The social media landscape in 2021 does not align with a plumber’s daily routine. So, while a bunch of college kids create false versions of themselves, frequently on beaches in the Caribbean, plumbers inspect the depths of a septic tank in Everytown, Illinois.
However, research confirms the importance of social media for plumbers, and according to speakers at SEO conferences throughout the U.S., social media signals have around a 20% influence over organic rankings.
The harsh reality is that ignoring social media because of personal disdain allows ego to get in the way of business. There are always aspects of a job that we’d prefer to ignore. Unfortunately, social media is now one of them for plumbers.
So how does an anti-social plumber leverage social media for the greater good? There are several ways and digital marketing agencies like Plumbing Webmasters can help. But the bottom line is this; you don’t have to be social to take advantage of social media.
Leverage Social Media With Advertising
People spend more time on Facebook than they do eating. The average person visits Facebook 14 times per day. As a result, Facebook is a great place to run a business ad. You don’t have to put up some contrived video while feigning enthusiasm. Instead, invest in a professional-looking ad with a high-quality photo and a call to action. You can even target demographics so that you narrowly focus on homeowners over 30 in your local service area (or anything that your target market calls for). In summary, advertising on social media provides these benefits:
Demographics: Target your specific consumer base on Facebook
Professionalism: Avoid the ridiculous videos and post an image-based ad
Rankings: Acquire the social signals which influence organic rankings by up to 20%
Visibility: Get your services in front of the eyes of the massive social media audience
Invest in Social Media Marketing Services
If you hate the idea of social media entirely, you can hire a social media marketing firm to handle all of its aspects on your behalf. Plumbers who can afford to do so should also delegate these responsibilities to experts. Marketing involves republishing blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and sharing essential news updates on the same platforms. Instagram is the fastest growing social platform and requires visual content to require some form of concession on the part of the plumbing contractor. We can help make the process go smoothly. Here’s where you can market:
Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter
YouTube
Yes, YouTube is social media, and yes, we know most of you don’t want to be on there. The good news is that you don’t have to be. Plumbing Webmasters does provide video packages that would serve as short commercials for your company. Furthermore, we offer YouTube ads as part of the Google Ads package (formerly AdWords). If you need help with any part of your social media campaign, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Just make sure you understand the importance of this medium to the overall strength of your online presence.
Most plumbing companies did not start with private equity money. They started with one guy in a truck. So when we hear plumbers speak about the fear of the more prominent companies, it’s a misconception on their part. The key to dominating your city and region is local SEO for plumbers. The top companies in your area have mastered local optimization, and you can surpass them if you have the right plan. So what’s separating the so-called top companies from your own?
Marketing for Plumbers
They aren’t better plumbers than you. They aren’t better people than you. What they are better than you at is marketing. Usually, this is because they hired a company that specializes in marketing for plumbers. But not your neighbor down the street or your son-in-law’s brother fresh out of college. We’re talking about legitimate and verifiable marketing firms and website designers. The difference is almost always that simple. So what does a professional marketing firm do?
