Every HVAC contractor has to decide on their business model at some point. For example, do you want to be a tech or a boss? An HVAC technician is an honest way to make a living but being a boss affords you more lifetime earnings, a better lifestyle, and long-term financial security, with the right blueprint.
In today’s HVAC Marketing Plan Podcast episode, Nolen and Jason discuss HVAC business Model 101: Be a Tech or Be a Boss.
Choosing Your HVAC Business Model
Living gig to gig adds stress to your business and prevents you from generating sustainable revenue. While you can still get by as an HVAC technician, your business value fails to increase over time. The intelligent choice is to build your HVAC business into a credible and prosperous brand.
Job to Job Model
The job-to-job model keeps your company in the gig economy, restricting sustainable income. OF course, you can still make a living with this model, but is it good? When competitors generate more consistent leads from their website, they will lower their cost per acquisition while you pay a premium to buy leads from 3rd parties.
Boss Model
The boss business model involves creating an HVAC company brand that generates leads from your branded online entities. For example, getting leads from your website with SEO will lower your cost per lead. Similarly, acquiring leads from your Google Business Profile will keep customers coming back next time they need an HVAC repair.
How To Create an HVAC Company Brand
If you choose boss mode as your HVAC business model, you have to create a brand. But how can an HVAC contractor create a brand in 2022? It’s not as difficult as you might think. Common misconceptions about brand building are that you need dozens of employees, trucks, and locations.
You can have one or two additional employees and still create a brand. Why? Because branding is really about marketing and presentation. If you establish your presence on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, people will engage. You’ll no longer need to buy HVAC leads from 3rd party companies with a more prominent brand than you.
Digital Marketing
The first step is investing in HVAC marketing for your business. You want to appear at the top of local search results for HVAC-related queries. You’ll notice that companies like Yelp and HomeAdvisor usually rank #1 for these kinds of keywords. So you have to outrank them with your website.
Reputation Management
Even if you rank #1 on Google, people will still vet your company. Before contacting your business, they will look for reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Better Business Bureau. With this in mind, it’s critical to accumulate as many reviews as possible and respond to testimonials. It also helps to showcase your reviews on your website with API plugins.
Personalization
Nameless, faceless companies fail to establish memorable brands. For your HVAC company to enjoy success, you must personalize your marketing campaign. For example, post images of yourself, your team, and your trucks on your website homepage and Google Business Profile. Consumers will engage with brands they can match with a name and face.
Help With Your HVAC Business Model
If you need help with your HVAC business model in 2022, reach out to HVAC Webmasters. You can also consume our free podcasts from the HVAC Marketing Plan. Aside from our podcasts, YouTube videos, and free resources, we also provide valuable information in our website blog posts. You can learn a great deal about HVAC marketing on our platforms.
HVAC funnels are a big topic in 2022. The truth is, funnels have been around for decades. Acquiring users through SEO, PPC, and social media are funnels. The only thing that’s changed is how marketers promote the process as a new-age tactic.
Your sales funnel is one of the most critical tools to the success of your HVAC business. We know what you may be thinking, ‘I don’t even have a sales funnel in place.’ That’s where you’re wrong. Whether you have cultivated a sales funnel or not, you have an HVAC sales funnel if you have ever completed a sale foryour services or equipment.
If you have not given any thought to your HVAC funnel, it’s not too late. Today we will be offering essential tips on cultivating a sales funnel and the best practices for HVAC companies specifically.
Table of Contents
Understanding HVAC Sales Funnels
A sales funnel moves leads through the process of becoming a paying customer. The journey includes:
Brand Awareness (when the lead first becomes aware of your company or services)
Consideration (when the lead is considering hiring you for your services)
Conversion (when the lead becomes a paying customer)
Post-Consumer Actions (when the customer becomes a repeat customer or refers your business to friends and family)
There are specific information and marketing tactics that should be utilized at each stage, which we will be covering in the following section.
Funnel Stages for HVAC Companies
HVAC funnels consist of four primary stages. When leads move through each step, they are likely to become a quality customer. But, of course, how well your funnel works depends on your specific tactics within each stage. Below, HVAC Webmasters outlines the keys to each phase.
Stage I: Brand Awareness
The first stage (brand awareness) is often the most challenging – especially for small businesses trying to gain a foothold in their local market.
Here is what your marketing efforts will look like in the first stage of the sales funnel:
SEO: Implementing HVAC SEO helps your website appear to people who search for HVAC services online.
PPC Ads: PPC ads will display to people who perform relevant searches or go on certain websites that have to do with your HVAC field.
External Links: External links are important because they will point more people to your website to increase brand awareness.
Phase II: Consideration Stage
Again, the top of the funnel is about making as many people as aware of your business/services as possible. The next is the consideration stage which may involve things like:
Content Marketing: Blog posts that inform the lead on a specific issue or convince them that they should use a specific service.
Social Media Posts: Once the consumer is aware of your services, it helps to engage them on social media and remind them that you are a viable option.
White Papers: White papers are educational documents that can help a consumer who is considering paying for an HVAC service but may not know enough about it yet to make a sound decision. 4
Phase III: Conversion Stage
The consideration phase is comparable to a cell phone store. You have already walked into the store to enter the top of the funnel (brand awareness). Once you are in the store, salespeople may come up and talk to you or ask if you have any questions, thereby nurturing your consideration.
