Outsmarting competing painting businesses gets harder every year. Not only are more companies entering the market, but it becomes more difficult to keep up with the latest SEO tips.
Since Google constantly updates their highly discerning algorithms, so what worked to rank your painting business website yesterday could be completely outdated today.
In fact, you might be using such outdated SEO methods that Google no longer considers them best practices. If these tactics are implemented incorrectly, such is the case with link building, they can lead to penalties and being dropped from Google organic search results altogether.
Rest assured, we have compiled a helpful list of the white-hat SEO tactics to help your painting business outrank the competition in organic search results.
Let’s jump in!
The Basics: What is Local SEO and why is it important?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an essential element of every successful digital marketing strategy. But what is it?
SEO is the process of improving the position of your painting business website on search engine results pages (SERPs) to target unpaid traffic (free painting leads).
For painting businesses, Local SEO will help boost your organic rankings, draw more traffic to your website, and ultimately generate more painting leads, all without investing a single dollar into advertisements.
But why does ranking matter?
Because 75% of users never look further than the first page of Google to find what they need. So if you’re on page 2 of Google, you might as well be on page 10.
Local SEO relies on indicators that narrow search results to a specific location/area. Home service-based businesses, such as professional painters, especially benefit from localization.
While it may seem like a tall order to outrank national competitors like CertaPro, it’s actually relatively easy using Local SEO tactics.
Why?
Because Google prioritizes search results for local terms. So while the domain authority for certapro.com is extremely high, since they’re a franchise they can never implement Local SEO as well as a local painting company.
1) Keyword Research: Identify your customer’s search terms
The single most important onsite SEO ranking factor in 2023 is the content on your website. Even more important, your content must provide value and be relevant to what your customers are searching for.
You wouldn’t place a billboard on an empty road…
Before optimizing even one page on your painting business website it’s essential to have a strategy. In terms of SEO, this strategy begins with keyword research.
Similar to adding a billboard next to a road that doesn’t get any traffic, you want to ensure the terms you’re trying to rank for on Google have search volume. Search volume is a measure of how many people search for a term in a given location over a specific time period.
Pro Tip: Generally speaking, the more search volume a term has, the harder it is to rank for.
Identifying the right keywords requires some creativity and understanding of the painting industry as a whole. A few things to look for:
After you have a list of high-value terms you’d like to rank for, then consider identifying some long-tail search phrases.
For Example:
Get creative with painter SEO keywords. Long-tail keywords make up more than half of all Google searches, so use them to your advantage.
Write content around the terms your customers are searching for
When writing content it’s important to include keywords your customers are actually searching for on online. For instance, you will see 200% more impressions writing content dedicated to the term “house painter” instead of “residential painter”.
Pro Tip: Remember, the only thing Google knows about your painting business is the content on your website. To rank for the services you offer and the locations you serve, you must write about it.
Begin by evaluating your service offering, there is generally more than one way to search for a particular service. We recommend using Google Trends to compare popular short-tail search terms. Filter by country and state while performing your analysis, this will ensure you’re looking at relevant data specific to your target audience.
Next, come up with list of long-tail terms that your customers might be searching for. Ask yourself what services you offer, and what customers demand most often:
These answers provide clues that will help you come up with specific “niche-focused” terms.
Note that even if you’re ranking for a small project such as “front door painters” that website traffic will lead to higher organic rankings for harder terms like “painter near me.”
Create a dedicated page or blog post for each term
Finally create a dedicated page on your website for each one of these search terms. You should begin by focusing on the most popular short-tail keywords, then incorporate relevant long-tail terms throughout the content.
Creating location pages specific to the areas you serve will maximize your chances of ranking in local search results for areas your painting business may not physically reside.
Create a unique page for each service you offer and include relevant project photos on every service page.