Content Marketing
Google My Business Optimization
Organic SEO
Paid Advertising
Website Design
Google My Business
Google My Business is an organic search element. In other words, when locals search for plumbing services, they’ll find nearby companies via Google My Business / Google Maps, which come up as organic results. You cannot pay your way to a top 3 Map ranking; since Google grades it algorithmically. You need the help of professional marketers if you hope to rank at the top of Maps results, and you need a professionally optimized Google My Business page. What does that entail? See below:
Address Verification
Google Posts
NAP Consistency
Website Affiliation
Get Dominate as Hell
To take your plumbing business to the next level, a dedication to excellence must be present. When the company owner does not call for marketing, do they have their lackeys do it? If so, they aren’t serious about marketing. Domination requires dedication. Having someone who doesn’t know what you go through daily and investing in marketing on your behalf won’t get you to dominate as hell, but in leads hell instead. You will never get page one rankings with this kind of subpar effort. How to be dominant:
Eliminate Excuses: Stop worrying about a more prominent company and do it
Invest in Yourself: Hiring a real marketer is an investment in yourself; hiring your nephew is a favor
Take Control: Call the marketer yourself, don’t have a lackey do it
Organic is Not Dead
76% of consumers still use organic search. Rumors of its demise are false. When you look for an avenue for marketing success, organic is as opportunistic as its ever been. Yes, PPC for plumbers is still available but organic is the most cost-effective. Remember, organic includes Google Maps results as well as the knowledge graph and featured snippets. There are many opportunities available. Some of them include:
Google Maps Results
Knowledge Graph
Traditional Organic Results (1-10)
Featured Snippets
Spend Money to Make Money
Organic SEO is so affordable. So why refuse to pay for it? Still, some plumbers tend to avoid spending any money on marketing whatsoever. The trick to making money is spending it. That doesn’t mean you have to break the bank on SEO, either. All you need is a custom design, custom content, structured URL, on-page SEO, and local SEO. You can then add paid advertising as a bonus. If you spend money wisely, you’ll make all of it back along with a significant profit.
One misnomer is that being a great plumber and person will help you rank. I can assure you there are worse plumbers ahead of you on the results. There is no Google algorithm metric for morality or quality. Sure, Google Reviews help define a company’s overall standing, but many times companies who’ve been around for 20+ years have earned that rep on consistent marketing alone. Frequently they have been passed down to new generations who are worse at their job. You can pass them with regular marketing efforts.
A plumbing marketing budget is dependent on funds. Throughout this post, Plumbing Webmasters will provide valuable insights into smart budgeting for plumbers and eliminate much of the stress of choosing the best way to spend money on marketing services. Our goal is simple, increase lead generation and return on investment, things that primarily every plumber identifies as ideal.
Budgeting Basics for Plumbing Marketing
Most plumbers come to us concerned about their current budget and complain that their spending is not producing an appealing enough profit. Sometimes this is due to disagreements among business partners, or sometimes it is based on long-standing misconceptions within the plumbing industry about what kinds of marketing campaigns work. We believe digital marketing for plumbers should focus on four categories:
SEO
PPC
Social Media
Other
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The foundation of your marketing is SEO, and that’s because SEO involves a wide range of tasks that include everything from website design to Google Maps, page optimization, and much more. Unfortunately, because SEO can take months to influence lead generation, many plumbers decide they don’t want to invest in it all. This impatience can be disastrous for your long-term marketing plan. Sure, ignoring SEO would give you a more significant budget to expand in other areas, but it wouldn’t matter in the long run.
Plumbing Webmasters strongly recommends that search engine optimization is the foundation of your marketing plan, and as a result, your marketing budget. We suggest that $900 – $1000 goes into your SEO marketing on a per month basis.
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
Paid advertising is usually the most appealing marketing service for plumbers and, therefore, the area they prefer to spend a good portion of their budget. Google Ads (Formerly AdWords) is not the only form of paid advertising available to plumbers. Companies can advertise on Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms while implementing remarketing and pixel tracking to appeal to previous website visitors.
Social Media
Social signals are a prominent local ranking factor, according to MOZ’s Local Ranking Factors study. Because plumbers are local contractors, having a social media presence should be accounted for when allocating your marketing budget. Of course, social media marketing and social media advertising are both options. Marketing like SEO is organic, while advertising like PPC is paid. Both can yield favorable returns if appropriately executed.
The primary social media platforms on which plumbers should be marketing are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube.
And no, you’re not going to have the most engaging social media content being in the plumbing industry, but that’s not what social signals are about in this case. Instead, they are about sending signals to Google that your company is legitimate and willing to promote its services to consumers ethically.
Other
Old school marketing tactics like car wraps and local sponsorships are still valuable but far less than they once were. Still, many plumbers are under the impression that these types of marketing investments will yield favorable returns. The impact of old-school tactics depends on your existing brand and market. If you can afford these types of measures, then you’re probably already marketing online.
