Many Heating and Air Conditioning businesses question whether pay-per-click (PPC) online advertising is worth the money. I’ve seen companies leery of PPC because they are afraid they will be throwing hundreds or thousands of dollars away and bring in no new clients or leads. But PPC can be very beneficial for your company if done correctly. PPC can not only help your brand but also bring in future clients without having to worry about your organic ranking on Google. Remember the value of a new HVAC client usually outweighs the price of a click. Here are some tips below to help make sure your HVAC campaign is getting the most conversions possible.
Keywords
Make sure you’re bidding on keywords pertaining to your business and service. Don’t be bidding on keywords that can be confused for manufacturing and suppliers. Keep your keywords specific and have geo-local keywords included as well. Instead of just “heating and air conditioning” as a keyword perhaps use “heating and air conditioning services near Dallas”. Add some keyword phrases describing typical problems people are having with their heating and air conditioning. For example, “My AC is broken” or “How much does it cost to fix a furnace?” You may hit future clients this way by targeting them while they are researching on who to call to fix a problem.
Geo-targeting
Keep your geo-targeting within a reasonable radius. If you don’t want to drive two hours to service a customer, put your geo-target within a radius of 30 miles. That way your ad won’t be targeting people who are not likely to call because you are not local or close by. Local geo-targeting is key to PPC success for small local businesses.
Set up Call-Only Campaigns
Google now offers Call-Only Campaigns. These are ads just for mobile devices. They will show your phone number, business description and the call button so consumers who see the ad can click on it directly. This way you are only paying for the click when someone calls you. This is only offered for mobile ads, though. You will have to add call extensions to your search ads that display on desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Add Ad extensions
Call Extension
Make sure you have a phone number on your ad that either is a Google forwarding number (so you can track it) or your business phone number as an ad extension. With call extensions, people can click on your phone number from the ad and call you directly. These can be added to mobile, desktop, and display ads. This is very important for local small businesses and can help your business reach more conversions.
Location Extension
Add a location extension to your ads especially for mobile ads. Your address and a map will appear if a future customer clicks on the location extension in your ad. This way potential customers can see exactly where you are located and how close they are to you. With many local businesses, location dictates if future customers will call you or not.
Ad Scheduling
If your goal is for clients to call your office, then only run your ads during office hours where you have someone there to answer your phone. This way you won’t have people calling and having to hang up or not leave a message because no one is at the office. You still pay for that click, even if no one answers your phone. This will help you save money by not paying for clicks during off-hours.
