Over 25% of all people click on the first Google search result when looking for goods and services. That means your online visibility will be non-existent if you’re not on the first page.
The best way to ensure your HVAC company can be found is to optimize for SEO. The first step is doing your keyword research.
What is keyword research and how can it help your HVAC SEO campaign? We’ve got the answer to these questions and much, much more. Check out this guide to learn how to use online tools to your advantage and get more eyes on your website.
What Is Keyword Research?
So, first things first. What is Keyword research? It’s the act of finding the phrases and words that your target audience is typing into Google to find goods and services.
It’s an important part of any HVAC SEO marketing campaign. Without it, you’ll be lucky if your HVAC articles get a single view.
Understand the Elements of a Good Keyword
There are three elements that you should pay attention to when analyzing keywords. These are volume, traffic, and difficulty.
Volume
Volume tells you how many times a keyword shows up in a search every month. Keep in mind that using high-volume keywords isn’t going to give you a million more page views overnight. You’ll be lucky if you see over a 20% increase from a single word.
If you’re new to SEO for HVAC, you may want to consider filtering out high-volume keywords. Chances are if a word has over 10K searches, it’s a bit too competitive for you.
Long-tail keywords with a smaller search volume are often overlooked, but they’re the perfect option for newer companies because they aren’t competitive.
Traffic
Let’s say that five people type a question into their search engine. It’s safe to bet that none of them are going to word the question the same way. They’ll use slightly different phrasing.
Google’s algorithm can account for this. That means a webpage has the potential to bring in traffic for every variation of a particular keyword they’re trying to rank for.
So, when you’re doing your keyword analysis, instead of relying on volume alone, research top-performing HVAC web pages. By looking at the amount of traffic they’re bringing in from a single keyword, you can see the potential traffic you could get by using a similar one.
Difficulty
As the name suggests, difficulty is how hard it is to rank using a particular keyword. The harder a keyword, the more backlinks you’ll need to use if you want to rank with it.
Most SEO tools use a scale to show keyword difficulty. It’s not meant to discourage you from using a word. It’s there to let you know that you can use whatever keyword you want, but you might have your work cut out for you.
Seed Keywords
Now that you understand what you’re going to be looking at when performing an analysis, you can start brainstorming a few seed keywords.
Seed keywords are a starting point. Think about what users may type into their search engine to find your business.
For example, let’s say that you own a sandwich shop. A few good seed keywords might be sandwich, hoagie, turkey sub, or Italian sub.
Most of these keywords would be terrible to try and rank for by themselves, but that’s sort of the point. Seed keywords are a building block that you can use to find ones that are actually worth ranking for.
Long-Tail Keywords
We briefly mentioned long-tail keywords above. These keywords are more of a phrase than a single word. They often come with less competition because not a lot of businesses are trying to use them to rank.
They can also get pretty specific. If someone types in “sandwich shops that are open near me” they’re trying to find a place to eat lunch right now. If you’re targeting long-tail keywords, you’re likely to bring in users that mean business.
By using long-tail keywords, you are playing the long game, however. Since they aren’t searched often, they will only bring you a few visitors each month.
The thing is, searches add up. If you publish hundreds of articles using long-tail keywords you’ll attract thousands of viewers, over time.
Research Your Competitors
You don’t have to do something because your competitors are. They might be trying to rank for a keyword that doesn’t pertain to you. Still, it never hurts to check-in.
If it turns out your competitors are trying to rank for similar keywords, you now know that you need to work a bit harder to surpass them. You can also use their keywords to help you brainstorm seed keywords.
Keyword Intent
Again, when someone performs a Google search, they’re looking for the answer to a question. Maybe they want a quick tutorial on how to sew a blanket or they’re looking for coupons for their favorite brand of coffee.
This is what we call keyword intent. Understanding what your target audience is searching for will allow you to cater your content to them.
If you’re having a hard time analyzing intent, Hook Agency can help with its HVAC SEO services.
Find the Right Keywords for Your HVAC SEO Campaign
Finding the right keywords for your HVAC SEO campaign can be tricky. It involves a lot of careful analysis and research.
That’s where having the right SEO tools on your side comes in handy. They can help by showing you the difficulty, potential traffic, and volume of a particular keyword.
If keyword tools aren’t enough, consider getting in touch with an SEO agency.
For more tips that will help you get your HVAC company off the ground, visit the Business section of our blog.
