SEO for Solar Companies – 236% Traffic Increase Case Study

Stigan Media specializes in SEO for solar companies. One standout example of our expertise in this area comes from our work with local solar businesses in British Columbia. Through the implementation of our solar SEO strategies, we’ve been able to skyrocket their organic traffic by an astonishing 256%. Below, we’ll share a screenshot that encapsulates this success, showcasing the tangible impact of our techniques.

How did we achieve such impressive results? Keep reading this article or save your time contact us for a free SEO audit for solar companies.

Our expertise in SEO for solar businesses has been clearly demonstrated.

We’re excited to reveal our approach and tested methods for solar SEO, designed to elevate your solar business’s website, drawing in increased organic traffic and leads. Below, we’ll outline the strategies that can transform your online presence.

1. Initiating with Thorough Keyword Research For Solar Businesses

As experts in SEO for solar companies, we know that finding the right keywords is key. Although it sounds easy, it’s quite complex. We’ve perfected our method to identify the best keywords for solar businesses. This is a quick example how we approach keyword research for solar

• Assessing Keyword Search Volume: It’s crucial to avoid targeting keywords that nobody is searching for  in solar sector. For instance, a past client was excited to rank #1 for “cheap solar panel for for commercial use in Toronto” only to discover the keyword had zero search volume, leading to no leads or site visits from Google. Our SEO method ensures we only target keywords in solar business with a meaningful search volume.
• Understanding Keyword Search Intent: We carefully choose keywords that match your business goals. For example, “solar panels Toronto” targets local customers ready to buy, perfect for businesses aiming at local markets. On the other hand, informational keywords like “What kind of savings could solar panels make in Toronto?” often lead to generic traffic, offering little to no direct business value. Our strategy focuses on identifying and targeting keywords that promise benefits and leads for your business.
• Evaluating Keyword Difficulty: We use top tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to check how competitive keywords are. Our agency invests in these advanced tools to pick the best keywords for your solar SEO campaign. We choose keywords that fit your budget, focusing on ones that are less competitive but can still bring traffic and leads to your solar business without stretching your budget.

Keyword research for solar businesses is like positioning solar panels for optimal sunlight; it’s the first critical step to ensure maximum energy generation. Without this strategic placement, the rest of the efforts may not perform as expected.

2. Getting Web Analytics Right Before Starting Solar SEO

Unlike many SEO agencies for solar companies that dive straight into SEO tasks upon finalizing keywords, we take an additional, crucial step: we verify that all web analytics are correctly set up and tracking before moving forward with solar SEO enhancements.

Our goal is to ensure that every aspect of the solar project is accurately tracked, enabling us to deliver a comprehensive SEO report to our solar clients that truly reflects the value we bring. Here’s how we make sure your project is on the right path from the get-go:

• Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console Verification: We begin by making sure Google Analytics 4 accurately tracks your site’s activities. We also set up Google Search Console to check your solar SEO performance and find any technical problems, giving you a full view of how visible your site is on search engines.
• Access to Google Business Profile: We ensure we have access to your Google Business Profile, vital for managing your solar company’s presence on Google, including Search and Maps. This step is essential for optimizing your profile for maximum visibility in solar SEO.
• Inclusion in Bing and Apple Maps: If not already done, we add your solar business to Bing and Apple Maps, expanding your online footprint beyond Google’s ecosystem.
  
• Integration with Advanced SEO Software: Your solar website is added to our high-end SEO software for continuous position tracking, allowing us to monitor and adjust our strategies based on real-time data.
• Conversion Tracking Setup in Google Analytics 4: Perhaps most critically, we establish and configure goals in Google Analytics 4 to track conversions accurately—be it through form submissions, email inquiries, or phone calls. This step is vital for measuring the actual return on investment (ROI) from your solar SEO campaign, allowing us to see how well our efforts are working to bring in leads and conversions for your solar business.
  

This comprehensive setup and verification process sets us apart from many solar SEO agencies that might overlook these crucial steps, often leading to inaccurate reporting.

