Your plumbing business has the power to capture countless leads, and it only takes a few minutes to get your business in front of local homeowners searching for a reliable plumber in their area. How? It’s simple: Paid search.
So, what’s the best way to build a powerful paid search strategy? Investing in pay-per-click (PPC) marketing can drive amazing results for your business, but it’s also an easy way to flush your marketing budget down the drain. To get the best bang for your buck, you’ll need to back up your paid search strategy with keyword research.
Let’s face it: Keywords are the foundation of paid search. If local homeowners aren’t searching for your keywords, you’re not going to drive relevant traffic from paid ads—no matter how hard you try. Target the wrong keywords, and you risk wasting resources on ineffective campaigns.
But there’s good news: Keyword research isn’t rocket science. Even if you’re new to marketing, it’s still possible to fuel your business with a conversion-worthy keyword strategy. Here’s how to choose the best PPC keywords for your plumbing business.
The first step to finding plumber keywords? Start jotting down your “seed” keywords. Think of seed keywords as the rough draft of your keyword research strategy. They help you find competitors and outline terms your target audience is searching for. Most keyword research tools ask for seed keywords, which they use to generate a bigger list of keywords (more on that later).
Not sure where to start? Try building a paid search campaign for a specific service. Consider what keywords people search to find that service. For instance, if you’re creating ads for water heater repair in Cleveland, you might start with:
Not every seed keyword is worth targeting in your next PPC campaign. Instead, you’ll be using them for the next steps in your strategy. Don’t worry too much about these keywords—it should only take a couple of minutes to brainstorm them and jot them down on paper.
Next, it’s time for some competitor analysis. Figuring out which keywords send leads to your competition is a great way to benchmark your strategy and optimize your resources.
But first, you’ll need to pinpoint your biggest competition. Start by typing your seed keywords into Google to see what websites have the top ad spots. If the top websites for your keywords don’t resemble your website (i.e., a local plumbing business), head back to the first step and think of more specific seed keywords.
Once you’ve found some competitors, plug their websites into competitor analysis tools. For example, with Spyfu, you’ll see their estimated Google Ads budget, paid keywords, competitors, ad position, and more. If you want to invest in the paid version of Spyfu, you’ll also gain access to more keywords, cost-per-click estimates, and other advanced keyword statistics.
Once you’ve repeated this with a few seed keywords and competitors, you’ll have a decent list of keywords for your plumbing business. But remember: Competitive analysis can help you make the most of your paid search strategy, but you shouldn’t copy the competition and throw your keywords out the window.
Instead, check in on the competition to learn more about their keyword strategy, messaging, and audience. Are they bidding on keywords you’ve missed? Are they tapping into new audience segments? Once you’ve identified what’s working (and what’s not), you can use those insights to refine your strategy.
When you’re finished checking out the competition, you’ll need to do some research of your own. Our clients tell us that competitors can be a valuable source of ideas, but the best results typically come from keywords their competitors haven’t discovered yet.
How can you tap into new keywords before the competition? Start using keyword research tools. Most keyword tools are similar: You type in a keyword, and the tool generates new ideas based on the original keyword.
If you’re already a PPC pro, you’ve probably used Google’s Keyword Research Planner to research keywords for paid search campaigns. It’s free, offers insights into search trends, and provides bid estimates for your campaign. Once you’ve narrowed down your keyword list, you can add keywords to your advertising plan or save them for future reference.
Beyond Keyword Research Planner, there are tons of other free keyword tools to amplify your strategy. In addition to search trends, some keyword tools provide insights into monthly search volume, the average cost per click, and keyword competitiveness scores.
Between competitor analysis and keyword research tools, you’ve probably already generated tons of keyword ideas. But these tips keep you “in the box” when it comes to keyword research.
If you want to take your strategy to the next level, you’ll need to figure out what your customers are searching for—and that starts with going where they spend time online. You can get a sneak peek into their conversations by checking out Q&A websites (see: Reddit and Quora), Facebook groups for local homeowners, relevant Twitter hashtags, and more.
Your current customers can be an amazing source of ideas, too. The next time you’re working in the field or picking up the phone, pay attention to the language they use. For example, you might notice that customers use conversational language instead of technical plumbing terms.
When you pinpoint the terms customers associate with your business, you can create a powerful keyword strategy that drives prospects straight to your website. Sounds simple enough, right?
Congratulations! You’re a pro at keyword research. Now that you’ve compiled a list of keywords, you’ll need to figure out which keywords are actually worth targeting.
We know: You’re already working overtime to run your plumbing business, keep your customers satisfied, and manage your contractors—and you don’t have time to spend hours behind a desk. Instead of sorting through every individual keyword, you can save time by using PPC metrics to narrow down your list. Here’s how to get started.
Monthly search volume shows you how many times keywords are searched per month. It doesn’t represent how many clicks you’ll get if you target the keyword—even if you hit the top spot, you’ll still share clicks with the competition.
Most tools have search volume filters so you can easily sort through keywords. This way, you’ll be able to filter out high-volume, high-competition keywords. And if you’re just getting started with paid search, low-competition and low-volume keywords can help you score some traffic without draining your advertising budget.
We’ve seen clients ignore low-volume keywords—and this is a common mistake. Truth is, they’re just as useful as their high-volume counterparts. Some specific low-volume keywords also come with higher search intent, so you’ll have an easier time converting those leads into paying customers.
While some keyword tools provide keyword competitiveness scores, marketing professionals typically measure competitiveness manually. The higher the competition, the more advertisers who are bidding on a target keyword.
If you’re working with a lower budget, you’ll want to prioritize keywords with lower competition and lower cost per click. This might mean targeting top-of-the-funnel or long-tail keywords to raise brand awareness, drive qualified leads to your plumbing website, and kickstart your lead nurturing strategy.
Cost per click (CPC) is an online advertising revenue model. It shows how much advertisers are willing to pay for a click on a certain keyword.
For example, Cleveland plumber might have a higher CPC of $15 since it’s a popular search term. Meanwhile, long-tail keywords like professional toilet installation in Cleveland might have a lower CPC of $3 thanks to their lower volume.
The search volume for most keywords typically stays the same from month to month, but CPC can change at any minute. As a result, you’ll want to tweak your paid search campaigns regularly to maximize your ROI.
When you’re ready to take your plumber marketing plan to the next level, paid search is the answer. Of course, the success of any paid search campaign starts with a powerful keyword research strategy.
At the end of the day, keyword research shows you exactly what your target audience searches for online. By taking search intent, competitiveness, and monthly search volume into account, you’ll be able to choose the most effective keywords for your ad campaigns, blog content, landing pages, and more.
If you have any questions about paid search, we’re here to help. Reach out to our team to amplify your PPC strategy with keyword research.
