In 2021, keywords for plumbers are frequently associated with PPC and even more so with organic SEO. The two concepts are often perceived as interconnected. While SEO is much more expansive than a single element, keywords remain essential optimization aspects. In today’s episode of The Plumbing SEO Podcast, we discuss how plumbers can rank for high-volume keywords with buyer’s intent. As you listen to the podcast or watch its corresponding video, you should be aware of the following ideas:

What is a Plumbing Keyword?

A plumbing keyword is a term or phrase that users search for on Google. Different analytical tools across the web provide data that projects how often a word or phrase is searched. The projected number is known in SEO circles as “search volume.” and is usually divided up on a per month basis. So if a term like plumbing repair is said to have 1,200 search volume, the presumption is that 1,200 users search that exact term in a given month.

Keyword Research for Plumbers

The tools mentioned above help plumbers and their marketing representatives track and target the most relevant and opportunistic keywords. Depending on the current standing of your website, you may have a legitimate chance to rank for highly competitive keywords, or it may be a struggle. That’s why effective research requires context and a defined set of goals for your company. Some of the best tools available on the web for keyword research include:

The Evolution of Plumbing Keywords

Before 2017, Google’s algorithm was unable to perceive the context of a search query truly. Marketing gurus could focus on the keyword itself. Today, Google’s algorithm can now perceive context, making SEO more difficult but creating a superior user experience. Instead of a verbatim keyword being enough to rank a website #1, the content must now contain supporting language known as LSI or semantic search. The most basic way to describe the idea is to use synonyms to craft a page of content that matches the searcher’s intent rather than the text exclusively. Of course, this supports Google’s goal of enhancing user experience.

Ranking for Keywords

Various factors go into ranking keywords, more than just the concepts listed previously. Sometimes ranking has more to do with ancillary components than the content itself. Sure, content is the fuel, but SEO is the engine. Things like the age of your domain name, its domain authority, and its brand syndication across the web play significant roles in determining the ranking of a keyword. There was a time in the mid-2000s where brand new websites could rank on page one for a keyword within months. Today that’s only possible for terms and phrases that have little to no competition.

Keyword Placement for Plumbers

Before Google’s algorithm could recognize context, most SEO’s engaged in a behavior known as keyword stuffing. Writers would enter as many instances of a keyword as possible. Some would even resort to unethical means to stuff their pages even more. They would hide the text by using white text coloring so that only Google’s crawlers could see the hundreds of extra keywords, but the user could not. Google was able to police this and now penalizes anyone who engages in it. Still, keyword stuffing remains off-limits for plumbing websites. Using the term or phrases unnaturally throughout sentences can hurt your rankings. It would be best if you still placed keywords in the following areas (but in context):

Image Alt Text / File Name: Rename the image file using the keyword and then tag it in the Alt Text as well
Meta Description: The description of the page, known as the “meta”
Paragraph Text: Used at least once in the paragraph (body) content, but in a natural way that appeals to the reader
Title Tag: The SEO title of the page
URL: If possible, it’s good to use the term or phrase in the URL slug itself

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