Top SEO Strategies for B2B Subcontractors to Win More Projects
Top SEO Strategies for B2B Subcontractors to Win More Commercial Projects
Are you the owner, a marketing manager or a marketing assistant within a growing construction company that is attempting to win more commercial projects, and what if I was to say that this is achievable without relying on word of mouth referrals or submitting tender bids on crowded tender portals?
If you fit one of the profiles above then this article is perfect for you as it breaks down the core foundations of your marketing, Content and SEO strategy into clear, actionable steps which you can then implement directly on your website which will help your business to win more commercial projects while boosting profitability, strengthening your authority and driving sustainable long-term business growth.
- Overall Marketing Strategy
- Content Strategy
- SEO Strategy
Identify Your Overall Marketing Strategy
Before diving into tactics, it’s crucial to align your SEO and content strategy with your overall business direction. This means identifying your overall marketing strategy which includes getting clear on the services you want to carry out, the types of projects you aim to win, the locations you want to target, and most importantly, the clients you want to serve.
These clear answers will be used as the foundation of your SEO strategy which will contribute towards attracting your desired customers and helping your business to move in the right direction.
WHAT Services Do You Want To Promote?
Your “what” is your main service offerings X the value your clients will receive from purchasing your services”. Before you answer this question its essential that you narrow your focus to understand the services that you want to expand on while intentionally cutting out those you no longer wish to offer. Streamlining your service offering will help you to sharpen your messaging, attract the right clients, and align your SEO strategy with your long-term business goals.
For example, if you’re a building company that handles both domestic and commercial projects, you might decide to shift focus toward securing larger commercial contracts. On the other hand you may decide that you choose to stop offering domestic building work altogether. This would subsequently allow you to focus your SEO and content strategy on attracting the types of clients that align with your long-term business goals.
The value that you may provide is that you are always able to deliver the project on time and on budget.
In this case your “what” would be “we provide commercial building work that can be completed on time and on budget”.
Understand WHO Your Ideal Target Customer Is
After narrowing down the services you want to expand on, it’s essential to clearly define your ideal customer. This will guide both your content and overall SEO strategy. To effectively grow your chosen service areas, you need to identify who has the greatest need for them. For instance, if you’re targeting larger commercial projects, your key audience might be main contractors or architects who are responsible for purchasing your service and overseeing complex builds.
The more specific you are, the more effective your efforts will be in attracting your ideal customers.
Where Do You Want To Operate?
Knowing and then stating throughout your content later on the locations that you wish to carry out your service offering is essential to acquiring the correct customer.
For example, if your building company is based in Essex but aims to serve clients in Essex, London, and Kent, its important to establish this as it will later allow you to clearly state this throughout your content. It further help to attract the right prospects while filtering out enquiries from outside your service area, saving time for both you and potential clients.
WHY Should Your Customers Choose You?
Your “why” should be a statement which contains proof behind why clients should trust you over anyone else and it will become one of the most powerful parts of your messaging. It could be your specialist track record on complex commercial builds, rare accreditations that few others hold, working with partners or just by being consistent, reliable and easy to work with. Whatever it is you must be able to back it up with imagery, certification or data, and company logos. Ways in which you could evidence this include, “for the past five years, we’ve been Morgan Sindall’s trusted partner for all commercial roofing projects,” “We’re one of the few UK engineers certified to deliver Secured by Design security door solutions”.
HOW You Will Achieve This?
Your “How” is the method you use to help your ideal client achieve their desired outcome. For example, your commercial building company might help main contractors to complete commercial projects on time and on budget through implementing transparent and clear communication strategies from pre-project planning through to final completion.
Understand Your Sales Process
One of the biggest mistakes made in marketing is creating a marketing system or strategy that doesn’t align with the sales process. Fully understanding your sales process allows you to tailor your marketing funnel to feed straight into your sales team’s funnel and process so that they have the highest chance of succeeding at converting the prospect into a customer. To understand your sales process you must understand the following,
Chain Of Thought Leadership
Even though a single role like a procurement manager or an architect may sign off on the final purchase decision, the buying process in commercial construction often involves multiple stakeholders. For instance, a procurement assistant might begin by searching for “commercial roofing companies in London” before shortlisting three reputable firms. A technician may then assess the technical specifications of those options, narrowing the list to two based on suitability and performance. Finally an architect could then make the final choice based on factors like trust, track record, company values, and overall credibility.
