Search Engine Optimization – Page 9

Local SEO For Painting Companies – Let’s Make You A Local Celebrity

SEO in general tries to make a business more visible to a particular demographic, but local SEO takes this a step further. Local SEO can bring people to websites and stores by focusing on customers and prospects in a small area, specifically your area. By improving your local SEO, you can get an edge over your competitors.

Because painting businesses have a set area that they serve, local SEO should be an important piece of your marketing plan.

To create an effective local campaign, you’ll need to implement the following strategies:

Business listings in directories that are common to other businesses your area
Geo-targeted optimization of online properties like your website, social media pages etc.
Content marketing with assorted location mentions
Backlinks from local businesses or organizations
User reviews

It’s quite a few pieces to put together, so let’s break each strategy down.

Part 1 – Get Your Painting Company Included In The Most Important Business Listings

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is by far the most popular business listing to claim. However, there are many more that you should consider. We always encourage our clients to claim and verify listings from:

Google Business Profile [add logo]
Bing [add logo]
Yelp [add logo]
Yahoo Local [add logo]
YP [add logo]

We recommend claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile first. This is because you can use it to claim and verify your Bing profile within minutes.

If this sounds like too much to manage yourself, there are listings services that will help you claim, verify and manage up to 100 listings for a monthly fee.

Part 2 – Geo-targeted Optimization Of Your House Painting Website For Local Audiences

Local SEO uses the same parts as traditional SEO, but it also needs a few aspects that are more specific:

Business Hours and Contact Information

Visitors to local company websites generally start with information found in these places: search engines, listings or directories, and customers themselves. Every page of a company’s website should include its operation hours and contact information, such as its physical location and phone number.

Hyper Local Keywords

Title tags, meta descriptions, image alt tags and general website content should all include keywords and phrases that refer to the business’s location. To generate local leads, you may not be able to simply target a city or state. Increasing the number of clients that come through your door may be as simple as becoming hyper-local by focusing on even more narrowly defined subgroups within your community.

Our search engine optimization (SEO) experts use this information to select better geo-targeted keywords.

Implementation Hint – Create a list of your best clients and divide them by neighborhood. Use the most popular neighborhoods to run hyper specific ads to.

As an example, if your business is in the Houston area, but your best clients are located in Katy, TX, run an ad that starts “Hi Katy, TX, are you looking for a professional painting company?” or something similar.

You could also create an ad that has you in it by a well-known landmark in the area, such as a statue, restaurant or park. People will immediately recognize the fact that you are in their area.

Part 3 – How To Target Your Local Audience Using Content Marketing

Marketing for local campaigns involves the same level of inventiveness and quality as other SEO campaigns, but there must be a greater emphasis on calls to action as well as issues relevant to your company’s area.

Some easy ways to do this are:

Feature Local Topics

When creating content for your blog or social media, we recommend writing information related to your business and where you are.

A good example of this for a house painting company located in Colorado would be “Why July is the best month to protect the exterior of your Denver house with a new paint job”.

Writing about local trends or even laws in your area that are related to your business is a good way to show that you are a reliable source of information.

Create Advocates For Your Brand

When you create content online, don’t just promote your products and services. In fact, for every article you have about a product or service, you should have FOUR other articles with helpful information for your target market.

This will help build consumer loyalty and create advocates for your house painting business. Great, helpful articles and posts make it easy for your customers to spread the news about your company by sharing your content on social media sites.

Authenticate Your Business Identity

Make sure your website’s local content is properly indexed by search engines using schema markup.

These include: a map schema; product information schemas; logos and images; and local business information (such as phone number, address, and name).

Part 4 – The Importance Of Building Quality Citations For Your Painting Business

There are several factors that go into a successful SEO campaign, including backlinks and citations. A citation is a mention of a brand on a third-party website by a customer or a business. These references of a company’s name play an important role in local search results.

Some of the most important and effective citations are listed here:

Social or Blog Content

A smart strategy to get citations is to encourage local celebrities, brand advocates and local influencers to write about you on their blogs and social media accounts.

Business Listings

Citations are listings in directories, local networks, and review sites. You may increase the number of citations you have by managing these listings and encouraging clients to post links to your painting business’ content.

Guest Posts or Magazine Articles

One of the best ways to get your name out there is to have other people write about your business for an online magazine. Alternatively, you could post your own articles or press releases in local news publications.