Your content marketing, social media posts, and resources you offer your customers play the role of salespeople in a cell phone store but digital form.
Next up is conversion. The lead is already warmed up at the conversion stage but may need one final burst of motivation to close the sale. The conversion stage of the funnel could be helped by:
Landing Pages: Persuasive landing pages attached to PPC ads will encourage users to click through to your site and complete the sale.
Calls to Action: A strong, written call to action will clarify to the consumer how to move on to the next stage and complete the sale.
Customer Testimonials: It can be beneficial to use positive testimonials from past customers at the conversion stage. These can be displayed on appointment scheduling pages or check-out pages on your site to provide an extra push.
Phase IV: Post-Consumer Stage
Next is the post-consumer stage, where it can be constructive to continue to engage customers. Tools you can use at this stage include:
Email Marketing: Once a sale is closed, you will likely have the customers’ email contact info. Be sure to reach out to them about relevant promotions and deals based on their past purchasing activity with your business.
Customer Relationship Management Software: Using CRM software can make managing and nurturing your relationships with existing customers much more manageable.
Loyalty Rewards Programs: Includes special discounts for yourself or anyone the customer refers to your HVAC business (and completes a sale).
Final Thoughts on HVAC Funnels
The critical question becomes: are you getting the most out of your HVAC funnels, or are you just letting it do its thing on its own? If your answer is more akin to the latter situation, now time to take action.
The fact is that a cultivated sales funnel can increase your business’s growth rate. They can change customers that visit your site and leave into paying customers. They can help you turn more leads into conversions. They can optimize your marketing efforts and so much more.
From the moment the customer becomes aware of your business/service to the time that they pay for your services, all the way to the time that they refer you to their friends and family or come back to you for their own HVAC needs, they have moved through your sales funnel.
HVAC Webmasters is known for SEO. After all, we wrote the top HVAC SEO Guide for 2022. As a result, we work with hundreds of AC contractors across the United States, helping them achieve top rankings on Google.
Still, some heating and cooling companies dominate even more than the average customer with our SEO plan. So why do these HVAC businesses destroy competitors online? In today’s HVAC Marketing Plan Podcast, Nolen and Jason discuss the qualities that form the best SEO client.
Qualities of The Best HVAC SEO Client
While even disengaged clients can succeed with excellent SEO services, the dominant clients, who destroy competitors on page one of Google, tend to share certain qualities. Below, we list the common traits of the best search engine optimization clients in the HVAC industry.
Engaged
The best SEO clients are engaged with marketing. They respect the marketing industry and what it can do for their heating and cooling business. Instead of asking how cheap they can get marketing for, they ask how much they can make with their business due to marketing.
These clients typically come to us already having a website and Google Business Profile. These business owners have already dived into some aspects of marketing but need some professional help to reach the next level. Ultimately, their mind is already in the right place for marketing success.
Collaborative
Though engagement can be a positive quality, too much engagement can cause friction and ruin your online marketing campaign. The best clients are collaborative. Collaboration means they respect the SEO agency’s expertise and provide solid materials like custom staff photos.
It’s great when a business owner has ideas about how they want their company promoted online. Still, they should be respectful enough to understand the expertise of the SEO agency too. They might recommend a particular tactic, but heed to the expert when it comes to implementation.
Imaginative
The best AC company SEO clients have a long-term vision for their business. They don’t look at marketing as a gig economy for buying leads. Instead, they look to establish their branded online presence across top channels, thus creating a sustainable stream of customer inquiries.
These businesses understand that SEO can take time but has outstanding long-term benefits. Of course, SEO really doesn’t take as long as some people think either, especially if they already have a website and Google Business Profile. A few strategic tweaks can increase traffic by 57%.
Respectful
Successful HVAC clients respect the process and the agency that helps them achieve their goals. It’s not to say that criticizing your marketing agency is always unnecessary because some agencies perform lousy work. However, the top clients still respect the marketing process.
Just as an SEO agency owner would not claim to know how to install an AC unit better than your top technician, you should not claim to know more about website design or Google Business Profiles. For example, a misnomer is thinking you only need a GMB listing and not a website.
If you’re looking for HVAC promotional ideas, this is the post for you.
It can be hard to get the consumers’ attention, primarily if you operate in a crowded regional market. Nevertheless, you should consider these HVAC online promotions whether or not you have exhausted other lead generation avenues.
Promoting your business is a great way to increase brand awareness and generate leads. The best promotional tactics are subtle and prevent the consumer from feeling sales pressure. The goal is to make it seem like you’re not advertising since most modern consumers don’t trust ads.
Below, HVAC Webmasters outlines five ideas to promote your AC company.
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1) Reach Out to Local Radio Stations
Did you know that 92% of American adults still listen to the radio? While the medium seems antiquated with the emergence of podcasts and digital streaming, your audience still tunes into their local radio stations regularly.
One great promotional idea is to reach out to your local radio station and team up with them for a giveaway. Then, of course, you would sponsor the prize, which can range from a free AC or discounts on certain HVAC services. One of the giveaways we heard about was the radio station weather report.
