Home Services: Our Top SEO Tips for 2023

If last year taught us anything, it’s that digital marketing is a MUST for home services businesses. Why? Because people need your help, and they need to be able to find you.

Full stop.

Why the time is now for SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is by far the most effective tool for making sure you come up first on Google and other search engines. And honestly, it’s the best-kept secret for all of the home service companies we see killing it out there while others struggle to keep up with the work they already have. If you’re ready to break into the next level of your business, we’re sharing our top SEO tips to help you get on track this year (and blow your competition out of the water). Let’s dive in!

#1 Be Specific

As soon as customers visit your website, the purpose of your website should be clear to them. Don’t confuse visitors with content about anything else if you offer home services. Specificity in your content will also help you choose the right keywords.

#2 Write Content for Humans

Your content should deliver valuable information to your site’s visitors. You can employ SEO tactics and use relevant keywords, but the old tactic of stuffing keywords to engage search engines doesn’t work anymore. Your first goal is to capture a customer’s attention and offer something relevant.

#3 Use Keywords Where They Matter

Start by identifying the keywords that will drive customers to your site. An easy way to do this is to think about what you personally would type into the search bar if you need help. There are a ton of tools that can help you find the right keywords you can add to your website, blog content, and even your social media. With video taking the lead this year, it’s important to think about using your keywords across channels to capture the most engagement and views.

#4 Remove Anything that Slows You Down

Your site has about three seconds to load before people click away and don’t return. If your website loads realllllyyy slowly, Google will notice and won’t send customers to your site as readily. Streamline your web pages to eliminate large graphics, extra plug-ins, and formatting that doesn’t do well on multiple devices. This is good advice for pretty much everything, in our opinion, and especially important for your SEO.

#5 Make Your Meta Descriptions Unique

Okay, if you’re already earning your degree in SEO basics, this one is important. Your meta description is the copy that appears after the title of your page or blog on Google, and it helps give a little more insight to entice that desired “click.” Each meta description should be a unique snapshot of what customers will find on that page. A well-crafted meta description helps your website rank in search engines and will incentivize people to explore your site.

#6 Create Keywords for Your Images

Imagery and video will be more important than ever this year, so an uncommon tip is to create image keywords for any imagery that lives on your website. It helps because many people find your website via image search, so being more intentional about the image title, description, attributes, and file name in the back end of your site can make a world of difference. We can show you how!

#7 Make Sure Your URLs are Easy to Read

This one can really help you. Keeping your URLs under 60 characters is an insider trick to making sure the search engines know exactly what your page is about so you’re more likely to show up first in a search. Plus, it’s just easier for everyone to understand where they’re going.

For example, which would you click on first? https://innovativeplumber/pages/listing/123/contactus.htm or https://innovativeplumber/contact?

Our bet is that you’d be more likely to click on the second one (and the latest marketing research is showing that most other people would too). So keep it simple!

#8 Link to High-Quality External Websites

If you’re writing a blog, it’s important to include a few links to high-quality content for your readers. Not only are they typically the most helpful resources that add a ton of value to your content, but external links also help give you credibility and incentivize high-quality sites to link back to you in return. Try only sharing links to relevant, trustworthy sites. For example, linking to a respected leader in your community is more effective than linking to a Facebook group. You get the idea.

#9 Add Helpful Internal Links

If you’ve captured the attention of a prospect through a page or a piece of content on your site, you’re already winning. To keep them engaged even longer, include some internal links that give them more helpful information to read or take action in some way on another page. For example, you might always include a link to your Contact page or point back to your services so you can earn their trust (and more points with search engines).

#10 Keep Your Content Updated

With the rise of AI and more and more businesses optimizing their content for SEO, it’s more important than ever to create unique, creative, and original content that stands out from the millions of words published online each day. A great way to do this is to include content that tells a story, and your blog/social media is the perfect place for this. Share stories from your customers, write about your own entrepreneurship journey, or include content that feels grounded in the present and truly helps the customers you want to serve

We’re Here to Help

You don’t have to figure out the nuances of SEO alone. Our team at LMH stays up-to-date with the latest SEO strategies so you can stay ahead of the curve. Contact us today to get started!