Want to outrank your solar panel competitors? Well, a good solar SEO can do that for you!
As per the statistics of IBISWorld, there are 11,268 solar panel installation businesses in the US as of 2023, and the number is still growing at a rate of 0.7%.
Do you know what that means? – massive growth in the solar industry.
Moreover, the cost of installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system has dropped by 50% in the last decade. This boosts the solar companies’ ability to expand their businesses and deploy zillions of systems, including both residential (both roof-top and stand-alone solar systems) and commercial zones nationwide.
But the question arises: with this many solar contractors, how would you stand out in the market? How would you grab your customers’ attention and persuade them to opt for your services?
The simple answer is solar SEO.
But what exactly is this? And how can it help in generating solar leads for your business?
These are the questions that we will cover in the detailed guide on why SEO for solar companies is much needed. And will share some tried-and-true SEO strategies that will aid you in boosting your solar website’s ranking in search results and thus help generate more solar leads for your business.
So, grab a cup of coffee and sit tight because it’s going to take a while.
Table of Contents
Why does your solar company need SEO?
Building a solar website and offering quality solar services is not enough. You need to ensure that your audience can locate you.
Didn’t get it?
Let us understand you with a real-time scenario.
As per the Google Trends data, the search query for solar services hit 300 percent in 2022. This means people on Google are actively looking for solar power specialists. This should be good news for you.
However, there is another study according to which the top three SERP results receive 54.4% of the clicks and 27.6% of the overall first result page.
So, if your website is not able to stand out on the first page of Google, chances are your audience will never be able to find you, which will lower the overall lead generation process.
That is why every solar company needs SEO. With its assistance, you can optimize your website in the best possible way, including through high-quality content, the integration of industry-specific keywords, backlinks from authenticated websites, and a lot more.
This, in turn, will reward your site by having Google rank it in organic results. And you will be able to reach out to more potential customers and earn revenue for your company.
Here are some of the other domino effects of using SEO for your solar company other than being found on the internet:
- Spike in website traffic.
- Improved customer retention on your site (one step closer to converting your sales).
- Increase brand awareness with word-of-mouth marketing.
- Long-term results.
- A cost-effective strategy (if implemented in the right direction).
- Grow your market share.
Most successful solar companies are taking advantage of SEO marketing. You should too.
SEO strategies for your solar company to generate solar leads
Implementing SEO is not child’s play. Nor is it a matter of chance.
To rank your solar website in a popular search engine like Google, you need to understand the math behind the algorithms responsible for it. The right solar SEO strategic plan is what we are talking about.
According to some renowned SEO marketers like Neil Patel, there have been some never-failed strategies that will help your website take steps to grow its online presence.
So, let’s have a look at them.
Solar industry-specific keyword research
The very first step to giving your SEO marketing campaign a boost is to integrate the “user-intent solar keywords” into your solar website.
The keyword here is relevant.
Let us understand with an example.
According to a survey, there are an estimated 980 searches per month for an average keyword. This means you can bring traffic to your website with the keywords around them, but not the useful ones. This will result in no sales.
For an instance, “residential solar panel installers in the US” are entirely different from “commercial solar panel installers in the US”. Both have distinct audiences and different parameters for sales, thus the differing search results. Like the one in the screenshot below,
Residential Solar Panel Installers in the US
Commercial Solar Panel Installers in the US
So do keyword research properly and be very mindful while integrating solar keywords into your website. Try to put yourself in the customers’ shoes and ask yourself, “What would they enter into the search bar”.
Check More– The Future Of Solar Power In The US – What To Expect?
So, how do you do keyword research for solar SEO?
While analyzing your competitors’ websites is one way to find out what kind of keywords they are working for them, another thing you can do is take help from keyword research tools. There are plenty of tools available in the market that are highly efficient and give you in-depth insights like search volume, LSI, high-rank keywords, or difficulty level. These are Google Keyword Planner, Keyword Surfer, Ahrefs, and others.
Furthermore, take advantage of Google’s “People also ask” section. This will give you a rough idea of what kind of questions users are interested in.
Create high-quality SEO content
It does not matter how much average traffic your website receives on a daily basis if it’s not able to persuade customers to click the “buy solar panel services” button.
And what covers the distance from your prospective customer into your final sale is the high-quality content. This is also one of the biggest hurdles that solar website owners are facing these days. They are trying to write content that is search engine friendly, but not friendly for readers. However, the key lies in exactly the opposite.
