Get More of the Customers You Want.

Online reviews have become essential to any plumbing company’s brand and marketing efforts. Our survey from 2021 shows that 92% of people regularly read online reviews.

Our own recent online review survey showed that 63% of respondents said they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Additionally, 51% of people said they would not hire a local home service business if they didn’t have any online reviews.

Online Reviews Help Increase Search Engine Rankings

Online reviews can help to get your website and your local Google “Maps” listing ranked higher. This is because citations and reviews are major pieces of how Google’s algorithm ranks your website locally.

The more reviews you have across a variety of platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook, the more quality signals you’ll send back to Google, as well as to your potential customers.

Positive Reviews Increase Conversion Rates

The second reason that online reviews are important is that they help convert more prospects into customers. Beyond search ranking factors, reviews serve as social proof to your potential customers that your practice will provide them with great service.

Many plumbers say that word-of-mouth referrals are a central part of their marketing strategy. However, data suggests that more people leave online reviews than give reviews or referrals in person. Additionally, far more people say they trust online reviews (almost 85%) than those who do not.

Conversely, bad online reviews can have a very negative impact on your marketing efforts. The Harvard Business Review found that a 1-star difference in ratings resulted in a 5-9% change in conversions.

How Plumbers Can Get More Online Reviews

If you want to generate more online reviews, having a process of asking for reviews in the first place is key. Simply sending an email or asking in person is the first step. You can do this very easily by creating a Google review link and sending it to customers directly via email or through a text message. Another effective way to build your online reviews is to use a tool like BirdEye or GatherUp which helps automate the process of requesting reviews.

The second way to demonstrate credibility and authority is through the content you publish on your website which we cover in the next section.

Knowing Your Audience – We see a lot of plumbers describing services they offer. While this is important to do, alone it makes for very boring and repetitive content. Instead, we suggest you start with your ideal customer. What problems are they looking to solve, what questions might they have? What’s going on in their lives? How can you help? Think about what information would be most helpful to them.

Keyword Identification and Targeting –The first step in content creation is to make a list of topics to create content for. Think about your conversations with potential customers when they first call you. What word choices do they use when they discuss their problems? Take note of these word choices, most likely this is what they, and many others, would type in a keyword phrase search.

You can then use free tools like Ubersuggest to find keywords and content that your prospective customers are searching for. You can also start typing something into Google, and you will see suggested search results. This usually is a good indicator of what your prospective customers are searching for. You can also scroll down to the bottom of Google’s search results where you will see “searches related to” with more ideas you can use.

Unique Value (Selling) Proposition – You should spend some time considering the benefit of your services, how you solve your customer’s plumbing needs, and what distinguishes you from the plumber down the street. You should then create website copy and pages that communicates the value of your services quickly and in a way that is obvious to your potential customers.

Website Pages

Your website pages should be used to introduce your company, describe your services, and answer common questions. Your pages should be used to build credibility and authority around your plumbing business. It’s important to use these pages to communicate the full extent of who you are, what services you provide, and your capability to deliver results for your customers.

You want to be very clear about the extent of your plumbing services, as well as the geographic area(s) you serve. There should be no doubt left in a prospects mind about what the services you provide are, and how you can help them with their plumbing needs.

Blog Posts

Your blog exists for two reasons. First, to show prospective customers that you’re a knowledgeable, trustworthy professional and second to get people to find your post, come to your site, and eventually call your business. Your blog posts should be centered around keywords and topics your prospective customers are searching for (see “keyword identification and targeting” above). If you do this, and create quality blog posts, you really only need to blog once a month to get big benefits from it.

Images

The images on your website should look professional and be used to support the content you’ve written. They should be a visual representation of your content so that main points and key ideas are highlighted and illustrated. Images are a great way to subtly and subliminally convey that you are a local expert.

You can find images to use for your website pages and blog posts from sites like Adobe Stock and Pexels. It’s important to use at least some of your own custom images as well. Cell phone cameras are now fully capable of taking a high-quality picture that can be used on your website. You can also hire a local photographer to make your website images more personal and professional. People respond to local and personalized images far more than stock images, so it’s best to use stock images sparingly.

Videos

In 2020, it’s going to be more important than ever to get going with video marketing for your plumbing business. Current data shows that you are up to 10x more likely to be featured on the first page of Google if you include video content on your website. It’s an increasingly popular way for consumers to gather information online. Videos can also help you build trust with your potential customers which can improve your conversion rates substantially.

The design of your website is critical to communicating the right message to your prospective customers. A clean, simple to use site with a strong, unique personality can instantly set you apart and help increase conversions.

Many plumbers struggle to articulate what services they provide in terms that their potential customers can easily and quickly understand. When designing your site, always put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes. Your website should be able to communicate the value of your plumbing services in a matter of seconds and your message should be crystal clear, enticing and memorable.

A good plumbing website conveys what makes you unique and helps you stand apart from your competition.

Online, trying to be all things to all people is a great way to reach no one. Effective design zeroes in on the attributes that set you apart and communicates that unique identity through images, videos, words, and how your website is organized.

A good plumbing website answers a prospective customer’s questions.

