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Jun '25

7 Top HVAC SEO Agencies for 2025

Hey, I’m Nolen Walker – the founder of multiple SEO companies. This article outlines the 7 top HVAC SEO agencies and companies of 2025 based on real-world data.

Over the past decade, my team and I have spoken to thousands of HVAC companies, each with experience with one or more HVAC SEO companies.

Our criteria for choosing the top agencies are as follows:

Industry/Client Specificity: Our #1 consideration was the agency’s experience working directly with HVAC companies, not plumbers, not electricians, but heating and cooling businesses.
Founder Expertise: How involved is the agency’s founder in the day-to-day operations, and how much proven success do they have with HVAC SEO campaigns?
Client Experience: Have HVAC business owners who’ve used the agency had a mostly positive experience?
Software: Does the agency have proprietary software, white-labeled software, or no software?
Adaptability: Does the agency implement shifting industry trends such as AI search, ChatGPT, and Google AI Overviews, or are they stuck in traditional SEO infrastructures and cite “deliverables” and “thought leadership”?
Personal Bias: I own one of the agencies on the list, which means I know more about its services, software, and the results it has produced for local heating and cooling professionals.

#	Agency	Year Founded	Founder	HVAC Industry Specificity	Software
1	HVAC Webmasters	2013	Nolen Walker	100	DataPins
2	Plumbing & HVAC SEO	2008	Josh Nelson	50	ConversionAMP
3	Online Access	2009	Dave Squires	90	NearbyNow
4	On The Map Marketing	2009	Rick Hoskins	5	Unknown
5	Blue Corona	2008	Ben Landers	35	Unknown
6	Scorpion	2001	Rustin Kretz	25	RevenueMAX
7	Loopex Digital	2018	Vahan Poghosyan	6	Unknown

Top HVAC SEO Companies

1) HVAC Webmasters

Self-promotion can be annoying online, especially when it’s not truthfully disclosed. I am the founder of HVAC Webmasters. I founded this agency in 2013 with a vision to help HVAC companies in the United States, who unethical SEO companies have screwed around.

Of course, I believe my agency is the best one out there for HVAC companies. While we all have some bias toward our own services, I can say that I spent millions developing proprietary software for HVAC companies called DataPins.

I am Texas Direct and Texas Respectful, so you have my word that my agency is on the cutting edge of every new search trend, including AI search with ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. Our proven success with HVAC companies keeps our clients long-term and gives us positive reviews.

Founded: 2013

Key Clients: Mission Critical Comfort Solutions, William C Fox Heating & Air Conditioning, Taylored Air

Additional Services: DataPins, AI Search Integration, Custom Web Design

2) Plumbing & HVAC SEO

Josh Nelson, the founder of this agency, is an industry pioneer in both the plumbing and HVAC SEO spaces and a legitimate “thought leader,” unlike many agencies that claim to be but don’t have anything to back it up.

Plumbing & HVAC SEO is a reputable agency for plumbers and HVAC companies. While it is not specific to HVAC-only providers, it has worked with many businesses in the heating and cooling industry.

This tenured agency provides full-service SEO, which includes custom website design, content creation, and conversion tracking.

Founded: 2008

Key Clients: Pacific HVAC, Update Heating and Cooling Services, 360 Air Tech LLC

Additional Services: ConversionAMP, PPC, Custom Web Design

3) Online Access

Founded in 2009 by Dave Squires, Online Access services HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians, and other contractors with SEO, web design, and other digital marketing.

Their domain name (hvacwebsites.com) tells you that they have experience with HVAC companies, which gives them a leg up on other agencies in our industry-specific category.

Their services include add-on packages, such as NearbyNow, a check-in software similar to DataPins that helps businesses show proof of their work for better online signaling.

Founded: 2009

Key Clients: Carter Mechanical, Mega Care Solutions, Alpha Heating & Air

Additional Services: NearbyNow, Content Creation, Custom Web Design

4) On The Map Marketing

On The Map Marketing works with a broad range of industries on web design, SEO, and digital advertising.

The company, founded in 2009 by Kristaps Brencans, has a track record and reputation that signal consistency and reliability.

Aside from SEO, OTMM focuses on lead generation, helping local HVAC companies secure new customers in their local service areas.

Founded: 2009

Key Clients: Unknown

Additional Services: Lead Generation, Content Creation, Custom Web Design

5) Blue Corona

Like some of the other agencies on this list, Blue Corona has proven its long-term sustainability in the SEO industry.

Founded by Ben Landers in 2008, Blue Corona works with home services businesses, including HVAC companies, on website design, SEO, and other marketing endeavors.

Their long-term standing in the contractor SEO space makes them trustworthy and formidable, much like HVAC Webmasters and Plumbing & HVAC SEO.

Founded: 2008

Key Clients: Penguin Air, Plumbing & Electrical, Arctic Air Conditioning, Blind & Sons, Inc

Additional Services: PPC, Content Creation, Custom Web Design

6) Scorpion

Scorpion is considered the “OG” of contractor digital marketing in the United States and continues to succeed with HVAC companies and other industries, including lawyers.

