The internet is everything.

Yet, there are still thousands of plumbers who don’t have great websites, don’t use Google My Business, and aren’t on listing pages.

This is a short guide to things you can do to improve your internet presence for free or very inexpensively.

Google My Business 

This is a free listing that Google created for every business in the world. If you Google your business, it will usually show up on the right-hand side. There’s even a quick question, “Own this business?” Click that and it will walk you through proving that you own the business. 

Adjust the hours. Make sure you put in a great description of your business. Check that the listing includes your address and phone number correctly, your web address, and anything else you can think of. 

Why wouldn’t you accept a free, complete listing on the busiest website in the world?

Website 

You need a website. This isn’t really a negotiable point. Nearly 100% of all purchases involve an internet search. If you don’t have a website, a significant portion of the population won’t even contact you.

It doesn’t have to be expensive or even fancy. Wix.com offers free websites with small ads for their service on your page. Setting up a website is easy on Wix or other free website builder sites. 

You can get a domain from them or GoDaddy for about $20 a year. Even if you upgrade at Wix to make it all work together, it’s only about $100 a year. 

You must have a website. 

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok 

Ugh! If you’re like a lot of plumbers, you have no use for social media except to check in on friends once in a while. 

There’s a significant chance you have someone in your world, though, who is very good with social media. Teenage children, junior employees, younger family members might love the chance to make a few bucks doing your social media for you. Ask them if they’d like to do it.

You don’t need to post every day, but at least once every two weeks to show that your business is alive is enough.

Business listing page

When you look up a business, you see a lot of platforms that let you list your business for free. Brightlocal created a list of 50 business directories you can put your business on for free.

While many of these aren’t places that customers look for businesses, they are links to your website that show Google and Bing that your business has a lot going on. It takes a few minutes to create your listings. Some will mail you a postcard or ask for other forms of proof that you own the business, but spend a few minutes every day creating a listing everywhere you can.

Doing the fundamentals

These are the most fundamental pieces of what you can and should do to have a proper internet presence. 

Without these few steps, you are going to struggle in the 21st century.

If you don’t want to or can’t understand how to do these things, hire someone to do it for you. There are lots of contractors that can help you do ‌these things quickly.