With the busy season approaching quickly, a common thread in the HVAC world is “Where on earth am I going to find a qualified technician?” As stated in many times before, the best time to start looking for a tech is before you actually need one. However, business requirements often take time from recruiting. As it gets warmer it seems nearly every contractor is scrambling for techs.
Another constant concern in our industry is improving the company ranking on Google. Like recruiting, this is also easily overlooked. Nevertheless, we all know this is a major lead generator for your business. In this article, I plan on laying out a simple process that HVAC contractors can use to accomplish both of these goals.
DO QUALITY TECHNICIANS STILL EXIST?
The answer is yes! However, reaching those quality techs is the challenge. If your business has a website, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+, then you already have the tools necessary. If not, you can create a business profile on any of these platforms for free. A first step in this process is to create a Careers page on your website (many already have this) so that potential candidates can fill out an application. Having this in place saves you time and makes it easy for people to contact you about employment.
Once you have your career page set up properly, we are ready to start driving engagement. This is where a video comes into play. Ask yourself: “Why should a qualified technician want to come work for my business and not the competitors?” Incorporate these points in a short video with the owner or office manager explaining why your company is a great place to work. The production doesn’t have to be amazing; you can just use your phone. Post this video to your company's YouTube page. When creating this post on YouTube, be sure to include your company’s name, website, and address in the video description. Use relevant keywords in the “tag” field (below the description). Before you publish the YouTube video, go to Advanced Settings and select the geographic area in which you want to recruit. Publish the video, then share it on your business’s Google+ page. Lastly, ask your web developer to embed the YouTube video at the top of the Careers page on your website.
SO WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR MY SEO?
Aside from providing a personal touch to your Careers page, Google and other search engines love videos (when done correctly). As discussed before, adding tags and website links to your YouTube videos is important because this is the information search engines want to see. Geo-tagging is also advantageous for search engine optimization (SEO) because it allows people in your area to find the video easily, while providing a local backlink to your website. Backlinks are one of the most important factors in SEO because they drive relevant traffic to your website and give it higher authority in a search engine’s eyes.
WHY FACEBOOK?
This is how you're actually going to find a tech and get people to fill out an application. Use a paid Facebook ad to get the word out to potential applicants. Make sure the ad targets the relevant geographic area where you want to search for your tech. This ad should link to the Careers page on your website, not the business’s Facebook page. The nice thing about these ads is that it’s shown to a large number of people in your area and you only pay when someone clicks on the ad and goes to the Careers page on your website (more than likely an HVAC tech). The video of the owner is there to sell the applicant on why working for your company is the best choice, and publishing the video in the way described above contributes to improving your company’s ranking on Google.