Decision Makers’ Preferred Contact Method
Different sectors within the construction industry have different communication preferences. While some prospects may be happy to fill out a website form, others might prefer to send an email or schedule a Zoom call. If your website fails to offer the wrong communication type, viewers may not convert and become prospects and potential customers.
How Your Sales Team Will Contact The Prospect
Once you understand how prospects prefer to contact you, the next step is to understand how your sales team respond. For instance, if a commercial building prospect submits a website form, your team might follow up with a phone call or send tailored information related to their enquiry. Aligning your response method with the customer’s expectations helps build trust quickly and increases the chances of converting the lead into a project.
Whats Your Offer?
Creating a compelling offer can increase the likelihood that readers enquire and become prospects. Each business has its unique offering however you want to choose one that resonates with your service offering that the sales team can also fulfil. The offer should be of something like “contact us today for your free building survey report” or “Enquire from our experts today”
Plan Your Primary Call To Action
Your primary Call To Action should be your offer X how your sales team will respond to the prospect. The way in which your CTA is displayed will be your decision makers’ preferred communication method.
For example if a roofing company offered a free project assessment and the sales team responded to an enquiry by calling the prospect, the call to action would be “request your free roofing assessment and our roofing specialists will call you within 24 hours to schedule your on-site visit”. (CTA as a website form submission)
Another primary CTA could be “email our sales team and our team will respond within 24 hours to discuss your needs further” This CTA would be in the form of a clickable button on the website. This CTA would suit viewers who prefer to enquire through email.
Strategise Your Secondary Calls To Action
Your secondary calls to action should be alternative ways for viewers to contact you as well as those who aren’t quite ready to become customers who may have enquiries first.
Examples of a secondary CTA could be buttons that contains. “Email Us” or “Give Us A Call” or “Speak To Our Experts Today”.
Now You Have Identified The Foundation of Your Marketing Strategy, What Next?
You have now created the foundation of your overall marketing, SEO and content strategy which includes identifying your desired service offerings, who you want to serve, what your value proposition is and how you want potential customers to contact you through creating your CTA. The next step is to create your content strategy which contains 15 actionable steps below,
1. Understand The Communication Styles, Pain Points And Goals Of Each Position Throughout Thought LeadershipIf you’re a steel door supplier who sells to architects and construction companies, your website may be reviewed by multiple roles such as a procurement team member, a senior engineer, and an architect before the final decision is made.
Each role therefore needs different information. The procurement officer may look for credibility and confirmation that your company serves their location, which should be clearly shown on your homepage. The engineer may focus on technical specifications, requiring dedicated product spec pages or downloadable data sheets. Finally, the architect will want proof of relevant experience, on-time delivery, and clear communication which is best shown through strong case studies, accreditations, and social proof.
2. Optimise The Hero Section Of Your Home Page
Decide the layout structure of your hero section, either have an image for the background over which your written content will go over, or you will have a plain background with an image on one side and your content on the other, similar to mine above.
Create your title which contains your WHO X WHAT X HOW. An example of a way to write this is I help commercial construction companies to win more commercial projects through implementing targeted SEO strategies. Also make sure to flag your title tag as a H1 which involves highlighting the text and clicking H1 in the header options if on Squarespace or Wix, and clicking on the title element and selecting h1 if on WordPress.
Your tagline underneath your title should state your WHY X WHAT X CTA. An example could be “due to being the only ISO 19650 Compliant company in the South-East, we have helped 4 of the leading main contractors in the region to complete their commercial builds on time and on budget through our bespoke commercial roofing design and installation solutions. Contact us to schedule a free consultation today”
Include your call to action in a button and add it under your tagline. For example, the CTA on my website is Request Your Free SEO Consultation.
