Tag Archives: Local SEO

Apr '20

Which Industries Need SEO The Most in 2021

If you have a website and an online business, there is little to no doubt that you have heard all about SEO at some point. It is preached that SEO is an essential part of any business online and that’s because it is the truth.

SEO is there to help give smaller businesses a fair shot at generating consistent organic traffic through related keywords. Being able to capitalize on a strong SEO game means keeping your business competitive even with the smallest of budgets.

Still, there are companies out there that do not need SEO as much. For these businesses, digital marketing channels like Facebook ads, PPC ads, or organic social media followings can generate more clicks and revenue than even the strongest SEO game.

The thing is that there are definitely some industries that rely more heavily on SEO than others. Understanding which industries need SEO can provide you with the information necessary to ensure that your business, should it fall into that category, meet proper SEO standards.

It is all about return on investment (ROI) for your business. Getting the greatest bang for your buck means finding methods of reaching your target audience without having to break the bank to do so. This is why determining which industries need SEO is so important.

Which Industries Need SEO?

As it stands, there are so many marketing channels available to businesses, both on and offline. This can range from television ads and billboards to more modern methods like interactive video or PPC ads. The point is that there are a ton of different ways out there to spread the word about your business to garner new customers.

But it is important to keep in mind that different industries will get different results from different types of advertising media. Knowing which industries need SEO means determining what kind of product or service that you are offering, where your target audience is spending their time, and a whole other list of factors.

There are industries, however, that are so highly regulated that their methods of advertising are severely limited. Knowning which industries need SEO is so important: it helps to mitigate the limitations put forward on those regulated industries.

Home Services

Home services like plumbing, roofing, and HVAC all need SEO to survive. They generate many of their leads through Google’s Local Map Pack and would be unlikely to survive in today’s climate without some sort of optimized online presence. Other examples of home services include water restoration, construction, garage door repair, lawn care, tree trimming, etc.

Lawyers

Law firms need SEO in a highly-competitive field. The reality is that lawyers can be ruthless and that includes their SEO campaigns. As is the case with home service businesses, lawyers will show up on the Local 3-Pack for relevant search queries. The difference in review generation, listing optimization, and website optimization can determine which lawyer generates the most local leads.

Dentists

Like law firms, dental practices tend to go after SEO pretty intently. SEO for dentists is a growing business and many practices have found measured success that would have not been otherwise possible. Building a dental website for SEO is fairly straightforward if you know the basics. With that said, local optimization will be just as important, as it is with home services and local law firms.

Other SEO Industry Options

Low-Competition Industries

If there isn’t a ton of pre-existing competition, the search engine results pages can be ripe for the taking. When it is easy to rank for low-competition keywords that also reflect the intent of what your audience is planning to buy, investing in SEO is definitely something to do.

Understanding which industries need SEO comes down to a variety of factors, but access to keywords is one of the biggest. If you’re in a hyper-local market, you can achieve better rankings through a local SEO effort instead of striving for those national rankings that can be difficult to obtain.

But if you are in a low-competition industry, implanting a strong SEO strategy is an excellent decision to make. It keeps your business at the forefront of those localized searches and makes your business the one that comes up for those relevant Google searches.

Brick and Mortar Businesses

Local SEO is a great way for those geographically restricted businesses to better reach their target audience. Instead of competing for national rankings, sometimes with heavyweights within a given industry, targeting that local audience can be highly beneficial.

Determining which industries need SEO might be a bit of a broad stroke. Think of it like this instead: local businesses definitely need SEO. After all, it is the quickest way into the minds of your target audience as that target audience is localized.

SEO can be a great source for brand new, localized customers and can be beneficial for businesses of all kinds across all industries. If your business is brick and mortar, you don’t need to know which industries need SEO; you definitely will need to.

There are a ton of examples of why local SEO is so essential for those brick and mortars. Maybe you’re a local service company. When toilets overflow and pipes break, people will get onto Google and find the nearest repair service.

Using SEO, your business can be on the first page for those local searches in your given area. That is a major asset because more and more people are performing Google searches for needs like these and choosing from options on the first page of results.

This applies across a number of industries as well. Again, people are getting onto Google to either find a business for a service they haven’t needed before or looking to find more information about a business that they have considered using.

With SEO, you can get into the consciousness of those users as they Google for relevant results. This is a great way of bringing in new, organic traffic to continue building your customer list.

Niche Online Retailers

Of course, determining which industries need SEO can also cover niche online retailers. E-commerce is extremely popular for small businesses and since there is no physical storefront, using digital marketing and SEO can be the driving force when it comes to getting new customers to visit your shop.

Using SEO can be a huge part of that. And since most online stores aren’t these massive entities like Amazon or eBay – where something for everyone is offered – using SEO to attract that niche audience is a must.

