Fort Worth is getting bigger every year. Ft. Worth is one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities and holds the title of 13th largest in the country. Population growth is healthy for businesses, but with it comes more competition. Plumbing is no different. In fact, you can easily find 200+ companies that service the city. So how do you compete and get hired ahead of all these other companies? You need digital marketing for plumbers in Fort Worth!
Why internet marketing for plumbing companies?
More than 90% of people use their phones to look up a local company. We live in a society where we have email, texting, phone calls, and 50 other ways of digital communication sitting right in our pockets. Digital marketing for plumbers is the best way to quickly grow your business and keep track of your progress.
Here are a few benefits of digital marketing for plumbing companies:
- Automate your efforts
- 24/7 access for clients to find your business
- Expand your reach to specific service areas
- Pinpoint and promote the most profitable services of your business
- Scale up and measure your progress with data-driven decisions
What type of digital marketing works best for plumbers?
Regardless of where you’re at in your company’s stage of development, some methods work better than others. Here are the top strategies that generate the most leads (which are almost identical to HVAC SEO tactics).
Google My Business/Google Maps
When you think of the return on investment, this is by far one of your go-to properties to spend a lot of time on. When people look up a local business like “plumber in Fort Worth” what do you think is at the top of the page? We call it the “snack pack” or the 3-pack in Google’s local finder.
Google displays the top 3 listings based on location, reviews, authority, and content. To see the rest of the Google business profiles, you have to click “see more businesses” to get to them.
While this is also advantageous to be in the top 5, it’s just not as good as being on the first page since you only get a fraction of the clicks. That’s why it’s important to have a strong profile that can appear in the top 3 to maximize your search visibility. This leads to the next important strategy.
Local SEO | Search Engine Optimization
It’s not just SEO but local SEO that is the key to unlocking the growth of your business. Fort Worth local SEO focuses on your search visibility in Ft. Worth as opposed to ranking for national terms.
For example, if your website were to rank #1 for the keyword “best plumbing company” you might appear on the first page in searches people make in California to Florida since there’s no city or region specified. People in Ft. Worth would also see your site appear but it’s a wasted effort when the real value lies in local searches in the DFW area.
Local SEO incorporates tactics to get your profile on Google Maps to move up to the top of searches. It builds your local presence with local citations and directories that tie your business into the service areas you want to appear in.
SEO in general is all about playing the long game. The longer you invest the more it pays off. While you may be able to get quicker results with Google Ads (which we will also review), the ROI is exponentially higher once your website is generating free traffic indefinitely.
You cannot beat the competition on Google between plumbing companies without investing in local SEO.
Website Design
This may seem like a no-brainer but a large portion of plumbing companies don’t even have a website. A website allows potential clients to learn about your business any time of the day. It’s always working for you. It also allows you to be found in multiple places on the internet which increases your search visibility a thousand-fold.
It’s not just owning a website that’s important but also investing in the right design. If you cheap out on a website you could be leaving money on the table. When a potential client lands on your website and it looks like it was made by a crypt keeper, you won’t instill confidence in your brand.
An effective website should contribute to your lead generation. This means the whole layout is designed to not only educate but to get a user to call the business, send a form or leave contact information. Other important aspects of the design include being mobile-friendly, responsive to all screen sizes, fast page speed, and easy to navigate.
Pay-per-click Advertising (PPC)
PPC campaigns are a great way to get your business at the top of the search result page for important terms. If you’re just starting, this can mean generating leads instantly without waiting for the SEO to push your site to the top. This also means you’re paying Google for every click to your website, but if you’ve created good ads, you should be able to double your money at a minimum.
Since these are paid placements, Google puts you at the top. However, there is a catch. Since there are so many companies paying for ads, there is a bidding system that is also tied into what’s called your “Quality Ad Score.” If your ads and landing pages aren’t as high quality as another company, you will have to pay much more per click to appear above them in the search results.
While paid ads are a way to generate leads, they also take some skill in creating effective paid advertising campaigns. When done correctly they can be used with SEO to maximize your visibility and lead generation.
Social media marketing
With 3 billion users in the world, it’s hard to deny a platform like Facebook recognition for generating leads. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok are also closing the gap in user enrollment. YouTube is now the most used social media website in the world. Our favorite combination for plumbers is Facebook and YouTube.
These platforms all represent methods of contacting and connecting with potential clients. While most quality leads will come from Google there are still a lot of leads that can be generated on social media. Every company should have at least two social media profiles to build on consistently.
Posting examples of work, testimonials, how-to videos, and educational content to build followers and gain the trust of potential clients. Social proof is gold when it comes to building confidence in your brand.
Email marketing
Email marketing generates one of the highest ROIs in the digital marketing industry. It costs pennies to maintain once you’re all set up with a provider. Businesses refer to their email list as their “cash list” since you can blast your list with promotions and deals to drum up some business.
Email marketing is a way to build relationships and remind your clients that you’re still around. It promotes customer retention and generates repeat business by maintaining consistent contact through a regular email newsletter or periodical promotion.
How to measure and track digital marketing progress for plumbing contractors
Every digital marketing strategy for plumbers can be tracked measured and scaled up or down. It’s one of the best parts of these strategies because the data you collect provides insight into what’s working and what’s not. Here are some of the basic tools you need to use in your internet marketing efforts.
Google Analytics
As a free tool Google provides, it’s surprisingly one of the most powerful in the industry. Using GA allows you to see the source of your website traffic, how long they spent on your site, how many pages they clicked on, and what page they left on.
Even more importantly, you can create “goal conversions” which are what the final goal for the user is when they land on your site. You can track calls (with call tracking software), click-to-call buttons, forms sent, and purchases made. This allows you to determine the value of the traffic that your website is generating.
Google provides installation instructions here.
Google Search Console
Using Google’s Search Console is like looking under the hood of your car. When something goes wrong, you can find out what it is by checking this website. You can also monitor your clicks, keywords, backlinks, core vitals, and pages indexed, submit sitemaps, and submit changes to your URL (redirections).
You can track all activity on your website and how it has performed on Google. To add your website to Google Search Console follow these instructions.
GMB Performance
Google My Business has a tab to show you all of the interactions between your profile and users on Google. Click on the “performance” tab to see your analytics and stats.
You can see how many people clicked on your website, how many people viewed your profile, and whether they used desktop or mobile devices. You can also see how many calls, bookings, and messages were made from your GMB profile.
How much does digital marketing cost for a plumber?
The cost of each digital marketing strategy is different. It’s important to have the basic local SEO plan in place so you’re always improving your website and moving towards the top of the search engines. This is going to be anywhere from $850-$2500 a month on how fast you want to grow.
A PPC campaign can also generate leads quickly so investing $1000 can be worthwhile and show returns on your investment.
A well-designed website will cost you anywhere between $2500- $4000.
Email marketing is a $500 investment to set up but will only cost you 20-100 bucks if you manage your campaign (the higher end of that is assuming you’re paying for content).
Social media marketing usually starts at $500/month.
Traditionally, a plumbing company should be spending 5-10% of its revenue on marketing. With digital marketing for plumbers in Fort Worth becoming more and more of a necessity, it’s important to get started as soon as possible with your local SEO. It’s affordable and an expense you should be able to budget with some extras.
Christian Carere heads the SEO team here at Austin Bryant Consulting. After building an SEO agency in Toronto (Digital Ducats Inc.) Christian was hired by founder Keith Hunn who has created a full-service digital marketing agency in Plano, TX. Christian has been published on Search Engine Watch, Venngage, Small Biz Daily, Grasshopper, Data Box, Socialnomics, and Mention.