Carpet Cleaning Websites

Want to really make those ads on craiglist work for you? It’s all about Titles.

The Title is what people see first. The purpose of the Title is not to explain or sell anything, it is simply to get a click. What many carpet cleaners forget is that it is very easy to skim over even a very clever Title (even easier for a boring one).

On page of text, you’ve go to draw their eye to your ad. What’s the point of having an awesome craigslist flyer or advertisement if the perfect customer never sees it.

You can use asterisks, but symbols are much more effective. Here are some of my favorite symbols to help draw the eye: ❙ ➤☛♦. I like to place 2 or 3 on each side. Notice which title stands out when your looking at a page of text:

To insert these symbols open up Microsoft Word, then click Insert, Symbols. Choose your symbol and copy and paste into the Title. You can also use codes by holding the Alt key and typing number codes on your number pad (not the numbers at the top of the keyboard). Go to www.alt-codes.net for a complete list of symbols. On a Mac you will need to click the American flag icon at the top right of your screen and select symbols from the list.

Say Something Useful

Now that you have their attention say something unique about your service. It could be a special offer or something about your process. Look around a see what others are saying. Be different and always use the words Carpet Cleaning in the title so you will pop up if they do a specific search.

Examples:

❙❙❙ Carpet Cleaning Specials and Coupons ❙❙❙
❙❙❙ Carpet Cleaning Healthy Green Cleaning❙❙❙

You may want to tailor your ads for specific times or seasons. For example in the summer when people are a lot of moving you might want to say: Carpet Cleaning Move In/Out Specials or in the holiday season: Carpet Cleaning Thanksgiving/Christmas Specials.

One thing you don’t want to do is use ALL CAPS. This can be viewed as screaming or desperate. Most craigslist users will skip over these types of ads. Also, don’t say something that is too good to be true. Craiglist is known for scams, bait & switch etc. People are on the look out for this kind of ad and may even flag you as spam.

Test, Test, Test

Finally, keep in mind that not all ads will work all the time in every city. You need to constantly test new titles and keep track of which ones work the best and at what times of the day, days of the week and during what parts of the year. Also try posting in different locations if you are in a metropolitan area.

Follow these tips and let me know how they work for you. If you are ready to take craigslist to the next level. Call me and we can talk about custom fliers and display ads.

Call Joe at 406-214-6504! I offer a free consultation and sample website so you see what you’re getting before you purchase.

I just read an article on the new Google Boost program. So what is Google Boost? Basically it is a watered down version of Google Adwords (pay-per-click) and any business owner that has a Google Places page will know about it pretty soon. Currently it is being tested in a few select cities, but once it goes nation-wide expect Google to send you lots of marketing emails.

I did some test searches in some of the cities to see what it’s all about. The ads definitely stand out, but they are not necessarily ranking all that high. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Here is the referenced Article: http://blog.smallboxweb.com/2011/01/13/google-boost-fear-not-ppc-managers-sem-pros-boost-is-a-gateway-drug/

Google Boost: it should be available in most major cities by this summer.  Is it going to be a big hit or not? Is it going to change the landscape of our profession or is it just going to be another little bump on the road?  Our guess is: it will make the pie bigger, but it won’t be replacing PPC management any time soon.

Pros of Google Boost include: ease of use, and an eye-catching factor.  Boost’s ads will stand out from other sponsored links, because they’ll be including star-ratings, reviews, and you’ll get a blue pin to distinguish you on the map from all the other red pins.  Also, it’s minimum price-tag is $50 dollars, which is lower than most PPC campaigns if you want to outsource the heavy-lifting to a professional. The cons include: limited control, diminished effectiveness, and a loss of equilibrium in terms of how sponsored links will be ranked.

Scanning the articles that have been written about Boost, and consulting our in-house specialists (re: Ben), the consensus seems to be that Google Boost will most likely act like a gateway drug–introducing small businesses to the power and potential of Search Engine Marketing, but ultimately leaving them wanting more.