Because there is no brick and mortar involved, it becomes less about local SEO and more about finding factors like shareable long-form content that is meant to funnel into purchases. This is what has the biggest impact on the bottom line of these e-commerce shops.

Ultimately, determining which industries need SEO is a good place to start to know if your business needs to be implementing SEO strategies. In any event, it can’t hurt to do so but it can be much more beneficial in some industries as opposed to others.

Those strong SEO strategies can make all the difference for small businesses from those specific industries.

Jan '20

14 Insurance Marketing Strategies for 2021 (+ Agency Tips)

Looking for insurance marketing ideas and strategies for 2021?

Implementing the right marketing strategies can mean the difference between a struggle to find the proper leads and having a consistently growing and thriving business.

There are more than a few marketing strategies that you can implement that can help your insurance firm develop the leads that it needs to continue growing and thriving. Here are 14 ideas for 2021:

1) Spruce Up Your Website

Your website is the first thing that the vast majority of your audience will see first. If it is a visual wreck or doesn’t respond the way that you mean it to, that could cost you more than a fair share of customers.

There are a few things that you definitely need to do in order to spruce up your website. The most important is to have your contact information in an easily visible and accessible place. You should never make it difficult for customers to try to contact you.

Making certain your site is fast, clean, and intuitive will go a long way towards drawing in customers to your insurance company website.

2) SEO is Your Friend

SEO is what keeps even the smallest of businesses competitive. Best of all, you don’t have to spend much to have a strong SEO foundation.

Make certain that your images are optimized, that your content is both clean and relevant, and that you develop strong backlinks. These are just a few things that will optimize your website so that you can rank near the top of relevant keyword and location searches.

SEO can keep your insurance business relevant in all of the right searches.

3) Create a Blog

Remember that content mentioned in the previous section? It is actually one of the most important aspects of any website. Google is a fan of relevant, informative content because it wants to provide nothing but the most relevant search results.

If your insurance website is informative and answers questions that your target audience wants to know the answer to, that will draw traffic to your website and make it an authority that will draw your target audience in.

Answer questions relevant to the industry, ones that your target audience is asking. This will create consistent traffic to your website.

4) Make it Simple

Here’s one simple truth: insurance is a complicated endeavor to understand. That is why you need to make it easy for your target audience to understand. Create something like an “insurance 101” section or an interactive guide that your audience can reference.

Maybe create a quiz that helps your potential policyholders understand what it is they are looking for in an insurance policy. Things like this will go a long way towards helping your audience have a better understanding of what policies they need and how you can offer it to them.

5) Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

While SEO is a fantastic way to keep your website ranking near the top of relevant keyword searches, it isn’t 100% effective, either. Your SEO will only take you so far before you need to look into other avenues that can be effective to your campaign.

PPC advertising is one of the most common ways to get to the top of relevant search engine queries. This means that your business can be seen first and foremost, putting it right in your target audience’s line of sight.

This can be a hugely beneficial way of marketing to keep your business relevant in the eyes of your audience.

6) Video Marketing

Video is one of the largest growing trends in insurance marketing with United States consumers watching up to six hours of digital videos each day. This makes for a wonderfully beneficial avenue to reach your target audience and have the greatest impact.

Best of all, creating digital video content is easier than ever before. You can shoot high-quality videos on a smartphone these days and quickly edit it with any number of editing tools. That gives you the ability to create engaging content in a flash unlike ever before.

7) Reviews Generation

Reviews are one of the most important features of any effective digital marketing campaign. This is for two reasons. The first is that your reviews establish and create the tone of your business, encompassing its trustworthiness.

The second is that positive reviews tie into your SEO rankings. If your website gets a ton of great reviews, it will only strengthen your website’s SEO, making it more likely to appear near the top of the search rankings.

Reviews can be your business’ best friend if you have an ample amount and know how to properly use them. Check out this awesome review software for your website which can help showcase and generate reviews.

8) Highlight Achievements

This might seem a bit like tooting your own horn, but that is a good thing to do in order to set your website apart from the others in your industry. Maybe you’ve won a few awards or have a huge amount of positive reviews. These are all great things to feature somewhere on your website.

The key is to point them out without sounding like you are patting yourself on the back. Illustrate to the customer what sets you apart from the rest and they will see that perhaps your business is the one to choose based on those accolades.

9) Email Marketing and Newsletters

Email remains one of the most effective ways to reach a target audience. This is due mostly to the prevalence of smartphones in today’s day and age. People have quicker and easier access to email than they ever have before.

Using email to communicate with both current and potential policyholders is a great way to keep your business in their mind’s eye, to enforce your brand, and to inform them of any new or important updates.

Email marketing remains effective because it allows direct access to both current and potential customers in a way few other avenues can offer.