Make it simple for prospective customers to know that you are the answer to their plumbing needs. A well-designed website clearly communicates this upfront by answering questions they might have before ever speaking with you.

You can do this by answering frequently asked questions that you hear when speaking with prospects and current customers alike. Include these questions and answers throughout your website, in headlines, FAQ pages, and anywhere they fit naturally.

A good plumbing website has personality.

Don’t just be another “stock/template” website. Keep in mind that while you’re selling plumbing services, you’re also selling yourself. Don’t be afraid to add personal touches such as your photo to your website.

Also keep in mind that people are looking for a local expert. Avoid using too many stock photos. Choose images that reflect your personality, services and geographic area(s) you serve. Then, reinforce those messages in headlines and other prominent blocks of ad copy.

A good plumbing website is easy to use.

Your website should be mobile optimized with easy to read content on all devices. Fancy features such as Flash video and graphics, sliders or other memory-consuming content can actually make the user experience worse. Expensive features like this rarely increase conversion rates. Keep your website straightforward and easy to use.

Make sure that mobile versions of your website include features like “click to call” buttons and very simple contact forms. It should be easy for people to know how to contact you.

SEO can be labor intensive and time consuming, therefore it’s not a bad idea to consider outsourcing the project to a competent SEO company. Search engine optimization should be an ongoing process that you have a plan to keep doing for as long as you want to stay high up in Google’s search results.

That said, having a basic understanding of how a successful SEO campaign works is important. Any SEO campaign done for you should include all of the elements listed above. Furthermore, the price of SEO services varies widely. It’s absolutely a good idea to talk with multiple companies and compare their price and the tasks they’re actually performing for you.

If you’ve tried PPC marketing and haven’t had the results you’d hoped for in the past, it’s likely due to one or more of these reasons:

• Targeting the wrong keywords (or using the incorrect match type). A “broad” match keyword for example can show ads for the wrong practice type. And truth be told, you should never target a keyword as broad as “plumber”
• Your website isn’t setup correctly to convert prospects into customers.
• Your campaigns are not optimized correctly (this includes ad copy, ad extensions, and landing pages).

So, how do you execute a PPC campaign that attracts your ideal customers while maintaining a healthy ROI?

Target the Right Keywords

It’s vital you ensure your target keywords speak to the search’s intent and readiness to hire a plumber in your area. You don’t always want to target keywords as broad as “plumbing” or “plumber.” These keywords can cost as much as $20+ per click and often convert at a very low rate. This is because a broad match type for the keyword “plumbing” could end up showing your ad for searches such as “plumbing parts.”

Make certain that you are only paying for your ad to show up for extremely specific keywords related to the services you offer and the area(s) you operate (i.e. “plumbers Seattle”). Paying for traffic from keywords that are too broad is the fastest way to waste your PPC budget with no results to show for it.

Refine your traffic with negative keywords. Negative keywords are terms that you don’t want your ad to show up for. For plumbers it’s important to include negative keywords such as “jobs”, “salary”, and in some areas “union” to prevent your ad from being clicked by employment seekers. There are many other negative keywords you may want to include as well, such as local competitors and keywords pertaining to specific services that are not ideal for your plumbing company.

Target the Right Geographic Area

Targeting too broad of an area is another way to quickly spend ad budget without a return. Take the time to consider your target customer and know what geographic areas they would be searching from. If you have multiple locations, separate these into their own campaigns so you can target each accurately and individually. You can target your ads at zip codes, cities, and even a radius around a specific address (such as your office).

Use Keyword Targeted Landing Pages

It’s also importance to direct certain keywords to targeted landing pages. For example, if you offer bathroom remodel plumbing services and somebody clicks on one of your remodel ads, make sure that ad takes them to your bathroom remodel page and not your homepage.

The more specific you can make your whole sales process using Google Ads, the better your results will be. Remember, prospective customers go through a progression of searching keywords. They scan results, clicking on a compelling one, and land on a webpage. They then either read and call you, or click the back button depending on how relevant your page is to their needs.

Keys to Increasing Your Conversion Rates

Display Online Reviews on Your Website

Social proof is one of the most powerful and fastest ways to increase your conversion rates. What we find is that many prospective customers find a plumber by searching a plumbing service and geographic specific keyword first (i.e. “drain cleaning Houston”). They then go back to Google and search for that plumber specifically and include the keyword “reviews.”

Preempting their search by showing them all of your best reviews on your website first can increase your conversions significantly.

Create Keyword Targeted Content Pages

The content on these pages should be optimized for specific keywords such as “drain cleaning” (whatever the Google Ads phrase or SEO keyword you’re targeting). They should be unique for each specific service you are offering and promoting.

The content on these pages should specifically address (in detail) the search phrase a prospective customer used to arrive at the page. Going the extra mile to create a valuable, free resource for your prospective customers is one of the best ways to set yourself apart from your competitors.

Make Sure a Person is Answering Your Phone

It’s amazing how many plumbing businesses are not answering their phones with a real person. If a potential customer calls and can’t reach you right away, they’re moving on to the next listing on Google. Don’t spend time, money and energy getting more traffic to your website if you don’t have a good system in place to have a real person answer every phone call at a minimum during regular business hours.