Harnessing the Power of Local SEO for Solar Companies

At Valve+Meter Performance Marketing, we build custom marketing strategies for the solar industry from manufacturers and distributors to solar consultants and solar panel companies. With diverse products and services, the strategies vary throughout the industry.

One constant is the way consumers research solar and discover solar businesses. Google is synonymous with how homeowners and businesses discover products. For any solar company to reach new customers and expand its reach, it must appear in Google search results.

There are two ways to raise your online profile: buy ads or earn organic search results. Pay-per-click (PPC) and Google Local Services Ads (LSA) can be highly effective in reaching internet users and capturing solar leads. The primary risk of using paid Google ads as your only source of finding more customers is the ongoing expense and bidding against competitors. The second problem with relying on paid ads is that many prospective customers favor organic results over ads.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a strategy that targets organic search results. Solar SEO enhances the credibility, authority, and prominence of a solar company’s online presence.

For national or global brands, traditional search engine optimization is key, but for a local solar energy company, a more effective approach is local search engine optimization or local SEO.

In this article, Valve+Meter helps solar installers and any other local solar company learn the power of local search engine optimization and gain insights into the key components of building local SEO services.

Google and other search engines use highly sophisticated algorithms to provide the best results for users. When was the last time you heard someone say, “Ask Jeeves?” Google has become the most dominant search engine because it consistently provides an excellent user experience.

With over 90% of all searches occurring on Google, SEO services strive to understand the hundreds of ranking factors that determine which solar company appears at the top of search results. For a local business that serves a specific service area, local SEO is the better strategy.

Since more than 46% of all Google searches have geographic intent, Google provides distinct results for each user, especially for keywords and queries that are localized.

When someone searches for “solar panels near me” or “solar energy services in [City],” both paid Google ads and organic results will display local solar panel services. Instead of competing with every solar business in the United States, local SEO strategies are designed to outrank local competition in organic search results, Google Maps, and online directories.

What Are 6 Local SEO Components Every Local Solar Company Should Know

So you own or operate a solar panel company. You may install panels or provide solar consultation. If you have a local service area, there are six key components of local search engine optimization you should understand.

Whether you are looking to partner with a digital marketing agency or build marketing in-house, your local SEO for solar company project excels when everyone has a clear idea of the goals and how to measure your efforts. A recent survey of 300 SMBs found half of small businesses do not have a marketing plan.

Valve+Meter uses these components to understand where you are, where you want to go, and the best methods for your local business to succeed.

To harness the full power of local SEO, solar companies need to focus on the following:

Optimizing Your Google Business Profile

You may know Google Business Profile by the former directory Google My Business.

Google Business Profiles (GBP) are more robust and offer more capability than most directories. When a user searches for solar services near them, results that appear in Google Maps or the local map pack (as pictured below) display the business name, address, phone, hours, and reviews.

Optimizing your Google Business Profile is like building your company’s digital storefront. Ensuring it’s complete and accurate is crucial for visibility in local search results. This means having up-to-date contact information, a detailed description of your services, and high-quality images that showcase your solar installations.

You don’t need an SEO agency to get started on optimizing your GBP. When potential clients look for a solar energy expert or any other specific search query, your dynamic images and highly detailed GBP can capture their attention and generate phone calls.

You can add products, services, answer questions, and even post to your GBP. In many ways, GBP is Google’s version of social media for local businesses. It is often the first impression your local audience will have of your business online. Updating your profile and earning customer reviews helps build your visibility and credibility with Google and potential solar leads.

Improving Your Solar Company’s Website for Local SEO

While most companies can optimize a GBP effectively, ranking in organic search engine results pages (SERPs) requires a supercharged website.

In an era where any business can quickly create a bad website, many do. This creates a dilemma for search engines and frustration for consumers.

Solar panels aren’t blue jeans or apples. Homeowners and businesses need to research the technology, learn about incentives, and understand how many and what type of solar panels they need. Successful solar companies place a priority on building a performance-focused website that operates as a lead generation tool and the anchor of your online identity.

Your solar website is more than a digital brochure. At Valve+Meter, we offer a complete assessment of your website before discussing any local SEO or marketing activities. Poor website design and performance is a non-starter.

If you are evaluating your current website or planning a new design, there are a few non-negotiable requirements:

1. Mobile-friendly: Worldwide nearly 60% of all searches are mobile. Would you ignore 6 out of every 10 solar leads? Your website is the cornerstone of your online identity. It must be fully functional on mobile devices.
2. Site speed: A fast-loading site is like a quick and efficient solar installation – it leaves a good impression. Slow loading times can frustrate visitors and increase bounce rates, which can negatively impact your search engine rankings. SEO web developers optimize images, leverage browser caching, and minimize redirects are just a few ways to speed things up.
3. Website Content: This one seems obvious, right? On-page optimization includes your title tags, meta descriptions, headers, text, images, and video. Everything that makes the user experience great fits into this broad category. There are some technical tools like AHRefs, SemRush, Moz, and Google Search Console that professional SEO services use to evaluate website content. Without consulting an SEO agency, just ask yourself one question: Is each page providing a new user a clear answer about the product or service and a clear call to action?
4. Technical SEO: This involves ensuring your website is easily crawlable by search engines including a well-structured sitemap, and is free from technical issues that could hinder its performance. Regular SEO audits can help identify and fix any issues that might be holding your website back.

