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Top SEO Tips for Plumbers in Sydney | Get More Local Leads
Top SEO Tips for Plumbers in Sydney
Why Should Plumbers in Sydney Care About SEO?
Is your Sydney plumbing business still relying on word-of-mouth recommendations? If so, you're losing hundreds of customers each year to your competitors.
Search engines like Google now dominate how people find local services which means the majority of customers are going to go to the businesses who know how to adapt.
Just think, what does a customer do when they have a leak in their home? They go to Google and search 'emergency plumber Barangaroo.'
If you aren't prepared with a local SEO strategy, that customer is going straight to your competition.
Maybe you're familiar with SEO, maybe not. According to RedSearch, only 36% of Australian small businesses actively invest in SEO.
Which means SEO is still relatively easy to get into and take control of your fair share of the market.
In this guide, we're going to walk you through how you can implement your own SEO strategy for your Sydney plumbing business.
We'll also talk about when it might be a good idea to bring on more professional help so you can focus on your business.
Quick Tip: Want to see better results faster? Partner with a proven expert like Branchlead if you want a jumpstart on generating new leads and making more sales. Visit our SEO Services for Plumbers in Sydney page to learn more.
So, let's dive in.
Set-up and Optimise Your Google Business Profile for Increased Visibility
One of the easiest yet most important things to do is set up your Google Business Profile. You can do that here.
You want to make sure your business name, address, and phone number are accurate.
List all relevant plumbing services that you perform, these can include things like hot water system repair, 24/7 emergency service, etc.
Include photos of your team, equipment, vans, and work to boost trust.
If you have the time and resources to dedicate, you can even post updates like you would on social media.
While the setup and optimisation process is simple, businesses with optimised GBPs receive 70% more visitors and calls according to JS Interactive (which means more customers and sales!).
If you want to show up on Google Maps (who doesn't?), you also need to have your GBP updated and fully optimised.
Quick Tip: While the setup process is pretty straightforward, it can be time consuming. If you need someone to help guide you through the process, you can reach out to us anytime via our contact page.
Reviews Build Trust so Build Them Into Your Process
Often overlooked by many businesses is the power of social proof. Potential customers are more likely to trust what others say about you than what you say about you.
Getting new customers to make the call and book your service requires a certain level of trust.
Positive reviews help build that trust even for people who have never worked with you before.
Always encourage satisfied customers to leave you a review on your GBP. Whenever you receive reviews (both good and bad) be sure to respond to them professionally.
Quick Tip: High-level secret... use service and location keywords where possible when responding to reviews. Not only does this improve your reputation and relatability with customers who don't know you, it can also help your reputation with Google. Ex: "... glad we could help with your water leak in Inner West!..."
You may be wondering, do reviews really matter that much? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.
According to BrightLocal, 87% of consumers read online reviews before choosing a local service.
Make Website Content as Specific as Possible with Location-Based Keywords
Location specific keywords are key for a location based service business like plumbing.
When writing content on your website don't just say 'We're plumbers.' be as specific as possible.
Describe your services as 'drain repair in Surry Hills' or 'blocked toilet in Bondi.'
Always try to use specific locations and specific services. Yes this usually means you need to create a lot more 'content' but it makes Google realise your content is all the more relevant when potential customers are actually searching for 'drain repair in Surry Hills.'
Try to use keywords like these as naturally as possible on your homepage, service pages, and blog pages.
Quick Tip: Avoid just cramming a bunch of keywords together into a list or a pile. This is called 'keyword stuffing' and Google will punish the visibility of your website for it.
Interested in using location specific keywords but not 100% sure how? Branchlead can help.
Whether you need us to generate a list of keywords for you, or create content that revolves around those keywords.
As your Sydney SEO experts, we can do it all. Contact us to learn more.
List Your Plumbing Business in Local Directories
Another easy win is to get your plumbing business listed on Aussie trade directories like hipages, Oneflare, Yellow Pages, and ServiceSeeking.
This helps improve your reputation with Google and lets you show up in more places.
Quick Tip: Make sure your info including name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all directories. If Google notices different information on your website, GBP, or one of the directories, they will punish your rankings for it.
Build Backlinks from Reputable Sources in Sydney
For many businesses, building backlinks seems like some mysterious thing you do in Google Search Console... but it isn't.
You can think of building backlinks like getting featured in a local newspaper.
Backlinks are simply just links back to your website from other reputable websites.
You can get backlinks from listing your business in Sydney trade directories, plumber associations, and local chamber of commerce sites.
You can even ask local suppliers or partners for a backlink in exchange for a testimonial or featured blog post.
Many businesses find success with backlinks by sponsoring local events or community sports teams.
When it comes to backlinks the key is to be creative in your approach.
