Working as a home services professional is a challenging task. Keeping track of your appointments, making sure your equipment is operational, and helping to spread the word of your business all take up time. That’s why knowing the best and most efficient ways to market your services is so important. One of the easiest and most lucrative ways to market a home services company is with the help of directory listings.
In this article, we’ll give you tips for directory listings management for home services companies. We’ll also help break down what directory listings are and why, as a home services contractor, they can help take your business to the next level over the competition.
What are Directory Listings?
The first thing to touch on is what a directory listing is. A directory listing is a reference of your business that lists important information and can be found on search engines or other informational sources. For example, when you Google “restaurants near me”, the resulting listings are all directory listings for restaurants.
While listings in the past tended to be in paper format, such as in the yellow pages or in print ads in newspapers, today’s listings look different. Online listings through search engines and other relevant directories are the best way to reach your customer base and market to the people who can benefit from your services.
Home services can include things like roofing, HVAC, remodeling, windows, siding, gutters, plumbing, painting, architectural work, patio and decking, fencing, pools, and even movers. With so many different services, it’s important to clearly identify what your company offers and your exact areas of service. A directory listing can go a long way in explaining what you do and why you are a great provider for your local area.
Common Elements of a Directory Listing
While certain sites or platforms might require different information, there are a few common elements that can be found in nearly every listing. Having these areas fully filled out and completed will help your home services business stand out and provide the type of information that searchers are looking for. Typically, a listing will include:
- Business Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Website URL
- Photos
- Videos
- Warranties Offered
- Details About Your Business
Benefits of Directory Listings
Having a directory listing or multiple listings on different websites will bring about some important benefits for your business beyond just having important information listed on search engines. Here are some of the most valuable benefits of listing your business on different online directories.
Increased Visibility
When you use a search engine like Google to search for businesses, directory listings are the first search results to appear. Rather than scrolling through links, a searcher can find your business listing, along with a map location, right at the top of the search results page. This allows you to rely on directories listings to connect you directly with customers. After all, they rely on directories to find home service providers in their area.
Local Benefits
As a home services contractor, you have a specific area in which you operate. You don’t want to waste time with inquiries from people outside of your area or out of state. Online directories are location-based, meaning that someone searching for a home service company “in the area” will only connect to local businesses like yours. That helps you find the most qualified leads and new customers in the right area.
Credibility Improvement
It’s an unfortunate truth that some home service contractors are unqualified to work or don’t have a legitimate business like yours. By having a listing that is fully filled out and includes things like images, Q&A responses, and reviews, you can prove to your customers that your business is real, reliable, and reputable. Customers want to know that the person they are entrusting their home to is legitimate, so a listing can go a long way.
Direct Contact
A directory listing will have your contact information right there on the search results page. That gives you direct access to your customers and helps them know how to contact your business directly. Rather than searching through links or trying to track down phone numbers on your webpage, the directory listing will help make it easy for customers to call you up or contact you for any service work they may need.
How Directory Listings Help You Attract More Customers
Now that you understand more about what a directory listing is and the benefits it can have for your business, let’s discuss some tips for directory listing management for home services companies that can help you make the most of your listings.
Improves Your Online Presence
People are already looking for your services online. When someone has an issue in their home that needs to be resolved, they want to find someone right away. They use Google search and search engines to find people in their area who can help. When you have your directory listings claimed and managed, you can appear at the top of results and get found by people in most need of your services. These hot leads are a great source of revenue for your business.
Strengthens Your Reputation
Directory listings are a trusted source of information for people, and this can especially help businesses in the home services industry. When someone invites you to their home, they want to know that you are trustworthy and will keep them and their property safe. When you have a directory listing, it tells people that you are a legitimate business and elements like reviews, photos, Q&As, and updated information also help establish your business as credible to potential customers.
Increases Brand Awareness
You gain a competitive advantage over your competitors who don’t appear in listings when you have a strong directory listings management system. There are many home services companies that don’t invest in directory listings, which means that there is valuable online real estate available to your business. When you use your listings to your advantage, you can appear high on results pages for localized keywords and areas of service that allow you to get new business that could have potentially gone to a competitor.
Grows Your Local Visibility
Directory listings help increase your local visibility so you become more easily found on Google. As mentioned above, directory listings are all about location. When someone searches for a business near them, they don’t want to get results from across the state. And, as a home service company, this plays very well in your favor. After all, you don’t service a large area, you have a specific preferred location where you do your business. This makes your business a perfect fit for local visibility and local searches.
Get Discovered More Easily
Directory listings help your business get recommended in voice search and other forms of searching beyond just typed out inquiries. As more people use Bluetooth and hands-free devices for searching, it becomes even more important to have accurate, updated directory listings. When someone is able to find your business quickly with a voice search, your directory listing will be read aloud by the voice search so the customer can learn what you do, what your hours are, or how to contact you. This makes it easy to get business as people transition to new ways of searching.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo
At Surefire Local, we understand how important marketing initiatives are for home services businesses. We also know that you are busy with many different tasks like taking care of customers and processing payments. That’s why we’ve developed a top of the line business intelligence and marketing platform that helps you accomplish all the tasks you need for your home services business with ease.
Our all-in-one platform ensures that you can get access to all of your accounts on the go and track all the features of your business directory listings. No matter what your goals are for your directory listings, you can use Surefire Local to track your data and learn more about the ways you can improve your business and attract more customers.
With Surefire Local, you can update your business listings, respond to reviews, post social media updates, and track your metrics all with a single login. No matter where you are, you can do the essential marketing tasks you need in order to grow your business, find new customers, and complete marketing campaigns. To learn more about what Surefire Local can do for your home services business, then get a demo of the platform and discover all of the features that can take your business to the next level.