The HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) industry is thriving, and it’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, Americans spend over $10 billion each year on HVAC repair and maintenance services, demonstrating a strong demand for these services.
The Challenge
However, the HVAC industry is facing a significant challenge: increasing competition. In many cities, numerous HVAC contractors and equipment providers are vying for a limited pool of customers. To succeed in this crowded market, achieving visibility and a solid reputation is essential.
When people search for services, they typically turn to search engines like Google. A report from Visual Objects reveals that 76% of consumers check a business’s online presence before deciding to visit in person. This means that if your HVAC company isn’t ranking at the top for searches like “HVAC equipment near me,” you risk losing a substantial amount of business to competitors.
This case study outlines how we managed to boost an HVAC equipment provider’s website traffic by an impressive 2,500 visitors in just six months. Their average organic traffic now sits at a remarkable 32,800 visitors, equating to a traffic value of £10,200!
Meet the Client: An Established HVACR Equipment Provider
Our client is a well-regarded HVACR (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration) equipment provider with over 30 years in the industry. They are known for their innovative technology and have built a solid reputation over the years.
Despite their established presence, they recognised that their online visibility was lacking. While they were not an unknown name, they were being outranked by top competitors and needed to understand why. After hearing about our successful work with a similar company, they decided to reach out to us.
During our initial consultation, it became evident that they were eager to increase traffic to their website and improve their search ranking. We proposed a comprehensive campaign using Clout, our fully managed SEO service.
The Clout Campaign: A Partnership for Success
With Clout, each client is assigned a dedicated campaign manager who oversees the entire process. We kick off the campaign with a thorough SEO audit to determine the best strategies moving forward. Our clients appreciate Clout because it simplifies the complex world of SEO, allowing them to focus on their business while we manage their online presence.
For our HVACR client, the campaign manager provided regular updates and results, keeping them informed throughout the process.
The SEO Audit: Understanding the Current Landscape
Every Clout campaign begins with a detailed SEO audit. But what exactly is an SEO audit?
An SEO audit involves analysing a website’s performance on search engines and identifying any significant issues. During this process, we check for several key factors:
- Duplicate content: This can confuse search engines and harm rankings.
- Keyword stuffing: Overusing keywords can negatively impact readability and search rankings.
- Missing metadata: Essential for search engines to understand the content.
- Content readability: Ensuring the content is easy to read and engaging.
- Proper use of header tags: Using H1, H2, H3, etc., correctly to structure content.
- Image alt text: Important for accessibility and SEO.
- Loading speeds: Websites should load quickly to retain visitors.
- Orphan pages: Pages without internal links can be overlooked by search engines.
We also request access to the client’s Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts to analyse their organic traffic, current keywords, and audience demographics.
Additionally, we evaluate their backlink profile, focusing on:
- Main sources of backlinks: Where their links are coming from.
- Authority score: How reputable their backlinks are.
- Total backlinks and referring domains: The overall strength of their link profile.
Audits are intensive by design, and we leave no stone unturned. We also look for easy win keywords, which are keywords where the site ranks between positions 4 and 30. With the right optimisation, these keywords can quickly climb into the top three search results.
In our HVACR client’s case, their website was in relatively good shape. So, what was the issue causing them to be outranked?
The audit revealed that their main weakness lay in their backlink profile.
The Strategy: Enhancing Backlinks for Product Pages
After analysing their backlink profile against their top competitors, we realised we needed to focus on building high-quality links pointing to the client’s key product pages. Backlinks act as ‘votes of confidence’ for your content and are a crucial ranking factor on search engines.
Without a diverse and high-quality backlink profile, achieving a top-three ranking becomes nearly impossible. Link-building is one of our specialties, and we got to work immediately.
Here’s a glimpse of the primary tactics we employed:
- Outreach: We researched popular HVAC blogs that accept guest posts. Through networking and relationship-building, we secured numerous guest blog opportunities on reputable sites, resulting in valuable backlinks.
- Directory Listings: It’s vital for HVAC businesses to be listed in relevant business directories, especially local ones. These listings provide potential customers with ways to discover the business and offer valuable backlinks.
- Link Insertions: To build links pointing at product pages, we identified existing articles where mentioning our client’s products would benefit the readers. This strategy allowed us to gain authoritative backlinks while providing useful information.
The Results: A Remarkable Transformation
After just six months with Clout, our client experienced a 2,500 increase in organic traffic, and this growth has continued in the following months. They now enjoy an average traffic value of £10,200, leading to significant increases in sales.
Moreover, they have successfully outperformed nearly all their competitors in search engine results pages (SERPs), consistently attracting more traffic than most related businesses.
This case study illustrates the power of a well-executed SEO strategy. By focusing on essential elements such as backlink building and optimising their online presence, we helped our client achieve remarkable results in a competitive landscape.
If you’re looking to replicate these successes in your own business, consider the importance of SEO and how it can transform your online visibility and customer engagement.