3. Logically Structure Your Home Page
Fully structuring your home page to include the relevant information while offering content to all viewers is extremely important. Structuring your home page below will allow you to achieve this,
- Hero Section Above
- Which customers you serve and their pain points
- What you do to solve their pain points
- Value you provide to your customers
- Testimonials/social proof
- Different service offerings
- Success stories
- Social responsibility
- Networks you’re part of
- How you work
- Primary Call to Action
- Frequently asked questions handling objections
- Primary CTA+Secondary CTA
- Links to articles and supporting content
- Website footer
4. Create SEO-Optimised Service Pages
Each one of your product and service pages deserves its own detailed, keyword-rich page. For example a solar panel company should create individual pages for regular solar panel installations, flat roof, ground mounted, summer house, integrated solar panel installations and commercial solar panel installations.
The start of the page should be created in the same way as a home page which includes creating the structure of the hero section in the form of title-tagline-call to action button. The rest of the page should be structured below,
- Hero Section
- Pain Points
- How You Solve The Problem
- Written Testimonials And Social Proof (award badges or industry certifications)
- Benefits Of Your Solution + Long Term Outcome
- Brief Information On Case Studies + Link To The Page
- How You Work (Schedule your free consultation and our certified experts will advise you on the best solutions to solve your needs)
- Form or CTA Button
- Frequently Asked Questions which also contain any objections
- Images of industry certifications or membership organisations
- Website Footer
Make sure to include the name of the service throughout the headings in the page and throughout the content. Also make sure to include your call to action throughout the page as well as other contact methods such as “contact us” or “call us today”.
5. Create Engaging Success Stories
Success stories are the most powerful form of marketing as they clearly tell the story of how your product and service solved a problem for your ideal customers. An example of how success stories should be structured is listed below,
- Headline (Catchy and data-driven, we provided a commercial office fit-out 2X faster than our client’s previous subcontractor)
- Introduction (purpose of the case study – who it is for and what you want them to know, e.g the purpose of this case study is to show architects how our bespoke steel doors have reduced break-ins by 30%)
- About your client and their project requirements
- Initial consultation to understand their pain points, needs and what a desired outcome looks like
- The solution you recommended
- How you planned and executed your service offering
- The end outcome, ROI, benefits and takeaway for your clients
- Call to action that relates to the success story (are you looking to have your roofing project completed on time like X client, if so, request your free assessment below (website form)
6. Supply Technical Information on Service Pages or Data Sheets
In B2B construction, your website will be viewed by multiple decision-makers, each with different priorities and goals. For instance, a procurement manager might focus on pricing, your company’s communication style, and overall credibility. Meanwhile, a technical engineer is likely to assess whether your company can meet specific technical requirements. That’s why it’s essential to present content that addresses the needs of both audiences.
While your service pages should be clear and valuable for all roles, technical teams may require detailed specifications such as product dimensions, materials used, performance ratings, durability factors, and temperature resistance. Including this information ensures you build trust and provide the clarity needed to move projects forward efficiently.
Including this information directly on your service pages works well, but providing downloadable data sheets adds an extra layer of professionalism. Data sheets make it easy for potential clients to save, share, or print the specifications, giving them a convenient, accessible way to reference your technical capabilities offline.
7. Create supporting content that targets different stages of the marketing funnel
Viewers who come across your website will be at different stages of the marketing funnel. The top of the funnel is problem-unaware, which means that viewers may not know they have a problem. Content that may help them identify whether or not they have a problem could include “5 signs your commercial building has roof damage” The middle of the funnel is the comparative stage, which occurs when viewers have a problem however they need to compare which solutions are the best moving forward. An example of an article for this could include “What do you do if your commercial plumbing system is failing – 7 steps”.
The bottom of the funnel consists of viewers who know they have a problem, know roughly what solution they need and are ready to purchase/make an enquiry. Content to create to satisfy this stage of the user journey could include creating success stories or articles which address working with a business like yours, with examples being “6 benefits of working with expert commercial plumbers”
8. Create A Contact Us Page
Your contact page should include a submission form, direct contact details such as your company’s email and phone number, address and Google map location and your operating hours. It should also include testimonials, social proof and links to case studies. Including an FAQ in order to handle any objections which could prevent your customers from contacting you is also essential
9. Add An About Us Page
The purpose of your “about” or “about us” page is to help your potential customers to personally connect with the people in your business, your ethos and brand while showcasing a little bit about your history and where you are now. The structure that it should follow is below,
- About Us Title
- Paragraph about your business, what you do and why you are authoritative
- Mission, vision and values statement
- Meet The Team section, with images of your staff(helps to build trust and relatability)
- Your company history
- Why your customer should work with you
- Testimonials and case studies
- How You Work
- Call To Action (form or contact link/button)
- Link to case studies
- FAQ section
10. Terms of service
Terms of service pages help to build trust with Google and viewers who view your website. Either create one with your company’s specific terms of service or copy the prompt below into ChatGPT and copy it onto a new page and title it terms of service,
INSERT – Read my website (INSERT HYPERLINK), we are an X company that offers X in X location, write me a terms of service page.