Here’s the theory: Businesses who have yet to be sold on the concept that AdWords campaigns will produce a solid, measurable return on investment for them (especially if they hire a professional to run their campaign), will buy into Google Boost because its entry-level pricetag is relatively cheap. When they start to see the response, they will become intrigued–they will want to know more.  When they know more, they will want more control–so that they can make more money.  But they won’t be able to refine their campaign because Google Boost is opaque and one-sided.  Boost is not designed to integrate business-owners’ knowledge and input to make campaigns more profitable. At this point small business owners may try to mount their own AdWords campaigns, which, oftentimes, they will probably end up turning over to a professional.  Other business-owners will go straight to professional PPC managers when they see the results of their Boost campaigns.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of research on effective copy writing and have come to this conclusion: writing good ads is not easy, even in the carpet cleaning industry.

Most business owners say the same things over and over. It’s hard to distinguish one company from another. This goes for yellow page ads, print ads and web pages.

So what’s the secret to a good ad? It’s simple and you’ve probably heard it before:

Emphasize benefits NOT features!

Ok, what does that mean? Basically, this means that you need to stop talking about your company and start talking about the customer and their needs.

Well, I decided to scour the web to check out all kinds carpet cleaning websites to find common examples of what not to do. These are mistakes most cleaners are making.

I then went a step further to show how to change them in order to emphasize benefits instead of features. Feel free to copy this stuff. It works!

Example 1

Feature: Carpets Dry Fast

Try this instead:

Benefit: No more waiting for days to put your furniture back in place. You’ll save a ton of time with ABC Carpet Care’s fast dry system so you can get back to life as normal.

Example 2

Feature: Excellent Customer Service

Try this instead:

Benefit: You will be greeted with courtesy, respect and most importantly a warm smile with Carpet Care’s 5-Point Customer Service program.

Example 3

Feature: Eco-friendly Cleaning

Try this instead:

Benefit: Breathe easy, no more watery eyes or shortness of breath. Harsh chemicals can wreak havoc on your immune system. Keep your family healthy with ABC Carpet Care’s eco-friendly cleaning agents.

See how in each of the examples the emphasis was taken off of the feature and placed on the benefit. Go through your website or yellow page add and take several of the bullet points and see if you can reword them to show how each can benefit the customer. Use examples, be specific and paint a picture in their mind.

Like I said, it’s not easy and it takes thought. Try it out on your next ad or mail-out and your response rate should double.

Are you saying, “Hey my website’s not great, but my services will blow your mind.”? Even if you do provide the best cleaning in town, a crap website will kill your first impression.

I have talked to a lot of small business owners about their first website. Initially, they are excited to just be online. Of course after a few months or a year they realize that there investment, no matter how big or small just really hasn’t gotten results.

What are you telling potential customers?

If you are going to have a bad website, you are probably better off having no website at all. It’s true, if you’ve ever looked at an amateurish website, you probably didn’t hang around too long because you know that there are at least 5 other sites you could be checking out.

If you have a website that doesn’t impress, then you are telling your customers that you really don’t care.  Think about it, if a potential customer visits your site and it doesn’t look professional, then you don’t look professional. You need to let people know that you are serious about your business.

3 Ways To Gain Credibility

1)    Don’t rush in with cheap do-it-yourself websites or hire the cousin that took a class at the local community college. A professional business needs professional design. Don’t give customers an excuse to not do business with you. If you cannot afford professionals, wait until you can or work out a payment plan.

2)    Your website should be professional, clean, easy to navigate. Your products and services should be explained clearly and the phone number should be at the top in big bold font.

3)    Make sure it matches your other marketing efforts. This includes business cards, flyers, logos, print advertising etc. Branding is very important.

A good website is even more important if you are ranking well or you are working with Google Adwords, chances are that you will be overlooked or at least compared to 2 or 3 other sites.

If you don’t stand out then you don’t stand a chance!