10) Social Media Presence

There was a time where having a social media presence was an option; that time has come and gone. If you don’t have a social media presence, you are leaving out a huge factor in marketing your insurance business.

Social media allows for direct access to the customer, allowing for the sharing of links and deals, the addressing of problems and issues that customers might be having, and a general direct interaction that can make a huge difference.

Social media is an asset like few others and can have a substantial impact on your insurance business as a whole.

11) Door-to-Door Promotion

This might seem like an archaic way of doing things, but direct interaction with your target audience can have an impact like no other. The only way to truly achieve this is by going door to door.

Not only that, there are a ton of benefits. The leads are free and they are personal. People get a feel for you during these sessions, making them more likely to use your business and to trust you as opposed to an email that can feel impersonal.

This might be an old-school way of insurance marketing, but it remains effective.

12) Show You Care

This is one of the truest methods of getting your target audience to understand your business and develop a level of trust with it. Showing your target audience that they aren’t just a number, that you care about them, can be a real difference-maker.

This means going above and beyond wherever possible. Taking the time to deal with the personal situations of your clients can give them a level of trust in your business that is unattainable otherwise.

Show your customers you care above all else and the rest will fall into place.

13) Facebook Live

Live, streaming video is one of the newest, hottest trends. With Facebook Live, in particular, you can invite both current and potential policyholders to interact with your business. Show off updates in policies or hold a live Q&A.

These kinds of things promote interaction with your target audience, promoting engagement that may not be possible through any other format. When you do this, you create a unique setting to interact with your target audience, allowing them to gain valuable information about your business that they may not have been able to get otherwise.

14) Partnerships and Backlinking

One of the best ways to establish your trustworthiness and authority is through backlinks from other relevant businesses. This is usually achieved through sheer authority, which takes a lot of time, or through established partnerships within your area.

These partnerships can go a long way towards establishing those helpful backlinks that make your business the authority within the industry and establish that trustworthiness that businesses covet. Those partnerships can be mutually beneficial, helping both sides along in their quest to establish quality insurance marketing campaigns.

Nov '19

6 Real World Reasons Tampa Businesses Need SEO

When people say Tampa SEO, what do they mean?

Search engine optimization for a particular city like Tampa is the process of showing up on Google search results for users within the Tampa Bay area. Without a specific city attached, it is simply known as local SEO.

When you own a business in a larger city, whether its a law firm or dental practice, it should go without saying that the landscape is quite crowded and makes it difficult to stand out. Tampa Bay is one of those big cities where it can be difficult for a business of any sort to distance itself from the competition.

This is generally where SEO (search engine optimization) comes into play. For businesses to become more identifiable to search engines online, their websites must be as optimized as possible. This allows those search engines to pick them out of the crowd more easily if they are relevant to a specific search and or location.

What makes it difficult for some less tech-savvy business owners to really grasp SEO is how it has real-world applications on their business. Sure, there are the obvious benefits that you might see in a digital format, but what about the ones that actually impact your business in real-time?

Here are six reasons that have real-world applications as to why businesses in the Tampa area need to make sure their SEO game is strong.

Becoming a local authority

The way internet searches are done has changed. Because of the sheer number of businesses and keywords out there, it would be impossible to not compartmentalize based on location. But this is where a small business can benefit.

When you optimize your website, you are fighting in the rankings based on a keyword but also based on location. This is huge when considering that you as a business don’t have to fight everyone. When your website is optimized, you become one of the focal results for that area and that is huge for a small business.

Brand recognition

What most businesses are looking for is their target audience to identify their industry with their business in specific. When competing on a global scale, this is nearly impossible. But with the aforementioned location-based searches, you can become the recognized name in your particular field based on location.

If your business serves the Tampa area, your rankings will focus on that area and appealing to the audience in that area. This makes your brand more recognizable with not only that service in particular, but with that area. This is the kind of recognition of one’s brand that is incredibly difficult to do in any other circumstance and can be hugely valuable for a small business in a given region.

Take advantage of that fact and use it to make your brand the most recognizable in your area.

Cost savings

Let’s face facts: it is expensive to properly market a business, even in a niche industry. This is because traditional mediums are not only expensive to use, they are limited in their overall reach. Traditional newspaper and television advertising remain but they do not have the reach and impact, nor the bang for the buck, that they once had.

That is why optimizing your website can be such a big deal. The big companies can afford to buy ad space online because they have the funds; when smaller businesses enter the foray they depend heavily on their website SEO to deliver users to them.

Save money by making sure your website is more easily found by search engines.

Improved engagement

This goes a bit hand-in-hand with your website traffic, but there is a little bit of a difference here. Your website traffic shows the number of people who are visiting your website. But being able to engage those visitors and convince them not to click through is the biggest challenge.

