Our Best Web Strategy Tips for HVAC Companies

How visible is your HVAC business online? When people find your website, social media posts, or online ads, what impression will they have?

Ninety-eight percent of consumers used the internet to find information about a local business in 2022. So, it’s safe to assume that most people check you out online before requesting a quote.

This can be a good thing for your business if you have a solid web strategy.

A web strategy for HVAC businesses dictates two things:

• How easy it is for customers to find you online
• The impression your business makes on them

If your web strategy works, people will find you instead of your competitors when they search online. They’ll also feel comfortable enough with your brand to book an appointment. As a result, you’ll generate more sales, and your business will prosper.

But what should you include in your online strategy to help make your HVAC business more successful? Read on to learn what a good web strategy should have, including a website, PPC ads, and positive reviews.

What Is a Web Strategy for HVAC?

A web strategy details how your HVAC business appears online. It includes the following:

• website
• Google Business Profile
• social media
• PPC (pay-per-click) advertising
• customer reviews

The goal of your strategy is to make it easy for people to find your business online.

FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: Top 5 HVAC Marketing Ideas That Work

A potential customer might search ‘HVAC services’ on Google to find local businesses. They should see your site in search results if you have an optimized website. Digital ads will also point searchers in the direction of your website.

Your Google Business Profile also helps here. Google lists relevant businesses in local search results. It gives potential customers key info that they need to convert, such as:

• hours of operation
• star-ratings
• phone number

The use of social media plays a role as well. Social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram are platforms for showcasing your business.

And last, but not least, your online reputation. This includes how many four- and five-star reviews you have. Also, what people are saying about your services matters. Both will impact whether people contact your business when they need services.

These factors combine to create your web strategy for your HVAC company. Ideally, they all complement one another. The visual elements should all look good together. And the tone and feel of all your online assets should match.

Bring everything together — Google Business, website optimization, PPC, and online reviews. You’ll deliver a consistent experience that makes customers feel good about your HVAC business. That will increase the chances that you’ll be the local company they call for a broken AC unit, a furnace replacement, and all their other HVAC needs.

Complete and Update Your Google Business Profile

Over three-quarters of consumers look for a customer’s online presence before buying. That’s why optimizing your digital presence with local SEO strategies is critical.

That’s where your Google Business Profile comes in.

Google Business Profile helps people search for local HVAC services on Google Search and Maps. It’s a free tool that lets you create a profile for your business.

Here’s what you need to know about Google Business:

Setup is easy. You can set up a profile in about two minutes.

You need to verify your account. Verification is simple. You can do it via phone, text, email, or video.

A new or updated profile might not show up immediately. According to Google, your updated business info can take a few weeks to appear.

Your profile serves as an information source for customers. You’ll update your info to include key data, including:

• phone number
• address
• hours of operation

You should also create a profile description. Include your business name, a relevant keyword use to find your business (for example, residential HVAC services), and the location in the first couple of lines. This will help to optimize your profile for local search.

Here’s an example of a Google Business profile description for a local HVAC company:

“Brady’s Heating and Cooling offers residential HVAC services for homes throughout Bel Air. Our technicians are well-trained to provide repair, maintenance, and installation services.”

But don’t stop there. You can also use your Google Business Profile to connect with your market by:

• Creating posts: Share updates about your business, including special offers and events.
• Respond to reviews: 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative feedback within a week.
• Post answers to frequently asked questions: This can help increase conversions. It can also help you land in the Local Pack. Also known as the Google Map Pack, these are the top local results Google displays when a user searches for local businesses.

Make Your HVAC Business Easier to Find with SEO

SEO — search engine optimization — is the process of optimizing for search engines.

Google, Bing, and other search engines use algorithms to determine which web pages best match search queries. The algorithms assess things like:

Relevancy: How relevant is the content? Does it answer the search query?

Quality: Is the content high-quality? Are other quality sites linking to it?

User experience: Is the site secure? Does it load quickly? Is it responsive on different devices?

Your HVAC company’s SEO strategy might include steps to improve hundreds of factors to boost your ranking. Google, for example, uses over 200 ranking factors.

The higher your business appears in search results, the easier it is for people looking for a solution to their heating, cooling, and ventilation problems to find your business.

As you optimize your site and increase your visibility online, you’ll generate more web traffic, leads, and sales.

Good SEO can also help your business generate more leads during slower months.

FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: 4 SEO Tips Contractors Can Use For Online Lead Generation

However, SEO is a massive undertaking because so much is involved. You have to consider:

• Keyword research: Identify the keywords that searchers are using. Understand competitiveness and relevancy.
• Local SEO: Optimize for local searches. Maintain your Google Business Profile. Create location pages.
• SERP ranking: Use keywords in web content to match search intent. Optimize metadata. Address technical factors, such as site speed and URL structure.
• Backlink strategy: Create content that other high-authority sites in the home services space will post. Develop thought leadership content.

