HVAC KEYWORDS DEMYSTIFIED

Keywords are the key (pun intended) to your HVAC business’s success in search engine optimization and, as such, impactful to the entirety of your HVAC marketing strategy. Your HVAC keywords could be considered the base camp that all your search engine optimization efforts launch from, making it essential to get this part right. Let’s take a deeper dive into how to approach your HVAC keyword strategy.

THE 1-2-3’S OF HVAC KEYWORDS FOR SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

#1: PICK A TOOL, ANY TOOL.

With years in the HVAC industry and lots of insight into your customers’ thought processes, it’s likely tempting to act on assumptions about what the most-utilized HVAC keywords are. While your insights are definitely helpful and hunches should definitely be explored, it’s a good idea to put some science behind it. The great news is there are many easy-to-use tools out there to help you define your targeted HVAC keywords and achieve success in HVAC marketing.

You may be able to accomplish your search engine optimization goals with the free or freemium models of these products, or you may opt to pay a monthly fee for even more in-depth analysis. Your choice will depend on your HVAC marketing objectives, and of course, your budget.

A note about search engine optimization tools: The temptation is strong to tap into every tool available on the internet. The more HVAC keyword and SEO tools, the better, right? Not necessarily, here’s why:

• Not all of them function in the same way and your tracking over time might not align.
• You might over-tool yourself right out of your HVAC marketing budget goals.
• Your team can get confused learning too many tools and miss key trends with non-uniform reporting.

#2: ALWAYS BE TESTING.

The internet is akin to a living, breathing environment that ebbs, flows and fluctuates over time. Many HVAC marketing leaders make the mistake of choosing the set-it-and-forget-it model for their search engine optimization efforts. HVAC keywords that are yielding good search results today may not be as successful 90 days from now, for a variety of reasons.

• Competition for keywords. Remember, your competitors, if they are on top of the HVAC marketing efforts, may be watching. They may see the areas you are succeeding in your search engine optimization effort and try to capture a slice of the proverbial pie too.
• Seasonality factors. In the dead of winter, AC repair might not be a heavily utilized keyword. In the middle of August, it will most likely top your list.
• Trends in the HVAC industry. New products on the market or trends in the housing market could impact the keywords of tomorrow.

The ABT (always be testing) philosophy should be instilled to make sure you pivot away or toward trends that you see in your ongoing HVAC keyword analysis.

#3: FIND THE RIGHT MIX, BUT DON'T OVERDO IT.

The days of cramming as many HVAC keywords into a web page as possible to achieve the coveted page one ranking are long gone. Keywords strategically folded into your web content are still of paramount importance to your search engine optimization effort. Think of it this way: if the user is searching for HVAC keywords such as “best AC repair near me” or “air conditioner maintenance” and your web content contains these words in the title and throughout the body of text, it’s a signal to Google (and Yahoo or Bing) that you’re a good match, so your webpage is served up as a result. You are, however, competing with the HVAC marketing efforts across the industry, so success is never guaranteed.

Many nuances go into finding the right HVAC keywords, using search engine optimization best practices and measuring results, the overview is not much more complicated than that. To gain a strong online presence and succeed at your HVAC marketing goals, you’ll need to define your keyword strategy and keep a close eye on it now and, well, forever!

This post originally appeared on HVACMatt.com.