With improved SEO rankings, you are likely optimizing your website with relevant content in a way that makes your website a draw to potential customers. This means that you are engaging those potential customers and providing enough value that they aren’t leaving right away.

Those extended looks and that engagement is the biggest key to turning those leads into actual sales. Drawing attention to your product is one thing; converting those leads into sales is an entirely different beast. With a website that is properly optimized, you can give your business a much better chance to convert those leads.

Keeping up with technology trends

This might not seem like a huge benefit, but keeping up with relevant technology can have far-reaching effects on a business. The internet is constantly evolving and is oftentimes center stage when it comes to the latest technologies (think about the impact that smartphones have had on the internet as a whole).

When your company is concerned with optimizing its website, you ensure that you are staying on top of the latest technological trends. You ensure that you are not left in the dark when new platforms become prominent and the way that businesses are moving.

Keeping an eye towards these relevant trends can go a long way towards helping your business to adapt to the times and more successfully and consistently reach you’re their target audience. Don’t let technology trends slip by you; you could find your business trailing behind and being left in the dust.

More Traffic

More traffic to your website is one of the most important aspects of having a digital presence for your business. This is because, in this day and age, your website is often the very first place that prospective customers will go before they make a decision about your business.

The more traffic that you can drive to your website means that there are more eyes that are potentially interested in either using your service or purchasing your product. And that’s the idea, isn’t it? Though traffic to your website does not automatically mean sales for your business, these are the leads that your business needs to not only grow but survive.

Those numbers that you see on your analytics page then begin to have far more depth and feel to them. Instead of just being numbers on a screen, they become the number of potential customers that have at least shown enough interest to look into your business. That is the kind of awareness that every business wants.

Get Started With Tampa Bay SEO

Sep '19

5 Best Web Design Practices for Your Homepage

At Nolen Walker, we talk a lot about empowered local SEO, paid search campaigns, and successful content marketing tactics! These all heavily impact lead generation, especially in highly competitive metropolitan environments. Some of the most crucial website design practices however, revolve around stimulating visuals and smart organization. While a pretty colors and fancy features don’t always make for a lead-driving website, they certainly make a difference!

Today, we’re going to discuss five of the best web design practices businesses can incorporate in their company homepage (and beyond). Not only do these features typically improve conversion rates, they also make for a pleasant user experience. If you’ve been looking to update your web design, be sure to read along carefully!

Open Space Draws More Attention to the Menu Elements and Calls to Action.

5 Best Practices for Web Design

Best Practice #1: Consolidate and Prioritize

Empty space can be more powerful than you realize! Not only does it keep readers sharp and focused, it naturally draws the eyes to important elements on your homepage. In the picture above, this company’s web design professional utilizes white space to highlight the visually striking menu text and company logo. The calls to action clearly stand out from the rest of the text as well (more on this later).

Many contractors mistakenly believe that cramming more services and colors into homepage top will ease the search process for site visitors, when it actually creates the opposite effect. Congested menus and overly stimulating pictures make it more challenging to focus, slowing the search process. If you’ve ever landed on a website, seen a crowded page, and instinctively looked away from the screen (or clicked the back button), you already know the danger of overstimulation.

Try to leave plenty of space to highlight your menu, headers, and contact information!

Text walls, large blocks of uninterrupted paragraphs, also produce the same result. As tempting as it is to try to explain how great each and every one of your services is, remember that less can be more! This conveniently leads into our next pro tip…

Notice the Natural Balance Between Text and Imagery. The Original Photo is a Nice Touch Too!

Best Practice #2: Format Your Text

Above is yet another screenshot from one of our favorite website designs! As mentioned before, huge blocks of text make it challenging for readers to effectively digest information. That’s why breaking up your text into short paragraphs, then sprinkling images into the mix, creates such a powerful combination. This particular formatting tool is called a media and text block, a recent addition to WordPress since the Gutenberg update. The bolded and colored text also makes it easier to navigate onto other pages and call the business.

Powerful Tools for Formatting Text

Varied headers (H3s and H4s)
Mixed text/media blocks
Bullet point lists
Numbered lists or how-to’s
Isolated quotes and key points
Occasional bolding, italics, and underlining
Carefully spaced out exclamation points

Text is just one more facet of your homepage that benefits from consolidation and prioritization. You can easily create more invested readers by breaking up large, bulky paragraphs into shorter, focussed sections. Add in a quirky and enthusiastic header every few paragraphs, and you’ll naturally have site visitors staying longer to consume your stimulating content!

One last note: be very careful with how frequently you add emphatic formatting on text.

Bolded text, exclamation points, and even italics should be used sparingly. This makes the instances you incorporate them especially powerful. That’s why emphatic formatting is best saved for key points, calls to action, and humorous moments.