A sweepstakes entrant would be drawn to receive the prize if the weatherman was off on the daily high temperature by more than 3 degrees. Of course, the prize will depend on what you can reasonably put up without hurting your bottom line. Still, this is a great way to promote brand awareness and get sweepstake entrants to opt in to email lists.
2) Facebook Giveaways
Every heating and cooling company should have a Facebook Business Page to promote their company.
The time is now to utilize that community and grow it with a promotional giveaway for established pages. Start by creating an announcement post to the effect that you will be giving away a free service (the actual service is up to your discretion) for people who sign up with their email, phone number, or who follow your page.
Only one person can win the giveaway, so when all is said and done, you will likely have a slew of leads who were interested enough in one of your particular services to enter their information in a giveaway for it. Another great thing about this idea is that it is relatively easy to set up independently without needing a 3rd party to get involved.
3) Guest Blogging
If you have colleagues in the business, ask if you can contribute a guest post to their website. You can drive referral traffic from their website to yours if you provide valuable content.
Guest posts also help with link building as your website’s inbound links count as an endorsement. But, of course, it depends on the website’s authority on which you are contributing. Remember, too, that nefarious guest posting (doing it only for the link) violates Google guidelines.
A white-hat guest post involves a genuine relationship where one contributor provides valuable and topical content on another’s site. For example, you can contribute a worthwhile post if you know HVAC suppliers, other contractors, or even people in similar industries.
4) Photo Contests
Photo contests help promote HVAC services and are compatible with various media platforms. One excellent photo contest example was the Ugly Furnace Contest. Entrants sent in a picture of their old, ugly furnace (including contact information) for a chance to win a new furnace.
You can partner with local print media outlets like local newsletters, newspapers, and even advertisers in your area. You can also launch the promotion on your own online.
If you have consistent monthly web traffic, you can promote the contest on your homepage. You can also promote your competition on your social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Contests are a fun way to get people involved in your brand, and of course, they will identify a slew of new leads primed for furnace replacement or maintenance.
Of course, you can change the details. If AC service is more lucrative in your area, by all means, turn it into an Ugly AC Contest.
5) Facebook Quizzes
Everyone loves a good quiz now and then – especially when there’s a prize on the line. So once again, we are turning to Facebook because it is straightforward to set up and run a quiz on the platform and tap into your existing community.
There are even apps you can use to create Facebook quizzes ridiculously easily. Of course, you will be putting up a prize in this scenario, but the ROI is likely to be significant.
A quiz won’t cost you anything and won’t take more than a few minutes. Plus, you have the opportunity to drive engagement and grow your social media community which is always good for business.
Bonus Idea: Promote Your HVAC Company on Google
The most efficient form of HVAC promotion is search engine optimization. Ranking your website and Google Business Profile on organic search results creates a sustainable stream of high-quality leads. In addition, unlike other time-sensitive promos, an organic search presence is everpresent.
The best way to increase rankings is to invest in Local SEO for HVAC Contractors. Many consumers click on the Google Map 3-Pack when searching for a local AC company. Various factors like proximity, prominence, and relevance come into the algorithm’s consideration.
HVAC Webmasters offers a tool called DataPins to help you rank locally and convert more traffic. DataPins allows HVAC companies to drop a location of their jobs and then injects the geo-coordinates with schema markup, serving as a digital hand-raise to Google Maps.
We hope you enjoyed the list. Keep in mind, there are never enough HVAC promotional ideas
AC services telemarketing may seem old-fashioned, but it can still help with HVAC sales in 2022. Telemarketing produces results if you’re persistent. While HVAC telemarketing can help you convert leads, it will take time, resources, and human resources.
One of the reasons you must be persistent with cold calling is that it takes an average of 8 attempts to reach a prospect. As the owner of an AC service business, you probably don’t have the opportunity to spend hours on the phone. The good news is that spare time isn’t necessarily needed.
If you are ready to start converting more customers via AC company telemarketing, check out the following list of tips to make your efforts more fruitful. And for loads more helpful information about marketing your AC business online, get in touch with us here at HVAC Webmasters.
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1) Invest in VOIP
VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. As the name implies, it’s a phone service that uses an internet connection rather than an actual phone line. There are many advantages to ditching your old phone service in favor of VOIP but let’s focus on the one that will help to telemarket.
VOIP can help automate some calls. Then, when someone does pick up the phone, you can have the call routed directly to you or an associate. As a result, cold calling is much more efficient and frees up your time for more important things.
Besides making cold calling more manageable, VOIP is affordable. Some of the basic packages are free and smaller businesses will likely only need the basic packages, so there is nothing to lose.
2) Keep Everything Legal
As the proprietor of an HVAC business, you probably don’t have cause to know that telemarketing is regulated very strictly. The laws for telemarketing vary by state.
There are laws on call length, when you can call, the numbers you can dial, and how you record calls. There are also stiff penalties for companies that violate any of these laws. You can review a general guide of the laws and requirements for telemarketing and consult with your attorney.
3) Curate Your Call List
It will take some time, but the smart move is to put together a call list carefully. As much as possible, you’re going to want to avoid calling people that have not expressed any interest in your services.
