Home Services Marketing is hard.
You have to think about your customer, your value proposition, the right way to reach the customer, and then even worse… converting that person into a client.
Sometimes it feels like you have to leave your profits behind in order to get your first few clients.
That’s a lot to take in, and it doesn’t even begin to touch on the other aspects of running and growing a service business.
While it may seem difficult, there are actually many ways to market your home services business.
And one of the best ways to market your home services business is through online marketing.
This can include things like search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, PPC ads, etc.
Online marketing can help you reach out to more individuals and attract more consumers to your business.
It’s also an excellent way to stay in touch with current clients and notify them about new services or discounts.
But in order to take full advantage of all such marketing tactics, it’s mandatory to have a
#1. Fully Optimized And Conversion Focused Website
A normal website is designed to provide information about your company or product, and may not be as effective at converting leads into customers.
On the other hand, a conversion focussed website is designed specifically to convert leads into high-paying customers.
A conversion-focused website has a distinct structure in order to make it easier for customers to take action on your site.
It leverages the psychology of the human brain and clever marketing tactics to influence customer behavior by employing techniques like clear call-to-action buttons, color psychology, placement of lead forms, user testimonials, trust seals, social proof, etc.
A conversion focussed website is also fully optimized for the search engines.
This means that the site has been built using the latest SEO techniques so that it appears as high as possible in the search engine results pages (SERPs) to people looking for your services.
This combination of a conversion-focused design and full SEO optimization makes a website much more likely to generate leads and sales.
When it comes to house services marketing, the objective isn’t only to get people to your website.
It’s about getting them to perform an action such as scheduling an appointment, filling out a form for a free quote, or similar.
A typical normal website will fail to meet this goal.
That is why it’s critical to have a website that is completely optimized for conversions and utilizes powerful conversion-focused design.
Have A Mobile-Friendly Web Design
More than 57% of all web searches are done on mobile devices and this number is only going to increase in the future.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a large portion of potential customers.
A mobile-friendly web design means that your website will automatically resize and adjust to look good on any screen size – from desktop computers to smartphones and tablets.
This is important because if your website doesn’t look good or function correctly on a mobile device, the customer is likely to leave your site and go to a competitor’s instead.
A mobile-friendly web design is essential for any business today and should be one of your top priorities when redesigning or building a new website.
Invest In Lightning Fast Themes
According to a study conducted by Google, over half of all mobile users will abandon a website that takes longer than three seconds to load.
This shift to faster speeds will have a dramatic impact on the user experience, so if you haven’t already upgraded your website for speed optimization, it is imperative that you do so today.
All of the speed improvements should be in place by default, if you’re using a decent theme and optimal caching software, allowing you to rest assured that your site loads quickly.
Focus On Core Web Vitals
After the Google Core Web Vitals Update in June 2021, every site owner is responsible for ensuring that his or her website loads quickly.
This means that if your website isn’t yet optimized for speed, you will start to see a decrease in traffic and conversion rates.
The best way to ensure your site is compliant with the Google Core Web Vitals update is to focus on the following three components:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
- Time To First Byte (TTFB)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
To know more in detail like what are these and how to fix these issues on your website, check out this easy guide.
Take Advantage Of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of optimizing the percentage of visitors who take the desired action on your website, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.
Making minor modifications to your website’s content, like the text on your buttons, the color of your CTA, or the placement of your lead form, is one way to optimize it.
It also involves A/B testing various versions of your website to determine which performs best.
Additionally, all service and location pages should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) on both mobile and desktop versions of the site.
At the bottom of every service and location page on mobile, there should be a floating option to phone or fill out a contact form.
At the top of a website, reviews and other prestigious trust symbols should be prominent.
Users shouldn’t have to scroll all the way down your page in order to view them.
All such things need to be done which can increase the conversion rate of your website.
A CRO strategy is an essential part of any business’s marketing plan and should be a top priority for any company looking to increase its leads and sales.
There are many different techniques that can be used for conversion rate optimization, but some of the most common include:
- A/B Testing
- Heat Mapping
- User Feedback Surveys
- Landing Page Optimization
- Lead Capture Forms
- Testimonial Pages, Etc
By using these techniques, you can increase the number of leads and sales that your website generates.
Have A Strong Site Structure
A well-built site structure makes it easy for customers to find what they are looking for without having to drill down through several menus or links.
Site architecture is one of the top factors used by Google when ranking websites in the SERPs.
If your site doesn’t have a proper structure yet, create one based on categories and subcategories that make sense for the services you offer.
