The UK construction industry is still growing despite concerns that the recession would put a halt to things. Last year alone, the GVA (gross value added) of construction in the UK was £28.9 billion.
While building works are still going strong, many have felt the crunch of recent economic struggles. Therefore, construction companies and contractors must be prepared to remain afloat or grow.
SEO for construction companies could be the answer you've been searching for. Optimising your website for search engines allows you to appear in front of more of the right people, gain more visitors, and earn more sales.
Our guide will help you understand exactly what SEO is, why you need it, and what it involves.
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SEO, short for search engine optimisation, is a method of improving a website so it ranks higher on SERPs (search engine results pages).
The ultimate goal of SEO for construction companies is straightforward. It's to attract more visitors to your website to boost sales.
Understanding how to do this can be challenging since numerous strategies are required for successful SEO. These tactics include keyword research, on-page content optimisation, acquiring high-quality backlinks, reducing website loading times, and more.
You should know that SEO doesn't provide immediate results. Generally, those looking for instant results prefer direct advertising. For instance, PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns can rocket contractors to the top of the first results page.
SEO relies on boosting site visibility organically. Unfortunately, this takes longer as it requires improvements to various technical and end-user elements for your website to appear naturally within the first few results.
Notably, over 53% of all online traffic comes from organic searches. Therefore, organically enhancing your website will help you to achieve long-term wins. This approach also means you don't have to keep up with costly payments to keep your rankings.
An understanding of both how search engines operate and how people look for information online is necessary for effective SEO.
Search engine optimisation is popular for a variety of reasons.
Let's look at some of the most common reasons construction companies and contractors use SEO to promote themselves.
Search engines measure various factors when deciding which websites to rank for specific queries. These include several on-site, off-site, and technical aspects.
And just a note: Before you dive head-first into any specific SEO efforts, you'll want to create a plan. This must include information about your goals, how you will achieve them, and how you will know when you've completed them. A well-designed plan will ensure you have a structured approach and can keep your focus.
As you may have guessed from the name, on-page optimisations are changes made on your website. Typically, these on-site optimisations revolve around your keyword use, content, and internal linking strategy.
We'll dive into these on-site SEO aspects in more detail below.
Keyword Research
During the first keyword research stage, you will likely be faced with a long list of words and phrases. Of course, you won't be able or want to target all of these terms. So how do you choose which keywords to use?
We suggest considering these 4 factors:
Relevance
You'll need to narrow down your keyword list to the terms that best match your business and services.
For instance, a construction company that specialises in residential extensions and renovations will find little benefit in targeting terms related to commercial office builds.
Once you've shortened your list, you'll want to take things a step further. It's time to consider search intent.
Search Intent
It's no good to simply include the terms people are searching for if you are not providing them with the information they want. Instead, understanding what people want when they search specific keywords or phrases will enable you to provide more accurate and valuable answers, which will be rewarded with higher SERP (search engine result page) rankings.
Aside from search relevance and intent, you'll want to think about search volume and keyword difficulty.
Search Volume
Some keywords are more likely to be searched than others. On the high end, some terms may be searched for thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of times in a year.
Keyword Difficulty
Just as some terms have far more people searching them, some are more challenging to rank for. Often, high search volume terms are more competitive. Therefore, it's especially critical to consider if certain keywords are worth targeting when beginning your SEO campaign.
If you haven't already established yourself as an industry authority, search engines will be less likely to reward you with a top-notch rank, especially for a competitive query.
Content Marketing
Once you have your target keywords list, you'll need to plan your content approach. You'll need to consider not just search intent but also what type of content most appears on the first SERP. You'll want to reflect these trends within your own content to ensure your audience finds just what they're looking for.
We suggest asking your customers and using your keyword research to gain insights into what they really want to know.
SEO construction content must be well-written, researched, and relevant. It can help to write around topic clusters since publishing several pieces around the same subject will boost your perceived authority and expertise. Plus, if one does well, it will positively impact the SERP ranking of the other content in the topic cluster.
Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are short snapshots, usually displayed as the answer to a search engine query. These are most commonly seen in Google's 'People also ask' section.
You can find ideas for these commonly asked questions by checking Google's 'People also Ask' and tools like Answer the Public. These will provide suggestions for the questions your target audience is asking.
The idea behind featured snippets is to provide people find the information they seek as quickly as possible. Typically, the first three results on Google SERPs get the most traffic. Meanwhile, websites on the second page or later get practically no clicks, with research suggesting 99.37% of people stay on the first SERP.