Referral channels are another valuable way to market your plumbing company. Forming relationships with real estate agents, plumbing suppliers, and other entry-point merchants can get you jobs year-round. In addition, as you acquire new customers, it’s crucial to leverage your brand by asking them for reviews on Google, Facebook, and other platforms.
Will You Try Our Marketing Breakdown?
Plumbing Webmasters has tried to simplify the marketing allocation process for contractors. If you’re open to this type of marketing plan, please let us know, as we can talk you through the process with more specific detail that relates to your company.
Avoid the stress that comes along with budgeting for 2022. Plumbing Webmasters can make this process more convenient than you ever imagined to be possible. We handle every aspect of internet marketing for plumbing contractors, including; SEO, PPC, and social media. Empower us properly allocate your resources and hold us accountable for the results.
In 2021, keywords for plumbers are frequently associated with PPC and even more so with organic SEO. The two concepts are often perceived as interconnected. While SEO is much more expansive than a single element, keywords remain essential optimization aspects. In today’s episode of The Plumbing SEO Podcast, we discuss how plumbers can rank for high-volume keywords with buyer’s intent. As you listen to the podcast or watch its corresponding video, you should be aware of the following ideas:
What is a Plumbing Keyword?
A plumbing keyword is a term or phrase that users search for on Google. Different analytical tools across the web provide data that projects how often a word or phrase is searched. The projected number is known in SEO circles as “search volume.” and is usually divided up on a per month basis. So if a term like plumbing repair is said to have 1,200 search volume, the presumption is that 1,200 users search that exact term in a given month.
Keyword Research for Plumbers
The tools mentioned above help plumbers and their marketing representatives track and target the most relevant and opportunistic keywords. Depending on the current standing of your website, you may have a legitimate chance to rank for highly competitive keywords, or it may be a struggle. That’s why effective research requires context and a defined set of goals for your company. Some of the best tools available on the web for keyword research include:
Before 2017, Google’s algorithm was unable to perceive the context of a search query truly. Marketing gurus could focus on the keyword itself. Today, Google’s algorithm can now perceive context, making SEO more difficult but creating a superior user experience. Instead of a verbatim keyword being enough to rank a website #1, the content must now contain supporting language known as LSI or semantic search. The most basic way to describe the idea is to use synonyms to craft a page of content that matches the searcher’s intent rather than the text exclusively. Of course, this supports Google’s goal of enhancing user experience.
Ranking for Keywords
Various factors go into ranking keywords, more than just the concepts listed previously. Sometimes ranking has more to do with ancillary components than the content itself. Sure, content is the fuel, but SEO is the engine. Things like the age of your domain name, its domain authority, and its brand syndication across the web play significant roles in determining the ranking of a keyword. There was a time in the mid-2000s where brand new websites could rank on page one for a keyword within months. Today that’s only possible for terms and phrases that have little to no competition.
Keyword Placement for Plumbers
Before Google’s algorithm could recognize context, most SEO’s engaged in a behavior known as keyword stuffing. Writers would enter as many instances of a keyword as possible. Some would even resort to unethical means to stuff their pages even more. They would hide the text by using white text coloring so that only Google’s crawlers could see the hundreds of extra keywords, but the user could not. Google was able to police this and now penalizes anyone who engages in it. Still, keyword stuffing remains off-limits for plumbing websites. Using the term or phrases unnaturally throughout sentences can hurt your rankings. It would be best if you still placed keywords in the following areas (but in context):
Image Alt Text / File Name: Rename the image file using the keyword and then tag it in the Alt Text as well
Meta Description: The description of the page, known as the “meta”
Paragraph Text: Used at least once in the paragraph (body) content, but in a natural way that appeals to the reader
Title Tag: The SEO title of the page
URL: If possible, it’s good to use the term or phrase in the URL slug itself
Statistics show that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. For local plumbers, this is a significant number. Before Google was the number one source of lead generation for plumbers, companies acquired contacts via word of mouth. Your reputation as a contractor or company was based on what your clients said about you. The difference back then was that words traveled more slowly than they do today. In 2021, word of mouth now travels at the speed of the nearest WiFi connection. It’s incumbent on modern companies to get more plumbing reviews to grow their business.