Founded by Rustin Kretz in 2001, Scorpion’s built-in software RevenueMAX offers a noteworthy value-add, similar to DataPins for HVAC Webmasters.

Scorpion provides its own CMS (not WordPress) and various other digital marketing tasks, such as revenue intelligence, in addition to SEO.

Founded: 2001

Key Clients: Hembree Heating & Air Conditioning, Hedrick’s Service

Additional Services: Online Scheduling, Lead Scoring, Reputation Management

7) Loopex Digital

Loopex Digital is an SEO agency based in Yerevan, Armenia, but it works with HVAC companies (and other types of businesses) in the United States.

Vahan Poghosyan and Maria Harutyunyan are married co-founders who provide SEO services, link building, and white-label SEO.

While they do work with heating and cooling businesses, that industry accounts for only about 6% of their clients.

Founded: 2018

Key Clients: Rowland Emergency

Additional Services: Link Building, White-label SEO

Choosing an HVAC SEO Agency

When choosing between the best HVAC SEO companies, you should consider reviews (especially Google reviews), pricing, how well their website ranks for industry-specific terms, and whether they integrate AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Most importantly, you want to speak directly with the founder and CEO before making a final decision. If the agency tries to filter you through sales managers or account executives without getting the founder’s perspective, you may want to ask yourself why that is.

Finally, choosing an HVAC SEO company is not a one-size-fits-all decision. Ultimately, your comfort level with the service offering should be the final deciding factor in which agency you select.

Nov '24

LLMO vs. SEO (Same Difference or New Approach?)

LLMO, or large language model optimization, is the practice of refining content to appear within large language model answers like those from ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity.

Renowned SEO industry commentator Lily Ray recently posted on Linkedin that she’s “yet to read a single article about how to optimize your site/content to appear in Google’s AI Overviews that offers significantly different guidance from what we already knew as conventional SEO wisdom.”

I understand why many people feel this way. However, while they may be subtle, experienced SEO professionals, including myself, have been discussing the nuanced differences between LLMO and SEO.

My name is Nolen Walker. I am the founder of multiple digital marketing agencies and a software company and am widely considered the best SEO salesperson in the United States.

My sales success is not based on trickery or technique but on having a good service and understanding how to convey its benefits to small business owners.

LLMO vs. SEO

Having been in the SEO industry since 2011, I’ve witnessed every major shift in the world of search engine optimization and, more importantly, how these changes have directly impacted business owners.

We had major Google algorithm updates, like Penguin and Panda, that obliterated “bad actors” in the SEO space.

More recently, we’ve seen another update, the Helpful Content Update, fundamentally alter the role of text content as a currency for ranking website pages.

This latest shift has coincided with the emergence of AI and large language models, which is how we arrived at LLMO.

Since Google and Bing have already integrated LLMs into their search engine, and ChatGPT has expanded its capabilities to search the web, optimizing websites and other forms of web content for LLMs is a natural progression of search engine marketing.

Still, many in the industry, most notably Lily Ray, have questioned how LLMO advice from long-time SEO experts like myself differs from traditional SEO advice.

An Industry in Transition

To understand how LLMO differs from SEO, you must first understand that search marketing is already markedly different than it was before ChatGPT’s emergence.

Like myself, Rand Fishkin has been in the SEO industry for over a decade and has since transitioned to audience research, a different discipline.

Rand’s shift in industries is based at least partially on his foresight into the future of search, which, as he points out, will include more zero-click searches and less website engagement.

Whether enough people have noticed or not, the behavior of the one-time website visitor has gradually shifted to a different form of consumption that includes increasing engagement with social media “shorts,” podcasts, and, of course, LLMs.

However, Rand is wise to point out that the dwindling clicks on SERPs for informational queries do not eliminate the value of Google search visibility.

In fact, there’s still great value in appearing in featured snippets and top organic rankings for Google keywords, even if its impact is more difficult to measure.

What Makes LLMO Different?

LLMO differs from SEO in that it relies more heavily on trustworthy brand mentions, public relations, and media diversification than on title tags, keyword placement, and backlinks.

As Rand points out in his SparkToro article, LLMs prioritize results using “mentions across training data.”

As a result, optimizing for LLMs involves deliberately increasing your mentions on trustworthy public domains.

This is not as binary as “link building” in its traditional SEO context, where the goal was merely to distribute website authority from one website to another.

With LLMO, service providers should target contextual brand mentions on content that matches a specific intent rather than a keyword.

Of course, these strategies overlap somewhat with the most recent SEO shifts but are still mutually exclusive in a broader sense.

Optimizing for LLM Training Data

Identifying and appearing in LLMs’ sources for training data is the key to LLMO.

But what exactly is considered training data in this world of large language models?

