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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

How To Create The Perfect Landing Page For Your Law Firm

Are you spending money on digital ads and not getting the leads you want? 

This could be due to the web page that you are sending people who clicked on your ad to.  This page is called a “Landing Page”.

Creating a well-designed landing page for your law firm can be the answer to getting more leads. In this article, we are going to cover the basics on what a landing page is, and we’ll provide tips on how to optimize each section to increase conversions.

What Is A Landing Page?

A landing page is a standalone web page that is created specifically for advertising campaigns to send people to. This is literally where your visitors will “land” when they click on a digital ad.

The purpose of a landing page is to have one focused page where you tell your visitors why they should hire you for a specific job and how to start the process. You just want them to take one specific action.

How Does A Landing Page Convert Visitors?

While homepages are still very important website elements, they are usually not specific to one particular task.  They are also designed to give your site visitors multiple avenues to explore your business. 

With a landing page, you are able to control how visitors arrive on your site and direct them to do one thing.  If they click on an ad for Divorce Law, they should see specific information about divorce cases.  If they click on an ad for personal injury, they should see specific information about personal injury.  This makes a landing page the very best place to send them when you want to convert higher percentages of visitors into leads. 

With that said, here are 7 tips for creating the perfect law firm landing page that will help increase conversions:

1. Stick to One Call-To-Action (or CTA for short)

Your CTA is simply the action that you want your visitors to take. You will want to give this main action high priority on the page. The CTA should be the first thing that catches their eye when “landing” on your page.

Pro Tip: Most CTAs are a unique-colored button that reoccurs throughout your landing page.  The wording for each button should be EXACTLY THE SAME.

When a visitor clicks on your ad and arrives at your landing page, you want to make their decision as easy as possible – don’t give them a number of actions to take. Keep the objective as simple and as clear as possible.

Whether your landing page objective is for visitors to call your office, schedule a free consultation, or sign up for a newsletter, make it consistent across the board. Only focus on one action for them to take. The more choices they have, the harder it will be for them to make a decision.

Include your CTA at the end of each text block to guide them and tell your visitor what to do. You don’t want to leave them hanging wondering what’s next.

2. Match The Message of Your Landing Page to the Ad

Consistency is key here. If a visitor clicks on your ad, clearly something about it caught their attention. They click because it either fulfills a need of theirs or it found them at the right time. Regardless, they clicked because in that moment, they felt that it was worth their time!

This is called “Ad Congruity”.  

Pro Tip: If your ad congruity is on point, Google actually lowers the cost per click when you run ads.

If your ad talks about a free consultation for a personal injury case, and your landing page talks about divorce, you will not meet the visitor’s expectations. In this scenario, you are more likely to lose visitors than convert them because your landing page does not specifically align with your ad.

3. Offer and Emphasize Value

Every visitor to your landing page is most likely considering your firm to handle their case. They are going to assess whether or not they believe you can provide value to them. Here is where you are going to focus on the client, not your firm. 

In order to secure a conversion, you’ll need to offer something of value to your site visitors. 

You only have a short amount of time to convince your site visitors that they have found what they have been looking for. Use this time wisely to reel them in with the benefits they will receive by working with you and be sure to focus on what’s in it for them. Emphasize how you will address the specific needs of their legal issue.

If you want them to hire you as their attorney, you need to show that you are worth the investment.

Pro Tip: Spin your language to talk about your customer. Minimize the amount of times you say “we” and instead, use “you” or “your”.

4. The Length of the Landing Page Matters

The length of your landing page depends on your end goal. Do you want your visitors to fill out a contact form? Do you want them to call your office? Or do you just want to educate them? 

For example, you may need more content if you are asking a visitor to call you, as opposed to downloading an ebook about bankruptcy law. It takes a lot more effort to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment than it does to submit an email address for more information. Therefore, you will need to provide more information that will convince them your firm is the perfect fit.

5. Add A Video to Your Landing Page

A study shows that having a relevant video on your landing page can help increase conversions by 86%.

Now, slapping any old video on your landing page isn’t going to be a shortcut to success. While incorporating video can be a total power move, it could also distract visitors from your CTA. This video needs to complement the rest of your landing page, tying everything together. Keep it short and to the point without making it the primary focal point of your landing page. 

Pro Tip: Want to know how to create an awesome video and content to go with it?  Check out Law Firm Marketing Year’s “Content Planner for Attorneys”.  Use code “attorney2021” to get $20 off!

The best place for a video is partially above the fold of the page. Here, it will not distract from your CTA and value proposition, but it shows that you have even more value to offer as your visitor scrolls through your page.

6. Feature Supporting Proof

The best social proof will come from your clients. Include testimonials and quotes from real clients that talk about their experience working with your firm. When you talk about yourself, it’s usually seen as marketing fluff, but when someone else says it, it’s more powerful.

