Attract More Clients With Highly Targeted
Contractor SEO
This Contractor SEO Guide Has Been Comprehensively Updated for 2023
Due to consistent algorithm updates, the relatively recent Helpful Content Update in late 2022, we’ve updated the written content that already existed on the page. We’ve written new content. And we’ve filmed new video content. Everything is up-to-date, fresh, and helpful for your contractor business to dominate Google for 2023.
Contractor SEO Case Study: siding contractor in Vancouver, WA is now booked up for months from SEO leads
Elite Home Exteriors NW is a siding contractor based in Vancouver, WA.
Before working together (mid 2020):
- Ranking for about 100 keywords on Google
- Averaging about 250 monthly organic visitors from Google
- Rarely, if ever, getting leads from Google organic
Where they’re at now (October 2022):
- Ranking for nearly 10,000 keywords on Google
- Averaging over 5,000 organic monthly visitors from Google
- Booked up for months, with+70% of jobs coming from Google organic
See what Elite Home Exteriors NW has to say about working with us.
How We Help Contractors Grow Their Business & See A
5.7x ROI on Their Monthly SEO Investment
Increase Google Rankings
Get your contractor website ranking on Google for high-value keywords that potential clients are actively searching for.
More High-Quality Web Traffic
Get more interested clients coming to your website each month.
Increased Leads & Phone Calls
Get more motivated construction clients calling your contractor business to schedule a meeting.
You Get Your Time Back
Stop having your receptionist writing blog content or trying to figure out digital marketing on their own.
Here's What You Want To See With Your Contractor Website & SEO
When Someone Types into Google "Contractor Near Me", You Show Up Here...
When Someone Types into Google "Contractor Near Me", You Show Up Here...
Think about the way people search for contractors. They’re closing on their new lot for a home or office space, ready to make building plans, and pull out their smartphone.
They go to Google and type in something like “Contractor Near Me” – the FIRST thing to show up is the Maps area of Google called the Google Local Pack. The contractors that show up here get the most phone calls. They “win”.
When Someone Types into Google "Best Contractor in [City]", You Show Up Here...
When potential clients are looking for a contractor, they often use the language of “best contractor near me” or “best contractors in [city]”.
The contractors that rank in the Maps area for these high-value keywords get the most phone calls and website visitors.
When Someone Types Queries into Google like "Common Questions to Ask a Contractor", You Show Up Here..
When Someone Types Queries into Google like "Common Questions to Ask a Contractor", You Show Up Here..
Potential clients ask tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of questions into Google each day. Questions like…
- “How to find a contractor for home renovations?”
- “Do you tip contractors?”
- “How to respond to contractors quote?”
Ranking for these keywords in Google proves that your website is an “authority” and can be trusted.
People Are Searching Differently For Contractors Than They Used To
Just take a look and see the increase in people searching for “contractor near me” over the last five years.
This screenshot above comes from a tool called Google Trends (a tool created by Google itself). You can see the steady increase in the number of people searching for “contractor near me.”
See The Common Theme? You Want To Increase Your Contractor Business's Digital Presence Online To Be Found By Motivated Clients.
What it comes down to is, you want more people in your area to know that you exist. Whenever they do a Google search around contractors, you want to show up over your competitors.
How Do You Get Tangible Results With Contractor SEO Services?
Step 1: Comprehensive SEO Audit
Most SEO companies skip this step. And, this is the most important step of all.
How can you get your SEO where it needs to be without knowing where you are now?
We recommend doing a comprehensive SEO audit to determine your:
- Current SEO performance
- Current SEO errors
- What your local competitors are doing
- Technical SEO performance
- And more
Step 2: Local SEO Visibility Audit
The goal for contractor SEO is to increase your “local visibility,” as we refer to it.
We use robust and powerful third-party tools to conduct an “SEO visibility test” on your business. This lets us see how visible your business is to Google.
