Day: May 7, 2025

If you want your business to perform better in local search, and you’re looking for relatively quick results, there’s a few things you can do to move the needle in weeks (not months).

Claudia Tomina wrote an awesome round up of 11 aspects of ranking for local search – and I want to expand on some of her points in her article.

Aligning Your Google Business Profile’s Primary Category to Search Volume

The first point is about aligning your Electric Business’ primary category with what people are searching – what’s called search intent. This is a change that can be made easily – and it should also be carefully considered.

It’s a big deal, and it makes a difference on how you show up in local search.

Electrician Near Me – Keyword Searches

A prime example of intent is a search like ‘Electrician Near Me’ – Google knows that this person is looking for an Electrician, and Google knows through experience that these searches are high-converting. Indeed, 76% of these searches will make a call or website visit to one of the companies the in the Local Pack (more on this in a bit). About the same number will end up making a purchase within 72 hours.

You absolutely want your Electric business to come up for these types of searches. And the way you do that is by being smart about your category.

To Pick the Right Category, Research What Your Customers Are Searching on Google

There’s no mystery for the primary category. Unless your business is a * highly * specialized and is primarily going after something like Generator Installs, then you want Electrician to be your primary category.

Pro Tip: Research search volume for keywords related to your business before deciding on your primary category. The right choice could help you dominate the most relevant search results.

Claudia Tomina

I used AHREFs SEO tool to research what people are searching for the word ‘Electrician’ and here’s the list I found:

So if we’re looking for ideas about secondary categories, we might think about words like electrical outlet, ceiling fan, hot water heater, light fixture etc. I don’t want to stop there, however.

I want to look at my competition, especially the competition that comes up on Google’s ‘Local Pack’. These competitors are enjoying the bump in traffic, engagement and calls that result from inclusion in Google’s Local Pack.

Find Which Keywords Are Your Competitors Are Using

I like looking at what other companies are using for keywords, in particular the companies that are consistently showing up in Google’s Map Pack. If you don’t know what that is, check out this article about Google’s Map Pack.

Here’s an example of a primary category:

A search for ‘Electrician Austin’ brings up a company called DC Electric. Their primary category is displayed prominently at the top of the individual search result.

In the next example, we’ll be able to see what categories DC Electric choose as their secondary via a Local SEO Plugin called PlePer:

Here are the secondary keywords that made the list for DC Electric:

• Electric vehicle charging station contractor
• Electrical installation service
• Electric generator shop
• Lighting contractor

Those charging station and generator installs are high-profit jobs, so it’s great to see that DC Electric is advertising against those terms.

Lighting contractor makes perfect sense as well – your customers might have the intent to find an electrician, but because of the nature of their problem, they might be searching slightly different terms (such as Lighting Contractor). So adding secondary categories for this (as long as they can support the service) is an excellent idea.

Combine the search volume research with the research on local competitors and you’ve got the right information to decide what categories to choose on your Google Business Profile.