How to Advertise Your Tradesmen Business

What is PPC?
PPC refers to a type of search engine marketing (SEM) where advertisers pay for each click on their advertisement.

How does it work?
Typically, search engines display four advertisements above the organic search results on desktop devices and four below them. On mobile devices, this number is reduced to three. To have your business featured in these advertisement slots, it is essential to achieve a satisfactory Ad Rank, which includes a good Quality Score and a sufficiently high bid.

The Quality Score, developed by Google, indicates the relevance of your advertisement and landing page to a specific search query. For instance, if your advertisement pertains to roofing services and your landing page also discusses roofing services, but the keyword triggering your ad and landing page is “landscape gardener,” your Quality Score would likely be low. A perfect Quality Score is often achieved when the keyword, advertisement, and landing page are all closely related.

Additionally, it is necessary to place a high enough bid for your advertisements to be displayed. Search engine advertising platforms operate on an auction basis, similar to eBay, where you bid to secure visibility! For example, consider two advertisers aiming to generate local trade leads on Google. In this scenario, both advertisers possess identical Quality Scores for the relevant keyword/ad/landing page. If the first advertiser bids £3.00 for the keyword while the second bids £4.00, the advertisement of the second advertiser will appear higher on the page due to their higher bid.

PPC enables your trade company to achieve immediate visibility at the top of search results: as soon as you initiate your advertisements, your site will appear at the top of the search engine results, directly above the organic listings; the only drawback is that you must pay for this service.
You are not charged for being listed; you only incur costs when someone clicks on your advertisement (ad): hence the term pay-per-click. It sounds appealing, doesn’t it? You can craft an attractive and compelling ad that encourages clicks, and once visitors arrive at your website, you have the chance to convert that click into a customer.
PPC operates by bidding on specific keywords.

To effectively promote your trade business on Google Ads, it is essential to invest time in understanding PPC best practices. Establishing a successful campaign requires significant time and effort. At its core, you must learn how to select your keywords, craft compelling ad and landing page content, comprehend landing pages and their creation, and manage your campaign’s optimization to enhance performance over time.

Advantages:
Page Position: Paid advertisements are prominently displayed at the top of search engine results. With approximately four ads visible on desktop and three on mobile, potential customers will consistently encounter paid search ads first.
Brand Awareness: Implementing paid advertisements will ensure that your trade company reaches the appropriate audience at the optimal moment.
Enhanced Ads: Paid ads provide you with greater control over the marketing message you convey. Additionally, you can enhance your ads by incorporating extensions, which will help your advertisement stand out on the page.
Budget Control: You have full authority over the budget you choose to allocate.
Quick Results: While SEO demands considerable time, effort, and financial resources, PPC offers a rapid method to present your trading services to potential customers within just a few days.
Targeted Approach: You can target based on search keywords, geographical location, device type (mobile or tablet), specific times and days of the week, and audiences based on their previous interactions.
Solution-Oriented: PPC is the most effective way to reach homeowners precisely when they are interested in your services.
Data-Driven: Utilizing tools like Google Analytics or Heap, you can identify which keywords (search queries entered by users) are most likely to convert, their conversion rates, and associated costs. This information can guide you to invest more in keywords that deliver the best results at the most favorable prices.
Consistency: Paid ads enable you to manually filter out irrelevant searches, ensuring that the quality of incoming visitors is high, thereby improving your ROI over time.
Affordability: You may encounter tales of exorbitant costs associated with paid ads, but that is a simplification of the reality.

Facebook Paid Ads for Tradesmen

Facebook’s organic reach has diminished compared to previous years, leading to a greater emphasis on paid advertisements. The challenge lies in identifying individuals who require home improvement services.

In contrast to search advertising, where users exhibit direct intent by entering specific keywords, Facebook requires you to present your services to users who may not currently need them. This is why platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads are particularly effective for tradespeople; they connect you with individuals actively searching for solutions to their problems, allowing you to position your trade services directly in their line of sight.

Essentially, Facebook paid ads can resemble a scattergun strategy unless you implement sophisticated targeting techniques. You may find yourself attempting to reach as many potential customers as possible, hoping to attract interest in your services.

While you can target specific demographics such as age and occupation, along with geographical location, Facebook lacks the capability to specifically target individuals seeking home improvement services.

If you intend to utilize Facebook’s paid ads for your trade business, we advise against interest-based targeting. It is virtually impossible to determine someone’s need for home services based solely on their interests, such as liking The Simpsons or CSI Miami! Instead, we recommend creating remarketing lists from your search advertising campaigns and targeting individuals on social media who are already in search of a trade company.

LinkedIn for Tradesmen

LinkedIn is often regarded as the social media platform for professionals.

For tradespeople, it is not the most effective venue for securing domestic jobs. Users on this platform typically engage to promote their businesses and network with other professionals, making it uncommon to find requests for local services like plumbing, which are more frequently seen on Facebook.

Although LinkedIn may not be ideal for trade businesses seeking domestic work, it can serve as an excellent avenue for establishing commercial relationships.

YouTube for Tradesmen
YouTube serves as an excellent platform for tradespeople to display their work and market their businesses. This can include case studies, testimonials, or even time-lapse videos.

Time-lapse videos act as real-life case studies that can demonstrate to potential customers that you are a legitimate trade company with high-quality work. Creating a time-lapse video is not overly complicated; simply set up a camera and let it record, it is that straightforward. Drone videos can also be beneficial depending on your trade, particularly in roofing and construction. These videos are ideal for YouTube and can be embedded on your website, as well as shared on your social media profiles.

Google My Business for Tradesmen
Google My Business (GMB) is a complimentary local listing that allows you to control how your trade business is presented on Google Search and Google Maps.

Once you have established an account, your listing will be displayed in the top right corner of Google’s search results, featuring your business name, address, operating hours, phone number, images of your team, vehicle, or work, along with customer reviews. A GMB listing enhances the credibility of your trade business and literally places you on the map. Given that this is a free and valuable service, we strongly recommend setting it up.
If you are new to local SEO, GMB is undoubtedly an excellent starting point.

To initiate your GMB experience, you must create a Google My Business account, verify your trade business, and ensure that your listing is as accurate and comprehensive as possible.

After verification, you can start adding the final touches to your listing. Provide as much information as you can, including photos (such as a sign-written van, examples of your work, or a branded container), your operating days and hours, the areas you serve, and your attributes.

According to Google, listings that include a photo are 35% more likely to receive clicks to their website [5]. That is impressive.

Photos should be of high resolution, in landscape format, and at least 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high.