This is what the report looks like:
Step 3: Create a Roadmap Based on Data
We now have a lot of data from the SEO audit and the local SEO visibility audit that we can use to strategize the most effective SEO plan for your business.
Most other SEO companies fail to do this and, instead, go off of a “hunch” that something will work out.
We recommend creating a comprehensive roadmap based on the collected data. If the data shows that your website isn’t loading fast enough (which negatively affects page performance), you should probably prioritize getting that fixed first!
Step 4: Implement Highest Priority Changes First
Here’s where things get interesting:
Not all SEO activities are created equal.
Adding alt tags to the images on a blog post from 2017 won’t be as impactful as improving your homepage’s content.
So, what the data tells us is, you should be targeting the “low hanging fruit” opportunities first.
You don’t yet have a Google Business Profile set up for your contractor business? You should probably set one up! You don’t have a Services page? You should probably build that first before spending time adding internal links to already published blog posts.
Step 5: Local SEO Best Practices & Content Creation at Scale
Local SEO for contractors comes down to the following:
- Consistent information that Google trusts
- Authority
- Accurate information
If your website has a different phone number than what’s listed on your Facebook page, that sends up red flags for Google.
Google will think, “What if a user tries to call but doesn’t get through? This website doesn’t seem trustworthy.” Then BOOM your competitor that DOES have their phone number consistent across all platforms ranks above you. They win over a small but very important detail.
Having consistent NAPs on high-authority directories across the internet is critical.
Now, in regards to “authority,” that’s where content comes in. If you create content that answers your target audience’s questions, Google will see your business as more authoritative than a contractor business that doesn’t have much content on their site.
Step 6: Meticulously Track Data
The point of SEO is to have a tangible impact on your business. You want to get more website visitors. More phone calls. And to ultimately have those activities lead to increased revenue.
In order to be sure that your SEO campaign is working, you have to track data. Build a comprehensive dashboard that gives insights into your:
- keyword rankings
- website visitors
- phone calls
- and other important KPIs
Contractor SEO Services Shouldn't Be 
Cutter - Everything Is 100% Customized To Your Business
Contractor SEO isn’t the same as that of other industries. Unfortunately, many other SEO companies fail to make the distinction. They use the same “tips and tricks” that they use for doctors, restaurant owners, or other industries.
Different industries have different goals and priorities, so we treat your business as unique. We take an individualized approach to each individual industry (such as contractors), to your specific city (Flagstaff might be different than a smaller town in Michigan), and your specific website (is your website built on WordPress or Squarespace).
5 Tactical Local SEO Strategies for Contractors
Strategy 1: Google Business Profile Optimizations
This is an example of a contractor‘s Google Business Profile:
Well, this is what someone searching on Google can see.
Actually, let’s back up for a minute:
Why do Google Business Profile matter for contractors? Google Business Profiles are relevant ranking factors that are important in order to rank in the Google Local Pack (see example below).
Optimizing your Google Business Profile helps you show up there ☝️
And, when you rank in the Google Local Pack, you WIN. You get more phone calls and website traffic than that of your competitors.
But how do you optimize your Google Business Profile correctly so you can get found in the Google Local Pack?
The best way to optimize your Google Business Profile is.. you ready for it? To provide as comprehensive information as possible.
There are many sections in which you can be comprehensive, such as:
- Your main description
- Your categories
- Your services
- Your products
- Your photos
So what does being comprehensive look like? Here’s an example:
For your main description, you may just write something like, “Your trusted general contractor that’s ready to get the job done right the first time.”
That is just one sentence… Google allows 750 characters for the main description. That’s your chance to win over your clients! Do you offer turnkey projects? Do you specialize in any specific site improvements? Can you take over projects that are already underway?
Answering EVERY possible question is how you can be more comprehensive.
Strategy 2: On-Page SEO for Your Homepage and Location Pages
On-page SEO for contractors is simply referring to the content on your website.
It includes things like:
- Your header tags (H1, H2, H3)
- Your title tags
- Your meta description
- Your images
- Internal and external links
- And anything else that you can put on a website page!