3. Website Architecture For Solar SEO

After establishing a solid foundation with keyword research and ensuring all web analytics are properly set up, we proceed to a critical phase: auditing the current website architecture. In our experience, this step often uncovers numerous opportunities for enhancement, benefiting not only solar SEO efforts but user experience as well.

For solar companies, having a well-organized website is key. It’s important for helping visitors find their way around and for letting search engines easily check and list your site. In our audit, we find out which pages are getting traffic and leads for your solar business. We then focus on improving these pages to get even more leads.

Key actions in our website SEO architecture for solar websites audit include:

• Evaluating and Enhancing Link Structure: We carefully check how pages link together, making sure everything is easy to find for both people and search engines. This helps your solar website work better for solar SEO by making sure the main pages are easy to get to and everything flows smoothly from one page to the next.
• Optimizing Inbound Linking: Properly executed inbound links (links from one page on your site to another) are crucial for solar SEO. They help distribute page authority throughout your site, leading to better rankings. We ensure that key pages are interlinked in a way that strengthens your site’s overall SEO.
• Refining the Navbar and Footer: The navigation bar and footer are two of the most important elements for website navigation in solar industry. We optimize these areas to ensure they include links to all essential pages, making it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for and for search engines to understand the site’s structure.

4. Content SEO Optimization for Solar Businesses

After making sure your website is set up right, we move on to improving your content. This is important to make your site match the solar company keywords we picked. We start by updating and improving the content on key pages. We use a tool called Surfer SEO to figure out how to best use keywords. This tool looks at top search results and suggests how often to use keywords for the best Google ranking.

Our skilled copywriters then work closely with our solar industry clients to understand exactly what needs to be on each page. With this information, they write content that’s not just engaging and persuasive but also filled with the right keywords, based on our Surfer SEO findings.

This is a step where many SEO agencies, especially those catering to solar companies, falter by opting for low-cost outsourcing options, which often results in the production of subpar content. While inserting the required keywords might temporarily boost SEO rankings, low-quality content can deter users, prompting them to leave the website prematurely. Recognizing the importance of striking a balance, we prioritize the creation of engaging, high-quality text. Our in-house team of local writers boasts significant experience in producing content that captivates readers while seamlessly incorporating SEO elements.

By focusing on high-quality, engaging content that adheres to SEO best practices, we ensure that your solar company’s website not only ranks well but also provides a valuable and satisfying experience for visitors. This approach not only enhances your site’s visibility but also its ability to convert visitors into leads and customers.

5. Portfolio Images Is the Major Key For Solar SEO

For solar SEO, images play a key role.

Solar companies should showcase a portfolio of their solar projects using original, real images throughout their website.

Avoid stock photos, as search engines can easily detect reused images and prefer to rank real solar businesses with genuine solar projects. All photos should have detailed alt tags, including the location, to enhance SEO further. This approach not only makes your website more attractive to search engines but also gives potential customers a real insight into your projects and capabilities.

6. On-Page SEO Optimization In Solar Sector

After enhancing your website’s content, we turn our attention to on-page SEO optimization. This crucial step involves refining not just the pages targeted in our SEO campaign but the entire website to ensure a comprehensive optimization. Here’s a brief guide on essential on-page SEO practices for solar company websites:

• Meta Titles Optimization: Incorporate your primary keyword, such as “Toronto solar companies,” to accurately reflect your business’s focus. This is crucial for search engines to understand and rank your page appropriately.
• Meta Description Optimization: Though not a direct ranking factor, a well-crafted meta description can significantly improve your click-through rate. This indirect benefit can, over time, positively impact your SEO rankings. Include catchy things like “use $5000 incentive for solar energy today!”
• Alt Tags Optimization: Enhance your images with descriptive, keyword-inclusive alt texts. This not only aids visually impaired users but also helps search engines index your images more effectively.
• H1 Optimization: Each page should have a single H1 tag that concisely explains the page’s content. Simple “Solar Company In [location]” is good for SEO. Incorporating a combination of your targeted keyword and location within the H1 can be beneficial.
• H2 to H6 Optimization: Use these headings to structure your content for both users and search engines. However, be cautious not to overuse your target keyword, which can lead to over-optimization.
• Schema Markup Implementation: Schema markup helps search engines understand solar’s websites content more deeply and can enhance your presence in search results, such as through rich snippets. For solar companies, adding schemas related to reviews, services, and local business information can be particularly advantageous.
  
