By Clint Sanchez · Published · Updated · 5 min read
Quick answer
The highest-volume SEO keywords for painters are "painting company" and "painting contractors" at about 12,100 searches a month each in the United States, followed by "house painters near me" and "painting companies near me" at 8,100. Local intent terms such as "painting contractors near me" and "exterior house painters near me" are the ones that turn into jobs. Use them in title tags, headings, page copy, image alt text, and your Google Business Profile.
Key takeaways
- "Painting company" and "painting contractors" each draw about 12,100 searches a month in the United States, both at medium competition.
- "House painters near me" and "painting companies near me" each draw about 8,100 monthly searches at high competition.
- Many high-volume terms on the list are Sherwin-Williams product searches, which are not buyer searches for a painting contractor.
- Put keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, headings, page copy, and image alt text, and keep your name, address, and phone identical across every directory.
- According to a Search Engine Watch study cited in the post, the first organic result in Google takes over 33 percent of clicks, and the share drops with each position below it.
- Ranking a painting company takes three layers together: local SEO, on-page and technical SEO, and off-page work such as citations, content, and reviews.
Humidity and afternoon rain cut the exterior painting season short around Baton Rouge and Livingston Parish, so every painter is chasing the same spring and fall jobs at the same time. The terms on this list that matter to a Denham Springs or Walker painter are the "near me" and "local" ones, not the Sherwin-Williams product searches, and a Google Business Profile that lists the parishes you serve is what wins them.
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Choosing the correct keywords is the foundation of any Painting Contractor’s SEO project. Choose them incorrectly, and you fail.
But, if you take some time to perform some proper keyword research, you’ll reap the benefits.
Choose the right keywords, and you’ll get more organic traffic from Google and other search engines over time.
But, if you pick incorrect keywords, your competitors will paint you in a box (see what we did there?), and you’ll lose sales leads.
Keyword Research is Essential
While it’s outside of this article’s scope, there are plenty of keyword tools that you can use to help you in your research, such as the Google Keyword Planner, or premium tools such as SEMRush and Ahrefs.
Did you know that there are more than 1.1k online searches for “painting contractor” every month?
And that’s just for that exact phrase and doesn’t include all of the variations of that term and long-tail keywords. And that’s only in the United States!
By building content on your website around the top search terms specific to painters, you are paving the way for inbound sales leads that will boost your profits.
Now, add those online leads to word-of-mouth leads and any you leads generated by traditional marketing methods. You’re starting to get the picture.
Speaking of pictures, be sure to read our article 6 Easy Steps to Painting Company SEO to learn steps you can take right now to rank higher in the SERPs.
What follows are some of the Leading SEO keywords for painters and painting contractors in the United States:
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| Keyword Competition | Avg. Monthly Searches | Competition Level |
| painting company | 12,100 | Medium |
| painting contractors | 12,100 | Medium |
| house painters near me | 8,100 | High |
| painting companies near me | 8,100 | High |
| best interior paint | 5,400 | High |
| sherwin williams exterior paint | 4,400 | High |
| painting contractors near me | 5,400 | Medium |
| sherwin williams passive | 3,600 | Low |
| sherin williams commercial | 2,400 | Low |
| precision painting | 1,900 | Low |
| lowes sherwin williams | 2,400 | Low |
| sherwin williams duration | 1,900 | Low |
| sherwin williams emerald | 1,900 | Low |
| commercial painting contractors | 1,600 | Low |
| painting services near me | 1,600 | High |
| sherwin williams rain | 1,600 | Low |
| exterior house painters near me | 1,300 | High |
| sherwin williams concrete paint | 1,300 | High |
| interior house painters | 1,000 | Medium |
| local painting contractors | 1,000 | Low |
| commercial painters near me | 1,000 | Medium |
| home painters near me | 1,000 | Medium |
| quality painting | 1,000 | Medium |
| sherwim williams resilience | 1,000 | Low |
| sherwin williams paint cost | 1,000 | High |
| sherwin williams woodscapes | 880 | Low |
| sherwin williams a100 | 1,000 | Medium |
| lowes sherwin williams paint | 1,300 | High |
| all pro painting | 880 | Low |
| sherwin williams upword | 720 | Low |
| the painting company | 720 | Medium |
| interior house painters near me | 720 | Medium |
| sherwin williams anonymous | 720 | Low |
| benjamin moore vinyl siding paint | 480 | High |
| sherwin williams duration paint | 590 | Medium |
| sherwin williams outdoor paint | 480 | High |
| sherwin williams dry erase paint | 480 | High |
| best painters near me | 480 | High |
| sherwin williams vinyl siding paint | 480 | High |
| house painters in my area | 390 | High |
| commercial painting contractors near me | 390 | Medium |
| exterior painting contractor | 480 | Medium |
| sherwin williams hoa | 390 | Low |
| professional exterior house painters near me | 320 | High |
| local painting companies | 390 | High |
| sherwin williams metal paint | 390 | High |
| jb painting | 320 | Low |
| local painting contractors near me | 260 | High |
| local house painters | 320 | Medium |
| house painting contractors | 320 | Medium |
How to Use These Keywords:
Now that you know what keywords to focus on, you need to use them properly to rank well in Google.
