with larger national chains?"
- "How do you handle SEO for multiple service areas?"
- "Can you show me examples of other home service businesses you've helped?"
- "What metrics do you use to measure success?"
- "How do you optimize for emergency service searches?"
- "What's your approach to review management?"
- "How often do you provide reports, and what do they include?"
- "What's your experience with Google Business Profile optimization?"
- "How do you handle seasonal service fluctuations?"
Remember, just like you wouldn't trust an unlicensed contractor, you shouldn't trust an SEO expert who can't provide proof of their expertise and results.
Conclusion
Finding the right SEO expert for your home service business doesn't have to be as challenging as diagnosing a mysterious HVAC noise. By understanding what to look for and asking the right questions, you can find an expert who'll help your business show up when and where it matters most.
Remember, just like you're the expert in your field, a good SEO professional brings specialized knowledge to help your business grow. The key is finding someone who understands both SEO and the unique challenges of running a home service business.
Think of SEO as an investment in your business's future - much like the high-quality tools and equipment you use to provide excellent service to your customers. With the right SEO expert, you can build a strong online presence that brings in a steady stream of new customers while you focus on what you do best: providing outstanding service.
Ready to take your online presence to the next level? Contact me to discuss how we can help your home service business dominate local search results.