Because SEO is so complex, many HVAC businesses work with an SEO agency like Socius to handle this part of their web strategy. However, you can also get started yourself.

Which approach you take — DIY SEO or professional — depends on your goals, in-house resources, and budget.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each pathway:

Pros and cons of handling SEO in-house

Pros

• It’s less expensive if you have someone on your staff who has SEO knowledge.
• SEO is ongoing. If your team does the work in-house, you’re not dependent on an outside agency to make improvements.

Cons

• If you have to hire an SEO specialist, it could be more expensive than working with an agency.
• Doing it yourself will take longer if you or your team don’t have the right skills.
• Without experience and a deep knowledge of SEO, you aren’t likely to get the same results as an agency.

Pros and cons of using an SEO agency

Pros

• SEO experts can achieve better results than DIY efforts.
• You have more time to focus on growing your business in other ways.

Cons

• Paying a professional costs more than doing it yourself.
• You still have to spend time collaborating with your SEO agency to ensure they’re meeting your goals.

Invest in PPC Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are digital ads on websites and apps. When a user clicks on a PPC ad, they’re taken to a pre-determined page on your website. It’s usually a landing page set up for a conversion, such as a services page.

Your company — the advertiser — pays for each click.

PPC is a popular form of digital marketing for home services businesses. It’s low cost. And when a PPC ad campaign is well-defined, you can count on a temporary boost in website traffic.

The top PPC ad networks are Google Ads and Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads).

Placing an ad is relatively easy. You can place an ad with Google in five easy steps:

1. Enter your business information and website.
2. Choose your campaign goal. Options include building brand awareness, lead generation, and sales.
3. Create an ad. You’ll need keywords, images, and your logo. You can use video for certain ad formats.
4. Set your parameters. You’ll decide on your target audience and your budget.
5. Launch and review. Part of managing an ad campaign involves tracking the results and improving your ads to drive more awareness, leads, or sales.

While launching an ad is easy, creating an effective strategy that gets results isn’t. You could pour money into ad campaigns without getting anywhere if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Unlike the organic SEO part of your web strategy, PPC advertising won’t create lasting results. It’s a short-term digital marketing tool. That’s why it’s vital to make every ad count.

Even if you don’t have experience with PPC advertising, you can still get started immediately. A PPC agency like Market Hardware can provide customized PPC strategies backed by data to ensure results.

Harness the Power of Customer Reviews

Online reviews shape the way people perceive your HVAC business. They can act as the final say when someone checks out your online presence. That’s why they are a must-have piece of the web strategy puzzle for home services businesses.

RELATED ARTICLE: Customer Reviews: Quality Over Quantity?

Good reviews build trust. Negative reviews plant seeds of doubt. So, your mission is to get as many high-star reviews as possible.

Here’s how you can do this as an HVAC business owner:

• Focus on first impressions. Anyone who answers your phone should be patient, empathetic, and helpful.
• Make contacting your business easy. Offer multiple channels for scheduling, including an online booking form, email, and phone.
• Respond to messages quickly. Voicemails and emails should be addressed within one business day.
• Provide top-notch services, no matter how small or large the job.
• Ask for reviews. Send a simple follow-up email or text with a share link. That way, writing a review is convenient for your customers.

Do people trust online reviews? Research by Brightlocal shows that nearly half of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Wondering which types of reviews to encourage? Google is by far your best bet. According to the same Brightlocal study, 87% of consumers looked at Google reviews to evaluate a local business. Yelp is the next most popular, followed by Facebook and TripAdvisor.

What average star rating should you aim for when developing this part of your web strategy?

Go for an average star rating of at least four. While three stars may seem okay, that’s not the case in the world of online reviews. There’s actually a significant perception difference between three and four-star reviews. Dropping from four to three stars leads to a 67% drop in trust.

FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: How to Create a Positive Brand Reputation

Fortunately, everything you do to improve your HVAC business’s web strategy will help to improve your star rating. Social media, your Google Business Profile, your website, ads. It all works together to cast a certain impression.

Nail your web strategy, and that impression will be strong enough to help your business grow.

Getting Started with Your HVAC Business’s Web Strategy

There’s a lot of ground to cover when managing your online presence. But you don’t have to do it all at once. All you need to do now is get the ball rolling.

Gather the basic info you need for your Google Business Profile. You can set that up in less than five minutes.

Plan out ways to improve your Business Profile. Map out offers and updates and decide what images to use to promote your HVAC services.

Determine what to do in-house and what to outsource. Will you need an SEO agency? What about your PPC campaigns? Decide which agencies to partner with and contact them today.

Conduct an online review audit. Find out your average star rating so you can start developing a strategy for improving your online reputation.