Construction Keywords: A Complete List & How to Use Them

Download a free list of keywords for the construction industry to boost your local SEO. Perfect for general contractors, builders, installers, and more.
Learn how to use this list to get more online visibility and grow your revenue.

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Overview of This Keyword List

Do you ever go to Google and search for your company—or, let’s be honest, your competitors—to see how you’re stacking up?

It can be frustrating to realize you’re not even on the first page of Google. What’s the point of having a website to attract customers if they don’t even know you’re out there?

That’s where SEO keywords come in. Keywords reflect the searches that your potential customers are already making—queries like “general contractor near me” or “handyman near me.” Including these keywords on your website makes it easy for Google to realize your services are relevant to the people searching for them.

But there’s another way to drive traffic to your website, and that’s local SEO.

You’ve probably also seen something like this high on the first page of your search results, even before you get to the search results themselves:

The screenshot above shows a search for “general contractor” and a list of three local businesses plus a map of their locations right at the top of the search results.

This section of the search engine results pages (SERPs) shows construction companies local to your audience. These businesses show up on this list because they contain keywords from the list on this page. Google then presents them to your audience as a strong fit for their search.

Next thing you know, your potential customers are clicking on your competitors instead of you.

But you can rise to the top of the search results too. Most of the keywords in our list will show this local pack if you search them in Google. The stronger your website, the better chance you have of ranking and claiming a coveted local pack spot.

These keywords are the lifeblood of your construction business if you offer any of the following services:

• New residential construction
• Pool construction
• Basement construction
• Home design and remodeling
• Post-construction cleanup
• Steel buildings
• Commercial construction

Of course, there are more services than these that you could offer. But our keyword list shows that people generally want to find someone to work on their home and how much it will cost. Answer those questions with your web content, and you’re well on your way to success.

Your Complete Keyword List

Fill out the form at the bottom of this page to access and download our complete list of construction company keywords.

Curious how we got this list? Here are the exact steps we took:

1. Conduct initial keyword research in SEMrush and export the results.
2. Organize the keywords into groups by similarity.
3. Match the keyword groups with service categories for a top-ranking construction company.
4. Group all the keywords to see the total average monthly search volume in the United States. This is how our Google Sheet is organized.

What To Do With These Keywords

Every time a human searches in a search engine, whether that’s Google, Bing, or even ChatGPT, they have a specific intention. Each one of these keywords should be viewed from that perspective.

People usually search with one of four main intentions:

• Informational: Looking for answers, explanations, or general information. These are your “who, what, where, when, how, why” questions.

• Navigational: Searching for a specific website or brand. The user already knows where they want to go, but they may not know the URL.

• Transactional: Intending to complete an action, like making a purchase or hiring a service.

• Commercial investigation: Researching options before making a decision.

If you want to get in front of the person searching for any of the keywords or phrases in our list, then your website has to contain content that best matches their intention.

Create Dedicated Service Pages

At Avalanche, the biggest mistake we see service providers make is not having strong, specific service pages.

Let’s think about the search intentions again. Every time someone searches for, say, “bathroom remodel,” Google’s algorithms need to find a trusted local provider that actually offers bathroom remodeling. It asks two questions about your website:

1. Do you offer bathroom remodeling?
2. Are you a trusted bathroom remodeler?

You can answer the first question with a dedicated page about your bathroom remodeling services. You don’t want to have an “Our Services” page that lists everything you can do. A dedicated page for each service lets you speak more in-depth about each one and the experience the customer can expect.

Google won’t want to send someone to a website that doesn’t have much information about bathroom remodels. They want to make sure you answer your customers’ frequently asked questions, that you have photos of your past work, and that you provide proof that you do, in fact, remodel bathrooms.

Second, you need to be trusted. Online, you can build trust through many ways, including reviews and backlinks (links from other websites to your site). If your site doesn’t showcase reviews and testimonials, or if you don’t have somewhere to collect reviews like a Google Business Profile, Google may very well ignore your website.

All this is part of building a lead-generating website for your construction company. That’s why we built this step-by-step guide to teach you what you need to know.

Practice Search Empathy

A wide variety of content serving different search intents shows your company has empathy for the potential customers searching for the services you offer.

Once again, let’s revisit the search intentions. What does it really mean to create empathy-driven content? Let’s break it down.

• Informational keywords are best served by blog posts, FAQs, educational guides, or how-to articles. Your website content should be clear and concise and answer the question the user is asking.

• Navigational keywords benefit from strong branding, clear navigation on your website, and optimized meta titles to help Google direct users to you.

• Transactional keywords are well matched by product or service pages, pricing information, engaging calls to action (CTAs), and persuasive copy.

• Commercial investigation keywords need comparison pages, case studies, reviews, and testimonials.

Your website will show search empathy when you write its content with the user in mind. Think about what you would want to see if you were a customer. You’d probably want to know whether this business can actually answer your questions or meet your needs, right? Spend more time talking about what your customer stands to gain than what you can do.

Keep Your Google Business Profile Updated

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is free real estate on the SERPs. It showcases your business’s contact information, hours, location, and customer reviews.

Since your GBP will show up on the right side of the screen if someone searches for your business name, it’s important to keep it up to date.

• Check your contact info and hours of operation.
• Make sure the profile has updated photos of your business if you have a physical location.
• Use the Updates feature to share brief posts about your business, services, specials, or announcements. It’s like a miniature social media feed.
• Respond to customer reviews, whether positive or negative, to show you’re active.

An updated GBP gets your business’s most critical information in front of your customers before they even set foot on your website.

Get Started with These Keywords

More Marketing Education for Construction Companies

Looking for more about how to create a great website for your construction company? We’ve got you covered.

Not interested in tackling it yourself? Check out our SEO services and how we can help.

Lance Beaudry

Lance doesn't have time for the spacesinhissentences. He's always going, curious, and extremely competitive (mostly with himself). He loves to investigate a website to identify opportunities for more traffic and conversions. Spend a little time with him and he'll give you a treasure chest full of website marketing ideas to help you get more results. More from Lance →