Here are six steps to using your keywords to achieve SEO success for your painting business:
- Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly, safe, and secure.
- Incorporate these keywords into your webpage title tags, meta description, headings, page copy, and alt-tags in your images.
- Create, optimize, and update your Google Business Profile (GBP) page.
- Claim and complete your local directory listing profiles with the exact same NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) across them all.
- Update your blog regularly and write content based on appropriate keywords, terms, and phrases.
- Use videos, graphics, and images in your message optimized for your desired keywords.
3 Ways To Rank Your Painting Company Website Higher
Getting your website to the top search result in your city involves several key components, and how you implement them matters.
As experienced Painting Company Search Engine Optimization experts, we know just how important it is for your website to be listed on Google’s first page to generate the sales leads you deserve.
Consider this:
Over 33% of clicks in Google’s search engine results pages go to the business listed first.
And that number drops as you go further down the list.
See why it’s important to be up top in the search engine results pages (SERPS)?
Here are the three steps you can take to rank your painting company’s website higher:
Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Because painting is a service-based industry, your website must be optimized for local searches.
Local SEO is Essential.
Optimizing your website for hyper-local terms helps you target customers looking for services like yours within a specific geographic location.
Local SEO is how you rank well for those, “near me” searches. Click the image below to read our tips for dominating these searches.
Here’s our four-step process we use to guarantee that you dominate local searches:
- Discover high-ranking search terms/queries/keywords your target market is using.
- Build high-quality web content that will undoubtedly attract website visitors
- Optimize your Google Business Profile Profile to capitalize on local searches
- Maximize your SEO method via our proprietary analytics stack.
"Painting company" and "painting contractors" each draw about 12,100 searches a month in the United States, both at medium competition.
On-Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The next step in optimizing any painting company website is to focus on your on-page SEO.
On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing each page of your website to rank higher in search results pages to earn relevant web traffic.
Another part of on-page SEO that is often overlooked is technical SEO. Technical SEO is the process of optimizing your website for speed, good site architecture, internal linking structure, heading usage, image sizes, image alt-text, website accessibility, and the list goes on.
Read about some of the most common technical SEO mistakes that may be hurting your rankings.
Off-Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Almost as important as your SEO ON your website are SEO elements OFF of your website.
Off-page SEO is one of the most essential parts of a successful strategy.
Simply put, Off-page SEO are tactics that you employ that take place outside of your website itself.
Off-page #SEO tactics:
SEMrush (@semrush) October 18, 2020
👉Link Building
👉Brand Building
👉Content Marketing
👉PR
👉Local SEO (GBP and Citations)
👉Social Media & forums
👉Influencer Marketing
👉Events
👉Guest Posting
👉Podcasts
👉Reviews
👉Content Syndication
Learn more https://t.co/XqIaAwCSaH.
Now some fly-by-night search engine optimization “experts” will say it’s all about link building; all you need to do to see painting company SEO success is build links back to your important pages.
But that’s only half-true.
Sure your website’s backlink profile is essential, but there’s so much more involved in off-page SEO for painting contractors.
Some of these other off-page SEO tactics you should employ are:
- brand building
- citation building
- content marketing
- social media
All of these elements come together to form a comprehensive SEO strategy to give both search engines and users gain a perception of your website’s authority and are often used as key trust and relevance factors.
So now that you know what to do to rank your painting company’s website higher in search engines and how to use keywords in doing so, it’s time to get to work.
If you need any help using any of these concepts taught above, drop us a line.
We’re Painting Contractor SEO Experts and know what it takes to get you to the top of the search rankings to generate more leads for your business.
Contact us today for a free strategy session, and let us show you how we can help you level up your painting business today.
Wondering if your SEO is actually getting traction, or where to focus next? Let’s diagnose it in a 15-minute Discovery Call.
About the author
Founder & Lead Developer · Denham Springs, LA
Clint has built and marketed websites for 26 years, since founding BlakSheep Creative in 2000. He is also a 29-year firefighter and a 23-year member of IAFF Local 557, which is where the bias toward plain answers over sales copy comes from.
- Veteran-owned
- Firefighter-owned
- IAFF Local 557
Common questions about painting contractors
Which painting keywords should a local contractor target first?
Why are so many Sherwin-Williams terms on a painter keyword list?
Where should painting keywords go on a website?
What is local SEO for a painting company?
Is link building enough to rank a painting contractor website?
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