Over 90% of your potential customers will use the internet to find an HVAC service provider in their area. Google search and mobile devices are practically a reflex for most people and businesses today. HVAC service is highly competitive field so it should come as no surprise that your company website must be well optimized to have a chance to show up in Google search results. If one of your potential customers looks for “chiller repair” or “commercial contractors near me” it is up to Google and its algorithm to decide who is going to show up on the first page.
Important variables to consider are keywords and on-page content optimization, content type, and backlinks. Pay attention to these 5 areas:
1. Keywords & On-Page Optimization – how to pick the right keywords and where to add them
2. Video Content – why video and how to optimize for the most traffic possible
3. Backlinks – what are they, why do you need them, what can they do for your business
4. Google Search Console – what is it and why it is critical to your business website
5. Keyword Rank Tracking – identify your rank on Google and other search engines
KEYWORDS & OPTIMIZATION
Why should you even think about SEO? The answer is simple – the reward of a well-optimized website is FREE organic traffic from search engines like Google. Strong SEO results in more opportunities that Google will show your company website to relevant people (aka: your future customers!). Think of it as a form of free advertising that is going to bring you more business.
SEO title, meta description, titles on the page, keywords used in a website’s final URL – all these become some of the most important variables in determining how frequently your website is shown to people looking for your HVAC services.
Considerations: Competition for keywords is stiff. Before you use a keyword in the title of the page, URL, text on the page, or even meta tags, ask yourself 1. What is the difficulty rating for this particular keyword and 2. What is the monthly search traffic volume for this keyword? Generally, you will see the higher the search volume for a given keyword, the more difficult it is to rank. You can use Google Keywords Planner or an even easier option is Ahrefs keyword difficulty check (free tool):
Another good alternative for keyword difficulty and keyword volume research is the UberSuggest tool from Neil Patel. Let’s reuse the same “boiler repair” example here. If you scroll just a bit you will get to keyword ideas and can explore what options work best for your website – now factoring in the number of searches people make.
VIDEO CONTENT & SEO
Because there are less videos online than text, video content has a better chance of reaching audiences who search a keyword. To be exact, videos are 45 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google than text results.
YouTube’s user-friendliness, combined with the soaring popularity of video content, has made it the second largest search engine behind Google. With 3 billion searches per month, YouTube’s search volume is larger than that of Bing, Yahoo, AOL and Ask.com combined. (Source: Forbes.com)
But, most importantly video content incites action! KISSmetrics found that a call-to-action with a video produces 380% more clicks than a regular sidebar call-to-action. In other words, video boosts a user’s likelihood of taking action on what they see.
Three most important areas to optimize for your YouTube video: keyword-optimized title for your video, description, and tags. Want to do some in-depth reading on this – just consider the 3PLAYMEDIA article on YouTube optimization – it’s a great place to start.
YouTube is free – just open a channel for your business and start populating it with content. Content could include interviews with your customers, how-to tutorials led by your field techs, or even maintenance tips on specific pieces of equipment. Don’t over think it!
Another important set of factors is the number of ‘likes’ and traffic that your videos are getting. The more you get, the better your video will rank in YouTube search results. Watch time and audience retention is another factor that helps with video ranking. Build useful and purposeful content and it will have a higher chance of getting better rankings in the long-term.
Also consider recency and frequency of content – Google and YouTube give “bonus points” to recent and fresh content. Once you start a video channel make sure to continue uploading new content to it.
BACKLINKS
A backlink is a link to your website from another website. This is also known as an inbound link. Backlinks are important because they show that other websites think your site is valuable and relevant. Google uses backlinks as one of the main ranking factors in its search algorithm. The more backlinks you have from reputable website, the higher your website will rank in search results.
There are many ways to get backlinks. You can create great content that other websites will want to link to, or you can reach out to other website owners and ask them to link to your site. You can also participate in online forums and post comments on other websites, which will often include a link back to your website.
Getting high-quality backlinks can be difficult, but it’s important to focus on creating quality content and building relationships with other websites if you want to improve your website’s search engine ranking. Want to know how many backlinks your domain or your competitors have? Use this free tool from Ahrefs.
Important: For maximum SEO juice, make sure your links have your important keywords in the text! Example: if you wrote an article on ‘commercial condenser service’, make sure you link your URL to those exact keywords.
GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE
Google Search Console is a free web service that allows website owners to check Google’s indexing status and optimize for increased Google visibility. It also provides data and tools for improving website performance in Google search results. Did you know that over 70% of your competitors in the construction industry are making the same mistake of not connecting Google Search Console to their website?
One of the main benefits of using Google Search Console is that it can help you identify and fix website errors that may be preventing your site from being indexed or appearing in Google search results. This can be extremely helpful in improving your site’s visibility and ranking in Google. Search Console also gives you access to your keyword ranking data – this is Google telling you where you rank for hundreds of different keywords!
Another benefit of using Google Search Console is that it provides detailed data and insights about your website’s traffic and performance in Google search results. This information can be extremely valuable in helping you to understand your website’s audience and how they are finding and using your site. Quick instructions on how to connect GSM to your website.
KEYWORD RANKING DATA
Once you’ve done all of the hard work on the SEO side, start tracking your success. A simple keyword tracking part of SemRush.com (a paid tool but a free trial is available) can take your list of most important keywords and tell you exactly where you rank whether it’s Google, Bing, or Yahoo, and what type of content you are ranking for (video, text, or image for example).