To create something beyond what your competitors are already creating, you can do the following: Create solar content that:
- solves the reader’s problem.
- appeals to the end-users, be they visitors, clients, or prospective customers.
So, how do you create high-quality solar SEO content?
For starters, get all your landing pages right. All the product-specific pages that can directly lead to solar sales have a checkmark through them. Make sure they contain all the necessary information about your solar panel installation process, from assessment to design to finally installing them. This will give users a better understanding of how it is going to work.
Next, you can work on your “about us” page, which shares the expertise and credibility of your company. Add the plausible fields, like testimonials, the number of years of experience, what makes your solar company different from others, and any recognitions or awards you have received.
And last, you can build your website’s content around the most commonly asked questions by solar customers. Let’s say you create blogs in which you answer the following queries:
- How much does solar panel installation cost?
- How much electricity do solar PV installers save?
- Are solar panels worth it?
These are just some brief ideas. You can dig a little deeper for that.
So, these are three types of solar content that you can include on your website. Also, make sure the content you are creating is informative, sticks to the stats, has engaging hooks, and is easily readable to users. Don’t overcomplicate it.
If you are able to hold visitors with your strong content, chances are Google will reward your solar business in the search results. This helps in establishing the authority of your company in the solar market.
Check More- How a Reliable Solar Lead Source Can Reduce Your Cost Per Action
On-page optimizations
Once you are done with the keyword research and content optimization, the next step is to do the on-page optimization. It is easy and is not affected by the continuously changing algorithms of Google. The on-page SEO practice includes the following things:
Integration of relevant keywords
The keyword list that you prepared earlier is now ready to be added to your web pages at the right place. However, it is crucial to know that Google does not promote “keyword stuffing,” where keywords are forcefully added to the sentences. The rule is to integrate them in an organic way, be it tags, descriptions, URL slugs, or titles.
Meta tags fundamentals
The definition of meta tags (title tags and meta descriptions) has changed over a significant period of time. This is how you can use meta tags to boost your solar website’s ranking.
Title tags: Title tags are used for the titles of web pages to display them in the snippets. While writing, make sure it is short, descriptive, and very clear, and set into the limit of 50-70 characters.
Meta descriptions: The meta description is shown just below the title of the snippet displayed in the search results. To increase the CTR of the snippet, write and optimize your meta description in a way that your audience gets the exact idea of where they are going to divert. Again, make it short, clear, and descriptive, and try to keep it within 150-160 characters.
Additional metadata: Aside from title tags and meta descriptions, there are some other elements that can be optimized. This includes image alt tags, CTA buttons, and mindful internal links throughout the webpage’s content.
URL slug
While the URL has very little impact on SEO when compared to title tags and meta descriptions, it is still good to integrate keywords into the URL.
In the below screenshot, you can easily see how the meta tags and URL are optimized with the right keywords,
Building a reputable backlink profile
In simple words, your website’s backlink profile is an indication to Google of how valuable your website is. It is an essential part of off-page solar SEO. In fact, as per a report by Ahrefs, backlinks are considered one of the top three factors for a website’s ranking.
Let us understand how this whole backlink thing works.
A backlink, also called an inbound or incoming link, is a link from one website to another. So, when a particular website gets a number of external links from the same or different domains, it indicates to search engines that your website contains quality information.
But again, the thumb rule is that one, they should come organically, and two, they should be from high-government-based authoritative sites or trustworthy sites. If you are thinking of buying backlinks or creating spammy ones, then don’t fall into this trap, as Google or other search engines can penalize you for this.
Moreover, we understand that earning backlinks takes time. Therefore, in order to build a backlink profile for your solar website, we suggest you start with local business listings or social media platforms.
Local SEO
Do you know 46% of Google searches are local, and 28% of local searches result in a sure-sure purchase?
This means, as a solar business owner, if you provide online local services and are not taking advantage of local SEO, you are already missing a lot of potential solar sales. So, it is crucial to get it right in order to increase your organic local traffic.
So how do you improve your local SEO?
According to Safari’s Digital Report, Google Business Listings, the use of relevant keywords, and backlinks are the three top reasons to improve your local rankings and come into the “Map Pack” (top 3 search results).
For a better understanding, look at the screenshot given below.
