SEO For Tradespeople: How to Drive People To Your Website

Due to association with the more middle-class worlds of marketing and digital services, SEO has taken time to trickle down to the world of local businesses. But now with search engine optimisation (SEO) possible for anyone to implement, there are more and more tradespeople becoming aware of the power of SEO. But how is this done? Why is it important? And should you commission an SEO expert UK to help with your website?

Firstly, SEO is like the old Yellow Pages. If you needed, say, a plumber, you'd either ask someone you know or look up 'Plumbers' in your local directory. Now, people search for local plumbers online – mostly via Google. So just like a visible placement in the old Yellow Pages, good SEO is going to make you appear first in Google results when people search for a local plumber or for any tradesperson. To have good SEO strategies, you're going to need to think about the way your services are presented on your website. Top SEO experts will tell you that it's more than just introducing a couple of keywords – SEO is a process that requires change and patience. For example, there are still some tradespeople running basic, single page websites. Despite being built with good intentions, today's Google algorithms (the things that work out what tops a page of results) are going to punish your website. Instead, you'll want to stretch out your services onto individual pages. Are you a plumber and on the Gas Safe Register? Then have separate pages for the likes of toilet installations, unblocking drains and boiler repairs.

You'll also want to let people know your contact details as soon as possible. Each page should start and end with your phone number. This serves as a 'call to action' – a way of actively encouraging and making it easy for potential customers to call you as soon as possible. There are also a number of other strategies that can help boost your SEO – like your online presence on business directory platforms. Any good SEO expert UK specialist will tell you that being on the likes of Google Maps, Google My Business, Yelp, Yellow Pages and so on can help to bolster your local SEO efforts. This is because it tells Google's algorithms that your business belongs to a particular location. So if you work to build up your directory presence, then people searching for, say, an electrician in Bath will be more likely to see your business in results than before. In some cases, these directory pages may even be your strongest asset when it comes to appearing highly on Google search results. But are these things enough to boost your Google rankings alone? They will certainly help – but if you want true results, your best bet is to hire SEO experts.

As you'll likely say to your clients about their DIY efforts – they can try it, but you'd do it better. The same is true of SEO services. Learning to do it yourself can achieve results, but the experience and adaptability of SEO expert UK based companies will ensure you get the most out of your website's optimisation.