Below, I will provide estimates for the sources LLMs use to train and access information:

Websites / General Internet Text (60-70%)

Traditional SEO advice, like creating a branded website and reaching out to credible websites in your industry, overlaps with targeting this large section of LLM training data.

However, nuanced differences exist in your outreach priorities when attempting to appear in training data.

For example, a simple hyperlink back to your website will not suffice for teaching LLMs who you are, what you do, and why consumers should care.

Instead, you need to appear in the proper context, positioning your brand in a light that users would favorably react to.

For example, appearing in a list of the top ten companies in your local area would help train LLMs on your notoriety in that region.

Books and Academic Literature (15-20%)

Getting published research about your product or service can help LLMs learn about your brand.

The more noteworthy the publication, the more weight it will hold as LLM training data.

Public PDFs, Government Reports, and Legal Documents (5-10%)

In the early stages of SEO, PDFs, and documents indexed by search engines were sometimes referred to as the deep web.

Still, there was always anecdotal evidence that mentions within these types of documents lent more credibility to your brand as a valuable entity that Google could use to verify your legitimacy.

The same may be true of LLMOs, as LLMs use these types of documents, in some cases, for training.

Social Media and Informal Text (5-10%)

Every business should aim to appear on social media, whether through your own channels or others.

Getting mentions on YouTube Shorts, TikTok Reels, or Instagram Posts is a way for your brand to exist within the digital ether—one that LLMs may use to train their latest models.

Business Listings and Structured Data (1-3%)

Appearing in business listings directly overlaps with longstanding Local SEO advice, which stresses the importance of citations with NAP consistency for uniform phone numbers, business names, and addresses.

It’s equally important to use structured data and schema markup to associate your website and other digital entities, building a footprint that LLMs can use to verify your brand’s authenticity.

Scientific and Technical Documents (<1%)

Few companies will appear in scientific journals and technical documents, but those who do may have an edge in LLMO.

You shouldn’t worry much about getting your brand into these publications unless your business deals directly in science and scientific studies.

Integrating LLMO into SEO Services

How much you’ll have to alter your SEO services to adapt to LLMs depends on how closely you’ve paid attention to SEO shifts over the past several years.

For example, does your SEO service package still include “blog posts” as a “deliverable?”

If so, you probably don’t understand how the behavior of searchers has changed.

The shift must be dramatic for agencies still relying on archaic SEO practices to earn monthly retainers.

For one, you must focus less on text content as a ranking currency and shift your focus to user intent and E-E-A-T, which are now phrases every SEO professional should understand.

User intent defines the searcher’s goal when submitting a query on Google.

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, which are signals your website should demonstrate.

We can get into the weeds on how to best integrate E-E-A-T into a website, but it requires an initial understanding of how search has changed.

For agencies who’ve already shown progress in these areas, adapting to LLMO is an easier transition.

While you don’t want to abandon your existing SEO strategies, you will want to expand and emphasize audience research, brand mentions across training data and contextual relevance.

My personal contribution to this movement is DataPins, a software tool I invested millions in developing in accordance with Google’s latest guidelines.

I work with local contractors and small business owners and help them demonstrate E-E-A-T signaling on their websites while also generating context conducive to appearing in LLM answers.

As a result, the software is an all-in-one solution for modern local SEO and LLMO.

Adapting to LLMO Variables

Presenting oneself as an all-knowing expert is commonplace in today’s era of personal brands.

Meanwhile, honest business owners are struggling to adapt to technological shifts in the search landscape, and we, as an industry, are overlooking these fundamental needs.

They are uninterested in braggarts claiming to be the industry’s voice for AI, LLMs, or any other facet of the industry.

Like the early stages of search engine optimization, LLMO is a living organism that will change dozens of times per day, week, and year.

As industry experts with real-world experience, our job is not to prognosticate but rather to adapt in a way that best suits the people who rely on us to get business.

In my case, that includes plumbers, roofers, HVAC companies, and other contractors and small business owners.

When I got into this industry, I did so for them, not so I could appear on industry podcasts to celebrate my personal brand and drink cocktails with others removed from the struggle of the small business owner.

Most Important LLMs for Search Marketing

Making things easier for business owners starts with knowing where you want your brand to appear.

Like in the early days of SEO, you wanted to appear on Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, and other now-extinct search engines; the same is true of early LLM adopters.

Below, I will prioritize which LLMs are most important from a search marketing perspective:

Google AI Overviews

Google’s AI Overviews merge their existing market dominance with the emergence of AI.

Since most traditional search engine users already use Google to find businesses, optimizing for Google AI Overviews is currently the most critical component of LLMO.

ChatGPT

As the tool that took AI to the mainstream, ChatGPT Plus now features a search engine or browse the web component.

Homeowners are using ChatGPT already and expect even more potential customers to adopt it in the coming months.

Google Gemini

Google Gemini is essential to Google’s version of ChatGPT, which makes it widely accessible to Google’s existing market share.

Some ask why people use Gemini if they already have AI Overviews on traditional Google search results. Gemini is integrated with other Google products like smartphones, which future customers may use for search purposes.