IFTS’ local SEO packages include citation building and link development services. These aid in getting your painting company’s name mentioned in social media, online publications, and more.

Part 5 – Customer Reviews Are Key For ANY Business

There should be more unique content than just your business name, address, and phone number on all of your social media profiles. Customer reviews are the best place to find this text.

Publishing press announcements about new listings, linking to your social media sites and company listings on your website, and engaging your consumers through online content can all encourage people to express their opinions.

Just remember, customers are more likely to provide favorable evaluations if they receive excellent service and high-quality products!

Need help getting reviews?

Implementation Hint – Create an automated system for asking for reviews or invest in software that does this, like ReviewLead. Once you get the reviews, be sure to reply to them using keywords and locations to help your local SEO even more.

Want someone to take care of this for you? IFTS offers packages specifically for painting companies that takes care of all of your marketing (and then some). Give us a call to get started with your free “Online Presence Audit” – 412.715.6266

SEO for House Painting Businesses: Let’s Talk About Good Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Your Painting Company

Your painting company provides a wide range of valuable services to local homeowners and businesses as a painter. The problem is that you’re simply one of many comparable businesses. So, what distinguishes you from the rest of the pack?

Customer service and high-quality products are equally as important as flawless execution. However, implementing SEO solutions to develop your organization is an equally crucial, if sometimes forgotten, component.

What is Search Engine Optimization for House Painters?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website’s visibility in search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and so on, in order to attract more traffic to your site. Increased visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) means that you’re more likely to attract new and existing consumers.

Unlike PPC advertising, which suck up a significant portion of any marketing budget, SEO may be done for a fraction of the cost. PPC results can be seen instantly, while true SEO advantages may take some time to show up. For most painting contractors, a combination of PPC and SEO is suggested.

Types of Search Engine Optimization Your Business Can Use

Although SEO appears to be a straightforward procedure at first glance, digging deeper reveals a considerably more nuanced process. The “mechanism” of SEO has several moving parts, including, but not limited to, keywords and content.

There are two basic types of SEO elements – Onsite SEO and Offsite SEO.

On-site SEO is when you make changes to individual parts of your website to make it more likely to show up in search engine results. This includes things like keywords, formatting, navigation, URLs, load speed, on-site blogging, and responsive design, among other things.

Off-Site SEO is the work you do to improve your SEO by doing things that aren’t on your website. A lot of people think that link building is the most important part of off-page SEO, but it also includes things like business profiles on social media, articles, link building and more.

How Can You Get Started In SEO With Your Painting Company?

SEO is a lot more complicated than just researching keywords and putting them on your site. This is a good reason to pay more attention to it and not just ignore it. There are many parts of SEO that don’t cost anything but your time and effort, and they can be more effective than other marketing methods.

Search Engine Journal says that inbound leads (like from SEO) cost 61% less than leads that have to be bought (like cold calling). It is also very easy to use tactics once you know how to do them.

So, let’s get started!

Social Media – It’s a good idea to post material from your website or blog on social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and so on to increase traffic to your site. Post often and engage with users in a professional manner to build a following.

Link Building – We’ve previously established that link development is a critical component of any successful SEO campaign. Google doesn’t care about the size of your painting company. By guest blogging, submitting your pages to relevant directories, and providing valuable material that other people want to share, you may utilize link building to establish your authority.

On the other hand, anyone who uses black hat techniques, such as low-quality methods and spam, will be punished, no matter how big their business is.

Local SEO – Local SEO is the same as SEO but tailored to local search engine results. This implies that the material you generate and distribute should include information about your business’s location, city, or town.

Consumers and home service providers both benefit from Google’s preference for local content. When you have the right tools to target people in your location, your adverts and content will be more successful.

Understanding Local SEO

Here’s how MailChimp explains local organic search results:

After analyzing the behavior of users during trillions of searches, Google figured out that people seeking certain types of businesses need results from their immediate area. That’s why Google’s local search algorithm includes a proximity factor, which is a fancy way of saying that Google takes your location into account when you search for a local keyword (a query with local intent). This happens even when the searcher doesn’t include a city name or “near me” in their search.

Long-tail keywords have a large role in local SEO. To locate words that describe your painting company’s services and mention the location, you may use tools like Google Keyword Planner. Using these keywords in your article can help you rise in the ranks of search engine results.

How To Know If Your SEO Is Working

Measurability is one of SEO’s finest advantages. In order to learn more about your website’s visitors, including their origins, paths to your site, and activities while they’re there, you may use Google Analytics. Using this data, you can take advantage of the fact that a certain search phrase is directing users to your site and incorporate this keyword in your content.

