A few years ago, having an online presence was a lot easier and different too. The internet surfers would avoid the ads, and go for the organic options that were being provided to them. However, things have changed now, and below is a rundown of how they have.
- Ads Are Everywhere: As of this moment, whenever you search something on Google, you will be given ads about that specific product or service. Simply because Google is running several different ad campaigns, and most of the times, they are hard to distinguish.
- Local Maps Are Trending: Another change here is that Google Map Packs are now trending. These maps show the search results of your locality and offer reviews as well. This can drastically affect the SEO results, too.
- Search Queries Are Becoming Shorter: Users do not have to type a lot of content into the search bar in order to get an answer. If you want to find something, simply type in the name of the service you are looking for along with the city you are from and you are good to go.
- Reduce Content Consumption: This is something all of us are going through. When we are on the internet, we do not prefer consuming content in large chunks. We prefer shorter sentences, and things that are to the point.
- Other Services: If you are looking for a home, it is highly unlikely that you would stick to Google when options like Homeadvisor, Yelp, or other such options are available.
What to Expect From SEO as a Contractor
First thing, I would tell you is that the SEO for any website is not a magic pill that you pop and everything is fine and dandy. It is a slow process that can be good if you are patient with it. However, most people get confused about what SEO really is.
Well, simply put, there are three types.
- Google Local.
- Optimizing your website.
- Getting organic traffic through marketing.
The best tip that we would give you is that if you are short on budget, stick to Google Local as it is free. You also need to make sure that you have your website operating at the optimal level, and your website runs on phones without any issue.
Once that is done, you can focus on content marketing in order to make your content authentic, engaging, and in order to give a message that you know what you are doing.
SEO is Not All About Keywords And Searches
What most people forget here is that SEO is more about what you are posting rather than the keywords you are using. You could have the best possible keywords out of everyone and you might still not get Google to show your content. Why? Simply because your content was not up to the mark.
You should use your keywords but only do it in a natural way.
How Google Can Tell Your Website And Content is Good
Okay, now that we have had the talk about SEO for contractors, we are going to look at how Google decides whether your content is something that should be on the top or not.
- Dwell Time: This is a term that Google uses to talk about how long a visitor spends on your website before they decide to move to another website. The longer the time they spend, the better it will be.
- Page Speed: Internet is getting faster and faster, and users do not want to spend a lot of time waiting for a page to load. The faster your page loads, the more engaged the user will be.
- Mobile Optimization: More than 63 percent of the internet is being used on mobile phones. What good is a website if it does not work properly on smartphones.
Getting Listed on Google Local
This can be a tricky thing to achieve, but for many of us out there, getting listed on Google Local is the way to win at making your website grow. The best way is to go for reviews, and also the content that is being published on the Google Local wall. All of this plays a huge part.
Optimizing Your Website
Another really important factor that you must know is about optimizing your website. This covers a lot of information such as the speed of the page, proper WordPress plugins, page formatting, meta titles and descriptions, and other similar characteristics.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the most important thing that you should know is that SEO is so much more than what people might tell you.
At the same time, it is not difficult to achieve as long as you are being careful about it. Just know that your reliance entirely on SEO is not going to be good. Therefore, focusing on other aspects is also important.