Did you know that 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from friends or family? Having these reviews visible on your landing page will provide the validation that potential law clients are looking for given that 65% of people found attorney reviews to be extremely or moderately influential in their decision.

Pro Tip: Be sure to use reviews from 3rd party, reputable sites like Google, Facebook or FindLaw.  These look much better than just having a client give you text to use on the website.

Another way to brag a little bit to your visitors is by advertising other impressive metrics or features that can include case results, firm credentials or awards.

If you decide to incorporate firm features, don’t over do it. You don’t want to over-saturate your landing page with features as they should be seen as complementary to the benefits that were discussed above. When deciding on the benefits and features that you want to put on your landing page, make sure there is a strong correlation and consistency between them.

7. Optimize Your Form For Conversions

The number of fields required can make or break conversion rates. It is imperative that you collect as much information as possible so you are able to follow up with a potential client, however, if you ask for too much information, this will reflect poorly on those conversions. 

On the other hand, if your form is too simple, only including name, email and phone number, this may come off as a simple information grab. 

We recommend using the following fields: 

  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone number
  • Message 

Giving the option to leave a message allows the visitor to discuss their situation and creates a bridge between new clients and their attorney.

Landing pages are the way to go when it comes to converting as many visitors as possible into clients from online ad campaigns…and now you know all you need to know to get started! 

But…how’s your website’s homepage?  Is it optimized to convert visitors? We have a free 47-point homepage quick guide for law firms that you can download and begin using today!  Visit our guide’s landing page to get started (see how well a landing page works?).

Still not sure where to begin? Let us help you. Send me (Stacey Ivol) an email at si@iftsdesign.com or give IFTS, Inc. a call 412.715.6266 for a FREE consultation.

7 Facts You Need To Know About SEO

When it comes to SEO, there are many factors that determine the way your website is indexed and ranked by the search engines. That in mind, it’s obvious that by focusing on the right SEO techniques, you can maximize your marketing efforts and grow your business into a success.

But other than improving your visibility on the search engines, what else does SEO offer? 

Here are 7 facts you should know about SEO and why it’s so important for businesses when trying to take their brand to the next level.

1. Most traffic on websites comes from organic search

Organic search is currently the main source of traffic for websites. While you can direct targeted traffic to your website through paid ads or a social media marketing campaign, being visible on the search engines is always going to work in your favor. With organic search engine optimization (as opposed to pay-per-click ads) people will more easily find your website on search engines while they are looking for a product or service you provide. Making it more likely that they will convert from visitor to customer. No one searches for a product or service that they don’t want, so they’re already in the mood to buy. You just have to stand out among the competition. Additionally, when you rank on the front page of a search engine, you are showing potential consumers the legitimacy of your products or services because of your high ranking.

2. SEO is the best long term strategy to market your business

Results don’t happen overnight – organic search engine optimization takes time, patience, and consistency. While PPC or retargeting campaigns are great ways to reach your audience and sell more of your products, keep in mind that your ads will stop showing up the very moment you stop paying for them. With search engine optimization, that doesn’t happen. If your website is well optimized using the best SEO practices, it should continue to show up on search engines for months or even years to come. 

3. Good SEO is NOT expensive

Contrary to what many think, SEO is relatively cheap, considering the payoff. If you were reluctant to spend money to optimize your website for search, think of SEO as an investment. The sooner you invest in good SEO implementation, the sooner you’ll gain more visibility on Google and grow your brand for the long haul. 

4. SEO best practices are constantly changing

Did you know that ‘pausing’ an SEO campaign for too long can have a negative effect? While it’s true that SEO is a long term strategy to rank your business, what’s also true is that the search world is always changing. Google alone is known to make often algorithm changes. This means that, if you fall behind, getting back on track may be quite the challenge. 

5. SEO and User Experience are related

Few people realize that today, user experience is a big part of ranking well on search engines. Google already knows what a positive user experience looks like on a website and how to spot a negative one. The better your website is structured, the more likely it will gain more visibility. 

Google and other search engines take hundreds of factors into account when determining which pages rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs). With that being said, today, elements of user experience have been rolled into SEO best practices. How easy is your site to navigate? Do you have quality content that makes visitors want to stay and engage? Is your site secure, fast and mobile-friendly?

Think of the partnership of SEO and user experience this way: SEO targets search engines and user experience targets your website’s visitors. Both share a common goal of giving users the best experience.

Some common website elements that impact both SEO and user experience are:

-headings

-easy navigation and site structure

-site speed

-mobile experience

6. Great rankings influence conversions

Customers today do a lot of research before buying something – whether it’s a product or a service. This is a big advantage! Not only does good SEO help you rank well in Google, but it allows you to send a positive message about your offer. Using this SEO best practice to outrank your competition will definitely have a positive effect on your conversions.

7. If you’re not on Page 1, you’re losing business

Obviously, if you’re not #1, someone else is! And that means you’re losing business… If you need assistance in improving your SEO, contact us at IFTS and we will help get you on the road to page number 1!