Which Washing Machine Repair Service Providers Successfully Wash Away Their Competition?

At least a third of the Murray Dare team have had washing machine repairs in the last 6 months!

In fact, one of the team afflicted with washing machine woes fixed theirs following how-to videos on YouTube. However, it seems the rest of us were far too unskilled (or lazy!) to do that. So, we went straight to Google to seek professional help.

As always, our own searches often inspire us. So, we got curious about the number of searches for “washing machine repair”. We discovered that in November 2020, there were 16,000 searches in the UK for this keyword.

Initially, our analysis of the search intent behaviour of people searching for our target keyword uncovered the following FAQs:

• How much does it cost to repair a washing machine?
• Is it worth getting a washing machine repair?
• How can I fix my washing machine?
• Who do you call to fix a washer?
• How many years does a washing machine last?

Of course, we will get into the answers to those questions – and most importantly which websites are answering those questions – a bit later in this report.

But first, let’s get an overview of the competitive landscape and introduce our main organic competitors.

Here are the top 10 pages ranking for the keyword “washing machine repair” in the UK from weakest to strongest.

First Serve UK “is a professional domestic appliance repair company based in London and since 2002”

And website visitors clicking on the search result: firstserveuk.co.uk are sent to the website homepage.

Repair and Protect consider themselves “…the UK’s leading specialist warranty provider”. And “broken boilers and kitchen appliances…” are their speciality.

And website visitors clicking on the search result find themselves on a service landing page: repairandprotect.co.uk/appliances/washing-machine-repairs. It is designed to encourage people to book a “one-off repair” or purchase a “repair & care plan”.

0800 Repair “is one of the largest professional appliance repair companies in the UK.”

Website visitors that click on the search result are sent to a service landing page: 0800repair.com/appliance-repairs/washing-machine-repairs. This page features a “request a call back” call-to-action.

Overall, Repair Aid “is London’s first choice for the repair, maintenance and installation of commercial and domestic appliances.”

Website visitors that click through find themselves on a localised (London) service landing page: repairaid.co.uk/washing-machine-repairs.

The Spruce offers “practical, real-life tips and inspiration to help you make your best home.”

However, The Spruce is a blog and does not provide repair services.

And website visitors who click on this search result are sent to a blog post: thespruce.com/washing-machine-repair-guide-4154046. The post is entitled DIY 7-Step process for repairing a washing machine.

Checkatrade “is the most searched for website for finding tradespeople in the UK.”

While Checkatrade is a respected comparison website, it does not provide direct washing machine repair services.

And any website visitors that click on this search result are sent to a directory: checkatrade.com/Search/Washing%20Machine%20Repair/in/London. It lists 54 washing machine repair services in London.

Fantastic Services describes itself as the “one-stop-shop for 25+ professional home cleaning and maintenance services, provided within London and the UK. ”

However, we’ve come across Fantastic Services before in a website analysis of cleaning company, Go Cleaners. As such, we know that this company does not specialise solely in repair services.

Website visitors that choose to click on the search result are sent to a local service page for washing machine repair in London: fantasticservices.com/washing-machine-repair.

Site users that click on this search result find themselves on a landing page: nacrepair.co.uk/appliance-repairs/washing-machine-repair. This service landing page is one that sells “Nationwide Washing Machine Repair.

Glotech Repairs describes themselves as one of the “leading domestic appliance repair [companies] in the country”. They provide coverage across London and Hertfordshire. However, they also describe themselves as “perfectly placed to help every household.”

However, Glotech Repairs provide more than repair services.

When website visitors click on this 2nd position search result, they are sent to a landing page: glotechrepairs.co.uk/washing-machine-repairs.php. This service landing page is for locations “London & Nationwide”.

Domex UK are “award-winning appliance repair specialists in London”.

Website visitors who click on the number one search result are sent to a service landing page: domex-uk.co.uk/appliance-repairs/washing-machine-repairs. In particular, this page features several calls-to-actions to encourage visitors to book a repair.

What follows is a list of the top 10 pages ranking for the keyword “washing machine repair.” However, please note this was accurate at the time of writing – 19 November 2020:

1. Domex UK
2. Glotech Repairs
3. NAC Repair
4. Fantastic Services
5. Checkatrade
6. The Spruce
7. Repair Aid
8. 0800 Repair
9. Repair and Protect
10. First Serve UK

So, let’s take a closer look at these pages and see how they perform for the following:

• Traffic
• Keywords
• Backlinks
• Referring Domains

1. First place goes to NAC Repair (1,972 website visitors).
2. Second place goes to Chekatrade (1,963 website visitors).
3. Third place also goes to 0800 repair (1,761 website visitors).