Also, internal linking is frequently underutilized by marketers in attempts to improve organic search rankings.
When done well, it can enhance the user experience and SEO tenfold.
You can use SEO tools like Ahrefs to identify internal linking possibilities.
Ensure that blog postings link back to commercial pages on the site as well as other relevant pieces of material.
Ever heard of content clusters?
A content cluster is a group of related pages on a website that strongly link to each other.
This type of structure is beneficial because it allows for better indexing by the search engines, and it makes it easier for the customer to find what they are looking for on your website.
A strong site structure means having a well-thought-out layout that is easy to navigate and includes a clear hierarchy of pages.
It is also important to use internal links to link related pages together, as this will help the search engines understand the overall structure of your website.
Example of a content cluster:
#2. Local Search
One of the best ways to ensure your home services business is seen by potential customers is through local search optimization.
This process involves making sure your business appears as a top result in online searches for keywords related to your services.
There are a number of ways to do this, including:
- Optimizing your website for SEO Traffic
- Creating Google My Business listings
- Citations In Business Directories
- Local Service Ads and
- Google PPC Ads
Let’s explore each of them one by one.
Optimizing Your Website for SEO Traffic
When it comes to home services, your website is one of the best ways to provide information about what you do, how well you do it, and where to contact you.
In addition to driving people who are searching for your services, SEO traffic also tends to perform better in the long term because people seek it out in the first place, rather than just stumbling across your site while checking Facebook.
With that in mind, here are 4 basic types of SEO you need to perform for your website namely:
- On-Page SEO
- Off-Page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
On-page SEO means optimizing your website so that all factors like keywords, images, metadata, etc. are optimized to improve your site ranking on the search engine results page (SERP).
Off-Page SEO is the process of optimizing your website’s external factors like links from other websites, social media signals, etc.
Technical SEO is optimizing your website’s backend in order to improve user experience and site speed.
Local SEO will help you rank in Google Maps when people search for your type of service (and when they don’t, it will also make you more visible to someone who’s searching for something in the same category).
Each of these types of SEO is important and should be implemented on a regular basis to ensure that your website is performing at its best.
However, if you’re pressed for time or don’t know where to start, focus on On-Page SEO first as it has the biggest impact on your site’s ranking.
Once you’ve got On-Page SEO down, move on to Off-Page SEO.
Optimizing your site for the above types of SEO will make your site more search engine friendly, and help people find you when they’re looking for home services in your area.
Not only does this help with ranking higher in SERPs, but it also makes it easier for Google bots and other crawlers to read & index your site.
Remember, good SEO takes time and effort, but the results are worth it.
Keep up the good work, and you’ll be seeing more leads in no time!
With all the above done already, list your website in:
Google My Business (GMB)
Google My Business is a free tool that lets businesses create a listing on Google Maps.
It also allows you to include information such as your hours of operation, website, and contact information.
Here’s how it looks:
To optimize your Google My Business listing, be sure to include keywords in your title and description, and make sure your address and phone number are accurate and up-to-date.
A few things you should keep in mind while optimizing GMB listings for maximum benefit are:
Add Good Photos
Before and after pictures are useful for home services as they show the progress and impact of your work.
Using photos on your GMB listing both increases clicks and cultivates trust.
Make sure that your GMB photos are high-quality, and that they accurately represent your services.
Always Respond to Reviews
A negative review is not always a bad thing.
If someone gives you a poor evaluation, try to work things out amicably.
They may even change their assessment if you can turn them into a happy client!
Always Track Link Clicks using UTM Parameters
Make sure you’re recording clicks using UTM tracking, as well as calls from your GMB, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of your GMB listing.
This will help you make improvements in your business listing in the future.
Leverage Google Posts
With the inclusion of Google Posts, enterprises can now publish text and image updates directly to their GMB page without using a third-party platform.
Make use of this to keep your customers updated on seasonal offers, new services, or other pertinent information.
For managing your Google Posts, try using a Local Viking or DBA platform.
Showcase your Products and Services.
Google My Business makes it simple to list the services you provide and sell your items.
This is an excellent method to show potential consumers what you have to offer.
Highlight Positive Customer Reviews
By utilizing Google Posts, enterprises can now share their positive reviews through the use of rich media such as text and images.
Your customers’ enthusiastic testimonials will aid you in your quest for more customers and drive up sales!
If you’re looking to increase traffic to your website from people searching for home services, optimizing your site for SEO and using GMB together is a great way to get started.
