For many years, people found pool companies either by referral from a friend or by checking Yellow Pages. Times have changed and pool companies can no longer rely on traditional methods to compete in the market.

Now, when consumers look for local businesses, they do so using an online search engine like Google. SEO refers to the non-paid measures that businesses take to ensure their websites rank high for relevant searches. Localized searches like “pool company in Madison Wisconsin” or “swimming pool pump repair near me” indicate high purchase-intent, meaning that the search is likely to convert into a sale. These keyword phrases will be the main focus of your SEO strategy because they will result in the most revenue.

Local SEO is especially important for pool companies because you only serve a certain area and all of your competitors are local. Whoever is practicing the best SEO on their website is most likely doing the most business in your area. When you search phrases like “pool companies near me” does your website appear in the top results? If not, you’re missing out on a large majority of your potential customers.

Here are some steps you can take that will improve your search rankings and generate more business for your pool services company:

Listing On Google My Business and Other Directories 

Your Google My Business page is your most important online listing and is crucial for proper SEO. It appears when local consumers search on Google Maps and it gives them a brief description of your company. Make sure that yours is verified, that your address/contact information is correct and consistent, and that your description communicates your services and your service area.

You should also get listed in other directories like Facebook, Yellow Pages, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, and your local Chamber of Commerce. Make sure that your name, address, and phone number is consistent across each and that your listed hours of operation is always correct.

Conducting Keyword Research

Keyword research is how you find out what people search to find your services. If you don’t already have one, get yourself a Google Adwords account. It’s free and you aren’t obligated to put money into advertising. What we need right now is the Keyword Planner tool. Before we get into using the tool, start by listing out all the keyword phrases that you think your most-likely-to-buy prospects would search to find your services. Consider all the products and services you supply and all the areas you service.

Once you have a list of possible keywords, it’s time for a top secret mission. Head to your competitors’ websites. Choose a page, right click, and select “view page source”. This will pull up the HTML source code of the webpage, where you can find the title tag, meta description, and image title/alt tags. Some even contain keyword tags. Note which keywords are being used within these sections of the code and add them to your list.

Now enter the keywords you’ve compiled into the Adwords Keyword Planner tool. This will show you the search volume for each keyword phrase. You can adjust settings to show keyword search volume within a specified geographic location or range. You can now decide to focus on the keywords with the highest local search volume. Keyword Planner will also suggest relevant keywords for you based on what you research.

Optimizing Your Website Content

Now you can use the high purchase-intent keywords strategically in your content to improve your SEO. Start with your homepage. Here are the sections you need to update, as well as guidelines for what they should generally look like.

Title Tag: Professional Pool Companies in Madison, Wisconsin | XYZ Pool Services Co.

Meta Description: XYZ Pool Services Co. provides the highest quality and most affordable pool cleaning and repair services in Madison, WI. Call 1-800-555-5555 today for 15% off discount!

H1 Headline: Swimming Pool Services in Madison, WI.

Then you can update the body copy of your homepage with appropriate use of focus keywords. Repeat the same process for the other pages of your website, especially pages dedicated to individual services you provide. If you have a separate page for repair services, focus on keywords related to repair, like “pool pump repair service in Madison”.

Encouraging Reviews and Building Links

Perhaps the most important element of your SEO are online reviews of your business. When consumers are comparing you with other pool companies near by, most will actually trust the reviews left by past customers. If you don’t have any reviews or if you have a high number of negative reviews, you can expect to lose a lot of business to competitors. You should always encourage satisfied clients to leave a review on your Google Reviews page. Send an email after a customer’s first service thanking them and asking them to rate their experience on Google Reviews. If you offer an incentive like “10% off your next pool service if you leave a review” you are sure to get your Google Reviews page buzzing, which will greatly improve your SEO.

Another factor that determines search engine ranking is the amount of inbound links to your website from other websites. The popularity and trustworthiness of the website linking to you plays a big role in how it affects your SEO, so don’t take the easy way out and work with some shady link-building business. The best thing you can do is to partner with other local businesses that compliment your services. Local home cleaning companies, landscaping companies etc. may agree to link to your website from theirs if you’ll do the same.

Investing In SEO Strategy

The truth is, SEO is a long and complicated process that never ends. Trends are always changing and your strategy has to be updated constantly to keep your website in the top rankings. It can sometimes take months to see the results you want in the search rankings. But it is an absolute necessity to market your pool business. For many, investing in SEO strategy is worth the money because it takes the task off your hands and puts it into a professional’s hands who can help you to eventually dominate your local market online. If you are interested in partnering with a trustworthy and knowledgeable SEO firm, Plum Direct Marketing offers SEO services that focus on competitive strategy and long-term growth. Contact us at 1-800-992-9663 for more information about our SEO services!