Local SEO for Electricians: A Guide to Lighting up the SERPs

Looking for an electrician in the Yellow Pages is ancient history. These days, people turn to their phones to solve their power problems, and if you want them to find you, you’d better get to grips with local SEO for electricians. From blown fuses to faulty wiring, the typical first step to getting your energy supply back in order is to search “electrician near me” on Google. And when someone's already got their hands full lighting candles in the dark, chances are they’ll be using voice search, which has surged in popularity by 146% from 2019 to 2023 . 

Simply claiming your Google Business Profile doesn’t automatically qualify you to appear in results for local electricians. To make sure your company appears above competitors for these search terms, you’ll need a great electrician SEO strategy and a features-packed tool to do the heavy lifting for you.

How electrician SEO attracts more customers

When someone types a search term like “local electrician” into Google, the first things they’ll probably see on the search engine results page (SERP) are adverts. Google Ads look like organic results, but can be distinguished by the “sponsored” label above them. They’re a great way to get your business in front of the right people on Google, but a lot of users skip them and scroll down to the organic results. Below the ads, users usually find a row of directory results, like Yelp or Trustpilot. 

These tend to be lists of the best electricians in the area and the reason why it pays to have a good listings distribution. Next, you’ve got the Google Local Pack (also known as the Google 3-Pack, Map Pack or Snack Pack), which shows the search engine’s top three ranking electricians in the area (and sometimes another sponsored result in the top spot). The electricians that appear here have likely worked on their SEO, from building their citations to generating reviews. It’s the most valuable piece of real estate on a local SERP, because it shows the user the credibility of each business so they can feel confident they’ve found a good electrician. The “More businesses” button reveals a longer list of electricians on Google Maps, but a lot of users don’t feel the need to search further when they’ve already got a shortlist of the best in the area. People often need an electrician in a flash, and 60% call directly . from the SERP results without clicking through to the website, so getting in the Local Pack should be a top priority for electrical SEO. 

Powering local SEO for electricians: Being out and about all day serving clients means electricians don’t have a lot of time to compile lists of relevant directories and upload multiple profiles. With Semrush Local's Listing Management tool , you only need to type in your business name for the tool to perform a full audit of your listings and pull up new opportunities to distribute to on your behalf.

Give your electrical SEO a full inspection (for free!)

As with electrical faults, you can’t get to work on solving problems with your electrician SEO until you’ve identified them. While that might seem complicated, especially if you have little experience in local SEO for electricians, it’s actually one of the easiest tasks there is. Simply go to Listing Management’s free audit tool (you don’t have to be a subscriber, you can audit up to five locations a day without paying a cent) and type in your business name. Your location should pop up before you’ve finished typing. Click on your business and in a few seconds, you’ll see your Local Visibility report, featuring: - An overall level for your online presence - The number of listings currently published - The number of listings you need to fix - Your average star rating across multiple platforms - The number of reviews across multiple platforms You’ll also get basic information about where your electrical SEO problems are, so you can get to work fixing them. Inconsistent NAP data (name, address, phone number) can cause serious damage to your local SEO, so you’ll want to solve any issues the audit uncovers as soon as possible. 

Lightning response: Once you’ve conducted a free audit with Semrush Local's Listing Management tool , become a subscriber and let the tool help you solve all your NAP inconsistencies in no time.

Complete your Google Business Profile

The most important listing for an electrical SEO is Google Business Profile. With a market share of 92.63% across all devices , Google has been the undisputed champion of search for some time, so it’s no surprise that most local SEOs focus their attention there. There’s quite a lot of information you can give Google Business Profile to help users make their decision to get in touch with you quickly. You should fill out as much of your Google Business Profile as possible to earn a nice green ring next to “profile strength”. Your Google Business Profile should include the following to set it apart from competitors that are neglecting their electrician SEO: 

Business name: Exactly as it appears in other listings and at your premises. Don’t try to cram it with keywords because Google will probably just change it. 

