Getting hosed by HVAC marketing agencies has become commonplace in 2020. There are so many scam artists in the digital marketing industry who promise things like getting into the Local Map 3-Pack. Unfortunately, promises in SEO are often intentional lies from the marketer to the consumer (the HVAC contractor, in this case). Having spoken with thousands of HVAC companies about their marketing experiences, many of them want to understand one simple thing: how to NOT get screwed by marketing agencies. The HVAC Marketing Plan podcast has decided to tackle this subject in today’s episode, and we hope you learn from it and apply it next time.
Don’t Let Them Ruin Your GMB
One tactic used by hack agencies is to ruin your Google My Business listing by attaching a separate website to it. These agencies will promise you a ranking within the Local Map 3-Pack and gain control of your business listing. They distort your online credibility by putting up a new website that is cheaply built and unprofessional. Not only do they not help your GMB rank in the 3-pack, but they hurt your overall web presence. The map rankings are based on relevance, prominence, and proximity, and research shows that stronger websites with good links help the listing rank … not cheap websites. So if any HVAC marketing agency tries this, shut them down ASAP.
Don’t Trust Bulk SEO Packages
If we’ve learned one thing from our HVAC clients, it’s that bulk SEO packages are not to be trusted. An agency that handles PPC, social media, web design and SEO is going to be horrible at SEO nine times out of ten. There’s a good reason for this too. It’s because most of these agencies put SEO on the back burner. Their real money is made through PPC campaigns which can be easily manipulated. For example, many PPC campaigns encourage HVAC companies to spend money on terms that are irrelevant to their business. As the campaign costs pile up, the quality of your web presence decreases. All of this time ignoring SEO only hurts your brand’s long-term trajectory. So if you want SEO, get it from somewhere like HVAC Webmasters, where we actually care about your livelihood and not just screwing you out of money.
Don’t Screw Yourself, Either
Because of the frequency in which agencies overcharge consumers, there’s a tendency to go too far in the other direction. An example of this is HVAC companies who want to pay $99 dollars for digital marketing and SEO. That’s far too little to help you rank on any search engine or generate any kind of quality HVAC leads. To be fair to yourself and your commitment to business growth, you need to spend between $600-$1,000 per month. The only thing $99 dollars will get you is a glorified hosting fee which ends up as a waste of time and money. Instead, focus on affordable SEO services that actually produce tangible results. You want leads, you want business.
The “Organic SEO” Takes Too Long Myth
Another myth in the SEO industry is that organic SEO takes too long. It no longer takes a full year to optimize your website online. In fact, if you do everything right, you can be optimized in less than 6 months, and maybe even within 3 months. People use this antiquated idea to encourage you to drain your bank account on PPC and Facebook ads. While those things can work if they are properly executed, they are nowhere near the ROI of SEO. Of course, it only matters if HVAC companies take SEO seriously by investing in reputation management and making a real effort to get reviews. The other piece of this is branding which is something every HVAC contractor should be taking seriously in 2020 and in the foreseeable future. For more tips about HVAC Marketing check out our other podcast episodes for free.
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