IS BLOGGING WORTH IT FOR PLUMBERS? (YES, BUT NOT HOW YOU THINK)

"Nobody wants to read a blog about plumbing."

I hear this from plumbers all the time. And honestly? They're half right.

Nobody's reading your plumbing blog for fun. Nobody's curling up on the couch with a glass of wine thinking "I wonder what Mike's Plumbing has to say this week."

That's not the point.

The point is Google.

Every blog post you publish is a new page on your website. A new page that can rank for a new keyword. A new page that brings in a new potential customer.

And that's where the money is.

How Blogging Actually Gets You Customers

Let me show you how this works with a real example.

Let's say you write a blog post titled "How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Water Heater in Dallas?"

That post targets a real keyword that real homeowners search for. Every month, hundreds of people in Dallas Google some version of that question.

If your blog post ranks for it, those people find YOUR website. They read YOUR helpful answer. They see YOUR phone number.

And some of them call you.

Not because they were looking for a blog. Because they were looking for an answer. And your blog happened to have it.

That's the game. Answer the questions your customers are already asking.

You're not writing for literature awards. You're writing for Google.

sorry, Pulitzer committee

The Numbers Don't Lie

Here's what we've seen with plumbing businesses that blog consistently:

1. 2x to 3x more website traffic within 6 months
2. More long-tail keyword rankings (the specific searches that turn into calls)
3. 15 to 30% increase in organic leads compared to sites with no blog
4. Better Google rankings overall (Google rewards websites that publish fresh content)

One of our clients in Phoenix started posting 2 blog articles a month. Within 4 months, their organic traffic went from 200 visits/month to 600 visits/month. And their phone calls from the website doubled.

From blogging. About plumbing.

What to Blog About (It's Easier Than You Think)

You don't need to be creative. You don't need to come up with groundbreaking topics. You just need to answer the questions your customers already ask you.

Think about the last 10 phone calls you got. What did people ask?

1. "How much does [service] cost?"
2. "Do I need to replace or repair [thing]?"
3. "Why is my [thing] doing [weird thing]?"
4. "How do I fix [problem]?"
5. "What should I look for in a [service provider]?"

Each of those questions is a blog post. And each blog post is a page that can rank on Google.

Here are some easy starters:

1. "5 Signs Your Water Heater Is About to Die"
2. "How Much Does Drain Cleaning Cost in [Your City]?"
3. "Why Is My Toilet Running? (And How to Fix It)"
4. "Tankless vs. Tank Water Heater: Which Is Right for You?"
5. "What to Do When Your Pipes Freeze"

None of these are hard to write. You already know the answers. You've explained this stuff to customers a thousand times. Now just write it down.

How Often Should You Blog?

Here's the honest answer: as often as you can do consistently. We break down the ideal blogging frequency in another post.

Twice a month is the sweet spot for most plumbing businesses. That's 24 posts a year. Enough to build real traffic without feeling like a full-time job.

Once a month works too. It's slower, but it still compounds over time.

What doesn't work? Writing 5 posts in January and then nothing until October. Consistency matters more than volume.

How Long Should Blog Posts Be?

500 to 1,000 words is the sweet spot for most plumbing topics.

Some topics (comprehensive guides, cost breakdowns) might need 1,000 to 1,500 words. But most can be covered thoroughly in 500 to 800 words.

Don't pad your posts with fluff to hit a word count. Answer the question. Be helpful. Get to the point.

Google rewards quality and completeness, not word count. Their SEO Starter Guide confirms this.

The SEO Part (Keep It Simple)

You don't need to be an SEO expert. Just follow these basics:

1. Put your target keyword in the title. "How Much Does Drain Cleaning Cost in Austin" is the title. "Drain cleaning cost Austin" is the keyword. Simple.

2. Mention your city. Local businesses need local keywords. Mention your city, service area, or neighborhoods naturally throughout the post.

3. Use headings (H2, H3). Break your post into sections with clear headings. It makes the post easier to read AND helps Google understand the structure.

4. Add a call to action. End every post with "need help with this? Call us" or "get a free quote." Don't let them read and leave. Give them a next step.

5. Link to your service pages. If your blog post is about water heaters, link to your water heater service page. Internal links help Google and help visitors find what they need.

But I'm Not a Writer

Neither are most plumbers. And that's okay.

You have three options:

Option 1: Write it yourself. Open your phone's voice memo app. Talk through the topic like you're explaining it to a customer. Transcribe it. Clean it up. Publish it.

It doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to be helpful and human.

Option 2: Have someone write it for you. Content writers, marketing agencies, or your web company can write posts for you. Give them the topics and the basic info. Let them handle the writing.

Option 3: Use AI as a starting point. Tools like ChatGPT can give you a rough draft (we cover which AI tools are worth using in detail). But don't just copy-paste. Add your own experience, local knowledge, and personality. Google (and readers) can tell when content is generic AI slop.

The Compound Effect

Here's the beautiful thing about blogging. It compounds.

Post #1 gets you 20 visits a month. Post #10 gets you 200 visits a month (combined). Post #24 gets you 500+ visits a month (combined).

And those posts keep working. Forever. A blog post you wrote 2 years ago can still bring in traffic today.

Unlike paid ads (where you stop paying and the traffic stops), blog content is an asset that grows in value over time.

Write once. Benefit forever.

That's the deal.

Is It Worth It?

Let me put it this way.

Two blog posts a month. Each takes about an hour to write (or $50 to $100 to outsource).

After 6 months, you've got 12 posts. Those posts are generating 200 to 500 additional website visitors per month. 5 to 15 of those visitors become calls. Each call is worth $300+ on average.

That's $1,500 to $4,500 in monthly revenue from content that costs you a few hours or a few hundred bucks.

Yeah. It's worth it.

Want a Website That's Blog-Ready?

We build plumbing websites with built-in blog functionality. SEO-optimized, fast-loading, and designed to turn blog readers into customers.

Get your free website audit and we'll show you exactly what blog content your competitors are ranking for (and how to beat them).

See our pricing or hear from other plumbers.

P.S. Your competitors are either already blogging or they're about to start. The first plumber in your market to build a library of helpful content wins the SEO game. Don't wait until you're playing catch-up. Start now.