Please make sure you carefully curate a call list and start with the numbers of people who have voluntarily given you their contact info. However, if you make lots of calls, you will probably need to populate your call list with completely cold prospects.
Ensure that you aren’t contacting anyone on the national Do Not Call registry in these cases. Also, consult with an honest lawyer at all times.
4) Keep A Customer Profile
Every lead should enter your CRM system so you can recall previous conversations and preferences. For example, keep track of past services, areas of interest, names, and addresses. Also, take note of and archive any information that will be helpful for you or an associate to close a sale.
Many VOIP services offer a feature that displays a detailed list of information when you contact a lead. However, if VOIP is not an option, keeping a data index is still helpful. Indexes will allow you to personalize your pitch and increase the lead’s likelihood of making a purchase.
5) Monitor Performance
If you delegate telemarketing to employees or a call center, it’s essential to ensure optimal performance. Don’t be afraid to step in on low-quality calls. In addition, it’s your job to train employees and provide a sales script along with constructive feedback for progressive improvement.
Every call will be different, but there should be a general philosophy or guide for the message or sales script. Ensure that anyone handling your cold calls understands the message you want to send and stays focused.
6) Don’t Get Discouraged
It is common to get discouraged when making cold calls. You will hear the word “no” quite a bit so prepare yourself for that. Most importantly, don’t get discouraged by the customer’s reaction, even if it’s vile.
There is a negative connotation around telemarketing in general, but perseverance is key to success. Remember that telemarketing is all about being persistent. For example, you can’t sound timid when calling back leads. People will sense any hesitancy and reject your entire premise.
Of course, not everyone needs AC services now, but most people will need them at some point. As a result, make sure that you are reaching those people. That means being persistent and keeping up with your cold call efforts.
Consult With an Attorney Before Cold Calling - HVAC Webmasters Does NOT Provide Legal Advice.
Increasing Telemarketing Conversions Through Brand Synergy
You’ll find that you convert more cold calls if your brand exists online in other formats. For example, does your HVAC company appear on Google search results from SEO efforts? Can consumers find your business on Facebook, HomeAdvisor, and other popular platforms for home service providers?
Part of establishing a rapport over the phone is finding familiarity. When people know of your brand, whether they can recall the source or not, they are more likely to give you latitude with your sales pitch if you call as a complete unknown, the chances of quick rejections skyrocket.
As a result, make sure to invest in your digital marketing strategy in 2022. Your AC services telemarketing will improve.
Delving into HVAC Facebook marketing can seem intimidating for contractors in 2022. However, with the volume of users (about 307 million) and the average time spent per day (about an hour), Facebook has done a lot to transform into an asset for business owners.
Like Google, Facebook has spent a good portion of the last decade rolling out new services like advertising and ways to connect business owners to their audience. As a result, Facebook has emerged as an essential marketing tool for AC and heating companies.
2022 is the perfect time to revamp your HVAC business’s Facebook page. That’s because HVAC contracting enterprises have been slow to adopt Facebook marketing as a priority, as have many other home service businesses. So if you are serious about getting started with HVAC Facebook marketing, you could be getting a jump on your local competitors.
There are many different aspects of Facebook management for AC companies. As a result, HVAC Webmasters outlines some critical social media marketing tactics in the following guide.
Setting up an HVAC Facebook Business Page
Having a Facebook page for your business is different from having a profile on Facebook. To set your business up for success on Facebook, you’re going to want to set up a Facebook “Page” for it. You can start by visiting the Facebook setup page.
And as you can see from this page, you have two “Page” options. The first option is “Business or Brand,” and the second is “Community or Public Figure.” Of course, as an HVAC contractor, you are going to want to choose “Business or Brand.”
To go any further, you will have to have a Facebook account already, so if you don’t already have one, sign up for one now. Next, you will be asked to categorize your business. You will also be asked to name your Facebook business page. We recommend naming your page directly after your HVAC business name.
The rest is self-explanatory. Fill your business page with high-quality pictures, provide a brief description of your business, and assign page roles to yourself and anyone else that will be helping you manage your Facebook page (Admins moderators, editors, etc.).
If you look just below the cover photo of your Facebook page, you will see an option for “Add a Button.” This is where you can add a call to action button. We recommend doing that as soon as possible because it will make it easier for consumers to get in touch with you.
Once you click the “Add a Button” option, you will be asked to choose from various CTA’s. Pick the one that is most relevant to your business.
It’s also vital to thoughtfully fill out the “About” section of your Facebook page as that is the section where most people go to find out crucial information on your business. Here are some things you might want to include in the “About” section:
The date or year your business was founded
A brief description of the services you offer
How your customers use and benefit from your services
Any awards or accolades your business has earned
Company mission, philosophy, or motto
Building A Community
Using Facebook as a means of HVAC marketing is about building a community. One of the first steps towards building a community is going to your page and clicking the section that says, “know friends who might like your Page?”
You can invite people you know to check out your page and follow it here. It’s crucial that you only include people who really might be interested in your page, business, or the content you plan to share.
Consider friends, business contacts, customers, colleagues, or even suppliers in your business network. Of course, you will need their contact information to narrow down your options right away.
