Plumbing and HVAC SEO ideas to raise your online profile

If you run a plumbing or HVAC business, this guide looks at how you can grow your business online, with a range of tips and tricks for your SEO. Want more website visitors? This guide will go through the basics for you to consider.

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In this guide, we’ve put together our top ideas for your plumbing and HVAC SEO to help you boost your digital marketing.

By investing some time in your SEO, you could reap the benefits and win new customers for your trade business.

For example, you could include content on your website for homeowners looking for a new central heating system. Or for customers wanting to know how to stop a leaking tap.

Keep reading to get some more inspiration for your business.

What is plumbing and HVAC SEO?

Three letters put together, SEO. One of the most important phrases for your digital marketing, it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In its simplest form, SEO is essentially a way of getting more people to visit your trade business website.

You do this by getting your website to rank higher on search engines like:

• Google

• Bing

• Yahoo!

• Ask

According to Search Engine Journal, 25% of people are likely to click the first Google search result they see*. So ranking higher is better for your central heating business.

But is there specific SEO for HVAC contractors? Naturally, all trade businesses need a steady flow of leads, so it is important to carry out SEO activity aimed at reaching potential customers.

After all there are always people looking for services that you offer as a plumbing and HVAC business.

How does SEO work for HVAC and plumbing companies?

On a basic level, SEO has a lot to do with the words you use on your website.

The idea is that you include the exact phrases that your potential customers are searching for. These are known as ‘keywords’.

When you have the right keywords on your website, search engines will see it as a strong match and rank your site highly.

What are the benefits of plumbing and HVAC SEO?

Not sure if you should bother with search engine optimisation? Think again.

Here are some of the reasons why it pays for tradespeople specialising in plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning to invest in their SEO:

1. Improved visibility online – If you rank highly for online local searches for plumbing and HVAC companies, you’ll generate more traffic to your website

2. Build a larger audience – With more traffic, you’ll increase the chances of contact from potential customers

3. Engage with local customers – By targeting local searches you can attract customers in your area

4. Increase your business credibility – A strong online presence can massively boost your business’s credibility and build customer trust in your business

5. Use SEO insights for your advertising – You can use the terms your customers use in their searches to create targeted advertising campaigns

Find out more in our guide on how to boost SEO for your trade business.

Key ideas for your plumbing or central heating SEO strategy

1. Spend time on keyword research

As you may have guessed by now, keywords are everything with your HVAC SEO strategy. You need to figure out which keywords go best with your service offering.

You then use those keywords in the content on your website as the foundation of your SEO.

Here are some best ways to find relevant keywords for your plumbing and HVAC business:

• Insight tools on your website, such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics

• Dedicated keyword research tools, including Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush

• Social media insights from your business’s social media accounts

• Ask your customers what they searched for or how they found your business

Get to grips with how to use words more effectively on your website by reading our dedicated guide to understanding keywords.

2. Identify keywords for local SEO

Once you have a list of main keywords, it’s often useful to focus on specific local search terms. That way you can target customers in your area.

Here are some ideas for plumbing and HVAC local SEO search terms:

• “Boiler repair in London"

• "Plumbers near me in Manchester"

• “Leaking tap repair in Cardiff”

• “HVAC installers in Birmingham”

• "Emergency central heating repair in Leeds"

• "Available plumber in Glasgow"

• "Blocked drain clearance in Leicester"

As you can imagine, there are a range of dedicated words relating to your services. Plus a number of towns, cities and regional references to help search engines pinpoint the areas you work.

3. Create great content for your plumbing and HVAC SEO

Once you know which keywords you want to feature on your website, you need to create content to feature them.

Regular blog posts are a great way to engage with your audience about specific topics or seasonal themes, such as:

• “Why is my boiler making noise?”

• “Top 5 reasons your pipes might be leaking”

• “Preparing your heating system for winter”

• “Spring plumbing tips to avoid a flood”

It also pays to have individual pages on your website that target specific services that you offer.

For example, you could create a page on topics such as:

• "Emergency boiler repairs"

• "Radiator installation"

• "HVAC system maintenance"

Not sure exactly what should go on your website? Take a look at our guide on creating a website for your new business.

How to make a small business website

What are the benefits of a website for small business? There are a host of benefits of having a website for your small business. It gives you a platform for you to showcase your business and your services to potential customers. Having a presence online allows potential customers to find your brand

Learn more

Need help with creating content?

If you don’t feel confident creating your own plumbing and HVAC SEO content, don’t worry. There are plenty of people out there who can help:

• Content providers

• Content writers

• Content agencies

• SEO specialists

They can create high-quality content for your site, targeting the keywords you want or even finding the right keywords for you.

4. Encourage customer reviews

Positive customer reviews are great for showing potential customers the quality of your work. And they can also help boost your search rankings.

After you finish a job, why not ask your happy customers to leave you a review? These could be on your Checkatrade profile!

The impact online reviews can have on your business - Free guide included

Why reviews matter Your customers need to read real reviews to give them confidence that they're making the right decision in choosing a trade professional... and hopefully that expert they choose is you! The customer testimonials your business receives will show that what you say you're good at

Learn more

5. Optimise your website for mobile

Chances are, most customers will be using their phones to search for local plumbing and HVAC services.

Whether you’ve built your site yourself or had a web designer do it for you, make sure:

• It is mobile-friendly

• It has easy navigation

• It loads quickly

What you want is for your website to look good and work well on a mobile device. Since 2015, search giant Google has been prioritising websites that work better on mobile devices.

6. Help customers find you on a map

If you’re hoping to attract customers in your local area, why not create a Google My Business profile? If you have a physical location, this will help you show up when people use the map tool when searching.

Add as much information to your profile as you can, including:

• Accurate business description

• Up to date contact and address information

• A list of services you offer

• Photos of the work you do

• Regular updates about promotions or offers (if applicable)

That way your business will also appear in local directories and geography-based apps, such as Google Maps.

7. Build links to your website

If you’ve done any research on SEO you may have heard the term ‘link building’. And it’s an important part of successful HVAC local SEO.

Effectively, link building refers to the process of building up a network of online links to your website

It isn't an exact science. Which is why there are dedicated SEO specialists and agencies working in this area. But a good way to start link building is to:

• Create valuable, high-quality content on your website

• Contribute articles and guest posts on reputable trade-related blogs

• Build relationships with influencers in your industry

• Share your content on social media

• Get listed in local directories, such as Checkatrade!

With more links to your website, the more search engines will discover your site.

Using Checkatrade to help boost your local SEO

By joining Checkatrade you get a well-optimised profile page and the chance to receive new customers from our content.

With over 1 million job searches for central heating work on our websitein 2024**, there is a good volume of interest that you could benefit from.

We won’t replace your SEO agency but are a great low-cost way for you to get more customers from search engines with Checkatrade acting as an intermediary.

Plus on top of that there are a number of other benefits to consider:

• We'll guarantee the quality of your work when booked through us (T&Cs apply)

• Fantastic offers and discounts on a range of business essentials

• Exclusive Checkatrade trades app for job management, quoting and invoicing, and more

• Access to free marketing materials and branded collateral

• Save 20% on the cost of your PLI (public liability insurance)

Getting a membership with Checkatrade means that you’ll show up for local searches too! Why not drop us a line and express interest today?

* Statistics cited by the Search Engine Journal in the article "Over 25% of People Click the First Google Search Result" written July 14 2020, last checked on 4th July 2025

** Internal search data from users of the Checkatrade.com website in 2024

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