Two Clear Calls to Action, Each With Their Own Way of Drawing Attention.

Best Practice #3: Call Them to Action!

What’s the most frustrating oversight for an experienced web designer? Probably the lack of a clear call to action. That’s because all the hard work that goes into crafting an engaging user experience and beautiful aesthetics goes out the window if your reader has can’t find their next steps. Calls to action (CTAs) direct site users on how to respond to your content.

CTAs Direct People To…

Phone Call
Direct Message
Email
Continue Reading
Consult a Directory
Check Out Another Page
Perform an Action Offline
and More

In the image above, this roofing contractor effectively draws attention to two separate calls to action. One directs readers to call the listed phone number, by using vivid red text to grab attention. The other uses a large text box for a more generic “Contact Us”. Both provide ample opportunity for site visitors to connect with the business.

Make sure your company website’s calls to action are clearly visible. Too often, these crucial tools get lost in a sea of text or obscured by colorful backgrounds. If an average visitor can’t locate your number and other CTAs within a few seconds, your homepage web design may be too crowded!

Schema Lists Offer Clear Directions and Descriptions for Key Services.

Best Practice #4: Use Schema Lists

Schema coding helps Google identify the purpose of different elements around a page. It can also turn boring text lists into clearly visible and productive directories. In the picture above, this schema list feature incorporates hyperlinked services and descriptive text in a very legible format.

Where can you use schema lists?

Most businesses that favor these features often use them multiple times on the homepage alone. They can be broken up by service category, making it even easier for users to find their desired page(s). With that being said, they also make great navigational tools on your top level parent pages too (example: “Residential Roofing”).

As you use these schema lists, just make sure to not overdo it and cram dozens of services into a single roster. Again, these special coding features work best with a handful of solutions related to a single service category.

Web Design Features Called Category Blocks

Category Blocks Work Very Well Near the Top Fold of Your Homepage.

A similar design feature is the service category block. These blocks offer an even more visible way to connect website visitors with their desired pages. Many companies add them towards the top of the homepage, either on or below the first page fold. Hovering over the blocks causes them to change color, display a new picture, or show descriptive text.

Four to six blocks of popular categories can transform any sluggish website into an efficient user experience!

Best Practices #5: Integrate Your Reviews

Word of mouth makes a way, especially when it comes to contractors! Online reviews are one of the purest forms of digital currency these days, but most businesses don’t understand how to use (or even collect) them correctly. That’s why even top ranking businesses sometimes lack any reviews on their local search listings.

When it comes to web design, reviews naturally fit inside the scope of your homepage. The process of review integration can take some specialized coding skills, but it’s certainly worth the time and/or money investment. At Nolen Walker, our web design professionals favor a tool that cycles some of the latest reviews from our clients’ customers.

Our Righteous Reviews Tool Also Pulls Feedback From Multiple Sources, Such as Facebook Reviews.

Of course, you can utilize reviews almost anywhere in your homepage web design. Some companies even take their favorite client feedback and display it at the top of their landing page. Cycling reviews tend to have a greater impact however, since they include unfiltered reviews from a variety of clients. This scares many businesses however, as they fear a client might leave a scathing, low star review.

Remember this: limited negative feedback can be a good thing!

How so? Negative feedback shows that your company is open to accountability. The smartest company owners get excited about negative reviews, because it gives them a chance to improve their customer service. A tactfully-worded apology can make turn an angry individual into a lifelong customer.

Plan Your Web Design!

No website is perfect. Successful business however, learn to take their web design shortcomings and transform them into strengths. If your website has struggled with poor conversion rates, poor user experiences, or even Google penalties, our team at Nolen Walker would love to help you transform it!

Our seasoned design team incorporates…

Schema Coding
Rich Imagery
Convenient Navigation
Striking Calls to Action
and More

Find out why our customers throughout the US earn better rankings and stronger lead generation than their local competitors! Give us a call at (866) 356-8198 to consult with one of our SEO experts. We can’t wait to serve you.

Aug '19

The Coolest Review Software Ever

Who would you trust to remodel your house: Billy Bob’s with no customer reviews, or 5-star rated Justin Home Remodeling with 327? These are made up company names, but they demonstrate the essential value of client feedback when it comes to local search marketing. In this market environment, positive consumer reviews makes all the difference in transforming casual interest into actual customers. In our latest podcast, Nolen and Jason reveal how feedback heavily impacts your business and how the right review software can help.

If your business has struggled to achieve lasting brand growth and earn leads, be sure to listen in closely!

Key Points to Listen For

Reviews are one of the truest forms of brand currency.
Review management software works best when fully integrated with your website.
Getting more reviews is easy when you make it simple for your clients to provide feedback.
DIY reputation management doesn’t have to break the bank, if you use the right platform.