The Foundation for Plumber Reviews
Before you can generate reviews, you need somewhere for people to publish them. In the case of local plumbing companies, the main places will be Google Reviews and Facebook. You’ll need to create, optimize, and verify your Google My Business page and corresponding Google Maps listing, as well as your Facebook Business Page. Aside from these two leading platforms, it’s also helpful to have profiles on sites like Yelp, BBB, Angie’s List, and HomeAdvisor. The more review signals Google interprets, the better standing for your company. Consider the list of platforms you should have an optimized profile on:
Angie’s List
BBB
Facebook
Google My Business
HomeAdvisor
Yelp
Not only do these platforms make it convenient for customers to leave reviews on their choice of website, but it also helps brand your company in the eyes of Google. NAP citations are a significant factor for brand authority, and the more platforms you’re listed, the more power you build from the signals they produce. You might be thinking that the opportunity to leave reviews also encourages bad reviews, but you must trust that Google prefers seeing a couple of bad reviews to no reviews at all. The same is true of customers. They’d rather see 4.5/5 than 0/0. It’s your job as a plumber to give your clients a platform to voice their testimonials.
Generating Reviews
Once you have the platforms set up, you now must encourage customers to leave reviews on them. We noted that Google My Business and Facebook are the most important platforms and the ones you’ll want to encourage a customer most often to leave feedback. So how do you ethically do that? First, you should let go of any unethical ideas. For instance, paying someone for reviews will almost certainly come back to haunt you. Even giving someone a “discount” for leaving a testimonial violated guidelines. Instead, you should follow these steps:
1. Ask in Person
2. Provide Business Card With Links
3. Follow Up Text / Email
4. Follow Up Phone Call
Exercising common sense is highly recommended when pursuing feedback. For example, a satisfied customer is someone you certainly want to ask in person and then follow up via text, email, and phone call. Conversely, someone who treated you poorly and seemed unhappy with your service is someone you shouldn’t mention a review to at all. Why encourage them to leave negative feedback? Sure, they might do it anyway, but there’s no reason to increase the probability. Even for good customers, you’ll want to stop asking them after the follow-up phone call because if they get yet another reminder after that, they might get upset and feel that you’re harassing them.
Managing Reputation
Now that you’ve generated your share of reviews, you must manage your online reputation. The more reviews you receive, the higher the likelihood that you get a few negative ones. For instance, 24 (5) star reviews and 1 (2) star review would provide an aggregate star rating of 4.88. That’s going to appeal to consumers considering your services far more than seeing only two perfect (5) star reviews would. That being said, when you start noticing more and more feedback, you should execute the following steps:
Step 1 – Respond: Always respond to reviews, both negative and positive
Step 2 – Resolve: For negative reviews, attempt to resolve the issue in a private forum
Step 3 – Report: Any reviews that are inflammatory or insinuate false claims can be reported to the platform
Step 4 – Maintain: Always keep an eye on your reviews, and have notifications whenever new ones are left
Finding time to manage your reputation online can be a challenge. Luckily, companies like Plumbing Webmasters exist to assist you in these areas. Our team of digital marketers provides reviews and reputations management for plumbers. Our DataPins SEO tool integrates your review links onto your very own company website. Also, it automates reputation management so that you can focus on the daily operations of running an excellent plumbing company. Doing great work will mean better reviews, which will help you rank higher on search results.
Plumbing Webmasters
We hope you listen to The Plumbing SEO Podcast to learn more about how plumbing companies can manage their reputation online and how it can directly influence your bottom line. If you decide to watch the video version of the pod, please give it a like on YouTube, which would help us in our efforts to spread to word about marketing for plumbers. Our goal as an agency is to provide affordable marketing services to contractors throughout the United States. We understand those angry customers are far more likely to leave reviews than satisfied ones — unless we make it more convenient for the latter. Whether it’s our DataPins software or our optimization of Google My Business profiles, we maximize the chances of receiving complimentary feedback.
