Ultimate Guide to Local SEO for Electricians

If you were to Google “electricians near me” right now, how long would it take to find your company’s name on the first search engine results page? Better yet, would it even land on the first one, or would you have to click through several SERPs before finally finding it?

If you’re not sure, we recommend trying it to find out. Either way, you’re in the right place to learn more about local SEO for electricians.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country has over 700,000 electricians and almost 250,000 electrical contracting businesses. Because of this, many electricians are overlooked when potential customers conduct “near me” Google searches to locate them. They don’t rank high enough on SERPs to command the attention they deserve.

If you’ve encountered this common issue, check out our ultimate guide to local SEO for electricians to learn how to fix it.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a search engine optimization strategy designed to help a company achieve more online visibility by attracting the attention of Google and other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo, which rely on highly advanced algorithms to decide which websites to recommend to those conducting online searches. Local SEO is a practice that appeases these algorithms and allows companies to assist their websites in climbing SERPs.

This practice emerged about 20 years ago when Google started recognizing the geographic intent behind users’ searches and responding accordingly. The tech giant began providing its users with personalized search results based heavily on their specific locations. It also introduced the Google Local Business Center in 2005, enabling businesses nationwide to manage and improve their online presence.

Since then, local SEO has evolved considerably and become more nuanced. Today, specialized services are available for roofers, plumbers, HVAC technicians, pest control businesses, garage door companies, and, yes, electricians. These services give electricians the power to stand out in the crowd.

What Are the Benefits of Local SEO for Electricians?

According to a 2024 report, roughly 80% of Americans search for local businesses online at least once weekly, and about one-third of Americans conduct such searches at least once daily. These statistics showcase the immense importance of local SEO for electricians.

If you haven’t invested in it yet, the chances of those in your geographic area stumbling upon your business online when searching for “electricians near me” are slim to none. Unless you live in a tiny town, they will have to work through dozens of other options before landing on your website.

This helps highlight the biggest benefit for electricians: improved online visibility. When you commit to it, Google and other search engines will likely recommend your website to more consumers in the market for electricians than ever before.

This is just one of the many benefits of increasing your SEO efforts. Here are several others.

More Targeted Organic Traffic

When search engines place your company’s website over other electricians in your city, you should see a big bump in the amount of organic traffic it brings in. What’s even better is that it will be targeted organic traffic.

This traffic will include many online users looking for companies that can provide the specific services listed on your site. This may improve your site’s ability to attract and convert more qualified leads, creating more opportunities for your business and putting it in the perfect position to increase profits.

Elevated Trust and Authority

In recent years, the Edelman Trust Barometer has discovered that nearly 90% of global consumers consider trust one of the most critical factors in deciding whether or not to make purchases from brands. It has also concluded that over 70% of people believe trust is a more important factor than it has been in the past.

As an electrician, you can earn the trust of your customers by doing a great job when they hire you to put in a new electrical panel or rewire their home or business. But did you also know that prioritizing local SEO for electricians can work wonders in this regard?

After putting a strong strategy in place and seeing the results in the form of your website skyrocketing up SERPs, you will find that more customers will trust your company solely because of where it ranks. People tend to view companies near the top of SERPs as more credible and reliable than those listed elsewhere. You might automatically earn their trust for this reason.

When you prioritize local SEO, you will also elevate your authority. The content you add to your company’s website will be more thoroughly researched and well-written, giving more people the impression that you know what you’re talking about.

Reduced Marketing Costs

The U.S. Small Business Administration has advised small business owners to devote 7 to 8% of their gross revenue to advertising and marketing. Some experts have also suggested that electricians spend twice this amount to market their services.

If you have room in your budget to spend this much on marketing, you’re welcome to do so. However, if your budget is meager or you’re currently in a bootstrapping phase, you might have to get creative when advertising your business to avoid breaking the bank.

Local SEO is an efficient way for electricians to market their services to people in their areas without spending a fortune. These services often cost just a fraction of what paid advertising options, such as pay-per-click ads, do.

What Are the Most Effective Ways To Improve Local SEO for Electricians?

Before you can begin enjoying all the benefits of local SEO for electricians, you must figure out the best ways to promote your business more widely online. Although it has only been around for about two decades, it has quickly grown to include many different methods for boosting a company’s search rankings.

If you haven’t invested in it yet, you might not be familiar with all or even any of them. Next, let’s look at the leading ways to improve local SEO.

Claiming, Verifying, and Optimizing Your Google Business Profile

Since we’ve repeatedly stressed the importance of using local SEO for electricians to enhance your website’s online visibility, you might assume the first step in a successful strategy would involve improving your site. Some business owners opt for this approach, but we suggest claiming, verifying, and optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) first.