1. Two first-place positions go to 0800 Repair (363 keywords)
2. Second place goes to Repair and Protect (181 keywords)
3. Third place also goes to First Serve UK (66 keywords)

1. First place goes to First Serve UK (9,181 backlinks. That's a lot of backlinks!)
2. Second place goes to The Spruce (589 backlinks)
3. Third place also goes to 0800 Repair (241 backlinks)

1. First place goes to First Serve UK (45 referring domains)
2. Second place goes to 0800 Repair (32 referring domains)
3. A very close third place goes to The Spruce (31 referring domains)

To conclude, most awards go to First Serve UK. Clearly, this was unexpected. As this repair service company is our 10th place competitor overall for the keyword “washing machine repair”.

At the start of this report, we looked at some frequently asked questions from searchers.

Then using alsoasked.com, we can get a map of questions broken into two categories:

– Commercial Intent Searches
– Informational Searches

Commercial Intent Searches use words and phrases linked to the buying process.

For example, someone that searches for “What are common problems with washing machines?” wants information.

Whereas, someone that searches “How much does it cost to repair a washing machine?” is very likely in need of an urgent repair.

As such, it is important that businesses that are serious about selling washing machine services create good content. Specifically, content that answers commercial intent questions.

So, how well do the top 10 competitors do when it comes to providing answers to these questions?

First, let’s pick a couple of example commercial intent questions:

• How much does it cost to repair a washing machine?
• How much does it cost to replace a drum in a washing machine?

First, we will open an incognito tab on Google. Then we will use Google Search to conduct a search for each question. Finally, we will see who we find in the top 3 search results.

Of course, we will look to see if any of the top 10 competitors show up.

If so, we’ll make a note. Because this means they are obviously doing something right. Specifically when it comes to helping people who are in the market for a washing machine repair specialist.

Ready?

Well done Checkatrade!

First organic search result goes to Checkatrade, our fifth position organic competitor.

And when we click through to the site, it takes us to their blog.

Overall, this page has just over 1100 words. But most importantly it features a call-to-action at the bottom: “Find a washing machine repair expert near me.”

However, this page only receives around 93 monthly visits.

Furthermore, it ranks for 28 keywords with the page’s top keyword being “washing machine repair cost”.

And, of those 28 keywords, just 4 of them rank in top 3 search positions:

As we can see, the bulk of the traffic to this page is attributed to the top keyword “washing machine repair cost”.

In fact, this top keyword brings 48% of the traffic to the page. And it seems 45 out of 93 website visitors use the search term.

Firstly, the featured snippet at the top of the results page is Homeadvisor.com. And the same Checkatrade blog post we saw previously is in second place.

Clearly, Homeadvisor.com is a direct competitor to Checkatrade.

The featured snippet link takes us to a section of a page entitled: “Average Cost of Washing Machine Repair”.

And the featured snippet is from a section with the heading: “Washing Machine Drum Bearings Replacement Cost”.

In conclusion, all the companies in the top 10 organic search positions that specialise in direct repair services need to reassess. In fact, they should take a leaf from the content strategies of comparison websites like Checkatrade and Homeadvisor.

Not only do the pages rank well for keywords – with a decent amount of search volume. But they also do a good job to convert their website visitors. For example, they provide multiple call-to-actions. Like this one found on the Homeadvisor page:

Alternatively, these call-to-actions on the Checkatrade blog post:

Next, let’s move on and analyse the domains of the top 10 competitors.

And it is worth pointing out that the data below was first analysed in November 2020.

Fantastic Services is the washing machine repair service provider with the highest domain rating of 62.

However, in the chart above (and the charts that follow) you will see that certain entries are greyed-out.

And this is because they do not specialise in washing machine repairs. For example, Checkatrade is a comparison website and The Spruce is a blog.

Yet again, Fantastic Services is the repair service provider that received the most overall search traffic. In fact, this equates to 48,766 website visits!

However, it was First Service UK (our 10th position competitor) that received the majority of its website traffic from our target keyword.

In fact, 42.3% of all its website traffic comes from this keyword.

On the whole, the majority of the direct service providers have top keywords. And each link directly to washing repair services.

Yet, Fantastic Services gets most of its traffic from searches of their brand name.

And, First Serve UK has the highest amount of overall traffic from its top keyword: “washing machine repair”.

Overall, Fantastic Services is the repair service provider with the highest number of keywords ranking in the top 3 search positions.

In fact, they have a whopping 23,668 keywords that rank in the top 3 search positions.

Once again, Fantastic Services comes out on top. Because it is the washing machine repair service provider with the highest number of backlinks (8,447).

However, First Serve UK has the highest percentage of dofollow backlinks (98.2%).

Finally, let’s analyse the content of the first five top washing machine repair service providers.

Note: the brackets show their ranking positions for the keyword “washing machine repair”:

1. domex-uk.co.uk (1)
2. glotechrepairs.co.uk (2)
3. nacrepair.co.uk (3)
4. fantasticservices.com (4)
5. repairaid.co.uk (7)

First, we’ll conduct a Content Gap Analysis.