As you can see, there are three top results displayed in the local results; of course, you can look out for more options. But this is the place where you want to land your solar company, and this can only be possible if you do your local SEO right.
So, how would you do it?
In the present time, your Google Business Profile or My Business Profile is the most crucial aspect of improving your local ranking in search results. Create the profile and fill in all the required information, including the address, business hours, contact number, Google map location, photos (if possible), reviews, star rating, or website link.
So, once your profile is activated, your solar customers who are looking for nearby PV installation services will be able to locate you.
Next, you need to optimize your solar website as per local searches. All your efforts will go in vain if your site is not adequately optimized. Mention a clear local address on your website, such as in which state or city you are providing solar services. This will help search engines prioritize your page according to the nearby solar demands. And let your solar customers reach you in every possible way.
Interactive UI/ UX design
Believe it or not, how well and engaging your website design is direct impacts your business’s sales.
Once you are done with everything related to your SEO strategies, this is the time when you need to take intensive care of your site’s appearance. Make sure it looks intuitive to the visitors, readers, or users, and let them stay on it for a longer time. This will boost the overall user engagement rate of your site and the likelihood of generating solar sales.
But how can you make your website’s UI/UX design appealing to users?
Although there are a couple of parameters, we list the major ones:
- Your webpage should be fast-loading and shouldn’t take more than 3 seconds.
- easy to locate sections.
- Guide them with easy-to-navigate menus.
- Be stick to brand colors.
- Add interactive elements like pop-ups, image carousels, and more.
- And last, keep things simple. Overcomplicating anything will confuse users, and because of this, they might abandon your site.
Clear Code
Like on-page or off-page SEO, there is also technical SEO, which is as important as these two for solar companies.
When we use the term “clean code”, this signifies that your backend code must serve a purpose and adhere to search engine guidelines. For instance, search engines favor those websites with no redundant code that work well and look attractive on different screen-size devices, whether mobile, tablet, or desktop.
Moreover, your website’s speed plays an important part in solar SEO. It is true that the more advanced features your site incorporates, the more credible it looks. However, in order to drive more solar sales, it is imperative to minimize the page-loading time. You can do it by analyzing the elements that are having an impact on it and erasing the unnecessary code or tools.
Pro-tip to boost SEO for your solar company
Well, you can always find the best SEO strategies online. So can others.
But what would set you apart in the solar industry would be in-depth research on your competitors. Yes!
Google’s first-page search results are the best way to analyze what your competitors are doing right and what you are missing.
Cross-examine their entire website. Keep a close eye on their strategies, like what kind of keywords they are using, the quality of content they are providing, their authenticated sources, and much more. Observe their weakness and their strength. And start implementing them into your website while working on your solar plan already.
This will help you in two ways:
- One, it will save you from making mistakes that your solar competitors might have once made.
- Two, it will indulge you only in result-oriented strategies, thus saving time and resources.
Final Words
In the digital era, where everything can be found on the web, search engine optimization (SEO) provides fuel for solar businesses to improve their online presence and reach out to their prospective customers.
However, bear in mind that only the right SEO strategy can result in qualified solar leads. Also, it is a continuous process, so don’t rush into it.
All the aforementioned SEO tips will help you grow the digital presence of your business and will aid you in generating online sales.
So where should you start?
That depends on a couple of scenarios.
If you already have an in-house SEO team, then you don’t have to worry about anything. But if you are a rookie in the solar industry and struggling with ranking your website in Google SERPs, then we would highly suggest that you hire an SEO service provider for your solar company.
By using their services, you can focus more on providing quality solar services and less on generating solar leads. So, here are some of the reasons why an SEO team can help you:
- They do the competitor analysis for all the local solar service providers that outrank you.
- Find the top-ranked user-intent keywords so the searchers can locate you.
- Publish high-quality content to resolve your customers’ queries.
- Audit citations and manage local listings.
- Optimize your Google My Business profile listing.
- Tweak your SEO campaign from time to time.
- Track and monitor results to plan out better strategies for generating more solar leads.
Now, you can always find a solar SEO service on your own. And if you are interested in opting for ours, then feel free to give us a call.
We are the leading SEO service provider for solar companies and have been working in this industry for a significant period of time with claimable results.
Our professionals are available 24 hours a day and will assist you and come up with solutions based on your requirements.
Remember, it never hurts to ask for assistance!