Interact with Followers
One of the best ways to cultivate a community on Facebook is to be active and responsive. Consider your followers as valuable commodities. If someone leaves you a comment, don’t ignore it. Instead, do your best to respond to the comment as soon as possible.
It is helpful to have someone manage your Facebook Page daily – even if you can’t respond promptly, someone in your business should speak on your behalf.
The more likes you get on your Facebook page, the more potent it becomes for your business. And to keep things in perspective, the point here is to market your business. So, of course, marketing works best when your business is evident.
Getting likes makes you visible on Facebook, and being responsive to comments and posts is a great way to get likes.
Post on Facebook
The “Write Something” field is where it all begins. Of course, sharing content will reach out to your audience and attract more followers. But what sort of stuff should you post on your Facebook Page as an HVAC contractor? Here are a few examples of content that will be helpful for HVAC businesses specifically:
Blog Content: Content marketing is compelling and important. With Facebook marketing, you can leverage the blog content you have published on your website. You can do this by writing up a quick preface to the content (1-2 sentences should do it) so that your followers will have a good idea of what they will be reading. Then, include a link to the blog post and click “Share Now.” It’s best to link to blogs that have been particularly popular on your site or at least relevant ones to the original post content.
Images: Images are a great way to engage followers and give them a quick reason to hit the “like” button. Images also drive engagement and interaction among Facebook users. Everything from funny memes to images of interesting job sites is fair game.
Pins: A tool like DataPins produces verified job postings of your recent work with images and captions. These schema-pins are great to share on Facebook as they serve as social proof for your heating business.
Facebook Live: Facebook Live allows you to share live, streaming video content with your followers. This can be especially beneficial for HVAC contractors because it will enable them to show real-time work. Consider live-streaming the final touches on a new HVAC system you’re working on or an exciting phase of the job.
Target an Audience
Facebook promotion is also about knowing your target audience. Think about your typical customers. What age are they? What does their general income appear to be? Are they residents? Are they business owners?
The cool thing about using Facebook for marketing is that you can tailor your content to the interests of a specific group of people. Facebook ads even allow you to target consumers by particular demographics.
You have to think about the kind of content your demographic wants to see for inbound marketing. This will make your marketing efforts much more effective.
Even if you don’t use Facebook Ads, you can use their helpful Audience Insights tool. It’s free, allowing you to gain insights into your followers’ interests and behaviors.
We encourage you to use this tool to tailor your content to your target audience’s interests, needs, or desires. You can even use the Audience Insights tool to see the same characteristic data for your competitors’ target audiences.
Facebook Ads for HVAC Companies
While your Facebook Business page can help establish your company and showcase recommendations and content, the best way to reach a large audience on the platform is through Facebook advertising. Whether you run lead ads or boost your posts, you will earn more followers and gain more impressions than you ever could without ad spend.
The best Facebook Ads for heating and cooling companies create engagement, urgency, and action. Consider offering a timed discount or coupon along with social proof that validates your company’s credibility. Video ads often produce the highest engagement rates, particularly if you demonstrate energy and liability through the video content.
On-site SEO for HVAC companies is an essential yet undervalued aspect of HVAC marketing. Unfortunately, companies get caught up in link building and content writing but fail to execute the fundamentals of website SEO in 2022. The highest-ranking websites master the fundamentals before expanding into off-site ventures to boost authority.
Your on-site content will still be pivotal no matter what algorithm changes the search engines throw at you. As an HVAC business owner, you should know how crucial on-site SEO is to its best practices and how to implement it. As a result, HVAC Webmasters outlines the process step-by-step below.
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Keyword Research
Other on-site optimization aspects have overshadowed keyword relevance over the years. Still, one thing remains the same: optimization starts with keywords. Keywords are still the essential roadmap for web crawlers looking for sites to index on search engine results pages.
So not only are you going to want to perform keyword research and choose the best ones for your HVAC company (based on the products and services you offer), you will need to know how to use them best.
Yes, it would be best to use the keywords strategically throughout the written content on your website. And yes, you should never engage in keyword stuffing (placing keywords where they don’t sound natural to try and manipulate the algorithm).
But in 2022, there are more important uses for HVAC keywords. So take a look at what you should be doing with your keywords aside from just including them in written, on-page content:
Page Titles: Whenever possible (and when it’s relevant and natural) include the keyword in the page’s title.
Meta Titles and Descriptions: Including meta titles and descriptions allows search engines to display important information about a specific webpage to the user. This helps the user get a clearer picture of what they will read or see if they click on that link. Including a keyword in the meta title and description of the page will also make it easier for search engines to tell whether your content is relevant to the user or not.
H1’s: H1’s, or headings, should also include the keyword whenever possible. This is why it’s essential to start with keyword research and then center your on-page content around a specific keyword.
On-Page Content
Since we are focusing on on-site SEO for HVAC, the type of content you should include on your website is more or less black and white. Of course, you will want About, Contact, Home, and Services pages. You may also need some product pages if you sell HVAC equipment.
