If you’re a field service contractor, you know that your line of work is competitive. Competitors want the same customers you do, and it can be a challenge to make sure that those potential customers know your company exists in the first place.
What’s a hard worker like you to do?
You’ve probably heard about the buzzworthy acronym SEO before, and if not, that’s okay. You might have even looked into it, but bailed out when the going got rough. That’s okay too, but, I’m here to tell you it’s time to get back on the horse and push your business further into the digital age. You’re already using CompanyCam, you’re ready for this.
What is SEO all About?
SEO, short for search-engine optimization, is the main digital marketing channel for companies all around the world. When you search for a pair of red cowboy boots on Google, the site you click on wasn’t placed there magically. Google wants to help The Red Cowboy Boot Company make a sale, and their algorithm puts the best looking boots at the top (to help you, too).
What this means for an honest contractor like yourself is there are new ways you need to be competing for business. It also means there are a whole new set of rules you have to follow to increase your ROI. Shall we get started?
If you haven’t taken the leap yet, here are 5 insanely good reasons you should consider SEO to be a part of your marketing efforts.
1. All of Your Potential Customers are Online
If I had to give you only one reason to consider SEO for your roofing business, landscaping company, or whatever industry you’re in, it would be this piece of advice right here. You already know your customers are online. Heck, you yourself are online more than 20 hours a week.
The worst thing you can do for your business is not let it get the attention it deserves. Odds are, your competitors have set up a Google Business page, a website with quality and original content, and a solution for garnering more customer reviews (because they do impact your business).
I can’t stress the importance of having space on the Internet. 85% of customers use the web to find local service providers, so if you want to reach them, that’s where you need to focus your marketing efforts.
2. SEO is not Just for Retail
You’ve probably been told that SEO isn’t necessary for your service-based company, but that’s simply not true. SEO is an extremely useful tool for both retail and service industry businesses.
You already have a site, but it could be better. Great SEO includes page speed, which keeps visitors from leaving, and quality content, which helps make you an authority figure in your industry. Improving these two things means setting up a blog, directing website visitors with simple navigation, and making sure any pictures you use aren’t 5 million pixels wide (no seriously, try and stick to 1200px).
Perfecting — or starting — a blog, including inbound and outbound links, and resizing images will have you skyrocketing toward the top of Google’s search results in your city and industry.
3. 50% of all Mobile Searches are for Local Results
If you’re in Wala Wala, Washington and you own a roofing company, there is nothing more important than being listed at the top for “Wala Wala Washington roofing,” and the same goes for the rest of you in other cities.
More people are online using their phone instead of a computer these days, and half of those people are searching for something within their own city. I’m talking about Wala Wala Italian restaurants, Wala Wala bike shops and, yes, field service companies.
Including your address, city name, phone number and a handful of other contact information on your website will help Google ‘see’ that you exist and are making a conscious effort to be found— and then they’ll reward you for it.
Another great option for gaining more traffic to your site is Facebook ads. Though they’re not directly related to SEO, the social media site has become an equally as important platform to be discovered. When setting up ads,you can target by location. Your site and social media will be a double-whammy for gaining leads.
4. Customers Will Have an Easier Time Navigating Your Site
SEO leads have a 14.6% conversion rate, while leads sourced from word of mouth have a 1.7% conversion rate, according to Hubspot.com. That means SEO leads are 8x more likely to pay you than alternative leads.
We can guess as to why SEO leads convert better than referrals, but let’s talk about websites. You’ve cleaned yours up. Maybe you contracted out a developer to write code for you, maybe you set up a WordPress site and designed it yourself, or maybe you’ve just improved on the design of an existing site. Regardless, you’ve created a beautiful space to promote yourself and potential customers are loving it.
The more you’re available to potential customers and the easier it is for customers to gather information about your business, the more leads you’ll have. With proper SEO guidelines in place, potential customers will notice your clean web pages and how easy it is to access your information. Think of your site as your virtual office building, then consider how you like your real place of business to look in case a customer stops by.
5. You’ll Increase Brand Awareness (and get a leg up on the competition)
Nearly 34% of all clicks go to the top organic search result. SEO provides a wide range of benefits for your company, but it’s important to remember that it’s an ongoing process. An effective SEO campaign involves ensuring your site appears at the top of search engine results, allowing it to get more clicks and in turn, more conversions.
Climbing to the top will take time, planning, strategy, and commitment. Along with that, you’ll need to keep a watchful eye on your competition. You should be able to see what they’re doing with their online presence and in turn, you’ll be able to fight for the digital territory you’ve worked so hard to gain.
After all that, you cannot stop once you’ve reached the top spot on Google’s search results — if anything you have to work harder to hold your place.
Hopefully this helps you understand the awesome power of publishing quality content and engaging potential customers online, especially through location targeting. You can gain an impressive amount of traction by adjusting your appearance online with minimal effort.
Bottom line: There’s a lot for you to love about SEO. So what are you waiting for?