By focusing on these four aspects, you can understand if your website is built to perform and compete with other local businesses offering solar panel services.

Remember, the goal of your local search engine optimization is not just to rank in Google, but to generate solar leads for your business. If users don’t engage with your website, then your rankings will suffer and more importantly, you won’t capture new sales opportunities.

Keyword Research and Optimization

Your website is built for performance and now you need to signal to Google that you are solar energy experts.

Keyword research refers to researching the specific terms and queries local customers use when looking for solar businesses. Keyword research requires more than the most obvious terms:

• Broad terms: Phrases like “solar panels” are vague and likely to return shopping results ahead of a solar company.
• Medium-tail keywords or body phrases: “Solar panel contractors” are moderately specific, mid-range search volume, less competitive and more relevant to your business.
• Long-tail keywords: Highly specific terms have much lower search volume per term and therefore, low competition.

Keyword research for local companies also studies the intent behind keywords. Are users searching for this term looking for information, or are they ready to buy? Informational keywords can be used for educational content like blogs and videos, but for your primary service pages, your research should identify commercial terms.

Identifying the right keywords is like finding the perfect spot to install a solar panel – it’s essential for maximum exposure. For solar companies, this means targeting keywords that potential customers in your area are using to search for solar services, such as “solar panel installation in [City]” or “residential solar installers near me.”

Creating Quality Local Content

Once you identify the right keywords you need to deploy a campaign that thinks beyond search engine result pages.

High-quality, local content is the energy that powers your local SEO efforts. Creating informative and engaging content that addresses the needs and questions of your target audience can help establish your company as a trusted authority in the solar industry, attracting more visitors to your website.

Determining where you want organic traffic to land is essential. Use higher volume, medium tail keywords on primary service web pages. Long-tail keywords with low search volume should be used on local pages, and internal links connect these pages to the primary web pages.

This interconnectivity helps algorithms understand your business, your services, and the area you serve.

In an age of AI and generic content creation, local SEO for solar companies is keenly focused on quality. Informative, relevant, and engaging content is valuable. Each page should provide answers to visitors about the specific keyword and how your company provides value.

Building Local Citations and Links

Once your website is performing and high-quality local content is published to your site, it’s time to build your reputation.

Local citations and backlinks are like the wiring that connects your solar panels to the grid – they help strengthen your online presence. By getting your business listed on reputable local directories and earning backlinks from authoritative websites in the solar industry, you can improve your search engine rankings and attract more local customers.

You want to ensure your citations and inbound links come from reputable websites. A link to your website from a high-authority website is a tacit endorsement of your website content. Google and other search engines take notice of this just like prospective customers notice reviews on your GBP.

Measuring the Success of Your Local SEO Efforts

To ensure your local SEO strategy is shining as brightly as it should, it’s crucial to measure its success using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools provide valuable insights into your website’s performance, such as how well your pages are ranking in search engine results, how much traffic your site is receiving, and how many of those visitors are converting into leads or customers.

There are many other tools you can purchase to measure SEO for solar companies such as:

• Semrush: Extensive suite for keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor research, technical SEO audits, and content planning.
• Ahrefs: Renowned for backlink data and analysis, also offers keyword research, rank tracking, content exploration, and site audits.
• Moz Pro: Focuses on technical SEO, on-page optimization, backlink analysis, and competitive research. Offers valuable learning resources.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Powerful desktop tool for crawling websites, identifying technical SEO issues, and generating reports.

By tracking SEO metrics, solar companies can gauge the effectiveness of their local SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize their strategy further. Regularly monitoring your rankings, traffic, and conversions helps you understand what’s working and what needs improvement, enabling you to fine-tune your approach and maximize your online visibility.

In conclusion, local SEO is a vital tool for solar companies looking to illuminate their presence in the online marketplace.

By optimizing your website and online listings for local search, you can attract more potential customers in your area who are actively seeking solar solutions. Investing time and resources in a well-crafted local SEO strategy can lead to increased visibility, more leads, and ultimately, more successful solar installations.

At Valve+Meter, our SEO specialists help research, develop, and manage local SEO strategies. So, don’t let your solar company be overshadowed by the competition—embrace the power of local SEO and connect with our team for a free analysis of your solar company’s SEO.