The type of content you choose for your HVAC site will vary slightly based on the kinds of services and products you provide. However, aside from the essential pages we just mentioned, here are some other types of content you should consider including on your site:
Blog Content: Blog content is always helpful because people prefer information about a business rather than traditional advertising. Plus, blog posts present unique opportunities to rank for competitive keywords. You can create blog content centered on helping people understand their HVAC systems, determine what kind of systems they have, basic HVAC maintenance, or other helpful topics.
Images: Images are also pretty important – primarily if you sell HVAC systems. Search for “forced air heating,” You will see that some of the top results include blog posts about what forced air heating is with an image. You will also see a list of forced air heating products along with, you guessed it, photos of the product. Search engines like Google like to display images to their users, so you have to ensure you have high-quality images to display on your site.
Service Pages: If you offer specialty HVAC services, you may be at a loss of what content you should include on your site to promote them. In this case, the best thing to do is do a Google search of the name of the product or service you provide. See what kind of pages come up. See what kind of questions people are asking. What are the top results? Are they videos of said service or product? Are they blog posts? Try to emulate the content that ranks the highest for your products and services.
URL Optimization
Google crawls the URL making it critical to optimize your URLs for SEO. Avoid using numbers or baseless text within your permalinks. Instead, focus on concise keywords that reflect the page’s primary topic.
Good: bobshvacservices.com/ac-repair
Bad: bobshvacservices.com/394380dk-45
It can be helpful to use short descriptions of the content in the actual URL. In other words, you can use the page’s title to name your URL. That way, next to the domain name, the URL will tell the user what the content will be about – making them more inclined to click your link instead of the one with all the non-descriptive numbers.
Most Content Management Systems will allow you to create a custom URL slug (permalink) that appears after the domain name and subfolders. Using the target keyword in this URL slug may be the best practice.
Internal Linking
Much is made of link building for HVAC contractors, but most people focus on inbound links from 3rd party domains. However, one of the most powerful link-building strategies occurs directly on your website. For example, linking your website from one page to another (internally) helps build topical authority while distributing link equity.
On-site SEO for HVAC should monitor dead links as well. You could also use external links (links that lead to another site) to direct visitors to other helpful pages. External linking (sending visitors to another domain) may sound counter-intuitive. Still, it increases the value of your site in the eyes of search engines. After all, it helps its users find relevant information. So, in reality, external linking can boost your rankings.
User Experience
User Experience or UX overlaps technical and on-site SEO categories. Yes, a fast website relies on a solid technical foundation. Still, the user’s on-site experience also depends on your on-page SEO strategy. For example, your website might be speedy but fail to provide unique value to the user. As a result, the speed becomes inconsequential to their experience.
On-site factors influencing UX include image placement, text formatting, and the aforementioned internal linking. It’s always intelligent to regularly visit your website from the user’s perspective, both on mobile and desktop, to experience it from their point of view. Try thinking less about keywords now and think more about how the average person consumes the site.
Final Thoughts on On-Page HVAC SEO
HVAC companies can invest their resources in various SEO strategies. Still, it’s wise to focus first on the foundational aspects of on-site SEO. Your website is your most crucial piece of digital content and reflects your brand more than any other platform.
Once you complete your on-site tasks, expanding the solid foundation is much more manageable. With proper keyword research, content writing, URL optimization, internal linking, and UX, you can dominate in 2022.
Unless you are a particularly young owner of an HVAC contractor business, you probably aren’t too familiar with hashtags and hashtagging. While HVAC hashtags are most likely uncharted territory for HVAC business owners, the fact remains that they can boost your visibility.
Hashtagging specific keywords and phrases can be an excellent way to draw attention to your social media presence with the potential of generating an entirely new stream of leads.
While HVAC hashtags may be an unfamiliar concept to you, the good news is that it’s relatively simple to start using them. Like many things in SEO and digital marketing, there are ways to optimize HVAC hashtag use so that you get maximum response.
In the following post, HVAC Webmasters talks about HVAC hashtags and how you can use them to increase business.
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Best HVAC Hashtags To Promote your Business
You can make an HVAC hashtag out of any keyword or phrase you want. However, some hashtags already have a following on social media platforms, making them an obvious choice. To help get your creative juices flowing, here are some starter HVAC hashtags you can use:
1) #HVAClife
#HVAClife makes an excellent HVAC hashtag because it allows you room to use it in a wide variety of posts. So whether your goal is to inform your customers or talk about a winter promotion, #HVAClife can fit almost anywhere. The whole idea is that you are living the life of a contractor.
2) #HVACcontractor
The contractor tag is a great HVAC hashtag because you can use it to drive social media users to your website or landing page. It’s simple: users see the hashtag #HVACcontractor in one of your posts, click it, and navigate somewhere they can hire an HVAC contractor.
3) #airconditioning
You probably know that AC services are the bread and butter for most HVAC technicians. As an HVAC tech, you also know that the average AC maintenance service call will net you anywhere from $75 to $200. That’s why #airconditioning can be an incredibly lucrative HVAC hashtag.
4) #HVAChacks
The hacks tag will win you some credit with younger, first-time homeowners who love a good “life hack.” It will also attract people looking for tips on maintaining and optimizing their HVAC systems. Utilize this tag in posts that include HVAC tips to generate more attention for your business.