Here’s how to do this:

1. Use Google Search or Maps to look up your business.
2. Claim your business if it’s already listed, or create a new GBP.
3. Verify your business using Google’s phone, email, or video verification options.
4. Optimize your GBP by adding accurate NAP (name, address, phone) information, placing it in the right business category, publishing high-quality photographs, responding to customer reviews, and sharing fresh content.
5. Monitor the insights that Google provides and improve your GBP based on feedback.

Google Business Profile Optimization is one of the best steps to improving your local SEO. It will put your company on the map — or, more precisely, Google Maps — and legitimize its online presence.

Creating Localized Content for Your Website Containing Local Keywords

While you don’t necessarily need to start improving your company’s website immediately when implementing a new local SEO strategy, it’s one of the most critical steps you will take. By prioritizing this, you can localize your site and bring in more traffic from those in your area.

For starters, you should engage in local keyword targeting by adding more keywords to the content on your site that include your location and even the surrounding areas. If, for example, you run a company in Jacksonville, FL, you should add “Jacksonville” to your content early and often. You should also create content that includes neighboring cities like Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Fernandina Beach, as it will let Google and other search engines know your site is relevant to those conducting local searches.

You should also take things a step further and create location-specific content that will resonate with locals. If, for instance, you routinely receive phone calls and emails from people looking to hire you to install electrical equipment for swimming pools, consider putting together blog posts like “How a Jacksonville Electrician Can Help With Pool Installation.” This strategy could go a long way toward attracting more local attention.

Earning Backlinks for Your Website on Local Sites

Backlinks are links to your company’s website that appear on other sites. They’re gold for business owners who want to improve their SEO. If you earn enough of them, your website should appear at or near the top of many SERPs.

Google and other search engines favor sites that have earned their fair share of backlinks because this suggests that other sites have found them valuable. This explains why you should emphasize backlink building for local SEO and strive to collect as many backlinks as possible.

In some cases, you might get lucky and land a backlink or two without much effort. For example, a blog post you publish might catch the attention of another local business owner who is putting together a blog and lead to them linking to it.

Otherwise, you may have to think outside the box to earn backlinks. Here are some ideas:

• Connect with local newspaper and TV reporters and let them know you would be happy to share your professional opinions on stories they’re working on in exchange for a link.
• Ask local websites if they would let you compose guest blogs and include links to your site.
• Sign up for social media accounts, join local groups, and post blog articles to convince others to read and share them.

Building a long list of backlinks won’t always come easy, but it will be worth it.

Adding Your Business to Local Online Directories

If you Google “local online directories for electricians,” you might be surprised to see how many options exist. If you haven’t added your business to any yet, your local SEO strategy should include this.

Create local citations and directory listings, and keep your NAP (name, address, phone) consistent across all platforms. If any of this information changes, update it to keep it current and accurate.

Encouraging Your Customers To Leave More Reviews

When people in your area are trying to find electricians, they usually do more than Google “electricians near me” and hire the first company they find. Most people also read through online reviews, sometimes extensively, before choosing the best option for their needs and budget.

Surveys have shown that over 80% of consumers use Google reviews to evaluate businesses before contacting them. Therefore, you must stay on top of your customer reviews and reputation management.

Provide customers with information on how to leave reviews on your invoices. Respond to their positive or negative reviews to show that you care about them and what they have to say.

It may take time to generate enough online reviews to affect how people view your company. But eventually, you should create a nice collection. You might even gather enough reviews to set up a “Reviews” or “Testimonials” page on your website where you can let your customers do the talking for you by singing your praises to site visitors.

Should You Handle Local SEO for Electricians Yourself or Hire Digital Marketing Experts To Help?

Are you ready to make local SEO for electricians a bigger part of your operation? If so, you might consider tackling it on your own. “How hard could it be to optimize my Google Business Profile and create compelling content for my website?” you may wonder.

Although it might not seem difficult initially, creating and implementing a strategy is more time consuming than many people realize. It is also not a one-and-done deal, as you must continue improving your SEO.

For these reasons, hiring digital marketing experts is more practical and often more effective. It will ensure that your company uses a tried-and-true strategy and make it easier for you to see the results of your efforts.

You won’t have to worry about a busy day, week, or month derailing your SEO plans. You can focus on doing your job and keeping your customers happy while allowing someone else to do all the heavy lifting from a digital marketing perspective. They can supply services like mobile-friendly website optimization and ongoing content creation.