How Can Local SEO Help Grow Your House Painting Business?

Let’s go a little further and see exactly what these services can achieve for your business.

Improve Your Online Visibility

Painting companies that get their name out there are more likely to expand and grow. You have the opportunity to appear at the top of search engine results by executing an effective local SEO plan.

Even if customers don’t click on your links on your website, they will still notice your brand. As a result, your company’s name and products become more recognizable to them. This is a great approach to increase your brand’s visibility over time!

Boost Your Local Sales

The ultimate purpose of an SEO strategy should be to assist you in increasing revenue. In fact, this is exactly what local SEO can achieve for your painting business. Having a Google My Business account is one way to get your business in front of more local clients.

Outrank All Of Your Competitors

As a result of employing local SEO techniques, you’ll be able to outrank your rivals in the Google search results and attract clients who otherwise would have opted for your rivals. If people see your website first, they’re more likely to click through.

Generating Organic Traffic For Your Site

Search Engine Watch conducted a study that arrived at some incredible findings: 63 % of people use multiple devices to find a local business.

Four out of five searches via mobile devices lead to a purchase, often within a few hours, the survey said. Compared with other devices, the mobile phone showed the highest conversion rate, with nearly 80 percent of mobile phone searches ending in a purchase.

When consumers in your area search for the services you provide, it’s critical that you show up in local search results. And the best way to achieve it is through a local search engine optimization approach.

You Need SEO For Business Success

In order to be successful and relevant in today’s business environment, Search Engine Optimization is a must-have. SEO is essential for painters. Even if you have a great service, you won’t be found online if you don’t have SEO. To put it another way, customers can’t discover you when they search for what you do online.

If you’re in the painting business, knowing your local customers better than anyone else might provide you an edge over your rivals in the home service industry. It’s an excellent chance for you if they’re depending only on outbound marketing or are simply hoping for the best with their websites. This happens more often than you think.

There’s no need to start off with a huge budget – start small and build up as your business grows. Keep in mind that SEO is a long-term process, not a sprint!

How to do Keyword Research to Improve Your SEO

Keyword research is the core of digital marketing. This SEO strategy should be performed regularly in order to stay in touch with your audience as they grow and evolve.

The goal of YOUR research is to find out what words or phrases your target audience is searching for, so you know what it will take to rank on search engines for those specific terms.

If you don’t know what keywords you should be targeting for your business – how are you going to optimize your website and create content to best serve your client?

In this guide, we will cover:

What are keywords?
What is keyword research and why is it important?
How to conduct keyword research using SEMrush
How to use that keyword research to get more clients (with some BONUS TIPS)

What is a keyword?

Keywords, also known as search terms or search queries, are the words and phrases that searchers use to perform a search in a search engine (like Google or Bing). Keywords are extremely important in an SEO strategy and should be the backbone of any written content you release on the web.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is an SEO strategy that is used to find specific terms that users enter into search engines to find products, services, and information. More importantly, keyword research helps you figure out how people find you. Using this knowledge, you’ll know exactly what to write about on your website and blog for your target audience.

In order to get traffic from Google, performing keyword research to understand the words and phrases used by searchers is essential. Google uses this information to determine what content is relevant to a search term, and how that page should rank in search.

Proper keyword research will help you:

Understand your audience
Reach your audience
Find new hot topics to cover
Improve ad campaigns
Build brand awareness

Why is keyword research important?

Do you ever wish that you could read the mind of your perfect client? With a little bit of keyword research, you CAN jump into their mind to figure out the exact words and phrases they are using to search for results that relate to your business.

Who wants to waste time creating content on topics that aren’t being searched for?

Keyword research can help you answer the following questions:

How difficult is it to rank for this keyword?
How much traffic will I receive if I rank for this keyword?
What keywords are my competitors ranking for?

How to do keyword research

Keyword research consists of collecting relevant variations of all keywords that relate to your website, products, services, etc.

We are going to walk you through researching keywords using SEMrush. This is an amazing tool that is used to improve online visibility and discover marketing insights.

Step 1: Build your keyword list

Let’s build a list of keywords for ABC painting company. To begin, we will start by searching for a general keyword relating to this business. In the image above, you can see that we searched for “professional painter” in the keyword overview section of SEMrush.

