Keyword Research is How Electricians Stop Guessing and Start Ranking
There’s a type of keyword research that looks good in a spreadsheet, and doesn’t do a thing for an electrical business. Generic words, national search volumes, competitive phrases owned so tightly by a national directory, big-box home services or other national brand that a local contractor has no hope of moving them. Many electricians have spent good money on an agency who’s convinced them to target these types of keywords and seen their rankings plateau while the bills rolled in. And then there’s the version that works – the version that matches how your local prospect in your local city or suburb would phrase their search if they need to find an electrician right now. The latter is what seo for electricians should be based on, and it needs to be approached differently to the way many contractors tend to research.
Local keyword research isn’t a smaller-scale version of general keyword research. It’s a different speciality, with different techniques and different criteria, and a different relationship between search volume and value. A search term that gets 40 searches a month in a suburb is worth 10 times a search term that gets 2,000 searches a month nationally if you’re competing with thousands of sites in a high-competition and/or low-conversion environment and the customers are spread out across six states or territories. Geographical, local and “ready to buy” intent is the key. If we don’t apply those filters to search volume, we don’t learn anything.
Listen to Your Customers, Not Google’s Suggestions
The quickest, most accurate source of local keyword data for an electrician is what their customers say. Take note of what they are saying when they phone. No-one says “I need panel amperage testing services.” They say “my breaker is tripping” or “I think I need to replace my switchboard” or “I smell something burning near the fuse box”. Those are the search terms. People do type in the way they speak when they’re in trouble and Google is very effective at delivering those queries to the right businesses.
Take a note on your phone or a bit of paper in the van. If a new customer asks about a problem in a way you haven’t heard, note it down. In a month, you’ll have a menu of phrases that no amount of keyword research would have produced because they are either too specific, too vernacular, or too local to appear in keyword databases – but they are what your local customers are searching for. These words become the basis of the specific content of the web pages and the FAQ sections that you can fill with content to respond to searches your competitors don’t even know are out there.
Google’s Features Help with Keyword Research
Electricians don’t need to spend money on a keyword research tool to get started. Google gives away a wealth of information for free. In a new browser window (incognito mode, so your personal history doesn’t interfere), type electric service phrases. Look at the suggestions drop down. These aren’t just guesses. These are based on actual searches, with emphasis on popular searches in your location and region.
“Emergency electrician” and your city name will show you half dozen variations you may not have thought of. “Electrician for” will reveal typical job descriptions being searched. “How much does” followed by any type of electrical work shows the question-based searches people make when they’re in the early stages of making a decision – they’re looking for information, but clearly plan on hiring someone. All of these autocomplete searches can fill up a year’s worth of service pages, FAQ pages and blog articles, all based on a search that people are looking for right now, in your local market.
The “People Also Ask” boxes that pop up in the middle of the search results are also great. For example, if you search for “electrician panel upgrade” in your city, you’re likely to see “How long does a panel upgrade take?” or “Do I need a permit for an electrical panel upgrade?” and “What are the signs I need a new electrical panel?” These are all keywords and content opportunities. If you have a page that gives a comprehensive answer to one of these questions, with your location and service naturally integrated into the content, you can rank for the question and attract a visitor who is clearly in the market to buy.
Keyword Modifiers that make all the difference for local businesses
The distinction between a keyword an electrician might be able to rank for and a keyword he or she can’t is often modified by modifiers – the words that turn a general search into a specific local search. Local keyword research comes into play here, as it lets you know which modifiers to focus on.
The most obvious are geographic modifiers. “Electrician” is a tough keyword to rank for on a national scale. “Electrician in [suburb name]” is a whole different ballgame. “Licensed electrician [city]” is even more specific. The more specific the search, the less competition, and the stronger the intent to buy. If they’ve included the suburb in their search, chances are they’re looking for a local electrician. That’s your customer. It’s also the same for service modifiers like “panel upgrade electrician,” “EV charger installer,” “outdoor lighting electrician,” “three-phase power installation” – people who are looking for those specific services are looking for exactly what they want and are more likely to make a call.
The Keyword Strategy for Map Searches is a Bit Different
There’s a slight difference between keywords that will bring people to your website and keywords that will help your business get found in the map pack, so let’s look at the differences. The GBP signals (categories, service areas, reviews, proximity) feed into the map pack more so than the organic visibility of your website is influenced by on-page content and technical SEO. There’s some overlap and some difference in the keyword research.
For the map pack, it’s the keywords associated with your primary and secondary GBP categories and the service areas you’ve specified. For organic website rankings, it’s the service areas you’ve created pages for. The best way to play it is to use both channels – to inform the GBP service listings and description based on keyword research, as well as which location pages and service pages should be created or enhanced on the website. The visibility impact of the two channels operating in tandem is significantly greater than the sum of the two parts.
