The HVAC Marketing Plan

Almost every business begins with little to no funds for marketing. As a result, even experienced companies can experience a dry season. However, a few steps could make all the difference in the coming years instead of battening down the hatches and doing nothing.

Today, Jason and Nolen discuss how to start up your HVAC marketing plan even if you don’t have lots of funds. They’ll focus primarily on growing your search presence, which gradually creates a steady influx of HVAC leads for your business. So if you’re operating on a tight budget, be sure to listen in.

HVAC Marketing Tips for Professionals:

* Always begin by setting up your Google My Business account.

* Buy a cheap template site to start developing your online presence.

* Start asking for client reviews, and never stop!

* Register your domain as close to your name as possible. Avoid generics.

Low Budget Marketing

Let’s not waste time. There’s an ideal way to do online search marketing, but sometimes a tight budget prevents people from choosing the best. That’s life. Thankfully, you don’t have to sit on your hands and hope that business will pick up enough to start getting online clients one day!

The following HVAC marketing plan focuses on free and extremely low-cost solutions that will build a foundation for your brand. We need to be extremely clear: you (probably) will not notice tremendous results from the start. However, your business will be in a much better place six months from now if you faithfully follow this process.

Here we go.

Step #1: Get Listed in GMB

Google My Business (GMB) offers free listings to help your business get started in local search. These listings are essential if you want any organic leads. According to a recent publication by Search Engine Journal and extensive research by Merkle, “Organic search produced 23% of all site visits in Q2 2019.” However, without registering your company with GMB, your company is unlikely to earn any leads from Google.

Steps for Registering Your GMB Account

* 1. Go to google.com/business/ and get started.

* 2. Submit your company name, location, and industry information.

* 3. Set your service radius from your business address (or home).

* 4. Submit your contact information.

* 5. Choose a method to confirm your listing with Google, then confirm.

Step #2: Build a Cheap Website

There’s a couple of sweet spots for getting the biggest bang for your marketing budget (or lack thereof) when it comes to website design. On the low end of the spectrum, we’ve found that it’s usually better for startups to begin with a free template design or something dirt cheap. There’s no illusion of fanciness or complicated optimization.

Many HVAC companies start experiencing problems when they move beyond the $100 threshold. Of course, you’d expect somewhat higher results and capabilities from a $300 website, but most companies who offer those design packages use a cheap template anyway. So you might as well save the money and invest it in another part of your business.

Source:

Of all the Google search trends we observe at HVAC Webmasters, one of the most alarming is seasonal drop offs. Not consumers dropping off of the search engine, but HVAC companies dropping off of the front page. Ranking changes happen, but many heating and cooling professionals inflict this problem on themselves.

“Should I halt my HVAC SEO efforts during the slow seasons?” Today, we’re going to answer this very important question, and why you should almost never abandon search engine optimization altogether. Be sure to listen in if your company ever struggles to earn sustained lead generation.

Key Points to Hold Onto

* Google doesn’t recognize the seasonal shifts for HVAC businesses.* Seasonal PPC campaign changes are okay, but neglecting SEO isn’t.* Continued efforts during slow seasons could net you better rankings!

Fighting the Natural Urge

Google search trends show it and HVAC professionals know it: the heating and cooling industry naturally booms during the hot and cold seasons. That’s why so many businesses strip down to a skeleton crew in the spring and fall. Since business starts to lag during these months, you’d be forgiven for thinking that your online marketing can follow suit.

PPC campaigns and social media work can handle the downtime. Organic SEO is another story! Extended periods of inactivity typically result in serious rank drops. When the slow period ends and the busy season roars back to life, your website will face an uphill battle to recoup the traffic losses.

More Compelling Reasons

When marketing stops, ranking power gradually drops too. Instead of stopping there however, let’s explore some key Google search trends that provide more compelling reasons to continue your organic SEO efforts during the slow seasons.

When the Competition Takes a Break…

The fabled Tortoise and Hare story teaches the dangers of untimely breaks. On the flip side of that story, we learn that when the competition takes some time off, it’s a wonderful opportunity to gain some ground! Google search trends teach us that many HVAC professionals take some time off from marketing during the spring and fall seasons.

