1. Keyword Research
The difference between a good construction SEO strategy vs a bad one often comes down to what keywords you're targeting.
Keywords are words that trigger relevant content to be served in search results. Search engines rank search results predominately based on keyword relevance. If you get every other SEO best practice right but don’t get keywords right, your SEO efforts will fail.
Here’s an example of a search query and its keyword(s):
“Affordable pole barn construction companies near me”
The entire phrase is the search query that consists out of individual keywords, but SEO professional often refer the entire query as a "keyword".
This keyword, if your construction company ranks for it, has a high potential for converting Google users into paying customers . These are often called "bottom of the conversion funnel" keywords and are typically more competitive to rank for.
Here’s another example:
“How to build a tiny house DIY”
This keyword offers no immediate conversion as it primarily serves information search intent. Yet, your construction company can rank for keywords that don’t have anything to do with someone choosing your business right then and there for their next construction project. Ranking for content, like how tos, that offer immediate value to the consumer and doesn’t require anything in return builds trust and brand authority with online users. Often we call these keyword "bottom of the conversion funnel" keywords.
A well balanced construction SEO strategy will include both top of the funnel and bottom of the funnel keywords that your company can rank for quickly and in the longer term.
There are several tools available to help you conduct keyword research. Some of the most popular are:
Explore each of these keyword tools and compare their results against one another so that you can be sure that you’re choosing the best keywords for your construction company’s content.
Keep in mind that not all keywords are created equal. When choosing keywords to create content around, make sure they have the following characteristics:
- High search volume
- Low search competition
- Low bidding cost
- Relevant to your construction business’s expertise
- Product and/or service specific to what your company offers
Sometimes, a keyword with high search volume that’s related to your construction company’s expertise and offerings will also have high search competition and be expensive to bid on. In these cases, it’s important to be clear on your SEO strategy’s budget.
Additionally, if the keywords you want your content to rank for are expensive and have high search competition, consider if the content is likely to earn your construction company more business. Content with strong and sales related CTAs may be worth the expensive and high competition keywords if the content will end up paying for itself.
Content and keywords that are attached to the bottom of your construction company’s sales funnel will have more competition and be more expensive to bid on than keywords at the top of your sales funnel.
It’s important to work towards ranking for top-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel keywords as both are important for your construction company’s growth and success. Keeping the top of the funnel full will help keep the bottom of the funnel full.