Is your HVAC Website Ready for Google's New Algorithm Update?

Marketing your HVAC company is hard work. It doesn’t help that the “rules” for good HVAC marketing are in constant flux—particularly when it comes to website-related best practices. I get it. It’s frustrating to wonder if you’re doing your marketing “right,” and the idea that you could be wasting thousands of dollars on ineffective tactics is frankly a bit nauseating.

Before I say more about those ever-evolving best practices, let me offer you some encouragement. The fact that you’re taking the time to read a blog about Google algorithms tells me you’re either already way ahead of your competition—or you’re about to be. Most HVAC shops are still stuck in the Yellow Pagesville. I’m thrilled for you that you’re even considering the impact Google might be having on your business. High-five!

Here’s the reality: Google’s willingness to show your site to potential customers can make or break your business. To be clear, lots of other things can, too (like terrible customer service), but Google is a major player in your success or failure.

How much Google likes your site is determined by its algorithm, which is basically a set of rules for solving a problem. In the case of Google, the problem is “how to get someone the answer to their question quickly and accurately.” It solves that problem by running 200 or so search factors ( with each one having up to 50 variations ) through a set of rules and spitting out websites in order of which ones best match someone’s query. Your search engine results page (SERP) position has an enormous effect on how many customers see your site. If you’re not on the first page of results, you might as well not have a website.

Don’t go canceling your website hosting plan, though, because there’s good news here: While you can’t control every one of those algorithm factors, you can influence several of them through good Search Engine Marketing (SEM) practices. Just keep in mind that when I use the word practices I mean that literally. Just like a pianist has to practice and refine their technique to become a pro, business owners have to practice their website strategies. That’s where the analogy breaks down, though… because unlike a piano and its never-changing 88 keys, Google’s “keyboard” is in constant flux.

If Google had just developed an algorithm and stuck with it, making it happy would be simple. But the algorithm is constantly changing—as many as 600 times per year. Now, not every single one of those changes is earth-shattering. But in the last couple of years, two updates have had dramatic effects on SERP rank across the board—Penguin and Panda. Google’s most recent “ broad core algorithm update” may have an effect on trust-based companies like those in the medical field and, you guessed it, contractors. Like you.

Notice I said Google’s most recent update may have an effect. Why can’t I say for sure? Because Google doesn’t actually tell anyone what, exactly, they’ve changed. Why? Because they don’t want people trying to game the system. They’re kind enough to give us a heads up that they’ve changed something, but that’s about as far as they go.

That doesn’t mean you should just cross your fingers and hope your SERP doesn’t take a nose-dive. Instead, you should keep an eye on your site for the first couple of weeks after a major update is announced. If your SERP or web traffic seems to be waning, do some algorithm-related research to see if you can figure out why, make relevant adjustments, and see if your SERP rank starts to float northward again.

Luckily, there are some companies out there who spend a ton of time and resources to help the rest of us speak Google as fluently as we can. I recommend keeping an eye on three websites:

• Google’s Webmaster Central Blog
  
• SearchEngine Land
  
• Moz’s Google Algorithm Change History
  

So, is your HVAC website ready for Google’s new algorithm update? Maybe. Maybe not. The point is to make sure you know those updates happen and they can have serious consequences for your bottom line. Above all, remember search engine optimization (SEO) is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.

Want some help sorting this out? Let’s chat.