Bing Chat / Bing CoPilot

Bing Chat or Bing CoPilot uses Open AI’s large language models, which also power the more popular ChatGPT.

Unlike Google, whose search engine is part of most consumers’ everyday routine, Bing has struggled to convert its OpenAI affiliation into a significant increase in market share.

Nevertheless, as the second most used traditional search engine, Bing has always been part of most businesses’ search marketing strategy, and its adoption of AI should only reemphasize that commitment.

Perplexity AI

Perplexity has defeated the odds by making a name for itself in the search marketing landscape.

While users mostly choose Perplexity for non-traditional search queries, the platform’s successful integration of AI, LLM, and web sourcing has allowed it to deliver consistently excellent answers to user search questions.

The Final Verdict on LLMO vs. SEO

LLMO and SEO certainly overlap, but applicable LLMO advice is unique from “SEO advice.”

LLMO does not rely on title tags, meta descriptions, and link equity but rather brand mentions across training data.

The methods used to achieve brand mentions across training data may resemble PR and link building to the average novice. Still, the subtle nuances can determine your brand’s visibility in LLM answers.

There was a time when PR was not considered part of SEO; in the literal sense, they are still entirely separate.

As a result, suggestions that LLMO and SEO advice are identical overlook the margins and subtleties of the contrast.

As the top SEO salesperson in the United States of America, I am proud to have implemented LLMO into my SEO service offerings at my various award-winning digital marketing agencies.

I am even more proud to have invested millions into developing software that integrates LLMO with Local SEO and digital brand building.

I will continue to dedicate my career to the hard-working small business owners who get up early, not to find their name mentioned in an article but to keep this great country running on its merits of hard work and dedication to the common good.

All in all, LLMO differs from SEO in subtle and nuanced ways, but there is undoubtedly overlap that can inform agencies and industry leaders on how to meet their clients’ emerging needs.

Author: Nolen Walker

Nolen Walker is an SEO entrepreneur with 15+ years of first-hand experience working with small businesses. He is the founder of DataPins. Nolen also hosts The Nolen Walker Podcast on Spotify.

May '24

SEO for Roofers: (Exclusive Guide) | 15 Years of Experience ✅

SEO for roofers is an excellent way to grow a roofing business.

In the following guide, I’ll reveal the SEO strategies I’ve used over the past 15 years to help thousands of roofing companies generate millions of dollars in revenue through Google organic search traffic.

I will explain:

Why SEO is essential for roofing companies
How to find what your customers are searching for (the right way)
How to create content that ranks
Local SEO best practices
How software contributes to SEO performance
Why you should avoid advice from SEO “gurus”

And much more.

Why Roofing SEO is Essential

Potential customers search Google for roofing services 7,393,490 times per month.

The great demand for roofing services creates an opportunity for local companies to capture new customers on search engines like Google.

SEO doesn’t replace door-knocking or word-of-mouth referrals but will help maximize its impact.

Unlike those traditional marketing methods, organic traffic from SEO delivers 24/7 leads to your roofing company.

What is Roofing SEO?

Roofing SEO is the process of creating website pages to rank for roofing-related search queries, bringing in new customers.

Unlike other experts, I use the term “queries” instead of “keywords” because over half of visitors to your website will use a search query that is undetectable to keyword research tools.

Think about what your customers might search for before they find your services, such as “roof leak in fort worth tx after storm.”

You can enter that string of words into popular keyword research tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and even Google Search Console, and nothing will show up.

Each of your prospective customers will word their queries slightly differently, creating thousands of variations of a single user intent.

User intent is the searcher’s goal when searching Google (i.e., finding storm damage roof repair services in their area.)

SEO ensures that your website pages rank for all these terms to capture the highest possible percentage of your local customers.

SEO Ranking Factors

The seven confirmed ranking factors for traditional organic search results are:

Links
User Intent
Freshness
HTTPS
Mobile Experience
Page Speed
Intrusive interstitials

However, at least 200 ranking factors determine where your website ranks for a query, most of which are unconfirmed by the search engine powerhouse.

If that weren’t enough to think about, Google changes its algorithm 12 times per day and 4,500 times per year.

The algorithm’s complexity is why most roofing companies invest in professional SEO services after reaching a specific revenue benchmark.

However, roofers must first understand the process itself to appreciate the value of SEO services.

Free SEO Consultation for Local Roofing Companies

What Do Roofing Customers Search For?

If you take one thing from this guide, let it be identifying what your customers are searching for.

In the SEO world, this process is called keyword research.

Unfortunately, the subject of keyword research for roofing websites breeds overwhelming misinformation.

Gurus will tell you to target keywords that appear on popular keyword research tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.

Unfortunately, these tools miss over 50% of queries that future customers will use to find your business.

As a result, following their advice will cost you at least half of your potential customers.

