Marketing + Communications

How companies in the built environment can stand out online

A potent SEO strategy can help you climb the Google rankings and stand out in a crowded marketplace

While the average construction company is a dab hand when it comes to all things brick and mortar, a solid SEO strategy is typically not in their wheelhouse. As we wrote about recently in our complete guide to digital marketing for construction companies, a well thought out marketing strategy can net you a wider audience, better clients and more revenue. As far as marketing strategies go, SEO should be up there as one of your digital priorities. 

Over the next month or so, we’re going to cover some SEO best practices for our industry and set out what you can do to capture a new stream of potential clients. This week, we’re starting with the basics and looking at keywords.

Why is SEO important?

At a basic level, it’s simply the work you do on your website that will increase your chances of appearing high up the search engines for particular search terms. But why is it important? 

The days of the yellow pages are over; the world has turned digital. In the construction industry, word of mouth and relationships are still as relevant as ever, but you’ll be missing out on a lucrative stream of client leads if you don’t get your SEO ducks in order. By putting together a solid SEO strategy, you’re developing a resource that will continually put your name and exploits in front of a new client base. 

In the digital world, your website does a lot of heavy lifting. Recent research shows that 64% of all web traffic comes from organic search rather than direct website visits, putting a heavy emphasis on the importance of SEO and its power to bring people to your website from the search engines.  

The higher you get up the search engines results page the more clicks you’ll get. Approximately 33% of all clicks will go to the website in the number one position, with the other clicks being shared out by those below it. The further you go down the page, the smaller the piece of the pie you’ll get until there’s no pie left at all. 

Put your reader first and nearly everything else will follow

SEO is one of those topics where you can give yourself a boost with all kinds of tips and tricks. Before we get into all that, it’s important to understand that none of it will matter if your content and web copy is poor. The number one thing you should work towards before touching the more technical stuff, is high quality, value-adding content that puts your reader’s needs first.  

When your content is useful for readers and when it sufficiently answers their search intent, Google will know. It’s at that point Google will start to rank your page higher and put you on track to top the results page.  

But what does high-quality content entail? Well, there many things that go into making a piece of quality content. The most important are: 

  • Being useful and informative: If you can provide answers to your reader’s questions, half the battle is won. 
  • Being specific and comprehensive: That means content that covers a topic in detail, getting into the nuts and bolts and telling your audience all they need to know 
  • Offering unique information: Try not to regurgitate information that’s already out there. If you can produce unique content, it’ll be something your reader can’t get elsewhere, giving you an edge over the competition. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, simply finding a new way to present information can be all the novelty you need (such as a step by step guide or an infographic). 
  • Engaging your reader: If you can write with verve and persuasion, this will have a direct effect on the quality of your content. Good writing makes things a joy to read, boring writing makes things a chore, and bad writing makes things messy and unclear. If you can get into that ‘good’ category, you’ll have your readers and Google eating out of your palm. 

Keywords and how to research them

SEO for construction companies is much the same as for any other industry. The tactics don’t change, it’s only the specifics that are different. One of those specifics is the keywords you use. Selecting the right ones are pivotal to getting a steady stream of organic traffic coming to your website from the search engines.  

A keyword is essentially a word or a small phrase that forms the topical backbone of your web page or web content.  

For your website, you’ll be looking to target keywords that pertain to your product or service; something like “construction company specialising in hospitality projects”. For blogs and articles, you’ll pick keywords that are relevant to the questions your target audience might type into Google. As an example, let’s imagine your keyword is, ‘Changes to planning regulations’. You could craft a piece of content about those changes. Something like: 

‘How will the changes to planning regulations affect my development?’ 

For most of your pages, there’s an SEO angle you can pursue. On your portfolio, for example, you should look to capture traffic for the building or development. A potential client might come across the building in the real world and admire it. If you have optimised your portfolio page to rank well and this potential client searches using the name of the building or development, they’ll likely be able to find you. You should consider these questions whenever working on a new web page. 

 

We’ll pick this topic up again next where we’ll cover how to make sure you’re picking the right keywords. In the meantime, if you’re looking for some expert help with your SEO strategy, give Luma a call and we’ll set you on a course to conquer the search engines. 

Selected industry experts bring you insight and expert advice, across a range of sectors.

Subscribe for free to receive our fortnightly round-up of property tips and expertise

Selected industry experts bring you insight and expert advice, across a range of sectors.

Subscribe for free to receive our fortnightly round-up of property tips and expertise

Sign up to receive the Place Daily Briefing

Join more than 13,000 property professionals and receive your free daily round-up of built environment news direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Join more than 13,000 property professionals and sign up to receive your free daily round-up of built environment news direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

"*" indicates required fields

Your Job Field*
Other regional Publications - select below