To begin, we will pick a target website e.g. domex-uk.co.uk. Then, we’ll compare it against the remaining four websites in the list.

Of course this will allow us to see the keywords that more than one of the comparison websites rank for. But that our target website doesn’t.

Overall, there are 4,326 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks for in the top 10. But domex-uk.co.uk doesn’t rank anywhere in the top 100.

And, 1,703 (39%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100.

The keyword related to “washing machine repair” with the highest search volume is “washing machine repair near me” (8,900 monthly searches).

And the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is nacrepair.co.uk (1st).

Overall, there are 3,390 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10. But glotechrepairs.co.uk doesn’t rank anywhere in the top 100.

And, 1,347 (40%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100.

Furthermore, the keyword related to “washing machine repair” with the highest search volume is “washing machine not spinning” (2,900 monthly searches).

Finally, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is repairaid.co.uk (1st).

All in all, there are 4,376 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10. But glotechrepairs.co.uk fails to rank in the top 100 for.

And, 1,758 (40%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100.

The keyword related to “washing machine repair” with the highest search volume is “washing machine not draining” (3,500 monthly searches).

Finally, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is repairaid.co.uk (1st).

Overall, there are 1,958 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10. But fantasticservices.com doesn’t.

And, 733 (37%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100.

The keyword related to “washing machine repair” with the highest search volume is “washing machine not draining” (3,500 monthly searches).

Overall, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is repairaid.co.uk (1st).

Lastly, there are 3,340 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10, but glotechrepairs.co.uk doesn’t.

And, 1,318 (39%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100.

The keyword related to “washing machine repair” with the highest search volume is “washing machine repair near me” (8,900 monthly searches).

Overall, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is nacrepair.co.uk (1st).

*Only keywords with a search volume of more than 100

Overall, this means the organic competitor with the smallest content gap is fantasticservices.com.

Naturally, anyone looking to understand or break into washing machine repair service market may ask some (or all) of the following questions:

Overall, we think it would be super easy!

However, from a practical point of view, we estimate a newcomer would need backlinks from at least 8 high quality websites. Especially if they want to rank in the top 10 for this keyword. However, they would also need:

• A conversion-optimised website
• Regular and relevant search engine optimised content
• And, consistent focus on off-site optimisation

In fact, this effort would start to show after a year or so of consistent content marketing and SEO optimisation.

As such, if you were a washing machine repair business and ready to seriously invest in content marketing. Then you could topple these competitors with relative ease.

Of course, it would be easy to look at the top 10 competitors in this report and take it for granted that the most dominant player is Domex UK. Because they are the website sitting pretty in the top spot.

However, our top 10 is based on a specific keyword: “washing machine repair”.

For instance, check this out…

Clearly, it seems Repairaid.co.uk is the real main player to beat from an organic perspective. Because the website is full of keywords that contain the words “washing machine.”

In fact, just look at the number of keywords they have in the top 3 search positions. Specifically, those that contain “washing machine”…147!

In short, yes. Especially if the direct repair services study websites like Checkatrade and Homeadvisor.

Overall, the vast majority do not really appear to have a content marketing strategy in place.

For example, Repairaid.co.uk which ranks for 2,022 keywords only has 63 published blog posts since August 2017.

Whereas, Checkatrade.com has 1,643 blog posts.

Of course, not all those blog posts are about washing machines. But Checkatrade definitely understands the importance of regular content creation for their audience.

All in all, any company that changes their current approach. It’s all to play for!

1. Better content marketing: Especially content that focuses on answering questions about washing machines.
2. Focus on the audience: Companies should focus both the homepage and main landing page copy on the reader, rather than the business.
3. Increase backlinks: In particular, the number of dofollow backlinks from high domain authority sites.

Do you want us to answer another question or analyse a different industry? Then add a comment below and we will get back to you.

Of course, for many business owners, our advice in this competitor analysis might be a challenge. Especially those small businesses who lack the resources and time necessary to beat their competitors.

And that’s where a marketing consultancy – like ours – could help. Because we can help you to scale your business and drive growth through SEO and content. In addition, we’ll devise and implement winning strategies that work for your business.

As a result, we’ll help you to get noticed in the ever-saturated market. So that you can outperform your competitors and increase your website visibility.

Alternatively, why not contact us for an SEO competitor analysis report, tailored specifically for your business? Discover exactly what your competitors are up to. And then learn what actions to take to beat them in the search engine results.

If you found our report interesting or it gave you some inspiration. Then check out some of our previous reports. From cleaning services to legal firms, they span a cross- section of different industries and locations:

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• What Accountants in Manchester Need to Do to Beat Their Competition 
• What’s Cooking for Personal Chefs in the UK?
• Cambridge vs Oxford University: Who will win the SEO race?
• How Can Go Cleaners Overtake Competitors in London?

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