Step 1: Foundation Keywords

The tools mentioned above, Ahrefs and Semrush, are valuable for the first step of your keyword research: identifying your foundation keywords.

For most roofers, this will start with the phrase roofing + city name.

Examples of this include:

Roofing fort worth
Roofing dallas
Roofing houston
Roofing denver
Roofing orlando

Enter roofing + (your city name) into Semrush and sort by keyword volume.

Other foundation keywords will include:

Roof repair + city name
Roof installation + city name
Roof replacement + city name
Roof inspection + city name

Step 2: Specialty Keywords

The exact services your roofing company offers vary by resources, size, location, etc.

For example, some roofers offer both residential and commercial roofing services, while others offer one or the other.

Similarly, some companies provide metal roofing, tile roofing, foam roofing, and other specific service types, while others don’t.

This is where your specialty keywords come into play.

First, write down all of your specific roofing services, something like:

Residential
Commercial
Emergency
Asphalt Shingle
Tile
Foam
Metal
Flat
TPO
EPDM

Next, you’ll want to enter the specialty + roofing keyword into Semrush.

DO NOT INCLUDE THE CITY NAME in this portion of your keyword research.

Semrush search volume for "metal roofing"

Once you record the national search volume for your keyword, use Semrush’s “select location” feature to estimate your city’s keyword volume.

Local Semrush volume for "metal roofing"

Remember, this is a general estimate; many terms will inaccurately show zero search volume.

That’s why you’ll want to look at both the national search volume, the local search volume, and the population of your city.

In the case of metal roofing, the three numbers are:

National volume: 49,500
Local volume: 110
Local population: 956,709

Looking at these numbers together, it’s easy to see that this is a great keyword opportunity for a Fort Worth-based roofing company.

The Keyword Handbook Research for Roofers

Free Keyword Research Workbook for Roofers (PDF)

Step 3: Hidden Keywords

Hidden keywords are terms you can’t officially research but still must account for.

These terms will represent over 50% of your organic SEO visitors.

How do I know this? I ran a comprehensive research case study based on 10+ years of Google Search Console data from over 1,000 roofing websites.

Ahrefs conducted a similar study and reached similar findings.

Typically, hidden terms are long-tail phrases (3 words or more), such as:

brava barrel shingle roofing repair fort worth
shingle roof repair after hail storm dallas
sbs polymer infused shingle houston

Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google Search Console can’t help you find these queries.

When you enter them into keyword research tools, they display a “N/A” search volume.

Do you use a field service management app like Acculynx, JobNimbus, or Field360?

If so, your job data will store the specific services you offer.

Alternatively, you can use a tool like DataPins, NearbyNow, or GeoJuice to document your recent jobs directly on your website.

This step ensures your pages will rank for the thousands of hidden terms users search for.

How to Create Content That Ranks #1 on Google

There are multiple strategies roofers can use to create content that ranks #1 on Google.

You can create a page for each service (residential, commercial, metal, etc.)
You can also create a single page that ranks for multiple services. (more on this later)

Either way, your ability to rank #1 comes down to your website’s authority and optimization.

You have limited control over authority since your website gains trust over time through natural backlinks, customer reviews, and brand mentions.

However, you CAN control how you optimize your content.

SEO professionals refer to optimizing content as on-page SEO.

Common on-page SEO factors like title tags and meta descriptions are relatively well-known.

For example, your page about metal roofing services in Fort Worth should have the following:

Title: Metal Roofing Services in Fort Worth, TX | Company Name

Meta Description. Company Name offers top-notch metal roofing services in Fort Worth, TX. Our 60+ 5-star Google reviews demonstrate our commitment to professional metal roofing solutions for Fort Worth residents.

Pretty simple, right?

While titles and meta descriptions are fundamental to on-page SEO, lesser-known factors move the needle in rankings and conversions.

Relevance

How would you feel if you picked up a book with a roofing title and opened the first page to find content about landscaping?

You would probably feel misled.

That’s exactly how Google users feel when they click on a misleading search result.

Google’s algorithm knows this, which is why it ranks relevant content.

To rank in the top 3 Google search results for roofing-related terms, you must create relevant content that meets a user’s intent.

Not only that, but the body content must be relevant to your title tag and meta description.

For example, a page titled Roofing Insurance Claims should detail the claims process from the point of view of a roofing professional with first-hand experience.

The content should answer common questions your customers ask about this process and cite real-world examples from your past.

When you can inject unique insights into your content (things that only you could know, you gain a significant ranking boost that your competitors cannot replicate.

Site Speed

Your page’s speed is a significant ranking factor because of its impact on user experience.

Head to Google PageSpeed Insights to test your page’s current speed.

Any score below 50 is a cause for concern.

If your pages consistently score low on desktop and mobile, you likely have a problem with your hosting server or image files.

Digital Branded Signaling

Over the past several years, Google has cracked down on content made for search engines rather than users.

They’ve released multiple iterations of their Helpful Content Update along with the March 2024 Core Update, all of which target content that lacks what I call “branded digital signaling.”