We cannot understate the importance of establishing trust and reputation online. If you had to choose between every marketing endeavor on the web, reviews and reputation management would be at the top. Sure, you still need SEO, website design, and content marketing. Still, none of them will have much of an impact if you fail to establish a favorable reputation in your local community, which is now almost entirely online.
Service pages for plumbers are individual URLs dedicated to a specific plumbing service, such as sewer line repair or water leak detection.
Although the concept of service pages sounds relatively simple, implementing them on plumbing websites can often lead to confusion and misalignment, resulting in lower rankings, fewer clicks, and fewer conversions.
As the founder of Plumbing Webmasters, one of the original SEO companies for plumbers, I will outline how to optimize service pages for your plumbing website.
Key Takeaway
Plumbing service pages, also called “money pages” or “commercial pages”, perform best when they have clear formatting, strong internal linking, and target a single, specific search intent without overlapping with other pages.
The Anatomy of a Plumbing Service Page
Unlike blog posts, which are top-of-the-funnel content assets, service pages display high commercial intent and represent bottom-of-the-funnel content.
In essence, a consumer who lands on your service page should already know what they need and why they need it, which positions them to convert at a much higher rate.
Considering this, your service pages should focus on specific plumbing services within a particular location.
H1 / Title Tag
Your H1 and title tag should both feature the service (i.e., slab leak repair) and the location (i.e, Sandy Springs, GA).
H1s and title tags should be written in title case and provide Google and AI platforms with a clear description of the page.
Your H1 and title tag are also the initial definers of your search intent, which in this case would be slab leak repair services for Sandy Springs residents.
Body Content
Your body content has two primary goals: to match the user intent established by the title tag and H1, and to demonstrate EEAT, experience, expertise, authority, and trust, which are the tenets of Google’s algorithmic analysis of service pages.
Examples of EEAT within body content include writing from the first-person perspective of a licensed plumber and referencing specific things about your business, such as your number of Google reviews or recent awards and jobs.
Your writing should also focus on an NLP-friendly format, which means writing in concise, straightforward sentences that are easy to read and understand.
Internal Linking
Internal linking to and from your service pages significantly impacts how well they are crawled and rank on Google and AI platforms.
Service pages, such as plumbing pump services, should link to sub-services like booster pump repair and sump pump repair, and vice versa.
You should also ensure that the anchor text of your internal links is descriptive, such as “booster pump repair.”
Subheadings (H2s, H3s)
Subheadings like H2s and H3s help organize your service pages for readers, search engines, and AI platforms by drilling down the content into subsections.
This is where SEO expertise comes into play, as it’s crucial to determine whether something warrants its own service page or is better suited as a subsection of an existing page.
For example, the terms drain cleaning and drain clearing will each register search volume on keyword search tools like SEMRush and Moz, however, Google’s algorithm clusters them into a singular user intent, meaning they should be combined into one page.
Calls to Action (CTAs)
Calls to action like clickable phone numbers or contact forms are an integral part of a service page.
Unlike blog posts, which are intended to be informational, service pages are openly commercial, as visitors expect you to be offering a service and are seeking a way to contact your business efficiently.
CTAs should align with your site’s overall theme and color scheme, as appealing visuals contribute to a holistic user experience for plumbing consumers.
Why Plumbing Webmasters Values Service Pages
The SEO industry tends to overlook service pages because they capture long-tail keywords (5 words or more) that don’t generate a search volume on popular SEO tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Moz.
However, for local plumbing companies, most clicks come from precisely this type of query, one that will not show up as a query in your Google Search Console report but will show up as a click.
At Plumbing Webmasters, we’ve been implementing service pages into our clients’ SEO strategy for more than a decade. Each of our clients’ websites targets individual services like gas line installation and pressure tank repair.
Your service pages should reflect your company’s available service types, which you ultimately control. Of course, higher ticket services are going to generate the highest ROI and lower the cost per acquisition.
