Small businesses are the backbone of any community — from coast to coast, these locally owned and operated companies deliver products and services that are necessary to sustaining communities. Home services like lawn care, plumbing, electrical work and more, ensure that individuals, families, and other businesses can continue to function properly. The thought may not cross your mind, but your home service business is a pillar in your community.
But here’s the but… many home service businesses struggle with advertising, specifically local visibility. As a type of business that is geographically tied to a specific area and a set number of consumers, your advertising efforts leave little room for error.
You may think because you are advertising to a smaller target area and specific consumer base, that marketing would be easier, but in many cases, the opposite occurs. Local visibility is achieved through constant SEO efforts.
Standing out in a crowd of competitors is never easy, and when doing so in a local community, where word of mouth plays a big role in business success, having the right online marketing strategy is imperative.
Research has shown that at least once a month, close to 70 percent of people are looking for a local business online.
The demand is there, so how do you climb to the top of those Google result pages?
Customer Reviews Are Priceless
Google reviews do play a factor in local visibility and result ranking. Gaining positive reviews for your product/service, customer attention, and other business aspects help present a good image within your community.
Individuals without a doubt pay attention to Google reviews and weigh customer feedback when making buying decisions. If you can gather positive reviews from past customers, you’re already on the right track toward improving your local visibility.
Take Care of Google My Business
Creating and optimizing your Google My Business account might be the most important element in regards to your local visibility efforts. This page is often the first direct connection a consumer has with your business. Maintaining that all your relevant information is up-to-date and accurate, helps generate more local online traffic for your website.
Providing information such as business name, address, phone number, reviews, operational hours, website link, and services are all factors that Google My Business tracks and uses to display to potential consumers.
Local Content Leads the Way
SEO marketing leans on content marketing to help generate buzz surrounding a topic. “How to…” queries are one of the most searched phrases in the Google database. These types of searches intertwine directly with the home service industry, as many individuals initially try to fix or address items on their own.
Examples include:
“How to unclog a sink?”
“How to fix a faulty circuit breaker?”
“How to blow out a sprinkler system?”
Therefore, it is important to perform in-depth keyword research in order to uncover local keywords and queries. From there you should begin crafting original content around these topics. With a little optimization, soon this content will start ranking on the first couple pages for local searches and pull consumers into your online environment.
Devote Time to Social Media
We are living in the social media era, and while home services may not seem like the most interesting Instagram follow, their content can be some of the most engaging. Moz is an industry leader in SEO strategy and education, and they perfectly sum up the purpose social media content can play in regards to local visibility:
“Everything you publish should engage customers and expose them to your brand. Search engines not only measure content quality but also the way in which users interact with content, meaning the content you produce should result in high levels of user engagement.”
With social media also playing a critical role in how people get to know and trust a company, working to develop and grow your social media channels often turns out to be a good investment in brand awareness and lead nurturing. Oh… and don’t forget to include location tags in your posts!
Websites Should be Mobile-Friendly
According to Google, over half of all searches are now done via a mobile device. That means research and contacting is done through an iPhone or Andriod, a majority of the time. If your website is not coded to provide a positive user experience through a mobile device, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
A poor web experience is one of the fastest ways to send potential customers into the arms of your competitors. To have meaningful local traffic, your website needs to be dynamic and responsive to the changing needs of internet surfers.
Need Help with Local Visibility?
At Venta Marketing, we are helping businesses meet their goals head-on. As leaders in the digital marketing industry, we know the ins-and-outs of what makes up good local visibility advertising. Contact us if you are curious about how we can help you grow!