5) #HVACservice
Last is a general HVAC hashtag that will attract people who already know what they want. For example, if people seek the #HVACservice hashtag on social media, it’s not likely that they’re interested in dog grooming or mobile car washes. So naturally, they require HVAC services – either learning about them or hiring someone for them.
Why Hashtags are Important to Your HVAC Business
You may be wondering why something you may not have ever heard of is necessary to your HVAC business. HVAC hashtags are essential in a few key ways:
They Increase Visibility
It’s all about being visible in the places that your customers are. Social media is that place. One study found that Americans spend over 2 hours on social media every day on average. HVAC Hashtags will make it easier for people to see you and your posts on social media.
Social Media is A Means of Research
Another study found that over half of all social media users browse their feeds to research products and services in their area. So it’s clear that in 2022, people are using social media for a lot more than sharing pictures of their cats.
They Can Generate Leads
HVAC hashtags can generate new leads for your business by getting your content out to more people across social media and the internet in general. The more attention your content gets, the more likely people will also be interested in your services.
Tips for Optimizing your HVAC Hashtags
You can’t just start throwing out hashtags left and right. You have to know how to use them to get the best possible response. Here are some tips for optimal HVAC hashtag use:
Don’t Overuse Hashtags
No one wants to read a post that is primarily hashtags. So try not to stuff your posts with them. Instead, use them naturally. A good rule of thumb is to have no more than three hashtags in one post.
Embed Links
It can also be helpful to embed links into some of your hashtags to make it even easier for leads to find the information they seek. However, you have to be careful about links too. Be sure that the link leads to content relevant to the hashtag.
Use Your Company Name
Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to use your company name as a hashtag. Tagging your name helps build your brand, increase recognition and make it even easier for customers to find you online by name.
Localize your Hashtag
You can also throw in the name of the city or neighborhood you offer your services in to increase local traction.
Include Keywords
If you have an SEO strategy for your business, you probably already have a good list of HVAC keywords. Again, whenever possible, include these keywords in the HVAC hashtags you use for social media.
HVAC companies don’t have a lot of free time on their hands to brainstorm social media posts. As a business owner or operator, this can be a frustrating problem. You probably found this page because you need some ideas for your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google Posts.
Without further ado, HVAC webmasters’ presents 20 social media post ideas.
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1) Company Culture Post
One of the most effective social media posts for HVAC contractors demonstrates company culture. Highlighting your company’s principles, such as loyalty, honor, and respect, can go a long way towards connecting with customers. For example, business owners with military backgrounds can integrate their background through company culture.
2) Blog Share Post
If you are familiar with content marketing, you understand that one piece of content can be used in various ways. A great example of this is sharing a blog post on social media. Shared posts help drive traffic to your website, where social media followers can enter your sales funnel. Crafting engaging, high-quality posts with appealing topics works best.
3) Seasonal Post
When it comes to social media marketing for HVAC companies, seasonal weather changes can be a significant inspiration. After all, your consumers’ needs change with the seasons. For example, emerging winter weather calls for furnace maintenance, heating repair, and other kinds of services that keep residents warm.
4) Holiday Post
Like with seasons, holiday posts are a great source of inspiration for HVAC social media. Whether it’s Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, or Memorial Day, your company can share the holiday spirit with followers. HVAC contractors also often run promos during these periods, which you can integrate into your social media post theme.
5) Service-Based Post
Sometimes highlighting a featured service can help draw interest from social media followers. Customization is a vital component of marketing for HVAC contractors, so reaching people who require a specific service works best when your post is particular. If your company offers a rare or unique type of service, be sure to feature that within your social post.
6) Social Proof Post
At its core, social media is about community and bringing people together. There’s no better way to spark interaction than by providing social proof. For example, creating a social media post that highlights a recent customer review is a great way to foster engagement and increase conversions for your AC and heating service.
7) Job Site Post
Social media followers tend to respond more favorably when they see you in action. This will look like an image or video of your team performing a job on-site for an AC company. Nothing builds credibility more than real-time images and videos, which provide onlookers with an inside peek into your services. Showing yourself and your staff is also a great way to personalize your brand.
Where To Publish Social Media Posts for HVAC
Now that you have some excellent ideas of what content to post, you must decide where to publish them. Naturally, the best platforms are the ones where you’ve already built a significant following. The one exception is Google Posts which can appear anytime a user searches for your brand name. Below is a list of social media platforms optimal for posting.
Facebook
Facebook’s organic reach is limited, so you will have to boost posts to reach a significant audience. Think of a boosted post as a post/advertisement. Though you are paying for others to see it, like with a Facebook ad, it appears post-form and, therefore, tends to reach people organically.
Google Posts
Google is an excellent place to post social media content because users will see it every time they search for your brand name. In addition, unlike social networks like Facebook and Instagram, users do not need to follow your company to see your post populate on their search engine. You will need to claim your Google Business Profile before posting anything.
Instagram
Instagram, owned by Facebook/Meta, is the best place to post visual-driven social media content. For example, images or short videos of your on-site work will appeal to Instagram followers. Unlike Facebook, IG allows users to see your content without boosting the post.