Here’s the national average cost of plumbing repair services by repair type:
Optimizing a web page for sewer line repair should be a priority, provided your company is capable of performing the service successfully.
The inclusion of this page within your site should not conflict with the page for clogged drain repair, which will be optimized exclusively.
A plumbing website can receive organic traffic from Google search queries and generate valuable leads if properly designed and optimized.
By having multiple service pages, each optimized for its specific niche, web traffic should be diverse, translating to leads and revenue.
Tracking Service Page Performance
To consistently refine your website, you must measure its performance via Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
These free tools empower companies to track their traffic source and how frequently individual pages produce clicks and leads.
Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 helps plumbers measure service page performance by tracking traffic, user behavior, and conversion events.
You can use GA4 Acquisition Reports to see where visitors come from, including organic search, referrals, paid ads, and social media.
Once Google starts tracking Search Console data, you can view queries users are searching to find your website, track how many users click on specific pages per day, month, and year, and even track URL crawl errors.
By comparing clicks month over month, you can accurately gauge the performance of your service pages in Google search.
Additional Considerations for Plumbing Service Pages
Importance of Site Structure
To optimize individual service pages effectively, the process must start with site structure. Your website should feature a logical structure that includes top-level pages and low-level pages.
A logically sound structure facilitates a positive user experience and appeals to search engine crawlers and AI crawling bots.
Here’s an example of a logical website structure for plumbing companies:
Home
About Us
Residential Plumbing
Clogged Drain Repair
Water Heater Repair
Commercial Plumbing
Gas Pipe Repair
Sewer Line Repair
Contact Us
Obviously, the structure will vary by company and depend on the services their business offers.
Some plumbers specialize in residential plumbing, which would become the top-level service page with several sub-pages underneath.
The About Us and Contact Us pages help the visitor learn more about your company, its philosophy, and, in the case of the Contact Us pages, how they can best get in contact with your business.
Differentiating City Pages from Service Pages
On the surface, city pages might closely resemble service pages, which can create problems with keyword cannibalization and content redundancy.
At Plumbing Webmasters, we generally advise against publishing city pages on your website as they typically violate Google’s Helpful Content guidance and/or meet the criteria of doorway pages.
My agency developed a proprietary software called DataPins along with an embedded city widget box to allow service pages to rank for multiple cities based on proof of real plumbing jobs in those areas.
By targeting specific services through long-tail keywords, plumbers can capture local customers looking for a particular service type near their location.
Plumbing companies can maximize the impact of their service pages by crafting an SEO-friendly site structure, implementing on-page SEO, and capturing lead information.
By following the service page optimization guidance outlined in this post, plumbers can significantly increase their website and Google Maps conversions.
Strategically placed calls to action increase conversions on your plumbing website, resulting in more consistent lead generation.
I’m Nolen Walker, the founder of Plumbing Webmasters, a digital marketing agency that’s helped thousands of plumbers attract and convert customers.
CTAs or calls to action are an integral part of my agency’s digital marketing strategy, and our years of in-house data reveal their importance in a successful campaign.
What is a Call To Action (CTA) for Plumbers?
A call-to-action (CTA) is an element (usually a clickable button) that encourages users to complete the desired action (i.e., phone call, form submission, email subscription, etc.).
For plumbers, a CTA commonly urges website visitors to schedule services or call the company phone number.
Best Plumber Call To Action Ideas
Most plumbing websites have a CTA, whether they intended to or not.
However, well-crafted CTAs often separate successful plumbing companies from those barely surviving.
Even plumbing companies that generate consistent traffic to their website may fail to convert most of it because of poorly implemented CTAs.
Let’s consider some ideas to ensure your CTA proves effective:
1) Incentivize Action With Free Stuff
Who doesn’t love free stuff? We’ve yet to meet one and doubt that you have either. The four letters F-R-E-E jump off the screen to consumers.
Offering a discount for first-time customers or including a complimentary item or service as a bonus can quickly generate interest.
