SEO Melbourne Podcast Feature.
Director Edward Clark sat down with SEO Melbourne’s Girish Sawlani to chat all things career journey, business and the importance of digital presence for businesses. Gallant Plumbing have been working closely with SEO Melbourne since early 2019, helping to increase our digital visibility and increase customer enquiries.
Give us a bit of a backstory about how Gallant came to be:
My background is not solely a trade background, more so a trade entrepreneur background. I studied a business degree at RMIT but always had this passion for learning how to build house within me. Finishing the business degree, I began studying carpentry and whilst doing so I saw plenty of opportunity but unfortunately also plenty of mediocrity. This led me to my first business in building inspection and pest control. It was whilst running this business that I discovered a gap in the market for maintenance plumbing, leading to the creation of Gallant Plumbing in 2015.
How did the brand Gallant Plumbing come about?
I purchased a business called Cashmore Plumbing in 2015 , which was founded by a man, John Cashmore, in the 1970’s. Having the word ‘Cash’ in the name, in my mind, doesn’t bode well for building trust with clients. Shortly after purchasing the business in 2015, we relocated and rebranded to Gallant Plumbing. Gallant represents everything we want to be as a business; bold, daring and courageous. Pushing the boundaries of what a trade business should be, but also being courteous, respectful and considerate. We wanted it to represent that we have the highest quality of care for our clients.
Why do you think a professional website is so important?
I really believe a website is comparable to a retail shop. The first few seconds are extremely important for engaging and capturing someone’s interest, determining if someone they stay, interact or purchase. Is the website clear, can they get the information they need quickly and do they trust us? Often when people search for plumbers, they have a plumbing issue they need solved ASAP, so websites are huge.
Was digital marketing how you always saw yourself promoting your business?
We have always been big on diversification. Having grown significantly going from a team of 3 to a team of 43 in the space of 5 years. We usually have 30-50 jobs a day, we have a strong existing client base but we need to keep building on our client base and digital marketing is key with how we target these new clients.
Having worked with you for close to a year now, do you feel like it has helped your business gain a more diverse audience?
It has absolutely helped! As the saying goes ‘you are who Google says you are’. If we are an expert in a certain niche of plumbing and people search for that plumbing, and we’re there, that’s priceless!
You mentioned that you have tried other SEO companies in the past and have been ‘burnt’. Where do you think it went wrong?
I know SEO is a pretty competitive space so people incorporate guarantees as part of their sales pitch. When they make these guarantees, to get the results companies sometimes cut corners and use ‘black hat SEO’ strategies to get results. I’ve had a couple of providers who gave guarantees but didn’t deliver so went rogue and damaged the website. These so called ‘black hat SEO’ techniques can have long term ramifications for the website which is really detrimental in the world of SEO.
We tend to refer to inquiring rate being the real success indicator for SEO. Do you believe this to be true?
It doesn’t matter about the ranking at the end of the day. Is the phone ringing, are there emails coming through? Can we convert those inquiries into sales? I don’t need to be ranked #1 in ‘Plumber Melbourne’, but rather can we improve our inquiry rate and how is the process in between transforming the inquiry into a client. Its a two pronged approach really. There’s no point getting all these inquiries if we can’t convert them to sales.
What does the future hold for Gallant Plumbing?
Within the last five years we’ve acquired seven businesses. A large component of our growth strategy is acquisition, so the next few years is around consolidation and ‘bullet proofing’ our business. For us, customers are core, so we will focus on making sure the service is great and l customers are happy.
Need a Plumber in Melbourne Now?
Want to experience the Gallant difference? Need a hot water plumber? Or do you have a gas leak? A blocked drain? Or a broken gas cooktop that needs fixing? Whatever the plumbing issue is and wherever you are in Melbourne, our friendly and expert plumbers at Gallant Plumbing are the best plumbers in Melbourne and are always happy to help. Contact our reliable plumbers for a quote today! Call 1300 830 956 today.