Google has its own term for this: EEAT or experience, expertise, authority, and trust.

Google has publicly stated that EEAT is NOT a ranking factor.

However, search quality raters, who are people Google hires to evaluate the performance of its algorithms, are trained to look for EEAT when grading pages.

When pages without sufficient EEAT rank well on Google, the following algorithm update aims to lower those rankings in favor of pages that better demonstrate those branded signals.

Tangible ways to improve your website’s EEAT include:

Awards
Badges
Licenses
Social Proof
Recent Projects
Check-ins or Pins
Reviews (Especially Google Reviews)
Original Images
Schema Markup

Post Helpful Content Update Checklist for Roofers (PDF)

Local SEO Best Practices for Roofing Companies

As a local roofing company, your Local SEO strategy is crucial to maximizing customer acquisition.

The on-page SEO factors mentioned above also apply to local SEO, but you must consider multiple other components at the local level.

The most significant local ranking factor is your Google Business Profile.

A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a verified local listing for your roofing company through Google’s business database.

A verified Google Business Profile is eligible to rank on Google Maps and Google’s Local Map-Pack (sometimes called the 3-pack).

Helping roofers claim their Google Business Profile is one of the first things I do with my clients, as it sets the stage for the rest of your Local SEO strategy.

After claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile, you can optimize your listing by ensuring it contains accurate information.

Pay particularly close attention to the “website” field of your profile.

Your official website must be connected to your Google Business Profile because it powers the SEO for your listing.

I encourage roofing companies to upload unique photos of their staff, equipment, and recent projects directly to their business profile.

Requesting Google Reviews

Ranking on Google’s Map-Pack requires consistently acquiring customer reviews.

I recommend using software to automate customer review requests through email and text messaging.

Including an on-page HTML widget showcasing Google reviews directly on your website is also a helpful action to take

You can expect your rankings and conversions to increase simultaneously as you increase reviews.

Google Business Address

The top Google Maps ranking factor is proximity, something some roofers don’t like to hear.

If your address is on the outskirts of your primary city, you will lose traffic to competitors on Google Maps.

You can still rank for your city in traditional (organic) search results but will not rank in the map 3-pack.

The only way to overcome this is to physically move your business to a better location.

Target offices in the center of your target city, which typically leads to higher Google Maps rankings.

City / Location Pages

The strategy of producing individual pages for each city or location in your service area has been around for decades.

While it can work when properly implemented, it can also penalize your website, especially in light of the recent Helpful Content Updates.

It all depends on HOW you create city pages.

For example, a 100% unique city page that talks directly to consumers in that location while showcasing jobs and reviews from other customers will perform well on search.

Conversely, mass-produced city pages that swap out the city names but nothing else are likely to cause a penalty for your entire website.

In Google’s eyes, these are called doorway pages, meaning they are “bait” used to get users to your website without offering unique value.

So next time someone asks whether city pages are considered “best practices” for Local SEO, the answer is: It depends on how they are created.

City Page Template for Roofers (PDF)

How Software Contributes to SEO Performance

I’ve run my SEO agency for 15 years and constantly seek ways to help my clients’ performance.

About five years ago, I invested millions into developing a software tool called DataPins.

It’s even been featured in Contractor Magazine.

In response to recent Google Algorithm Updates and the challenges they present to service area businesses like roofing companies, I created a tool specifically to improve SEO for roofers.

DataPins allows roofers to tag each of their roofing jobs and projects to their website as a pin.

Each pin includes unique photos, job descriptions, geo-coordinates, and schema markup.

The software’s user-friendly dashboard enables contractors and their staff to tag various pins on specific website pages.

For example, a TPO roof repair in Dallas can be tagged to your TPO roofing service page AND your Dallas location page.

Now, each of your web pages demonstrates the coveted social proof that Google values in its modern algorithm.

The tool also includes reputation management features such as review requests and on-site review widgets.

My software is not the only tool that can help roofers improve their search engine performance.

Tools like Link Whisper and WPRocket also help “move the needle.”

Get a DataPins Demo Today

Avoiding SEO Guru Advice

Because of the nature of the internet, self-proclaimed gurus can rank for terms like “roofing SEO” by providing advice based not on first-hand experience running an SEO agency for roofers but simply on having a reputable “name.”

I urge roofers to exercise skepticism when reading or listening to these gurus, many of whom mean well but don’t have extensive experience running an agency.

They take on clients occasionally and sell courses, but they don’t have longevity and proven results to support their claims.

Examples of advice from “gurus” include:

Only target roofing keywords from Ahrefs and Semrush
You will capture 30% of organic clicks by ranking #1 for roofing + city
Build “topical authority” through linkable blog posts
Purchase backlinks

These arguments present falsehoods and mistruths that can harm a roofer’s SEO presence over time.

For example, creating blog posts can lead to vanity traffic to your website but a lower conversion rate.

In addition, blog posts can create keyword cannibalization and trigger an algorithmic Google penalty.