Check out some of the examples below:
Call (Phone Number) To Claim Your Free Plumbing Inspection
Subscribe Here To Win a Free Bathroom Remodel
Text (Phone Number) For a Water Heater Repair Coupon
2) Create Urgency With Time Limits
Compelling CTA’s have a sense of urgency, and there is no better way to create urgency than a deadline.
A discount deadline makes consumers feel like an opportunity is right before them and that they must decide to take advantage of it.
More times than not, people will opt to take advantage in fear of missing out on their chance.
Check out some examples:
Book Your Plumber Within The Next 12 Hours For a 25% Discount
Call (Phone Number) In The Next 24 Hours For a 50% Discount
Subscribe Within 6 Hours For a 20% Off Coupon
3) Focus on Personalization
As the internet has evolved, consumers have become progressively more sophisticated, which reduces the reach of a “one-size-fits-all” message.
Furthermore, users are pickier than ever. To reach a consumer at their core, you need to appeal to them personally.
With this in mind, compelling calls to action make customers feel like you are speaking directly to them.
Some examples include:
Click Here For Your Personalized Plumbing Service
Get The Bathroom of YOUR Dreams By Calling (Phone Number)
We Can Fix YOUR Broken Garbage Disposal; Call (Phone Number)
A trend that may impact plumber SEO is voice recognition. Though the technology has been around for decades, voice assistants weren’t readily available (Until 2011, at least).
They were never reliable enough to prompt regular usage. This technology’s accuracy and subsequent popularity improved around 2016, and the trend has been growing ever since.
Voice assistants are now familiar in households, and users rely on these assistants to perform search queries.
There are three major players in the voice assistant market:
Amazon Echo (Alexa)
Apple IOS (Siri)
Google Assistant
When voice assistant hardware spiked in 2017, Amazon Echo was at the forefront of the revolution. Its integration with smart appliances, including refrigerators, ovens, light bulbs, and security systems, made speech commands virtually limitless.
Apple IOS was the first major brand to introduce virtual assistants to the masses way back in 2011.
Because the error rate was still relatively high at that time, it lost momentum and never ascended as expected. Today, the technology is much more accurate and was recently added to Apple HomePod to compete with the other industry giants.
Google Assistant focuses more on its namesake, Google, and is exceptionally reliable for vocal search queries.
The Influence of Voice Assistants on Plumber SEO
SEO is the process of generating organic traffic to your plumbing website through search engines. Now that search engines are integrated with virtual assistants, plumbing contractors must adapt their strategy.
There are several things to consider when formulating a plan that accounts for this new technology.
User intent is a significant function of organic search results in 2022 and should be the basis for your new plan. To adapt plumber SEO to voice assistants, focus on the following:
Featured Snippets: Users often pose questions to voice assistants such as “who, what, where, when, etc.” and answering these questions on your website can earn you a featured snippet, something that Google Assistant and others will read back to users
Knowledge Graphs: Marking up your website for knowledge graphs ensures that Google pulls your business information on search results for relevant keywords.
Local Optimization: An optimized Google Business Profile, and regular social media activity, can boost your chances of being referenced by voice assistants.
Long Tail Keywords: Users speaking tend to elaborate more than they would if typing, meaning longer tail keywords could become more valuable to search optimization
With accuracy rates higher than ever on major platforms, the trend of voice assistant technology isn’t going away any time soon. Voice search will more than likely continue to ascend and become even more influential on plumber search engine optimization.
The good news is that the SEO experts at Plumbing Webmasters can help you adapt to the latest technology. We offer Plumber SEO services to contractors across the United States. Our team continuously evaluates the latest trends to put your company in the best position to succeed.
As human beings, we tend to react emotionally to criticism. This can manifest when customers leave negative reviews for our plumbing business, especially when they feel unwarranted.
However, emotional responses can be detrimental to a plumbing company’s long-term reputation.
While it may feel good to release emotional tension at the moment, it is not what’s best for long-term business growth and prosperity.