• SEO-Friendly URLs: Ensure your URLs are concise, readable, and include your target keyword. This should ideally be addressed during the website architecture phase but always merits a thorough review.
• Internal Linking: Establish a robust internal linking structure to distribute page authority across your site effectively and enhance user navigation.
• NAP Consistency: For local solar businesses, maintaining consistent Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) information across your website and online listings is essential. Embedding a map on your contact page can also improve local SEO.
• Customer Testimonials: Adding genuine customer reviews to your targeted pages not only enhances trust with potential clients but also signals to search engines that your business is reputable.
• E-E-A-T Principles: Demonstrate your business’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness by highlighting team qualifications, certifications, awards, and other trust factors. This tells search engines why your solar company is a credible source in the industry. Add rewards and certifications of your solar company to enhance SEO efforts.

7. Local SEO For Solar Businesses

For solar companies, local SEO is a critical component of an effective digital marketing strategy. Given the localized nature of the business, it’s essential to ensure that your company ranks prominently in searches within your service area. This part of the process is focused on optimizing your online presence for local search.

After integrating Google Maps and ensuring your contact information is accurate on your website, the next step involves fully optimizing your Google Business Profile, a key element in local SEO success.

• Comprehensive Google Business Profile Optimization: We begin by ensuring that your business’s URL and all pertinent fields in your Google Business Profile are accurately completed, incorporating relevant keywords strategically. It’s also important to select relevant and additional categories that closely align with your solar company’s services.
• Image Optimization: Updating and optimizing images on your Google Business Profile not only enhances your profile’s visual appeal but also contributes to its search performance. High-quality, relevant images can significantly impact user engagement.
• Service Area Optimization: We meticulously define and optimize your listed service areas to encompass the most relevant locations, ensuring your business appears in local searches where your potential clients are located.
• Regular Updates with Posts: Keeping your Google Business Profile active with regular posts is crucial. These updates can include news about your services, special offers, or educational content about solar energy, which keeps your profile engaging and informative for potential clients.
• Encouraging and Managing Reviews: Reviews play a pivotal role in local search rankings and in establishing trust with potential customers. While SEO techniques can enhance your profile’s visibility, garnering positive reviews requires a concerted effort from the solar company itself. We assist by providing templates designed to encourage reviews that are beneficial for SEO. Engaging with reviews, responding professionally, and incorporating SEO strategies in replies can further boost your profile’s performance.
• Bing Business Profile Optimization: In addition to Google, we also optimize your presence on Bing. Though Google dominates search engine usage, Bing’s audience can contribute valuable visibility and traffic, making it another important platform for your local SEO efforts.

By prioritizing these local SEO strategies and optimizing your Google Business Profile, we aim to significantly enhance your solar company’s online visibility within your service areas. This holistic approach ensures that your business is not only found by potential clients but also viewed as a reputable and authoritative option in the solar industry.

8. Advanced Technical SEO for Solar Company Websites

Technical SEO is a crucial yet often overlooked component by many sold SEO agencies, especially those not equipped to handle its complexities. Unlike these agencies, we prioritize technical SEO to ensure your solar company’s website meets Google’s stringent technical standards.

Fixing 301 Redirects and 404 Errors

Our initial step involves utilizing Screaming Frog, a comprehensive tool that simulates how search engines crawl your site. This process allows us to identify and rectify 301 redirects (permanent redirects from one URL to another) and 404 errors (indications of non-existent pages). Our goal is to ensure every page on your website returns a 200 OK status code, signaling successful page loading and accessibility to both users and search engines.

Speed Optimization

Website speed is a critical factor in user experience and search engine ranking for solar companies. Following Google’s emphasis on site speed back in 2019, we leverage Google’s PageSpeed Insights to analyze and enhance your website’s loading times. This involves a detailed review and optimization of your site’s speed, aiming to improve performance scores and user experience. An example of a solar company website we’ve optimized demonstrates the potential improvements in loading speed.