The concept that you can only become an authority on metal roofing, for example, by creating multiple blog posts about metal roofing, is false.

A better way to create authority on a particular service is to showcase a recent metal roofing job your company performed in your target city.

This is actual data that helps prospective customers have a good user experience rather than an aimless blog post that exists only to trick search engines and attract backlinks.

Showcasing recent jobs can also help you rank for multiple services on a single page, especially for niche services like metal barn roof installation.

Conclusion

I hope my guide helps roofing professionals better understand SEO so they can make informed decisions on investing their resources going forward.

While SEO for roofers can be complex, its fundamentals are easy to understand.

My agency has been working with roofing companies for over 15 years, and I’ve learned a lot during that time.

My insights on content creation, Local SEO, and software are all rooted in first-hand experience with actual roofing companies.

Please reach out to me directly if you have further questions regarding my process or how it applies to your unique scenario.

Author: Nolen Walker

Nolen Walker is an SEO entrepreneur with 15+ years of first-hand experience working with roofing professionals. He is the founder of DataPins, Field360, and Roofing Webmasters and author of A Complete SEO Guide for the Roofing Small Business Owner. Nolen also hosts The Roofing SEO Podcast and Roofer’s Paradise podcast on Spotify.

Dec '20

Irrigation SEO: The #1 Guide for Sprinkler Repair Contractors

Hey there, I’m Nolen Walker, an SEO entrepreneur who owns multiple digital marketing agencies and a software company. I got my start in the SEO industry, helping irrigation contractors rank on Google search results and drive more leads to their businesses.

Key Takeaway

Much has changed in my 15+ years in the digital marketing industry, but the goal of driving qualified leads to your business website remains essential. The process of getting there is a lot different than it was ten years ago, but it remains attainable when consistently utilizing the proper techniques.

My irrigation SEO guide is designed to help sprinkler repair contractors avoid costly mishaps and achieve online visibility as quickly and affordably as possible in 2024.

SEO as a Marketing Channel for Irrigation Companies

Those of us in the digital marketing industry tend to overcomplicate SEO. As a business owner, you care less about the process of ranking than the results it drives in the form of leads, sales, and customers.

That’s why I encourage my irrigation clients to view SEO as a marketing channel rather than a process.

Like other marketing channels, PPC, Facebook Ads, and print advertising, SEO works out well for some businesses but not others.

There are many reasons why SEO doesn’t work for some sprinkler repair companies, and they have led some business owners to give up on SEO entirely.

I fully understand your frustrations with the industry, as paying a large monthly retainer for subpar results is discouraging and problematic.

I aim to enlighten you on how some companies succeed with SEO and how you can emulate their strategies to achieve similar results.

SEO Quick Wins for Irrigation Professionals

Startup irrigation companies may be unable to afford the $500-$2,000 monthly cost of professional SEO services. However, you can manually perform several SEO tasks to drive your business free leads. I will outline them below.

Google Business Profile

Every legitimate business can claim and optimize their Google Business Profile for free. Verified listings are eligible to rank on Google’s Map 3-Pack, which can result in 100% free leads for your business.

Remember that listings without reviews or a connected website tend to rank much lower in search results. However, other variables also influence Google Maps visibility, including your business’s location and the searcher’s proximity.

Pro Tip: Follow This Google Help Document to Create Your Google Business Profile

Directory Listings

Most businesses pay a service provider to claim and optimize their citations across various directories. However, many are unaware that you can perform this process yourself, free of charge.

You can delegate this task to your office manager or intern, but be mindful that it is time-consuming. If you want to focus on a few directories initially, consider Yelp, Better Business Bearua, and Apple Maps.

Pro Tip: Watch This YouTube Video to Create a Free Yelp Listing

Social Media

Another SEO-friendly task you can perform manually is creating social media profiles and pages for your business. You should start with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, allowing businesses to create an official page, profile, or channel.

Creating social profiles is worthwhile even if you don’t yet have content to share. By establishing your brand on these major platforms, you begin to send social signals to search engines like Google, which will serve you well as your campaign expands in the future.

Pro Tip: Follow This Google Help Document to Create a Business YouTube Channel

Expanding Your Reach With Professional SEO Services

After performing the fundamental SEO tasks mentioned above, most businesses will ultimately hit a glass ceiling regarding visibility and lead generation.

At this point, you can choose to level up with professional SEO services. However, it’s important to mention that this is the stage at which most business owners encounter their first mishaps in the oversaturated SEO industry.

Whether you choose an inexperienced SEO consultant who means well but lacks the expertise to drive results or an intentionally malicious agency that locks you into a long-term contract, the experience results in an increased skepticism of SEO as a process, industry, and marketing channel.

Vetting The SEO Agency Before Hiring Them

I cannot stress enough the importance of vetting an SEO agency before hiring them. Search for their brand name on Google, read their Google Business Profile reviews, and set up an introductory consultation with the agency owner before making any commitments.

