SEO for Tradespeople

What is SEO?

SEO or search engine optimisation is the process of creating a website or modifying an existing website so that it is receives as much organic (free) traffic as possible via search engines (Google, Bing, …).

Why should Tradespeople do SEO ?

A certain percentage of visitors to your website will turn into enquiries and a percentage of those will turn into customers. In short therefore: More visitors = More Customers.

How to optimise my website?

Google essentially scans all the web-pages out there, and then with the help of some computer science decides which pages are most relevant to any particular search.

It's really important to note the difference between a website and web-pages. A website is a collection of web-pages. Google will always list a particular web-page as a search result.

I would suggest that optimising a site comes down to 2 steps:

1. Choosing which search terms to optimise for
2. Create pages on your website that are a good match for these terms

Let's look at these steps in turn:

1. Choosing which search terms to optimise for

Let's say I am plumber in Oxford. Which terms are homeowners likely to enter that are relevant to my business? Here are some examples:

• “plumbers in Oxford”
• “plumbers in Oxfordshire”
• “emergency plumber Oxford”
• “outdoor tap fitting Oxford”
• “leak detection Oxford”
• “re-plumbing bathroom north Oxford”

Generally speaking the more specific the keyword, the more likely you may be able appear high in the search results for that term. My recommendation to tradespeople would be to concentrate on these more specific keywords which are highly relevant to your business.

As you might imagine, lots of people enter “plumbers in Oxford”, however appearing near the top of the search results for that term is likely to be difficult.

2. Create pages on your website that are a good match for these term

Let's continue my example. I decide to target “leak detection Oxford”. I would suggest creating a page that looks something like:

• page url: www.neilsmithoxfordplumber.com/services/leak-detection
• page title: “Leak detection Oxford”
• page content: Describe the service that you provide, the type of leaks that you have solved / are able to solve. Illustrate your expertise.

That's it!

I hope this article helps you to generate more traffic for your trade website! Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on how I might improve.