That’s the perfect time to rank up in local search!

Continue writing your keyword-rich blog articles. Take some time to update and enhance your service pages for a stronger user experience. Keep collecting reviews! As competition naturally starts to fall in local search rankings and your brand starts to climb, you’ll be in prime position for the next busy season!

HVAC SEO Still Earns Leads

While volume may start to drop as part of the seasonal Google search trends, consumers still need their heating and cooling services! Nowhere is this more true than in Texas and other warm climates, where high temperatures naturally extend far into the fall. Homeowners and businesses continue to experience part failures, even if it’s on a smaller scale.

With fewer competitors actively courting these consumers, that’s more revenue for your business to pursue. These clients contribute to your reviews too, sharpening your image for the upcoming busy months.

Even in the spring and fall, consumers continue to research replacement options for their furnaces and air conditioning units. If you start planting seeds during the off season, there’s a good chance you’ll earn some very valuable replacement leads in the fu...

One of the most alarming of all the Google search trends we observe at HVAC Webmasters is seasonal drop-offs. In other words, HVAC companies are dropping off of the front page. Of course, ranking changes happen, but many heating and cooling professionals inflict this problem on themselves. “Should I halt my HVAC SEO efforts during the slow […]

If there’s anything we’ve seen in the year 2019, it’s more of the same from sleazy HVAC SEO companies. We hear all sorts of stories and tales from contractors across the US, but a handful of common tactics seem to pop up pretty consistently. Tune in as Jason and Nolen discuss digital marketing red flags to avoid in 2020. Be sure to listen in if you’re looking to expand your HVAC business next year!

Useful Tips on HVAC SEO

* $300 a month simply can’t support sustained work on a website. * Stick with month to month pricing! Long term, flat fee contracts often backfire if your digital marketer isn’t motivated to perform.* SEO for HVAC should produce results within two to three months.

Tricks from SEO Companies

It’s a sad truth of our industry. The handful of well-intentioned, productive services often fall beneath the waves of sophisticated money grabbers. Experienced sales pros learn to sway businesses with high reaching claims and confusing verbiage. So many people get burned every year by shady SEO companies, that many HVAC contractors swear off online marketing altogether.

We don’t want that to happen for your business! After all, online marketing provides many valuable opportunities to connect with lifelong customers.

So let’s make sure that the sad tale of all these hardworking professionals is not your story in 2020. Below, we’ve outlined some of the most common tricks used by SEO companies to trick contractors. Learn these trends, then use the knowledge to weed out candidates for your HVAC marketing team.

Trick #1: The $300 Pricetag

Somewhere in the last decade, the $300 online marketing pricetag rose into popularity. It because so commonplace, that our team receives questions about it all the time. “These other HVAC SEO companies offer a $300 monthly package. Why don’t the Webmasters do the same?”

Because a package priced at $300 (or less) simply doesn’t work.

For such a small sum, digital marketers can’t afford to provide a comprehensive or sustained effort towards your website, let alone PPC campaigns and citations. Results continue to shrink as that price edges towards the $99 dollar threshold. How many experienced web designers do you think can produce a front page ranking site for less than $100? Zero.

$300 Per Month Will Not Cover All the Activities Necessary for Productive SEO.

Why the Low Price?

“That doesn’t make sense.” you might say. After all, why would a business advertise their services at such a low price if they can’t produce results at that rate? First, it’s easy for a company to buy a cheap (or even free) WordPress template and lightly customize it for a client. Second, they only have to accomplish enough work to convince the client that results are on the way.

A $300 package may also be used to coax a business into purchasing other services. More often than not however, the low price point simply covers a single “specialized” marketing service. Listen for fancy buzzwords that sound convincing, but don’t actually provide results.

Red Flag Phrases from Cheap SEO Companies

* “For only $300/month, I can provide website development,

If there’s anything we’ve seen in the year 2019, it’s more of the same from sleazy HVAC SEO companies. We hear all sorts of stories and tales from contractors across the US, but a handful of common tactics seem to pop up pretty consistently. So first, tune in as Jason and Nolen of HVAC Webmasters […]

What does the online marketing landscape look like as we advance towards 2020? What sort of HVAC SEO strategies can your company use to climb the ranks even higher this year? Nolen and Jason discuss some helpful tips to increase local search visibility and earn more leads. If you’ve struggled to make page 1 rankings in Google Search, be sure to listen in!

