Introduction
Digital marketers can't do their own plumbing, but plumbers can do their own digital marketing. In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for every business, including plumbing companies. With the right digital marketing strategies, plumbing companies can attract more customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately grow their business. In this blog post, we will discuss some digital marketing tips that every plumbing company should know.
Claim your Free Profiles
Claim your Google Business Profile listing for free. This is what comes up as local search results. By claiming your Google Business Profile you can add your plumbing company's hours, services, and contact information. This gives your prospective customers something to look at and see that you are a legit business and builds trustworthiness. This is also where Google reviews show up which can really help increase business. A higher rating will make Google favor you in the search results.
Claim your Yelp page for free, similar to a Google Business profile a Yelp page shows your business's basic info and how to contact you. Yelp is a trusted resource for many people, so working in a service industry like plumbing it's important to build a good Yelp. Have professional pictures taken of your work and show the people on Yelp you are friendly and good at what you do. Hopefully, those customers will reward you with a five-star review showing others you are the best plumber for them.
Use Google Ads
Google Ads will make your plumbing company appear at the top of Google Search Results. These ads are paid and usually get the phone ringing quickly if set up correctly. There are two different types of Google ads you can use.
Local Service Ads (LSA): LSA can be found at the very top of Google search results. These use keywords and phrases along with location to target who gets the ad. This is good for a plumbing company that only operates in a specific area/location and you only want those people to see your ads.
Search Ads: these are the ads that come before the organic search results. They generally have a little "AD" or "Sponsored" next to them on the right and have links to different parts of your website. These are good to get your name out there and in front of those who need plumbing services.
Use Social Media
Social media is a free way to get your plumbing business out into the world. People like to see that their plumber is friendly and knows what they're doing. Social media is a perfect way to show off your skills. First, decide who you're targeting, if you are looking for people who own homes Facebook might hit that market of 30-80 year olds best. If you are looking for first-time home buyers or those in apartments it might be best to use Instagram as that market is in the 18-30 age range. Now make your profile informative and professional, this is a business account after all. Next is the fun part, creating the content you want to post here are some ideas:
Before and after pics of a plumbing job
DIY videos
Promotions
pics of a job well done
To make social media work best it is important to be consistent and active. It makes the social media algorithms favor you and push your content and brand to other accounts. This could mean posting three times a week or maybe even every day. It could also mean responding to every comment or liking your followers/friends' posts.
Once you feel comfortable with social media you can start "boosting" posts which is paid advertising through social media to reach more people faster.
Create a Website Customers Want to Visit
Long are the days of Cragis-List-looking websites that are confusing and didn't work on mobile. How many plumbers are in your area? Now how many have a website that is easy to navigate? That's why by creating a simple easy-to-follow website you'll already stand out from the crowd.
Create a free account on a website builder such as Wix and use one of their templates. Keep it simple. Fill out your information and all your services. You can even add your newly created social media accounts. Make sure from your homepage your customers are able to easily navigate all your pages and have your content info/request a quote front and center on the home page or header.
Now for the more advanced website advice is to work on search engine optimization (SEO). Remember above where Google Ads were mentioned, well by using SEO you can make your website organically come up to the top of the Google Search for free. SEO is done by adding things like alt text to pictures, making the last part of the URL relevant to the page, and adding a page description. Google favors SEO-optimized websites because it can't "read/see" a picture or a page but it can read text. By describing things Google is able to better recommend your website to people, this is part of why keywords are so important. If you have best plumber in your SEO multiple times Google will recommend you more when a prospective customer looks up best plumber than others. SEO can be added in Wix pretty easily and is worth the extra work.
Conclusion
By implementing these digital marketing strategies, plumbing companies can enhance their online presence, reach a wider audience, and drive business growth. Stay proactive and adapt to the evolving digital landscape to stay ahead of the competition.