Twitter
Twitter can be hit or miss for HVAC companies, but it’s still worthwhile to post on your feed occasionally. Unfortunately, the reality is that most HVAC consumers are not using Twitter to engage with companies. Still, it lends credibility to your business when you establish a profile and post your content. Also, be sure to include your contact information within your profile.
Long-tail keywords are extended queries users submit through search engines like Google. For example, instead of a base term like hvac repair, the user may search for a long-tail phrase like signs you need hvac repair.
How HVAC Websites Can Benefit From Long-Tail Keywords
Everyone in the local market competes for the same HVAC keywords. For smaller businesses, this is a problem because outranking the big guys means trying to match deep pockets, dollar for dollar.
And even for big, well-established HVAC businesses, it’s a full-time job making sure they stay at the top of search results for high-volume keywords like hvac repair, hvac maintenance, and hvac installation.
Another factor is domain age. Sites registered ten years ago respond faster to search engine optimization, while brand new domains may take up to 6 months to compete for high-competition keywords.
Long-tail keywords are lower competition, but new sites can rank for them quickly. In the following post, HVAC Webmasters outlines the importance of long-tail keywords for HVAC contractors online.
Long-Tail Keywords Explained
Long-tail keywords contain more specific information, typically due to users honing their search while moving through a purchasing funnel. We touched on the fact that long-tail keywords are lower competition (used by searchers less frequently) in the intro to this post.
While their keyword volume registers less frequently, they are still incredibly valuable because websites can more easily appear as the #1 result. As a result, these terms will generate more clicks and conversions.
Anyone who uses a long-tail keyword is much more likely to be ready to pay for HVAC goods or services. But, again, the results are tangible and trackable. For instance, it has been observed that long-tail keyword usage increases conversion rates by a significant margin.
Long-Tail Keyword Examples for HVAC Companies
Before we go any further, it may be helpful to provide some examples of HVAC long-tail keywords. So instead of simple hvac repair, an example of a long-tail version of that primary keyword would be something like:
hvac repair in gig harbor washington
Instead of a primary keyword like hvac maintenance, an excellent example of a long-tail version would be:
how much does hvac repair cost
Notice how HVAC long-tail keywords have a narrower focus. In the first example, the keyword was altered into long-tail form by including region-specific search terms. In the second example, the keyword was altered for customers wondering about the cost.
By using HVAC long-tail keywords, you are honing in on a smaller audience; but one that is more likely to pay for your services.
The Importance of HVAC Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are essential because they cater to consumers who know what they want. Instead of using generic search terms to do research, they use long-tail keywords when they have already done research or when no research is needed, and they are ready to buy.
The advent and growing popularity of voice search is another reason why long-tail keyword usage will be pivotal for businesses in 2022. Currently, it is estimated that over 111 million Americans are using voice recognition technology to conduct online searches.
That figure is expected to increase by nearly 10% in 2022. In addition, when people use voice search functions, they tend to use longer, more conversational terms because they don’t have to type them out.
By using HVAC long-tail keywords, you will also be catering to the growing percentage of consumers who use voice search technology. It will also help you stand out among these kinds of users.
Using long-tail keywords can also give you a higher return on your SEO investment. Because they are lower competition, they cost less than bidding on primary keywords. And as we have mentioned earlier, they significantly increase conversion rates.
Essentially, you would be spending less to make more by utilizing HVAC long-tail keywords. Speaking of using HVAC long-tail keywords…
How to Identify Long-Tail Keywords
So which long-tail keywords should AC companies use for their content? There are a variety of methods for finding high-opportunity keywords. Some of the essential things to keep in mind include:
Location Data
Please look at the example we gave above about HVAC repair in Gig Harbor, Washington. Start with the services you offer and add in the city and state. Then, depending on your city, some keyword tools like SEMRush and AHrefs will show you the monthly volume by location.
Online Tools
There are free and paid online services that you can use to find relevant long-tail keywords for your business and the HVAC services/products you sell. Take advantage of these services if you have a hard time developing a renewable list of long-tail keywords.
Use Industry Expertise
Some tracking tools don’t register volume for newer keywords, especially those dealing with more unique types of AC repair services. As an industry expert, optimize your content for all of your services, and you’ll notice that people will click.
How To Implement Long-Tail Keywords
Implementing long-tail keywords or keyphrases should mirror your process with primary keywords. It is critical to avoid keyword stuffing which is the unnatural insertion of terms within content at the expense of user experience and readability. Consider the following principles:
Use Naturally
You have your keywords like ac repair las vegas, but your reader will not want to see a grammatically incorrect phrase. As a result, you should write the keyword as AC Repair in Las Vegas. Yes, Google is smart enough to understand that they are identical.
Link Internally
The fastest way to boost rankings for a particular long-tail phrase is to link it internally from another relevant web page. So, for example, if your AC repair services page links to an emergency AC repair services page using keyword-rich anchor text, you will benefit immensely.
Supporting Images
Create supporting graphics for your long-tail keywords, and name the file something similar, or even exact, when it makes sense. Be sure to include descriptive Alt Text that mentions the phrase, if possible. An excellent example of a supporting graphic is AC Repair Tips, with a list of suggestions in graphic form.
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