How Do I Get More Reviews?

That’s a question we hear time and time again from frustrated contractors and business owners. Most of them have tried the traditional means of accruing them. Some owners even go the extra mile and provide a business card that include a link to a review site. But most companies simply aren’t capturing as many client reviews as they desire.

This begs the obvious question: Why?

While some consumers would climb any mountain to praise the companies they love the most, the vast majority of consumers simply don’t show the willingness to research and commend their service providers. Sure, they’ll hunt down your business on Yelp (or Google Reviews) if they have a negative experience.

Surely all a business needs to get a review is ask, right? Perhaps. According to a 2016 study by Search Engine Land, “70% of consumers will leave a review for a business when asked”. I don’t know about you, but do 70% of your customers leave feedback for your business? Probably not. This naturally leads us to one logical conclusion: either businesses aren’t asking for reviews correctly, or they aren’t asking at all.

Companies That Could Benefit From Reviews Software

Reviews Convey Trustworthiness, So What Does Having No Reviews at All Convey?

The Change We Need to See

Reviews only happen when everybody gets on board. As a business owner or manager, you don’t have time to go around emailing every single client asking for retroactive reviews. Even if you have the aid of review management software, contacting people six months after a project (or sale) will mostly irritate people. Worse, even the most exuberant clients can find reasons to complain after that long a period.

By the way, if you’re asking “What is review management software?”, it’s a digital tool companies can utilize to capture positive client reviews, while keeping a close eye for negative feedback.

In most cases, feedback should be collected within 24 hours of completing a project or sale. Obviously, some industries may have a longer standard period, but you should generally strive to gain those reviews sooner rather than later. Whether your business takes advantage of review software or good old-fashioned phone calls, it takes the entire team to gather that feedback!

For roofers and other home services, this means partnering with your project managers and asking for a review at the end of every installation or repair. For storefront businesses, this means training your register operators to explain the review process. Here’s a hot tip when it comes to these post-sale reviews: make sure the review includes the employee’s name and a customer service rating! If your employees have a stake in the reviews (perhaps a well-earned bonus), they’ll be much more enthusiastic about promoting them. Your clients will also be more likely to participate if they have a specific face to support instead of your brand.

A Salon Owner Who Likely Use Review Software

This Salon Owner Nails the Process of Following Up on Reviews and Address a Complaint.

How Much Does Reputation Management Cost?

That depends entirely on what sort of solution you land on. Some companies specialize in monitoring customer feedback, charging to $10,000 or more per month. If that figure makes you want to jump out of your seat, you’re not alone. At the same time, you don’t want to pay an untested professional a couple grand for shaky results. That would be just one more task to manage.

Many businesses opt for some form of review software or manual feedback. There are plenty of solutions available online with very reasonable pricing. For growing businesses, you may also find review software available as part of an online marketing package.

Our own solution, Righteous Reviews, comes integrated with each of custom-built websites. It provides geotagged check-in capability, in addition to automatic requests for reviews through text or email. Finally, it prompts an email alert for reviews of 3 stars or lower, so that you can quickly address client grievances.

A Banner for Our Company Review Software

Our Review Software Makes it Easy to Gather and Manage Feedback.

Team Up With Nolen Walker!

If you’ve been wondering how to protect your online reputation, our team at Nolen Walker would love to help. We partner with businesses all over the United States, providing premium rankings in local search, better traffic, and higher-quality leads. We’d be thrilled to find new growth opportunities for your business!

Call us today at (866) 356-8198 for a free consultation.

Additional Resources From Nolen Walker

Related Podcasts and Articles
– How Can I Improve My Conversion Rate? (Article)
– 7 SEO Tactics You Can’t Afford to Miss (Article)
– One Simple Trick to Get More Google Reviews (Podcast)

Related Services by Nolen Walker
– Online Reputation Management
– Local Business Listings
– Search Engine Optimization

Aug '19

Search Marketing: Fusing SEO & PPC Campaigns

Our search marketing experts at Nolen Walker field a lot of interesting questions throughout the year. One of the most frequently asked ones we hear is “Should I focus on SEO or PPC?” While different industries may benefit more from one category or the other, both offer incredible opportunities for your business.

Search marketing provides the best results however, when these two elements work hand in hand. Today, we’re going to dive into how to best blend your search engine marketing (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. If your business has struggled to make headway online, be sure to read along closely!

A quick note: PPC and SEO aren’t limited to what we see in a Google search engine results page (SERP). Activities in social media outlets and other non-search activities can have huge impact on search results.

Examples of Organic and Paid Search Marketing Results

SEO and PPC Work Hand in Hand for Search Marketing.

