Local Keyword Research for Solar Installers

A solar installer assumed most of his enquiries came from people searching “solar installer near me.” His actual traffic, once I checked properly, came overwhelmingly from “solar battery storage cost” and “is solar worth it.”

He’d built his whole website around the install itself. Most of the demand was in the research questions people ask months before they’re ready to book.

Mapping Search Terms by Service

Solar work covers different search intent depending on the customer: “solar panel installation” behaves differently to “battery storage cost” or “solar panel repair.” I research each one separately rather than treating “solar installer” as a single search term, because customers rarely search that way.

Catching the Research Searches

Alongside install searches, there’s a steady stream of research ones: “how many panels do I need,” “is solar worth it,” “MCS certified installer near me.” These convert differently and often much earlier in the decision, and a lot of installers never target them at all because they’re focused on the booking stage.

Checking Who’s Actually Ranking Above You

I run a proper competitor analysis against the businesses currently beating you in the map pack for your priority terms: what their profile looks like, how many reviews they have, what their website covers that yours doesn’t. This turns into a specific list of what to fix, not a vague sense that you should “do more SEO.”

Adjusting as Demand Shifts

Search demand for solar work is strongly seasonal, peaking in spring and early summer, while autumn and winter searches skew toward research and comparison rather than immediate booking. I keep an eye on this rather than setting a keyword list once and leaving it.

Turning Research Into Action

None of this is useful sitting in a spreadsheet. Every term identified feeds directly into your website content, your Google profile service list, and what gets prioritised first.

If you want to see the actual terms your potential customers are searching, and where you currently stand against the competition, I’ll send you a free Local Visibility Report.