Business category: You can choose up to 10 categories. Do some research to see what competitors are using as their primary category so you know it’s the most relevant one. For example, are you better positioned as an “electrician” or “electrical installation service?” Description: You have up to 750 characters to talk up your business, so you should make the most of it. Try to include keywords about your service offering and the towns you serve. **Phone number:** You can include a tracking number as your primary phone number and add your main business line as a secondary number to avoid NAP inconsistencies. Opening date: The year and month your business opened. This can be up to one year in the future if your business is yet to officially launch. Website: Once you’ve added your website, double check it’s correct by clicking the website button on your Google Business Profile. Social media profiles: Your channels will display as icons on your GBP. 

Location: Include the full address, including suite number, building number, etc. This must be consistent with other listing addresses. You can also pin your exact position on Google Maps to guarantee new customers have no trouble finding you. 

Service area: As an electrician, your service area is likely wider than the town you’re based in. If you don’t have a physical location, you can choose to publish a service area only. 

Opening hours: You can also include special hours for the holidays. Location facilities: Here you can show information about the ownership (woman-owned, for example), disabled access, onsite recycling, gender-neutral toilets, LGBTQ+ friendliness and languages spoken. 

Photos: Images should depict the location so users have a sense of where you work should they choose to arrive instead of call-out. Choose a cover photo that best reflects what you do. 

Products: Display products you use or fix with images, and add descriptions to products you sell with links to purchase. 

Services: Select from a predefined list of electrical services you offer.

Q&A: Add your own frequently asked questions to remove obstacles to people getting in touch. 

Plug in: With the New Google Connector, you can sync your Google Business Profile directly with Semrush Local's Listing Management tool and pull in useful insights from the platform so you don’t need to leave the tool to track your data.

Become a dynamic review generator

Electricians not only work in a dangerous field, they’re also strangers that people need to feel comfortable inviting into their homes, meaning customer reviews are crucial for getting new business. Both total number of reviews and average ratings are important local ranking factors to boost local SEO for electricians. In fact, your business could suffer a massive shortage of new clients if your average rating isn’t sitting above 4.0 across your listings—and, fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to get it there. Review generation is the process of reaching out to clients and asking them to leave you a review on one of your platforms. Most businesses focus on their Google Business Profile reviews, but you should also build up your average ratings on Yelp, Facebook and other directories. The best way to reach out to satisfied clients is via text message (SMS), because while the communication channel might feel a bit old hat these days, it actually has an open rate of close to 100%. 

Make it easy for them to post their review by providing them with a simple link . On top of requesting reviews, you also need to get back to everyone (and that includes negative reviewers). The simple act of replying to your reviews can see the number of reviews you receive spike by as much as 12%, according to Harvard Business Review . 

Electrical feedback: Successful electricians should prepare themselves for a surge in online reviews and less time to respond to them. Use Semrush Local's Review Management tool to consolidate all your online reviews in one place so you don’t lose track.

Boost conversions with electrifying content

No electrician SEO strategy is complete without content marketing. If you don’t rate your writing skills, consider hiring a freelancer or content agency with experience in local SEO for electricians to help you draw up a strategy and execute it. 

If you’re going it alone, start with keyword research, using a tool like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner to find local phrases with a decent volume and reasonably low difficulty to rank. By optimizing your content for search engines, you’ll not only improve your chances for ranking organically, but your local rankings too. Informative blog posts demonstrate your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness as an electrician, helping customers to make a choice about who to call. 

Offer tips on simple electrical tasks, like choosing the right bulbs, while recommending your own professional services for anything that shouldn't be attempted by DIYers. Location-specific landing pages might also make sense if you provide electrical services to a broad area. Include a Google Map of your location and mark up your NAP data with schema code so it’s clear to search engines. Good content attracts backlinks from other relevant sites, which is like a little thumbs up to search engines to say your posts are worth reading. News and interviews about your business could also attract link attention from local news and community sites, which will further boost your SEO.