Creating content that answers commonly asked questions can rocket your website to the first page of results. This will dramatically increase your visibility and traffic potential.
Images, Videos, and Animations
Online content isn't just blogs or writing. You can (and should) also include images, videos, or even animations in your content.
People resonate and respond to different content styles, so you must offer a mix. Potential clients also want to know what various construction projects look like, finished and in progress. Videos and photos of your real-life work will add authenticity to your website and business, encouraging your target audience to continue their interest and journey with your company.
And that's not all. Images and videos make your website more crawlable for search engines as long as you include relevant structured data in the markup. This helps Google understand more about your page and business.
Internal Linking Strategy
When you hear about linking for SEO purposes, it's almost always about backlinks (which exist on another website and link back to you). However, internal links play a critical role in SEO too.
Internal links help show search engines how your pages connect and can even increase the authoritativeness of specific pages. They can also help avoid confusion if several pages include the same keywords.
And it's not only search engines that internal links benefit. Internal linking can also make your website more user-friendly, helping visitors quickly and easily hop between pages to find the information and services they need.
Web Design and Development
Given that most of your search engine traffic will flow through your website, it's unsurprising that your site must be attractive and fully functional.
SEO tactics like content marketing and keyword research cannot launch your construction website to the first page of relevant searches alone. Poor site design will put people off. On the other hand, responsive web design will ensure you have strong branding, clear messaging, excellent organisation and a highly user-friendly platform.
Some SEO tactics will take place outside of your website. These are often just as important as your on-site changes, increasing your website authority and driving more people to your site.
Backlinks
Backlinks sit on other pages and link back to your website. Generally, you have less control over these and gaining them can be more challenging.
However, high-quality backlinks are vital to rank well on relevant search terms. Google's E-A-T quality guidelines rank websites based on their perceived expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, which is significantly impacted by the number and quality of a website's backlinks.
Local SEO
Local SEO can help construction companies increase their visibility within area-specific searches.
While local SEO terms tend to have a smaller search volume (and potential audience), they are also easier to rank for, with fewer rival businesses beating you to first place.
Social Media
Some construction companies may view social media as just another hassle. But it can be invaluable.
Effective social media marketing provides the opportunity to reach out through more avenues to more potential clients. It can also enhance your backlinking strategy and is an overall excellent way to support your SEO efforts.
Technical Optimisations
Technical SEO essentially makes it easier for search engine bots to crawl and index your website. Typically, technical SEO improvements are made in the backend of a site.
Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Web Design
Over half of all global internet traffic now comes from mobile phones. So, of course, it's crucial that your website looks and works seamlessly on all devices, including mobile phones.
A responsive and mobile-friendly web design will ensure that all potential clients get the best possible experience, making them more likely to continue their journey with your construction company.
Fast-Loading Pages
People have little patience with slow-loading websites. Research actually shows that bounce rates (when visitors leave your site) increase the longer your site takes to load. In addition, conversion rates, the percentage of people taking a desired action like contacting your team or purchasing a service, tend to be highest with fast-loading pages.
If you had all the time in the world, you could work your way around all of the necessary elements of SEO.
Unfortunately, time isn't something that most construction companies have to spare.
Realistically, you'll have to focus on the core of your business. This leaves you with less time to market your company, especially through more complicated and time-consuming methods involved in search engine optimisation.
Most construction companies enlist SEO specialists to tackle search engine optimisation since this allows them to appeal to more people while still having the energy to focus on their business.
That's where Web Choice comes in. Our specialists have years of experience managing the SEO campaigns of construction companies, large and small. We have the practical skills to streamline SEO and boost the number of people seeing and visiting your website.
With our experts handling everything SEO-related, your team can stay focused on construction matters. Contact us today to find out more.
Most construction companies choose an intensive SEO plan that costs around £4,000 ($5,000). However, we also offer a lower-priced and less intensive alternative best suited for smaller and local construction business SEO.
Contact Web Choice for more information on our construction SEO plans and pricing.
Generally, SEO for construction companies will take about 6 months to produce notable effects. While this means a slower initial ROI (return on investment), it offers more prolonged and sustainable increases in visibility, visitors, and conversions (sales).
Construction SEO specialists like Web Choice can help you get more visitors faster with a range of short-term tactics, including targeting longtail keywords and publishing content around topic clusters.