11. Privacy Policy Page
Privacy policy pages have the same effect as terms of service pages. Insert the prompt below into ChatGPT and copy the answer onto a new page which is called Privacy Policy,
Read my website (INSERT HYPERLINK), we are an X Company that serves X in X location, write me a privacy policy page
12. Accreditation Page
Accreditation pages are a powerful asset for B2B construction SEO because they build trust with both search engines and potential clients. Including recognised certifications like CHAS, ISO, or Constructionline Gold not only reinforces credibility but also allows you to target long-tail keywords that decision-makers actively search for, such as “CHAS-accredited contractor in London.” These pages signal authority to Google, improve relevance for compliance-focused queries, and increase the likelihood of being shortlisted by procurement teams who value verified quality and safety standards.
13. Environmental Statement
Since the Environmental Act of 2021 and Public Procurement Notice 06/21, both private and Government-backed projects have required that subcontractors showcase their commitments to using environmentally friendly supply chains. “This refers to efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions from the built environment, which accounts for 25% of the UK’s total carbon footprint.” An environmental statement page shows that you’re serious about sustainability which can help you to win projects.
14. Social Responsibility
A social responsibility page shows that your business values more than just profit. Highlighting efforts like local hiring, apprenticeships, or community support builds trust with main contractors and public clients, enhances your reputation, and gives your business a competitive edge.
15. Health And Safety Policy Pages
A Health & Safety Policy page demonstrates your commitment to safe working practices—something main contractors and procurement teams take seriously. It reassures potential clients that you follow regulations like CDM 2015, invest in training, and prioritise site safety, making you a lower-risk and more reliable subcontractor.
Use Correct Call To Actions Throughout Your Content
Multiple Options For The Top Of The Funnel
Not everyone engaging with your content is ready to buy straight away. Often, someone lower down the decision-making chain, who may not have deep technical knowledge, is tasked with shortlisting or ruling out suppliers. A top-of-funnel article like “5 Hidden Plumbing Issues That Could Be Costing Your Commercial Building Thousands” primarily attracts readers who are looking to understand warning signs in their systems. If they recognise any of those issues, they will naturally want to move further down the funnel and view a comparative article. To satisfy this, the CTA on this TOTF article would be viewed as a middle of the funnel article, such as “What To Do If You’re Seeing Signs of Plumbing Problems in Your Commercial Building”, which offers helpful actions like DIY tips or contacting your team.
Combined Options For The Middle Of The Funnel
In this middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) article, some readers might consider handling minor plumbing issues themselves, but many solutions will clearly require professional expertise due to the complexity involved. That’s why a strong CTA like “Contact Our Experts Today!” is essential. For those who are interested but need more reassurance, a secondary CTA could direct them to case studies showcasing how you’ve successfully helped other commercial clients, helping to build trust and encourage conversion.
Bottom Of The Funnel Content And Success Stories
The bottom of the funnel content should contain calls to action which tissues into enquiring about yoru services and becoming a prospect. These could include “request your free project assessment”, “contact us for your free quote” or “request your free project plan”.
Use High Quality Visual Content
High-quality visual content never goes a miss! Professional photography and videography always engage viewers and can help to build trust and credibility. Google can also detect AI images and stock photography, which is why authentic real-life photography and video graphy also helps to build trust with Google, subsequently helping SEO Rankings.
Analyse Your Competitors
Analysing your competitors can allow you to understand what types of content they are creating, which types of customers they are targeting and how they are displaying their content as well as their tone, layout, and positioning. From understanding this you can evaluate some of the things that you like about their content, don’t like, and areas of content that they are not doing which give you the opportunity to create unique content.
