The 4 Things Every Local Service Company SHOULD DO to Improve Lead Generation

Let's paint a picture; you are a talented and experienced HVAC technician, and you've decided to start a residential heating and cooling company. You already have the truck, the tools, and a handful of loyal customers…but do you have a lead generation plan that will help you grow? At Phyxter, we've become exceptionally well-versed in lead generation over the past year; we'd love to share with you what we've learned.

Sustainable lead generation is tied to every aspect of your business. Lead generation feeds your quote process; the more you quote, the less you need to win, which means the higher your margins can be. The higher your margins, the more profit you earn. The more profit you have, the more you can reinvest in lead generation, and the cycle continues. That's how you grow your business.

This article will outline four essential steps a local service company needs to follow to lay a proper foundation for lead generation growth.

1. Get a Google My Business 
2. Get a modern and strategic website that is mobile friendly and uses the AIDA design principle (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action)
3. Get every relevant Local Listing & Citation possible (this means setting up a business listing with Yahoo, Bing, Google, Yelp, BBB, 411, Yellow Pages, etc.)
4. Get new reviews EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc.) 

So, how do these generate leads?

Well, everyone understands that you need a website nowadays, but people often forget that a website is useless if you're not getting traffic to it. Google is how you get the traffic you want!

There are three ways to get your website seen by people on Google:

1. SEM – Search Engine Marketing
2. Map Pack – Hey Google, I need a highly rated plumbing company near me
3. SEO – Search Engine Optimization 

Let's compare the three based on the following scoring metrics (Speed, Cost, and Sustainability) ranked from 1 to 3. The lowest score wins.

SEM works well if you have the money and experience to run effective advertising campaigns. However, if you make mistakes or don't know what you're doing, you could be throwing money down the drain.

The Map Pack takes a bit of time (3-6 months) to get your business ranking but is by far the cheapest and most effective option. So how do you get your business into the Map Pack? There are three main criteria: 1. Citations, 2. Ratings & Reviews, 3. Keywords.

Here is our recommendation to get all three effectively completed.

• Citations: have a reputable company run a competitive analysis on the local listings in your area. Have the company determine which of your competitors have the most citations, and then proceed to acquire more citations than them. This process usually takes around 3-6 months. Contact us if you need help with this.
• Ratings & Reviews: according to Google, there are two essential aspects to ratings and reviews. The first is getting them, and the second is responding to them, and you need to make sure that you respond to them all. We recommend getting a reputation management tool to help you manage all the reviews you receive from multiple platforms. Doing so will make getting ranked on Google significantly easier. You can learn more about reputation management here. 
• Keywords: this is where you need to be a little more strategic. Because the keywords you choose are likely similar to the keywords of your competitors, it's important to consider wording that will help you stand out and rank higher. Choose niche words that still relate to your industry but are a little less well known. A good example of competitive keywords would be "furnace repair" versus lesser known keywords like 'boiler repair" or "smart thermostat." 

SEO is the holy grail when it comes to dominating your local market. If you do this right, you'll not only get consistent organic sales, but you'll build a reputation as the leader in your industry. While SEO is a vast topic, there are some areas that you'll need to cover to get started:

1. On-page Keywords - Target keywords & synonyms 
2. Meta-titles - Keyword, location, unique
3. Meta-descriptions - Keyword, location, unique, descriptive
4. Image alt-tags - descriptive
5. Blogging - Interlinking, Keywords, External linking, 1000 word minimum
6. Value - Stop trying to sell things. Google wants to showcase businesses that try to provide their customers with valuable information. If someone searches, "How to get my furnace working," and you have an FAQ and blog articles that answer this question, then it's more likely that Google will rank your website higher for that person. Once someone reads how knowledgeable you are, who do you think they will call to fix the furnace? 

My recommendation is that every single local service company should start with 1. a modern and strategic website (approx. $14/month), 2. Local listings (approx. $600/one-time purchase), and 3. Reputation Management software (approx. $30/month). These strategies will get you close to ranking in the map pack and will get your SEO headed in the right direction. After getting these organized, I'd recommend a balanced mix of SEO and SEM strategies. That way, you'll get the immediate customers you need to keep the doors open, and you'll be investing in the long-term success of your business. 

I hope you found this article informative and helpful. If you want to learn more about these topics, make sure to follow our newsletter for monthly growth tips and more useful articles.

Phyxter provides every service listed in this article, and we specialize in working with skilled trades companies. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your business!