Keyword overview gives you a quick analysis of your keywords. You can see a summary of metrics for each keyword such as number of results on a search engine results page, monthly search volume, average cost per click in Google Ads, paid search competition, and more.

You can create your master keyword list using the keyword magic tool. Starting with our seed keyword, professional painter, we are now able to see lists of keyword variations and related keywords.

You don’t have to stop here; continue to search for other seed keywords if you would like to keep growing your list. When researching keywords, be sure to also search for location specific keywords. For example, “professional painter pittsburgh” or “Pittsburgh painting company”.

The photo above shows the list of keyword variations for “professional painter”. Although the results show thousands of keywords, this does not mean that they will all be relevant for you. After your initial list has been built, it will need to be trimmed down to just the terms that are truly relevant to the site you are researching.

Step 2: Analyzing your keyword list

Having a list of thousands of keywords is all good and well but how do you know which ones are the best to use? SEO keyword metrics can be used to narrow your master list down and find the best of the best.

Export the data from SEMrush and make note of the columns boxed in red – these are the categories that you want to look at. These are the keyword metrics that will help you narrow your list and find the best keywords to use.

Search Volume

Search volume shows you the number of monthly searches for a particular keyword over the previous 12 months.

Keyword difficulty (KD%)

The keyword difficulty index (from 1 to 100%) shows you how difficult it would be to outrank your competitors in the Google organic top 20 for a given keyword. The higher the percentage, the harder it will be to achieve high rankings for each targeted keyword.

Cost per click (CPC $)

Average price in USD that advertisers pay when a user clicks on an ad triggered by a given keyword.

Competitive density (Com.)

The level of competition between advertisers bidding on a given keyword within their PPC campaigns. Competitive Density is shown on a scale from 0 to 1.00 with 1.00 being the most difficult to rank for.

Now that you have formed a list using what you think that people search for, it’s time to confirm your suspicions by researching your competitors.

Competitor-based keyword research

Competitor keyword research uses seed websites instead of seed keywords to begin searching. This approach can be used in conjunction with traditional keyword research.

Discover organic competitors

Using organic search, you are able to find who Google believes your competitors are. You can also see what keywords they are ranking for.

Even if you think you know who your competitors are, it is still a good idea to check it out with this tool. One important note, if you don’t see any of the competitors that you expect on this list, there is a good chance that your website is not optimized for the right keywords.

Navigate to the organic search tab on the left side menu and enter your domain in the search bar. Click on the competitors tab to reveal the table of domains that you are in competition with.

Here is a list of your competitors that can be used as your seed domains. They are sorted by competition level showing how close of a competitor they are to the one that was entered in the search bar. This metric is based on the total number of keywords of each competitor and the number of common keywords between the competitors.

How to get your competitors keywords

Under the positions report of the Organic research for the seed domain, you can find all of the keywords that a domain is ranked for.

Each keyword that a domain ranks for is shown in this list and is accompanied by a link to that corresponding landing page along with metrics to help further your research. So, for each of your competitors, type their URL into the search bar under “organic research” and you will have access to all of the keywords they are ranking for.

Between using a seed keyword and your competitors’ keywords, this method should help you create a list of keywords relevant to your business.

What Should I Do With a Keyword List?

Taking the time to create this list can help your business in multiple ways, but the ultimate goal is always to get more clients.

So how do you use this list?

Write Relevant Blogs for Your Clients

You can use the list to write blogs or articles about the things that your target market are searching for. SEMrush will also give you FAQs about the keywords your search. Pick a few of these questions that are focused on a keyword and answer them.

BONUS TIP – You can also turn that blog into a script for a video that you can post on YouTube.

Improve Your Onsite SEO

You can use the list to improve the onsite SEO of your website. Make sure that common keywords and phrases are found in your website headers, page titles and more.

BONUS TIP – Include keywords when you are naming images. This is one trick that people do not typically take advantage of.

Improve the SEO of Your Social Media Profiles

Use the list that you create to craft the perfect message in your social media profiles. By using words and phrases that they are using frequently, they will feel like you are talking to them and that you understand them.

Create Google Ads that Perform Well

Keyword research is critical when it comes to creating Google Ads and not spending a fortune. Be sure to figure out what people are searching for when it comes to your business so you don’t waste your time and budget by showing ads to people searching the wrong thing.

Questions about keywords? Need help doing with your keyword research? Contact IFTS today and ask about our keyword research package! We do the keyword research for you and set you up with a content plan for the next 365 days!