Now Onto The SEO!
Many of your potential customers will be searching for terms on Google that relate to your product and service offering however its hard to fully understand the search data which include the competitiveness, monthly search volume and advertising cust without using paid tools like Semrush or A Hrefs. Using Google keyword planner can work however its not as effective as the paid tools.
Increase The Chances Of Being Found
To maximise the chances that your website pages are found, choose a keyword for each page. The keyword should just be a term that you think your customers would search for if they wanted to find each service. A keyword could be “commercial plumbing company”. Most of the time your home page should target your generic service offering like “commercial building company”, with your service pages targeting commercial new builds, commercial renovations and office refurbishment.
Implement Data in Content
Many procurement managers and decision makers within the construction industry operate and make decisions based on data. Including data throughout your service pages, specification sheets and information as well as throughout your case studies helps your potential customers to imagine what it’s like to work with you as well as you taking part in their projects.
For example if you are talking about your previous projects, adding information about your timelines, industry statistics and how your services and products solve those problems can significantly increase the chances that potential customers enquire for your services and become customers.
Ensure Good User Experience
When you create content, make sure the design of your pages, case studies and articles is neat, clear and engaging. If your website design is messy or the content is too close together you risk potential customers clicking off of your website due to the lack of good user experience which Google can also detect and will penalise your website for, potentially harming SEO Rankings.
Create Internal Links
Creating internal links is when you add buttons or clickable hyperlinks in text to other pages throughout your website. This provides good user experience offerings as it gives your users the chance to read through other pages which they may find valuable. To implement external links in your website, fully understand all of the high-quality available content that you have on your website, go to the service pages, articles and case studies and read through the content and add links to the high-quality pages that you think will be of benefit to any readers as long as you feel that them reading the linked to page will benefit them.
Acquire Social Proof and Showcase It
Social proof is extremely important when building trust with your readers. This is because readers want validation that you are credible and trustworthy. There are multiple ways in which you can gain social proof for your company.
1.Get Written Testimonials
Getting reviews onto your Google Business Profile, LinkedIn or even written testimonials through email allows you to showcase your client’s positive feedback about working with you and your service.
2. Enter Awards
Entering industry awards provides powerful social proof for B2B construction subcontractors by showcasing third-party recognition of their quality, reliability, and expertise. Awards help build trust with potential clients by validating your work against industry standards, while also differentiating your business from competitors. They create valuable marketing and PR opportunities boosting your brand credibility across your website, proposals, and social media. For main contractors and procurement teams, award recognition signals that you’re a proven, professional, and trustworthy partner worth working with.
Industry partnerships strengthen the credibility of B2B construction subcontractors by demonstrating alignment with trusted organisations, suppliers, or associations. Being affiliated with well-known industry bodies or collaborating with reputable brands signals professionalism and reliability to potential clients. These partnerships also show that your business is well-integrated within the industry’s ecosystem, making you a lower-risk, higher-value supplier. Highlighting these relationships on your website reinforces trust, enhances authority, and positions your business as a connected and forward-thinking subcontractor. (Also don’t forget to add your partners’ logos!)
Showcase Industry Regulations
Especially relevant in construction. Prove compliance with:
- CDM Regulations
- HSE Safety Standards
- ISO Certifications
- GDPR (for marketing agencies)
Mention these in service pages and trust pages to show you’re a qualified company.
What Next?
Feel free to use the insights from this guide to improve your construction business website. If you have any questions or would like support, feel free to get in touch. If you would like to understand in detail how I could help you get more clients for your business, request your free SEO consultation below.
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Contact via the details below or fill in the form to request your free SEO consultation.
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Hi there, I’m Archie Begley, the proud owner of Construct & Growth. I am passionate about helping growing construction companies to acquire more customers and achieve long term business growth. If you have any questions regarding SEO for your business, feel free to reach out or schedule your free SEO consultation.
Hi there, I’m Archie Begley, the proud owner of Construct & Growth. I am passionate about helping growing construction companies to acquire more customers and achieve long term business growth. If you have any questions regarding SEO for your business, feel free to reach out or schedule your free SEO consultation.