According to a Harvard Business School study, every one-star increase in Yelp rating translates to a 5-9% revenue increase.
As a business owner, it is your job to enhance your reputation, even when that means personal restraint.
The following post will outline how to handle negative plumbing reviews.
At Plumbing Webmasters, we’ve worked with thousands of companies on reputation management for plumbers, and our insights are based on that first-hand experience.
Abide by these five key steps to handling negative reviews for your plumbing business.
How to Respond to Negative Plumbing Reviews
Use professional language
Attempt a mutual resolution
Explain your perspective
Offer to fix the problem (if applicable)
Don’t panic over one review
1) Keep it Professional
Use professional language that customers would expect in a business setting. Agitated clients may attempt to engage in a shouting match, and some may even resort to vulgarity or personal attacks.
Remember that if you reduce yourself to their discourse, they win the argument, and your company loses.
Highly influential platforms like Google help shape consumers’ perception of your business, which is why responding to Google reviews for your plumbing business is part of your digital marketing strategy.
2) Attempt to Resolve
Inquire about the customer’s contact information to resolve the dispute via telephone or other communication.
Your reputation can’t be harmed with a private conversation, especially if you can fix it before they make their statements public. Future clients will never know the conversation occurred.
3) Explain Yourself
Don’t make excuses for poor performance, but explain what happened from your perspective respectfully.
Sometimes, customers are looking for a simple acknowledgment more than having a goal of harming your business. However, be careful not to come across as guilty if you didn’t do anything wrong.
4) Offer a Discount
Sometimes, offering a discount or refund may be the best long-term strategy.
Discounts are especially effective when your company has actually done something wrong, such as failing to show up on time or providing subpar services.
Sometimes, a technician goes rogue, and you’re forced to clean up the mess. A well-intentioned discount will often do the trick.
5) Don’t Panic
It is important to remember that one or two negative reviews will not destroy your reputation. The sentiment is even more true if you have built up a collection of positive reviews.
Investing in reputation management is critical for plumbing companies.
As you receive more plumbing reviews from satisfied customers, it will positively impact your bottom line.
Primary Causes of Negative Plumbing Reviews
Sometimes, the plumbing contractor did a poor job and deserved criticism. Other times, the issue is more about communication and interpretation.
For example, if your billing agreement stated one thing, and the customer misinterpreted it, they might blame you for something you had no control over.
It is important to note that customers often will contact you directly before taking their complaint online. It is best to resolve this dispute immediately so that the negative review is never published.
If they post the review, keep things professional for the public eye.
Billing Issues
Anytime clients disagree over money, your company will hear about it online.
We don’t need to explain why handling your financial terms is crucial, but sometimes customers only listen to what they choose to.
Resolving these cases over the phone or in person rather than in a public online forum is crucial.
Performance Issues
If your company performs enough jobs, some customers will find your work dissatisfactory.
If your plumbing services provide genuine value, such occurrences should be rare. However, even the best plumbers can’t please everyone.
The key is to resolve the performance problem if it truly exists. If the customer is making something up, you must try to illustrate why they’re wrong (but never in an online forum).
Scheduling Issues
Sometimes, a customer’s complaint has nothing to do with money or performance but with scheduling.
We’ve all been there as plumbing companies, noticing a scheduling conflict with our technicians.
Your priority should be ensuring the best scheduling practices for your customers. If you encounter an issue, apologize to the customer and offer a solution to make it right.
Conclusion: Responding to Negative Plumbing Reviews
Negative plumbing reviews are one of the unpleasant parts of the service industry. However, how you handle negative feedback partially determines your company’s long-term reputation.
While unfounded criticisms often spark an emotional response in business owners, responding professionally is best for business.
As a long-time marketing agency for plumbing companies throughout the United States, our experience managing online reputation has produced consistent growth and success for our clients.
By following the steps outlined in this post, your company can navigate pessimistic feedback on the way to sustained success.
It Was a Pleasure Serving You!
×
Hello! If you have any questions, leave your info below and we'll call you.