So, why does on-page SEO for contractors matter? Well, Google cares about it.
For single-location contractors, the most important page on your website, from a local SEO perspective, is the homepage. For multi-location contractors, the most important pages on your website are your location pages.
When building and optimizing on-page SEO for these pages, you want to use SEO-friendly keywords while also providing as comprehensive information as possible to the user (and Google).
For example, instead of a title tag like “Mark Johnson General Contractors – 503.222.333” you can provide more context to Google by writing something like “Trusted Name in the Construction Industry – Mark Johnson General Contractors”.
Strategy 3: Website Architecture Best Practices
This is an underrated SEO strategy for contractors. Your website architecture is closely connected to your sitemap.
Google crawlers analyze your sitemap to understand your website architecture, which in turn allows Google to gather information on what your website is about.
Here’s what a sitemap might look like to Google:
It might seem a bit confusing, but don’t worry about it too much. The main point to remember is that when Google looks at a sitemap like this, it’s putting together what your website is about (which is super important for local SEO).
Basically, your website structure should make sense hierarchically. Let’s use two of the main types of services that contractors offer – 1) residential and 2) commercial.
Where should these pages live on your site? First, you should probably have a “services” page that has the URL structure similar to .com/services/
Now, any services that you offer (such as residential and commercial) should live UNDER this main services page. See below:
- .com/services/residential
- .com/services/commercial
This seems obvious, but many websites don’t have this vertical architecture. Instead, every page lives directly under the homepage, like this:
- .com/services/
- .com/residential/
- .com/commercial/
- .com/industrial/
With this structure, it’s not clear to Google that “Residential” is a type of service that you offer. It’s just another page on your site!
Strategy 4: Content Creation at Scale
This is where it gets fun. Potential clients in need of a contractor search for thousands of questions into Google every day.
Some are very local:
- best general contractors in Portland
- best bathroom remodeling near Portland
Some are generic:
- Can I DIY all of my home renovations?
- How long does concrete pouring take?
- Does a contractor buy the materials?
- Do contractors charge for estimates?
If you thoroughly answer these types of questions through comprehensive blog articles on your website, it will do the following:
1. You may rank in Google for these keywords that people are searching and drive more traffic to your site.
2. Google will notice your efforts and see your website as more valuable and an authority over your competitors who haven’t answered any questions.
Strategy 5: User Experience is a Bigger Deal Than You Think - Stop the Keyword Stuffing!
Google’s not letting websites get away with things anymore. Keyword stuffing… PBN link building… all the stuff that used to work.
Google’s getting smarter and starting to realize that user experience on a website is important.
What does this mean for you as a contractor?
- Make it easy for users to find the info they’re looking for. It shouldn’t take them 5 minutes to figure out whether your business handles industrial projects or not.
- Make it easy for users to contact you. Your phone number should be clickable on a mobile device. You should consider an online form to request a project estimate. Anything to make the user’s experience SUPER easy.
- When writing content, you need to offer real value to the reader. Gone are the days of outsourcing writers who produce vague, keyword-stuffed articles. Your content should answer the user’s questions thoroughly and add value to them.
On Average, Our Contractor SEO Services Cost
31% Less Than Other SEO Companies
Compared to Other SEO Companies That Average Between $1.5k and $3k Per Month.
Google Reviews Matter For Contractors When it Comes to SEO: Here's Why
This isn’t a rhetorical question:
Which contractor will rank on Google?
- Contractor 1: 472 Google reviews averaging 4.8 stars (but has a terrible website that isn’t SEO friendly)
- Contractor 2: 29 Google reviews averaging 4.9 stars (but has a great website that’s very SEO-friendly)
While the answer is “we don’t know forsure,” there’s a HUGE chance that the contractor that has a terrible website but has way more reviews than their competitors can rank at the top of Google.