Quick Tip: Websites with good reputation that backlink to your website boost your reputation. Unfortunately the opposite is true as well. If a website with a bad reputation backlinks to your site, it negatively impacts your reputation. Avoid sketchy sources of backlinks and websites with bad reputations.
Want to build backlinks but don't know where to start or how to ask?
Branchlead can help make the process simple and do the asking for you. Contact us today to learn more.
Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
As more and more people use their smartphones for everything, being mobile friendly is a necessity.
When most people search for plumbers they usually do it on their phone and in a panic.
If your site doesn't load fast, look good on mobile, and have an obvious click-to-call button, they're going to look somewhere else.
Quick Tip: The best way to optimise for mobile is to hire a professional to design and develop your website; however, for template websites you build yourself there are also options to create mobile only versions.
Try to keep the number of images on each page limited. Use modern formats like webp for images where possible.
Whenever you make any changes to your website, always double check that it works when you try to access it on your phone.
Quick Tip: You can check your mobile speed using Google PageSpeed Insights. Just a heads up if any of the top four metrics are in red, you may want to get a quote from a professional, like Branchlead, to fix it.
Answer Common Plumbing Questions in FAQs and Blog Posts
One final thing you can easily do on your own is add content in the form of FAQs or blog posts around common plumbing problems.
Google loves helpful content (and they love to clip pieces of it to show people who are searching for quick answers).
Writing content related to topics like 'Why is my tap leaking?' or 'How to unblock a shower drain?' get you traffic and a reputation boost from Google.
While these might not be immediate customers, they are people who will come back to your site and when Google sees your site getting frequent return visitors, they bump up your rankings (which means more potential customers see your website and click on it).
This kind of content makes it easier for your website to show up in more places and really bring you more visitors.
You can also include Sydney-specific content for more of a local boost (i.e. water pressure issues in summer droughts).
Quick Tip: Content writing can take a lot of time and resources. If you want someone to do it for you, Branchlead can help. We strategise all content creation to target keywords most likely to get your business noticed by customers. Contact us today to learn more.
What Happens When SEO Starts Working?
While SEO does take a while to work, some magical things happen when you finally get it right. These include:
Consistent inbound leads (without paying for ads)
Higher rankings in Google Maps which means more emergency calls and weekend jobs.
Less reliance on lead-gen platforms that charge you for leads.
What makes SEO even better is these results are just from doing it yourself.
Quick Tip: If you bring on a professional team like Branchlead, you can see even more growth faster without investing so much of your own time and energy.
Next Steps to Power Your SEO Lead Machine
So, what's next?
SEO isn't just for big businesses. Local plumbers in Sydney can see success with SEO too if they take the right steps and stay consistent.
Start with your Google Business Profile and gradually work your way through the list above.
Even if you can't implement all the tips on your own, even implementing some of them can help bring in more leads and customers for your business.
You can also download our local SEO checklist for small businesses here. This checklist can serve as a guide to help you break the process down even further into actionable steps.
Feeling a little overwhelmed or not sure if you have the time and energy to dedicate to SEO?
No need to worry. Branchlead can help your Sydney plumbing business implement a local SEO strategy that fits you.
We have numerous SEO service options to fit your business whether you're just starting out or you've been unclogging pipes in Sydney for years.
Check out our page on SEO for Plumbers in Sydney to get started.
Top SEO Tips for Plumbers in Sydney FAQs
How can SEO help my plumbing business in Sydney?
SEO helps your business show up on Google when people search for plumbing or related services near them. As you get seen and make your way higher up Google's rankings, that means more customers and more sales for your plumbing business.
What's the most important SEO tip for plumbers?
Set-up and optimise your GBP. It's almost always one of the first things customers see and if they specifically search for your business name it comes up first, not to mention you need it to show up on Google Maps.
How long does local SEO take to show results?
For any sort of SEO strategy it typically takes 3-6 months of consistent effort to see any noticeable improvement. If you happen to be in a market with less competition or you partner with an agency like Branchlead that specialises in finding untapped sections of the market, you may see consistent results sooner.
Do I need a blog for my plumbing website?
You don't 'need' a blog, but blogs do help answer customer questions, drive traffic to your website, and improve your chances of showing up in Google searches.
Is SEO better than paid ads for plumbers?
While paid ads are great for short term wins, SEO is the most effective long-term strategy. Paid ads not only stop working when you stop paying, it also tends to cost you more per lead over time. SEO on the other hand keeps generating leads from existing content and the cost per lead tends to go down over time as more leads means your pages rank higher (which means even more leads!).
Should I hire an SEO agency or do it myself?
While you can do SEO yourself, you can definitely save time and energy by bringing on a professional SEO agency like Branchlead. Not only can Branchlead help you get your time back, our experience allows us to get you better results, faster than trying to do it on your own.
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