Helpful Points for HVAC Companies

* Original content is still important, but it’s a baseline now.* Collecting reviews is more essential than ever.* Make sure your Google My Business account remains active.

A New Baseline for Marketing

Original content. That’s a concept businesses live and die by, but also a practice that’s become the norm for those looking to perform well in local search. While everyone can and should pursue original content that provides real value for consumers in their target market, it’s simply expected now.

In other words, quality content is the new baseline.

To actually win front page rankings and develop a consistent pool of website traffic, roofing contractors have to go above and beyond that baseline. Thankfully, there are plenty of tools at your disposal to rise above the competition and let your brand stand out. Some of them are free tools from Google, while others may require a little investment from your company.

Google My Business Activity

It’s one of the easiest resources to access, yet so many businesses fail to claim their free Google My Business (GMB) account. If you haven’t claimed your business listing, you’re liking missing out on hundreds of potential customer impressions! Fill out as many boxes as possible, as Google will be more likely to present your business during a local consumer search.

GMB accounts come with a number of fun tools to showcase your company. The portal allows businesses to upload original company photos, videos, and infographics. You can also create updates and promotions that show up whenever someone searches your company name. It takes only a few minutes to upload a photo, write some catchy insights about common heating and cooling challenges, then send out the post for viewing in local search!

Be sure to post on a regular basis, as GMB posts disappear a week after crafting them. All posts can be viewed from your archives, but Google only shows recent releases in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Posts are Also a Great Means of Showing Internal Company Life.

You can upload images to serve as your company cover and office exterior shots. Just be careful that the photos you post represent your company well. As of now, there’s currently no way to ensure that your favorite photos are the ones actually showing up in local SERPs.

Review Management and Collection

Apart from your company website and content optimization strategy, nothing impacts local search like customer reviews. As such, all great SEO strategies work to incorporate a steady influx of client feedback. Google used to favor reviews from its own portal (Google Reviews), but now it prefers them from a variety of sources.

You’ll notice that many of the top industry performers work hard to consistently gather reviews from their customers. You’ll find these companies standing out in local service packs, earning premium leads for some of the most popular services. As you can see, even a little effort goes a long way when it comes to reviews.

What does the online marketing landscape look like as we advance towards 2020? What sort of HVAC SEO strategies can your company use to climb the ranks even higher this year? Nolen and Jason of HVAC Webmasters discuss some helpful tips to increase local search visibility and earn more leads. So if you’ve struggled to make page […]

Why do hundreds of contractors partner with the Webmasters’ digital marketing team? Because we deliver results! In our latest podcast, Jason and Nolen take some time to describe the HVAC marketing industry and explain why our services continue to produce better rankings, better traffic, and better leads for businesses across the US. We’ll also explain why so many HVAC companies have a terrible experience with other digital marketing services.

If you’ve struggled to find a performance-driven (and honest) marketing team in the past, be sure to listen in!

Key Points to Listen For

* Most companies start HVAC SEO at a disadvantage.* Businesses optimize for a fraction of the keywords they could.* Local map rankings depend on a variety of optimizing facets.

Why the Webmasters?

It’s a question we hear all the time. Digital marketing represent a significant investment for businesses. On top of that, so many companies have been completely and utterly let down by marketers in the past. Put simply, there’s bad blood between contractors and digital marketing agencies.

Then again, HVAC contractors continue to come back to SEO professionals for the same reason that heartbroken singles soldier on in the search for love. Online marketing is a necessity that very, very few contractors can afford to go without. If you’re going to target consumers online, you need professional talent on your side.

The Difference With Our Team

We don’t like the marketing bull either. It’s why Nolen and John founded the Webmasters in the first place, and why we continue to let contractors test our results on a monthly basis. Accountability motivates us to produce consistent results, recognize areas for improvement, then deliver even better results!