If you’re a contractor and you’re not heavily investing time and energy into getting as many 5-star reviews as possible, then you’re missing out on one of the simplest, most straightforward SEO strategy out there (that has huge impact)
FAQs About Contractor SEO Services
Here are the most common questions we’ve heard.
What is Contractor SEO?
Contractor SEO is a form of digital marketing that helps contractors increase their visibility in search engines, namely Google.
The specific SEO strategies used for contractors vary greatly (which is why all contractor SEO is NOT created equal).
Strategies include:
- keyword research
- on-page SEO
- off-page SEO
- local SEO
- content creation
- landing page creation
- Google Maps optimizations
- PR
- and more
Why is Contractor SEO Important?
You need to get in front of your target audience (clients looking for a contractor RIGHT NOW). Contractor SEO allows you to do just that.
Think about the way social media marketing works for contractors: People are scrolling through Instagram or Facebook and stumble upon an advertisement for a contractor in their city. They might be actively looking for a contractor, bu chances are pretty slim.
SEO, on the other hand, puts you in front of motivated buyers looking for what you have to offer:
SEO for contractors allows you to get found in Google for people actively looking for a contractor. People searching for “best contractor near me” or “contractor in Willamette Valley.” Ranking for those keywords has a MUCH higher conversion than people endlessly scrolling on Instagram.
How Long Does SEO for Contractors Take To Work?
Contractor SEO can take 1 week – 6 months for you to start seeing results. It depends on a variety of factors:
- How big of a town or city you’re in
- How long your website has been around
- How high your website’s “domain authority” is
- How your current SEO is performing
- And much more
Some of our clients have seen 2x – 3x the phone calls within a month after starting their SEO campaign. Other clients don’t see noticeable increases in phone calls for 2-3 months.
But consider this, though:
If everyone could make a couple of tweaks here and there on their website and rank overnight for the HIGHEST value keywords out there, like “best contractor in Chicago” then the internet would go haywire.
These things take time. Google built their algorithms that way on purpose.
What Contractor SEO KPIs Should We Track?
Contractor SEO should be meticulously tracked.
You want to know, with absolute certainty, that your investment in SEO is working for your contractor business.
So, you need to track certain metrics to ensure that the campaign is working:
- Keyword rankings: Are your ranking on Page 1 of Google for your most important keywords? How are your keyword rankings changing from week to week? Month to month?
- Organic website traffic: Is your organic website traffic from Google going up or down? Which keywords are driving the most traffic to your site?
- Phone calls: Are you getting more phone calls from people searching on Google? How are phone calls changing over time?
- Online lead submissions: Are you seeing more online leads? How are they changing month over month?
What Type of Content Should Contractor Websites Have?
Contractor SEO should include content that your target audience is searching for actively on Google:
How do we know what keywords/content your target audience is searching for? We use advanced software and tools that give us insider information and data. We, for example, know that 12,100 people per month (on average) search for “drywall contractors near me”.
We do extensive keyword research to find the topics/questions that potential clients have right now, such as:
- “How to hire a general contractor?”
- “Home improvement contractors near me”
- “concrete driveway contractors”
If you create content that answers these questions, then you can potentially rank in Google when people search for these.
Also, Google will favor your site more than competitors because Google will have more trust in your site.
What are the Most Valuable Contractor Keywords for SEO?
How To Work With Us
First of all – we don’t work with all contractors.
We only work with contractors that:
- Are motivated about growing their business
- Have the bandwidth to take the growth that will come from working with us
- Treat their employees and their customers respectfully
Step 2
Check Your Email
In less than 24 hours, one of our talented SEO specialists will send you a 3-5 minute customized video analysis. It will explain opportunities for you to outperform competitors.
Step 3
Sit Back And Watch Your SEO Skyrocket
Just look at our case studies of the success that other Portland businesses have seen. You can have the same results.
If you’re looking for Portland SEO services, we can help. Give us a call today to learn more about our pricing and availability.
Let's Take Your Contractor Business From the "best kept secret" to the "most sought after brand"
