No, it’s not finance, healthcare, or even legal industry (for the most part).
Why?
Because most businesses in all of those can do very well with other traffic channels like social, paid, and others.
Also, many industries out there, like iGaming or certain types of loans, are very well aware that they need SEO.
In this article, I want to focus on industries that desperately need SEO, yet they don’t even know it.
Let’s go!
~3 Minute Read
Quick Answer
The less "sexy" your business is, the less attractive it would be on social media (both organically and with paid ads). So, this would mean that almost all types of contractors need SEO in order to build a reliable customer acquisition channel that's consistent.
Why Contractors Need SEO More Than Others
Contractors don’t really have an edge on social media from the start.
Their work is “boring” and subsequently unlikely to attract a young, impressionable audience to follow them AND buy their services.
An average social media audience has less purchasing power and a way smaller homeownership rate than an audience on Google. An exception could perhaps be made for Facebook advertising.
Facebook is currently being used by a predominantly older audience, or, dare I say it, boomers! This audience has a higher homeownership rate and a way higher purchasing power than an average TikTok scroller.
But, still, you’re still going to have a very hard time convincing someone to spend $5,000 or more on your services through a Facebook ad stuck in between two memes, one above and one below on the viewer’s news feed.
Sales Cycle Explained
As we’ve explained multiple times on this site, there are different kinds of audiences you could target on the internet:
- Top of funnel audience: This audience is just at the beginning of their sales cycle. A “sales cycle” could be defined (I am no sales cycle expert, just using layman’s terms) as the process of from when someone has become aware of their particular problem or desire until they have bought a product or a service to address that problem or a desire.
Social media users are mostly a top of funnel audience, meaning that they aren’t in the phase of looking for a solution for their problem, rather just to kill time and joke around.
Impulse shopping ads and lower ticket items mostly do well on Facebook, but you’re going to have a very hard time selling a $30,000 roof replacement service with a Facebook ad.
People are persistently complaining about lowballers they engage with through Facebook in the contractor groups I hang out in.
Let’s move onto the other types of audiences in the sales cycle:
- Middle of funnel audience: These people are already aware of their problem, need, or desire and are in the phase of researching and finding a solution for it.
However, here’s the kicker – the less of a “need” and more of a “want” a particular thing is, the longer the sales cycle will last.
Some products and services, like solar, for example, could have sales cycles that are months long, whereas water damage restoration may have sales cycles that only last a couple of days or even less.
The more urgent your products and services are, the shorter the sales cycle will typically be. There are, of course, many factors that may affect this.
- Bottom of funnel audience: This is an audience very close to buying a product or a service.
Now, guess what people do when they know what they want, but don’t know where to find it!
Besides relying on word of mouth, they go to Google. Think of searches like:
- Solar installer near me
- Roofer near me
- Remodeling contractor near me
- Deck builder near me
- Emergency plumber near me
This is what SEO helps you do—position yourself in front of people who are ready to hire you for a job, skipping the long sales cycle duration.
You can also target middle-of-funnel audiences by answering their questions – how much is a new roof, do I need a permit for roofing, and average timeframe for solar returns.
Of course, some of your competitors already know this, which is why, while SEO is great, it’s going to be difficult.
Types of Contractors Needing SEO The Most
Home Service Contractors
Any business selling a home improvement/repair service needs SEO. This would include:
- Roofers
- Plumbers
- Electricians
- Solar contractors
- Window replacement companies
And others.
Why?
Your products and services are expensive, and sales cycles could potentially be very long.
On the flip side, specialists like plumbers have customers with very short sales cycles. An average prospect won’t spend much of his/her time asking around for how to fix a broken pipe.
No, they’ll instead go to Google, and just find someone to repair their broken pipe ASAP.
Construction Contractors
You guys are all selling very high-ticket services, and while most of your business will be generated through referrals and building relationships, there are still thousands upon thousands of people who Google:
- Home builders
- Concrete and asphalt contractors
- Masonry contractors
- Demolition contractors
- Equipment vendors
- Architects
- Engineers
How to Do SEO for Contractors
This brings us to the end of this post.
The question you’re now asking requires multiple dedicated blogs, which you can read here:
Need more help?
If you have an existing website you’d like to be SEO-ed and bring more sales for your company, get our free SEO audit!
Bogdan is a local SEO expert with over 3 years of experience helping businesses grow using Google. When he is not helping businesses grow, he works on his own SEO projects, works out, takes long walks, and watches Suits, which is completely ironic given how rarely he dresses up in a suit himself.