Step #1: Lay the SEO Foundation

As we tell many of our clients, the foundation for roofing, plumbing, or HVAC SEO (or whatever your industry may be) is your company website. Before you can create a sophisticated search marketing campaign, you’ll need to make sure that your site is ready to greet customers with easy navigation and well-crafted writing. Since we’ve talked about graphic design and content writing pretty heavily in the past, we’ll stick with some of the introductory basics here.

First, create a list of your core service categories. Ideally, a website should have two to four categories. Otherwise, menus can get crowded very quickly and your customers will have a harder time of finding their desired services. Beneath each category, write down your most popular and valuable solutions. Below are examples of a top level categories and related services.

For Plumbing

Plumbing Repair – Toilet Repair & Replacement; Burst Pipe Repair
Drain Cleaning – Clog Removal; Odor Removal
Commercial Plumbing – Grease Trap Installation; Water Line Repair

For Arborists

Tree Health Services – Root Rot Treatment; Oak Wilt Treatment
Pruning and Trimming – Tree Removal; Yearly Tree Maintenance

Use your list as a guideline for your page hierarchy. If you can easily group your services in related categories, you’ll make your customers’ search much easier when the site gets published. Make sure you do your research when it comes to picking out recognizable words and phrases for your page keywords! You may know about the different types of bagworms and lace bugs if you’re an arborist, but most consumers won’t make it past “tree bugs”.

Step #2: Post-Launch PPC Pursuit

A Retargeting Ad From One of Our Sites

Most people view pay-per-click ads as a lure. The vast majority of your plumbing contractors, heating and cooling technicians, and pro roofers utilize PPC campaigns to try to draw people in. In reality, there’s all kinds of paid ads that go beyond the typical listings you’ll see from Google Ads these days.

That’s where retargeted ads come into play. For those types of services that require multiple visits to your website to generate a lead, these ads offer the perfect way to say “Hey! You looked at our website. Why don’t you take a look at this targeted pitch for a related service?” Maybe you have numerous potential clients leaving your metal roofing installation page. Try creating a campaign that delivers a relevant ad while they shop for groceries or browse through Facebook videos (more on this subject later).

Retargeted ads can also be used to poach potential clients away from your local competitors! Is a particular contractor taking the lion’s share of premium jobs in your community? Try using a PPC ad campaign that addresses visitors leaving their site.

To set up your ads for success, you’ll need to produce a strong list of high-performance keywords and pitches that potential clients will respond to. The good news is that you’re targeting consumers that have already shown an interest in the services you provide. For many, the cost of creating these retargeted ads is actually cheaper than using Google Ads (formerly Adwords), and they provide better results.

The concept of retargeting may seem complicated. In reality, practically anyone can purchase these ads. And if you can get more bang for your buck in the form of better leads, why not?

Step #3: Content Marketing SEO

Just the term “content marketing” is enough to cause many to drag their hands down their face in frustration. So many digital marketing professionals push the method too Aggressively, it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. Content marketing at its essence however, offers profound value for both consumers and contractors. In exchange for information that the contractor likely already possesses, consumers provide deeper levels of engagement and enhanced site performance. And leads, of course. Don’t forget leads! It demands consistent preparation and writing each month, but content marketing offers plenty of ways to draw in more traffic to your website.

How can contractors and other business owners take full advantage of content? There are three key facets to all content marketing:

Topical research,
Keyword enrichment, and
Format optimization.

If you can nail all three of these elements, your content should naturally pull visitors to your site. Let’s break down each facet and what it looks like for your business.

Topics

How to Pick Engaging Topics

Choosing topics that potential customers will actually read is easier than you might think. Consider three essential resources for your topical research:

Google Search – “People also ask” and “Featured Snippets”
Answer the Public – Query lists for topics
Your Clients / Customers – Frequently asked questions

While you may be tempted to jump straight into a guide on why people should call your business (and only your business) as soon as humanly possible, that’s usually not the sort of material that consumers look for in a blog. Since content marketing revolves around providing high quality information for your readers, it makes sense to chase the hot topic questions that people are searching. You can even use them as headers in your blog posts and social media releases.

FAQ’s from your clients offer a wonderful starting guide for your research. Try to keep a running list of these questions if possible, because they make blogging so much easier! Try Google-ing them and see what sort of results come up. If you strike on a hot topic, there should be a list of related questions in the SERP’s “People also ask” feature. (SERP stands for search engine results page). You can also take advantage of Answer the Public, an incredibly useful tool for generating hot topic questions.

Keywords

How to Rank Up Through Keywords

Just because you’re talking about consumer-generated topics doesn’t mean you can’t utilize some kick-butt keywords in your content! Blog posts offer great opportunities to target those primary keywords all your competitors crave, while simultaneously taking advantage of high-quality secondaries and long tail keywords. This is the same type of strategy that our SEO professionals utilize at Nolen Walker!