Now that we’ve gone over some basic SEO tips, let’s move on to some more advanced tactics i.e.
Business Directory Citations
Another important factor in local search optimization is citations in popular business directories.
Citations are online mentions of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP), which appear on sites like review pages, social profiles, etc.
Search engines see these citations as votes of trust for your company, so it’s important to make sure they are all accurate on the web.
If you don’t have the time or resources to do this yourself, consider hiring a company that specializes in citation building.
In the long run, these citations in popular business directories like Yelp will help you rank higher in local searches as well as bring more business to your website.
Make sure to have a fully optimized profile on these directories, and check your listings for accuracy on a regular basis.
And if you want faster results, you can choose to move with a paid ads method like:
Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
Another approach to get your home services business discovered on search engines for relevant searches is to utilize pay-per-click advertising, also known as PPC.
PPC advertisements appear at the top of search engine results as a way to quickly attract searchers.
In order to run PPC advertisements for your home services company, you must pick keywords or key phrases to bid on and establish a budget.
When people click on your ad, you incur costs; therefore, they are referred to as pay-per-click advertisements.
Here’s how they look like:
Local Service Ads
Google Local Services advertisements may be used to complement your paid search advertising and make it even more effective.
Home services are one of the industries in which Local Services ads are available.
These advertisements appear above PPC advertising and are intended to give your customer all necessary information so that they can contact you.
Because you are only paid if a consumer converts rather than for each click, local service advertising is preferable to PPC marketing.
To run Local Services advertising, you must first pass through a rigorous verification procedure to become Google Guaranteed, which essentially means that Google will check your licensing and insurance information and notify searchers that you are licensed and insured.
Here’s how Local Service Ads look like:
Coming up next is:
Review Acquisition And Management
Collecting and showing reviews should be your top priority when marketing your home services business.
Potential customers want to see what others have had to say about the quality of your work, so be sure to prominently feature customer testimonials on your website, in your advertising, GMB listings, and even on your vehicles.
You may also ask satisfied clients to submit reviews on the internet.
You can use Rating Grades, Broadly, or Birds Eye to increase your customer feedback.
You can do the same for your other business listings on sites like Yelp.
Email Marketing
Email Marketing is the most cost-effective method to reach out to your consumers.
With Email Marketing, every dollar you invest returns a profit of $42.
This means that if you spend $10,000 annually on this sort of advertising, you could get back up to $42000!
That’s insane!
Also, according to a recent Google study, the number of active email subscribers is expected to rise from 3.8 billion in 2019 to 4.3 billion by 2023.
In addition, this marketing channel is significantly less expensive than PPC or other types of advertising.
How?
You must run PPC advertisements on a regular basis in order to attract consumers.
Sad news, the cost of advertising is increasing each year.
Every year, Facebook increases its ad rates by over 18%.
However, with email marketing, you just need to acquire a new customer once and then sell them your goods or services, and you may even upsell additional items.
As a result, the expense of obtaining a consumer is spread out over time rather than paying on a recurring basis.
The best approach to go is with excellent email marketing software that offers you powerful automation and segmentation capabilities.
Moreover, you can use this marketing channel to get connected with your customers, send discount coupons, and inform them about new products.
It’s definitely a great channel to scale your business!
Building Long-Term Strategic Partnerships
The best way to earn more business opportunities is through partnerships.
Partnerships can be beneficial in a number of ways for home services businesses.
First, it can help you to gain access to new geographies that you wouldn’t have been able to penetrate by yourself.
Second, it can help you to get leads and referrals from other businesses.
And finally, it can help you to build an ecosystem of complementary service providers and vendors who can send business your way.
The best type of partnership is those that are mutually beneficial, where the two parties provide value to each other.
You should look for partners who have a similar customer base and target market as you do.
When looking for potential partners, start by doing some online research and then reach out to them through email or phone.
It is advisable not to demand endorsement from a partner, but instead ask for their opinion and advice on the matter.
If you find them willing to work with you, do your best to keep them in the loop about all developments and be open to suggestions they may have.
You can also ask for referrals or seek out other business industries that can help you generate more business.
Conclusion
It may seem difficult to market your home services business, but the fact is that there are many ways.
It’s also worth noting that one of the best ways to promote your service is through online platforms like social media or websites.
The key to these types of marketing tactics is understanding how they work and what you can do with them in order to reach a wider audience for cheaper than traditional advertising methods.
I hope this guide has given you some insight into all of those aspects, so you’re better prepared when it comes time to launch an effective campaign.