SEO Practices for Damage Restoration Companies

Since Google replaced the Yellow Pages, businesses have relied on their digital presence to drive conversions. Following the best SEO practices for damage restoration companies is the only way to dominate the online marketplace. Thousands of companies compete for the top spot in the same industry.

Think about the last time you seriously thought about improving your SEO. If you haven’t been too focused on it, you’re likely missing out on key SEO components you could use to gain exposure for your damage restoration business.

Below, we’ll show you how to improve your local reach with SEO, from on-page and off-page optimization to tracking performance and avoiding rookie mistakes.

Best SEO Practices for Damage Restoration Companies

Every SEO strategy starts with competitor analysis. You need to know which of your competitors are outranking you and how. From there, you can build your strategy into an actionable plan. 

Here are the top SEO practices for damage restoration that we can implement to help you rank higher in SERPs:

Source: depositphotos.com/ Photo Contributor: darksoul72

On-page SEO optimization

We’ll start with on-page SEO in order to establish authority by being informative and helpful to your audience:

Conducting keyword research

Seed keywords are the first step to identifying keywords relevant to damage restoration. These broad keywords serve as a starting point to bridge into specific terms you’ll use to rank your services later.

Example: Let’s say you offer mold removal services. If you type these words into a keyword tool, your top results will be bathroom mold removal, mold mitigation, mold clean up, etc. These are all keywords you want to incorporate into your content to be able to rank for keyword variations.

Next, you want to rank locally. When searching for a specific service, most people will enter the name of their city or neighborhood. If you offer your services nationwide or at least in a few different cities, you want to rank high for all of them.

Finally, you can rank more easily with long-tail keywords since they have less volume. Plus, if someone types ‘removing mold from walls,’ they’ve already decided to take action. All you have to do is convince them why they should choose you.

Content optimization

Content is the main piece of the on-page SEO puzzle. You might think you can nail content optimization by introducing SEO components like keywords, internal and external links, and photos. However, you’re probably forgetting the bits and pieces that tie the whole text together:

• Proper formatting
• Meta titles and descriptions of appropriate length and relevance
• Alt texts
• Content accuracy and quality
• Readability

Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses more on the intuitiveness of your digital presence. A fully functional website that loads quickly across all devices is key. Here’s how we can make it happen:

Website structure and navigation

A user-friendly web design is key to conversion and retention. Your website visitors should be able to quickly scan your site and jump from one place to another with minimal effort. The same goes for the mobile version of your site. 

According to a study by Deloitte, a mobile-friendly website can improve the bounce rate on lead-gen landing pages by 8.3%. As such, most potential customers are likely to convert to buyers and return in the future if the website is fast. So, ensure your site loads fast, doesn’t glitch when scrolling, and is compatible with various screen sizes. 

Page speed optimization

Have you ever left a website because the page took too long to load? You’re not alone. This Portent analysis shows that a site that loads in 1 second has a conversion rate five times higher than one that loads in 10 seconds or less. 

But what is slowing down your pages? There could be several factors, from bad website design to caching and lack of image optimization. Make sure your code is efficient and working towards eliminating problems that may be causing visitors to bounce.

Local SEO strategies

As a damage restoration company, you need to understand the value of local SEO for your business. We put into practice some of the best SEO practices for damage restoration companies wanting to improve their local reach.

Google My Business optimization

First and foremost, you want to get your business verified on Google. You can do this by going to your Business Profile, clicking on ‘Get verified,’ and entering a text message code or answering a call.

Next, it’s time to fill out your Business Profile, top to bottom – don’t leave any blank sections. List your working hours, phone number, website address, services, location, and address. Now you’re all set to start generating Google reviews; however, optimization doesn’t end here.

Regular engagement with your Business Profile is a must. You want to post regularly in the Updates section, where you can share your latest damage restoration project or news about a new service. The updates section will act like a blog, except it’ll mainly consist of what you can offer, excluding info that might not be valuable to customers.

Local keyword targeting

Your SEO damage restoration campaign will be incomplete without local optimization. For this, you can use the Google Keyword Planner. This tool allows you to search for region-based keywords beyond states and cities. You’ll get info on the monthly search volume for each keyword to help you decide whether it’s worth ranking for it.

Off-page SEO techniques

Advertising your services outside the scope of your website is just as vital for your damage restoration SEO campaign. This is how we can help you accomplish it: 

Link building

You can gain significant traffic by getting backlinks to your site. You want to build a natural link profile by: 

• Getting inbound links from authoritative pages.
• Getting backlinks from business directories for damage restoration.
• Linking back to your website on your social media pages.
• Creating a profile on review sites like Trustpilot and getting inbound links from there.

Social media presence

Another way to see results from SEO is by proving yourself as a trusted brand. This practice is called nurturing warm traffic or engaging with your existing customer base.

Make sure to post regularly across various social media channels. But don’t just advertise your services. Create informative content that’ll spike interest from your audience. In turn, your clients will see you as an authoritative source in the industry.

SEO analytics and monitoring

Once you’ve optimized your online presence, you want to monitor its performance on the web regularly.

Importance of tracking performance

You should always be up to date with your SEO performance by using traffic analytics tools. These tools show you your overall SEO performance and give insights into what your competitors are doing right so you can replicate any good moves they make. 

Adaptation to algorithm changes

Your constant adaptation to algorithm changes is the only way to stay on top of industry trends and keep up with competitors. Algorithm changes include updates in how content is ranked, so it’s important to check them regularly and update your existing content to fit the latest criteria.

Common SEO Pitfalls to Avoid

Following the Google Spam Policies is the best way to avoid common SEO mistakes. Here’s how you might be accidentally hurting your SEO game:

• Over-optimizing: This happens when you optimize your content to where it sounds unnatural. Keyword and link stuffing, bad title tags, and poorly placed links can all hurt your SEO game. 
• Using black hat SEO tactics: These SEO practices go against search engines’ terms of service and lead to downranking. They include creating multiple websites with slight variations to the URL to rank for multiple queries, harmful website redirects, hiding text from users that is only visible to search engines, etc. 
• Ignoring local SEO components: As a damage restoration company, you provide in-person services, so local SEO should be your priority. Not ranking for location-based keywords and not having a Google My Business page means you haven’t mastered local SEO.

Source: depositphotos.com/ Photo Contributor: artursz

Conclusion

The best SEO practices for damage restoration companies include creating a Google business listing, improving website performance, optimizing on-page and off-page content, and following the latest ranking guidelines. Remember to create fresh content to generate backlinks and incorporate long-tail, location-based keywords for maximum exposure.

If you need help implementing your SEO strategy, we at RestorationBoost offer water damage marketing, provide mold and fire leads, local SEO, and more. Schedule a call at your convenience, and let’s grow your damage restoration business together!