Keyword Examples

Primary Keywords: plumbing repair; emergency roofing service
Secondary Keywords: metal panel roofing; furnace part replacement
Long Tail Keywords: Trane AC unit installation; toilet repair in Dallas, TX

You may be wondering “Why not just fill up the entire article with primary keywords I want to rank for?” That may seem like a great idea, but this thinking causes hundreds of professionals to sit in the back pages of Google, earning little to no traffic for their efforts. Everyone competes for primary keywords, for their premium search volume. But few people take full advantage of secondaries, which still earn decent traffic without the heavy competition.

Secondaries and long-tail keywords earn high-quality clicks while your site progressively ranks higher for primary phrases. You’ll notice a steady influx of traffic in the meantime. Incidentally, you can use this same strategy for your service page content writing!

Formats

How to Optimize Your Content

We’ve already talked about keyword optimization, but let’s discuss how to make your content more appealing to Google. The greatest position any piece of content can receive in Google Search is the Featured Snippet. The search engine awards this prestigious listing to organic (non-paid) results that provide particularly insightful content on a particular topic.

To give your content the best chance of securing the featured snippet position (and make it easier for readers to consume), there are four rules you’ll need to follow.

Keep your content at a 9th grade reading level.
Provide step by step bullet list that summarizes your most important points.
Use your primary keywords and questions in your headers.
Space out content into palletable blocks (no content “walls”).

Step #4: Social Ads – Spreading Your Content

Paid ads effortlessly extend into the world of social media. In fact, many consider social media platforms Facebook and Instagram to be better platforms for ads than traditional PPC campaigns in Google SERPs. With Facebook’s enormous user base of 2 billion active accounts, plus its customization capabilities, it’s easier to target qualified leads than ever before!

There multiple ways to harness these social media ads for your brand:

Content Promotion
Service Advertising
Event Publicity

Facebook Offers Helpful Courses on How to Create Your Ads for Search Marketing.

Perhaps the easiest way to draw in potential customers is to utilize your best content marketing material as paid ads. By design, content marketing is designed to be extremely shareable and social media platforms are certainly the place to showcase your genius! Cut through the competition with a little ad spend, and your brand will certainly enjoy the publicity.

Remember those retargeted ads we talked about in step #2? Companies can also utilize the retargeting function available through Facebook Pixel. Simply embed code from the social media platform in your website, and you can create Facebook ads that follow people leaving your site. Whether you wish to promote your best content or you want to advertise an ongoing sale event, there’s plenty of uses for these ads.

The ads are relatively cheap and the advertising customization fantastic, so why not pursue your audience into Facebook and other hot social networks?

Step #5: Landing Page SEO – Upping Conversion

You’ve placed a lot of faith (and money) in your SEO and PPC plans. How can you make sure that your search marketing enjoys a solid conversion rate? After all, all this work should eventually produce new leads for your business!

Your website is the foundation of your search marketing. It’s also the final stopping point for all your campaigns, as consumers naturally drip down to the bottom of your online sales funnel. If a potential client clicks on an ad and willingly comes back to your website, that means they are either hungry for more information or ready to make the jump to contacting your business.

Your most important goal at this junction is to not screw it up.

H Bloom Provides a Great Example of a Search Marketing Landing Page

Notice the Immediate Request for Contact Information. The Numbers Also Encourage Scrolling. Source: H. Bloom

Ad landing pages need to be extremely focused and direct. No beating around the bush with extra descriptive information about your services or when a consumer might want to contact you. Simply follow this short strategy to convert your readers:

Your Landing Page Conversion Plan

#1. Confirm the Problem.
#2. Confirm Your Solution.
#3. Remove Obstacles to “Yes”.
#4. Call to Action.

You know the audience has a problem, especially if they’ve clicked on an ad for one of your services. Simply restate the issue and qualify readers as potential benefactors. You know that your business has the solution. Show them in brief terms how you have the solution and how it’s better than other options.

There may be a handful of objections to your service pitch that you can help people overcome. Add in a customer testimonial or two, your 5 star rating, an A+ from the Better Business Bureau, and pictures of your best work. Finally, close with a direct, unapologetic call to action. Invite people to call, email, or text your team.

Find Your Search Marketing Team!

SEO and PPC both play essential roles in a healthy search marketing strategy. Together, they produce results that most businesses couldn’t realize with just one or the other. That’s why our team at Nolen Walker provides professional services for both!

Our clients, hardworking business owners from all over the country, earn fantastic lead generation with our helpful services. They rank higher, earn better traffic, and create deeper relationships with their clients. If you’d like to take your business’ online search marketing to the next level, we’d love to team up with you too.

Call us today at (866) 356-8198 for a free consultation with an SEO and PPC professional!