Of course, contractors don’t come to us because we try harder. We actually produce outstanding leads for our clients. Heating and cooling professionals under the Webmasters consistently rank higher, earn more traffic, and generate more clients than the vast majority of their local competitors.

Our seasoned HVAC SEO professionals carefully research the search industry to keep up to date with the latest opportunities. That’s why we developed Righteous Reviews, which we’ll talk about later. We keep our clients ahead of the rest in their local search, and that makes all the difference.

Some HVAC Marketing Pros Try to Exploit the Search Industry Knowledge Gap.

Overcoming Industry Norms

Custom schema-coding, extensive keyword-optimization, and fantastic design, all wrapped up in a beautiful website. Over 200 unique points of search engine optimization work together to produce fantastic ranking improvements for each of our clients. Yes, we’re proud!

Unfortunately, these results aren’t the industry norm when it comes to digital marketing companies.

We’ve talked to hundreds, even thousands of contractors from across the United States. The vast majority of them have scars (and grudges) from their previous online marketing services. But why do so many businesses report having terrible experiences?

Perhaps the answer lies in the industry’s abysmally low standards for accountability. The average business owner doesn’t possess tremendous man hours and research history of digital marketing professionals. This makes it easy for marketers to spin wild claims about Google, local search, Facebook, and other crucial staples of the web.

When it comes to creating a functional HVAC SEO plan, many heating and cooling professionals settle for piecemeal strategies. Today, Nolen and Jason discuss why SEO is so often an all-or-nothing venture. Cohesive effort makes for lasting results. If your HVAC business struggles with creating traffic online or converting clicks into leads, be sure to listen closely!

Key Points to Listen For:

* SEO for HVAC requires consistent updates and fresh content.* HVAC SEO is a wholistic effort. Piecemeal plans fall flat.* Geotagged Reviews and Check-ins create fantastic growth potential.* SEO Solutions only work when they get used consistently.

Lining Up Your HVAC SEO Ducks

True or false: website content lasts forever. While old adages may suggest that whatever content you post online lasts forever, don’t listen to them. Your content may last as long as your domain does, but it could lose its potency long before then. In reality, websites need to to faithfully make SEO updates if they wish to keep ranking on the front page of Google Search results.

* “That’s okay. We post to our company blog every month. We’re fine!”* “But My HVAC company earns reviews for every job we complete.”* “When our site was created, we used a lot of hot keywords.”* “Our social media presence will keep us going indefinitely.”* “We’re enjoying fantastic success. We don’t need to make updates!”

At the HVAC Webmasters, we’ve heard all of these responses (and more). It comes from the mindset that one single element of SEO can carry the rest without any extra effort. Unfortunately, not even the most sophisticated blog, reviews platform, keyword strategy, or social media campaign can create lasting HVAC SEO success by itself. It takes a little bit of everything to preserve your rankings, especially for those ranking #1 in Google Search!

Why Lose Premium Listings By Failing to Complete Regular SEO Updates?

Your Key HVAC SEO Ingredients

The big list of SEO to-do’s is one we recite pretty often at HVAC Webmasters. If you’ve listened to our podcasts before, you’ll know that we’re very found of reviewing the basics of search engine optimization. What does it take for a heating and cooling professional to be successful online?

* Custom Website Development* Fresh Coding* Keyword-rich Pages* Blogging* Reviews (from a variety of sources)* Google My Business Listings* Citations* Social Media Presence

Remember, all of these activities contribute towards your overall online marketing success. There’s a natural order to these, which we’ll touch on later. The key is to create a cohesive plan for all these elements to work in harmony. That’s why HVAC contractors who rely on multiple vendors for their SEO updates so often experience muddied results.

Customer Questions Make for Great Blogging Topics!

HVAC SEO – A Winning Strategy

So how can you put together a functional SEO strategy and make it easier for your business to consistently rank for those hot keywords? As we mentioned earlier, there’s a natural order for optimization.

When creating a functional HVAC SEO plan, many heating and cooling professionals settle for piecemeal strategies. Today, Nolen and Jason of HVAC Webmasters discuss why SEO is so often an all-or-nothing venture. A Cohesive effort makes for lasting results. If your HVAC business struggles with creating traffic online or converting clicks into leads, be sure to listen […]