Be skeptical of agencies that cold call your business or target you with Facebook ads. While there are exceptions, these practices are typically associated with the most dishonest agencies in the industry.

SEO Techniques Used By The Best Agencies

I’ve been running multiple digital marketing agencies for over 15 years, and I’ve been in contact with thousands of business owners about their agency experiences. I can tell you first-hand the techniques utilized by SEO agencies that consistently deliver results for their clients. I will outline these below:

Quality Content Over Quantity

The most obvious commonality among successful SEO agencies is that they don’t overproduce content on their clients’ websites. Google’s recent updates, including the Helpful Content Update and the March 2024 Core Update, have dropped the hammer on websites mass-publishing low-quality content.

99% of blog posts created on small business websites are unhelpful. However, too many agencies continue to include these posts within their services because they are considered a “deliverable” item, meaning they are tangible and acknowledged by their clients.

Don’t fall for this trap in 2024, as these posts will harm your website instead of helping it rank on Google Search. Content itself is not inherently bad, but the type of content traditionally created for irrigation websites is among the lowest quality on the web.

Software

The best SEO agencies have a differentiating factor, typically a piece of software that assists their clients. This can take the form of lead generation, lead nurturing, or client relationship management. In my case, it comes with a piece of software I invested millions in, DataPins.

My DataPins software separates my agencies from others in the industry because it was designed based on 15+ years of first-hand experience performing digital marketing services for local contractors. The software generates and consolidates digital branded signals like E-E-A-T and schema markup for SEO.

The traditional tasks associated with SEO agencies are now obsolete in 2024. Services that do not include software are unlikely to keep pace with agencies that have invested their resources in client-specific tools.

Month-to-Month Agreements

On the payment side of things, most of the successful SEO agencies offer month-to-month agreements because their services actually deliver results. The only agencies that force their clients into 6-month or longer contracts are those that know their services don’t work.

Typically, agencies that offer long-term agreements are very fond of PPC (Google Ads) as it ropes the irrigation contractor into multiple payment streams that fatten the pockets of the country’s most arrogant gurus. I’ve heard from far too many contractors who’ve lived through this nightmare.

I advise every local company to avoid any agreement longer than month-to-month, so the onus remains on the agency to consistently deliver positive results to your business.

Advanced SEO Concepts You May or May Not Want to Know

At the beginning of this guide, I noted that the outcome of an SEO campaign is more important than the process. Some business owners are rightfully focused on lead generation, not the process that makes that possible.

However, some business owners like to know all the details of the process, which I outline below.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the groundwork for an optimized website. Things like XML sitemaps, URL structure, SSL certificates, and site speed optimization are all technical components of search engine optimization.

Properly implementing technical SEO requires decades of experience from industry professionals, which is why an experienced agency is critical for a sustainable digital marketing campaign.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO gets into the nitty gritty of SEO work, including meta tags, title tags, meta descriptions, internal linking, and text formatting. The implementations of these tasks are often nuanced and based on custom research combined with experience and expertise.

Novice SEO professionals often overlook the minutia of properly naming image files and inserting relevant alt text, which breeds long-term resentment from their underperforming clients.

Keyword Research

Keyword research involves using tools like Moz and SEMRush to identify the best terms and phrases for a local SEO strategy. For irrigation contractors, terms often focus on sprinkler repair and irrigation services.

Unfortunately, properly using keyword research tools requires decades of experience, as the search volumes and other estimates are often inaccurate and lack the proper context of an SEO strategy.

For example, location-specific terms like sprinkler repair seattle may not register volume on such tools but will absolutely drive visitors to a local irrigation website.

Source: Moz

Integrated Reputation Management

Most business owners know the importance of online reviews and how they influence consumer behavior. Fewer know about how reputation management integrates with SEO for a cohesive digital brand in 2024.

Generating reviews is insufficient if customers never view them, and increasing visibility without customer feedback is equally limiting. Showcasing recent reviews on your business website (through an HTML slider) is one example of this type of integration.

Link Building

Link building is the most challenging component of an SEO strategy because of the misinformation surrounding it. While links are a ranking factor in Google search results, not all links hold SEO value. Furthermore, many link-building processes violate Google’s spam guidelines and can be penalized.

The only links worth pursuing are those that are relevant to your business. Typically, these link opportunities manifest through real-life networking and relationships that reflect your businesses’ standing in your community.

For example, joining your local chamber of commerce or sponsoring a Little League team in your services area can garner highly valuable website backlinks. Conversely, paying a website owner to guest post on their sports blog wastes time and money.

Moving Forward With SEO for Irrigation Companies

I hope this guide helps you make good decisions about your digital marketing campaigns in 2024. I’ve outlined multiple free SEO tasks you can complete without the help of an agency or consultant.

For irrigation contractors looking to expand their organic reach to a higher level, investing in professional services can help.

You can contact me to discuss my SEO process and how my agency can assist you with ranking your irrigation company higher on Google Search and Google Maps.