Mobile Optimization

With the increasing prevalence of mobile browsing, ensuring your website’s mobile version is flawless is non-negotiable. Common issues like small font sizes, elements too close to each other, or broken styles can severely impact user experience. Our SEO team conducts a thorough review of your site’s mobile version, identifying any such issues and coordinating with our web development team for necessary adjustments.

SSL Certificate Verification

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certification is essential for website security. We check the validity of your SSL certificate to ensure it’s up-to-date. An expired or invalid SSL certificate can lead search engines to mark your website as unsafe, potentially harming your rankings and user trust.

Through these meticulous technical SEO practices, we not only aim to boost your solar company’s website in search rankings but also to enhance the overall user experience. By addressing technical issues that could impede your site’s performance, we lay a solid foundation for your website’s success in the highly competitive solar industry.

9. Off-Page SEO for Solar Company Success

Off-page SEO, the process of securing backlinks to your website, stands as one of the most challenging yet vital components of a comprehensive SEO strategy. The difficulty lies not only in the effort and resources required but also in the strategic necessity to acquire high-quality backlinks. In the vast landscape of SEO, where many falter, Stigan Media excels with a systematized approach tailored for solar companies.

Local Directory Submissions

Our initial strategy focuses on maximizing your presence in local solar business directories. We select reputable and reliable directories where listing your business can provide a dual benefit: enhancing your local SEO signals through consistent name, address, and phone number (NAP) information and acquiring valuable backlinks. This step helps Google better understand and verify your business location, boosting your local search visibility.

Relevant High-Value Domain Links

Over the years, our solar SEO agency cultivated relationships with a network of over 1000 respected website owners across various domains relevant to the solar industry. These partnerships allow us to publish posts that include links back to our clients’ sites, providing them with high-quality backlinks that significantly impact their SEO rankings. This level of access and collaboration is not something many agencies can boast, setting our solar SEO clients apart in their link-building efforts.

Disavowing Toxic Links

In the competitive online arena, it’s not uncommon for a website to become the target of negative SEO tactics, either through the actions of spammers or competitors. These toxic backlinks can harm your site’s reputation and search rankings. Our dedicated SEO team conducts thorough audits of your site’s backlink profile, identifying and disavowing harmful links. By submitting a disavow file to search engines, we effectively distance your site from these unwanted links, safeguarding your SEO integrity.

Stigan Media’s approach to off-page SEO transcends the conventional, ensuring not just any backlinks, but the right backlinks that propel our solar company clients toward sustainable online growth. Our strategic and careful cultivation of backlinks from reputable sources, combined with vigilant monitoring and maintenance of your backlink profile, ensures your website not only climbs but maintains high rankings in search engine results, driving visibility and business growth in the competitive solar industry.

Conclusion: The Importance of SEO for Solar Businesses

In summary, SEO is crucial for solar companies aiming to boost their online visibility. By focusing on effective keyword research, on-page optimization, technical adjustments, and off-page strategies, solar businesses can increase their online presence, attract more organic traffic, and generate leads. These efforts not only enhance search rankings but also improve user experience and credibility in the competitive solar market.

Mastering SEO demands expertise and ongoing work, particularly understanding the solar industry and search engine changes. Stigan Media offers expert SEO services tailored for solar companies, ensuring growth and success online. Contact us for a comprehensive strategy and support in achieving your SEO goals.

Stigan Media is skilled in SEO for solar companies. Can’t handle SEO on your own? We offer a free SEO audit.

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Oleg Tsegelnyk

Oleg is an experienced SEO specialist, with his career beginning in 2013. He joined Stigan Media in 2021 and has extensive experience working with content and affiliate projects. Currently, his main focus is on local SEO, through which he has achieved significant results for Stigan’s clients, and on the deep learning of GA4 for enhanced data analysis. He shares his SEO insights on the Stigan Media Blog and also runs a personal YouTube channel about online marketing in Ukrainian. View his LinkedIn Profile for more information.