In today’s digital age, a strong online presence is an essential indicator of success for your business. So many companies are vying for the attention of potential customers, and the construction industry is no exception. When it comes to boosting your online presence and attracting enquiries, SEO for construction companies is a must-have.Having a website that is optimised for search engines is crucial if you want or need more customers.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves optimizing your website and content to make it more appealing to search engines like Google. This starts with incorporating relevant keywords and phrases, creating high-quality content, and ensuring that your website is user-friendly and mobile-responsive. By focusing on SEO, you can improve your website’s search engine ranking and attract more enquiries to your site. After all, it’s a well-known fact that most people won’t scroll any further than the first page of search results. Be honest, how often do you? This means that maintaining a presence on the top of the first page of results is paramount.
How important is SEO for construction companies?
Within the construction industry, the goals are usually to increase revenue and expand your customer base. To achieve this, many contractors will look to implement various marketing or PR strategies to increase their brand awareness. But, if you haven’t got your SEO right, these efforts are unlikely to yield the desired results.
SEO has become a crucial element for many companies to generate business. Gone are the days of relying on the Yellow Pages. Now, the majority of potential customers will turn to the internet to find the services they need. Without an effective SEO strategy in place, you’re at risk of losing customers to your higher-ranking competitors.
Investing in SEO for construction companies is a long-term strategy that can yield significant benefits. It needs consistency and expertise to bring your business unprecedented benefits. As above, SEO can help you generate more traffic to your website, increase your customer base, and ultimately, boost your revenue.
How does SEO actually work?
The key to ranking highly on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is by ensuring your website satisfies Google’s algorithm. Essentially, Google follows an extensive list of ever-changing criteria that determine which website ranks where on the results page. The more of these rules you comply with, whether that’s backlinks, keyword mentions, or user experience, the higher you rank. Sounds simple, right? The reality, however, is that Google’s algorithm is complex, making it difficult to keep up.
When you search for anything, Google looks to display the results it believes are of best use to the person searching. Ease of access for users is one of Google’s main priorities. But how does it look to achieve this? Every search engine will follow three main processes: crawling, indexing, and ranking.
First, Google will use crawlers to scan your website, collecting details about its content, keywords, layouts, and more. This data is then analysed using indexing, organising and storing it in a large database. Once a web page has been indexed, it is available to be displayed when queries relevant to it are searched. Finally, the content is ranked against Google’s criteria. This will determine the position your web page appears on the SERP regarding a specific keyword deemed appropriate for the page in question.
What factors can influence your ranking?
When it comes to optimising your website, there are no short-cuts. Everything from your homepage to your blog must be unique whilst showcasing industry knowledge. Unsurprisingly, this can take time. When considering SEO for construction companies in particular, crawlers will be looking out for three factors in your website’s content. These are expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. These three components signal to Google that your website is of value, and that it should be recommended to users. Some of the biggest determinants of meeting these criteria include:
Keywords and content factors
As you’d expect, the content uploaded to your website has a significant impact on its SEO value.
This content should be well-written, informative, and engaging, with a clear structure and relevant keywords strategically placed throughout. Keywords act as the linchpin between what users are searching for and the content your website is providing. This highlights to Google what you are talking about, therefore increasing the likelihood your website is promoted up the rankings. However, keyword stuffing is a no-go. Every word of your content must be valuable to the user, and Google will punish your ranking if it isn’t!
Website structure
In addition to the content placed on your website, the site’s structure itself can also impact its overall SEO value. Typically, Google will prioritise pages that are easy to navigate, as well as those which provide a good user experience. This includes maintaining a clear site structure with easy-to-follow navigation, descriptive metadata, meta titles, and including alt text for images. Also, a mobile-friendly website with a quick loading time will do wonders for your SEO ranking.
Backlinks
Building backlinks to your website is another important factor in SEO. These are links from credible websites that directly point to your website, indicating to Google that yours is also credible. However, it’s important to build backlinks naturally and ethically, as spammy and low-quality ones can harm your SEO ranking.
Contact VerriBerri
SEO for construction companies is no easy task. Most contractors won’t have the time to be meticulous with their content – if they produce any, that is. If you’re struggling with your website optimisation, we’d be happy to help! At VerriBerri, we have over 14 years of experience working across all aspects of SEO within the construction industry. For more information regarding our SEO services, you can get in touch by clicking here. Alternatively, you can call us on 01376 386 850 to speak to our specialist team.