Most carpet cleaners aren’t using Twitter, but if you are and would like to start auto posting from your WordPress blog to your Twitter account, here’s how:

First, you will need to install the plugin called Twitter Tools. After it is activated you will need to set it up under “Settings” from the left side of your Dashboard:

From here you will need to click on “Twitter’s app registration page”:

Fill out the information using this screenshot as a guide:

The next screen has a bunch of codes. You will need to copy and paste 2 of them into the Twitter Tools Options as follows:

Then you will need to click on “My Access Token” in the upper right corner to get the other 2 codes:

Copy and paste the 2 access token codes as shown:

Now Click “Connect To Twitter”. There are only two options you need to change. Use this screenshot as a guide:

Now click “Update Twitter Tools Options” at the bottom of the page. You should now be good to go.

I just added the app called RSS Graffiti. Basically it makes it really easy to send your blog posts to your Facebook wall. This is my first post since installing the app so it doubles as a test.

If you want to try it out go to www.facebook.com/RSS.Graffiti.

Click on the button that says “Go To App”:

If you are logged into your account you will have the option to “Click Here to Authorize RSS Grafiti”:

You will then need to allow the app to communicate with your blog. Click “Allow”:

Now you need to add your RSS Feed from your blog so click “Add Feed”:

You will need to add the feed source. For WordPress blogs just type the name of your site then “/feed”. You will also need to add the name of your site or blog. Then click “Save”:

You should now be good to go.

The following article was written primarily for new carpet cleaners that need the all important initial boost to get the ball rolling, but can easily be implemented by business owners at any level.

I came across an older discussion post on one of the carpet cleaning forums today:

“I am starting a new carpet cleaning co. next year and have $30K set aside for advertising. I need some opinions on where that would be best spent. I was thinking of half page ads in all the yellow pages, a website, and direct mailings.”

Read the original discussion here:

http://www.kleenkuip.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6299&PID=162439#162439

It got me thinking: For new business owners, where should you spend your marketing dollars to really get going? Of course most newbies don’t have 30K leftover after dropping most of their money on equipment. Sure, you can get clients by pounding pavement, networking etc., but it is possible to get started advertising with a very limited budget ($100).

The Internet is by far the most cost effective way to jump start a new carpet cleaning business, but you have to do it right. I recommend a combination of craigslist ads and Google Adwords for immediate results.

Craigslist

Craigslist ads are free, but you must stand out and you must have an offer. People searching on craigslist want a deal, but you don’t have to compete with the “Bait & Switch” crowd. Just make sure you have some kind of special or limited time offer. It’s also a good idea to have some graphics and explanation of your services rather than just saying “3 Rooms Cleaned for $89”. Also, give details of your process, show clients that you are quality minded.

Depending on how big your market area is you may need to post articles daily or even 2 or 3 times per day because as new posts come in yours will slide down and eventually disappear.

Google Adwords

Get your $100 bill ready! Google Adwords can be inexpensive if done correctly, but you must set up campaigns that target specific searches. Start out with $100 and make sure you limit searches to your specific area and only for Google search results not Google networks or partners. If you don’t set this correctly people from all over the country will click on your ad and waste your money. I also like to set a daily limit so my $100 is spread out over 15 to 30 days.

There is also an art to writing effective ads and it also requires some trial, error and testing. What if you don’t have a website? One of the great things about Adwords is that you don’t even need to have a website to get started, just a landing page. This can be easily created online for free. There are many websites that will help you accomplish this, but for best results have a professional designer or Internet marketer create one for you. Many marketers, including myself will set one up free of charge.

After you get your first few jobs it’s time to reinvest the money into more aggressive advertising with a website, seo, more Adwords, print advertising etc. This is just the starting point, but if done correctly can give you that much need initial boost.

There is some debate whether or not your website should be more personal or more business oriented.

Well, it depends on whether you are a multi-truck company or a one-man show.

A large cleaning firm can do well with a slick business site displaying expensive graphics and flashy extras. They are focused mainly on promoting their brand, but the majority of us have a small operation with 1 or 2 trucks and therefore need to take a different approach.

In this industry residential and small commercial customers want to deal with a familiar face. That is why it is so important to promote yourself not your company. Real estate agents figured this out a long time ago. This is what I do for my small business and I know it works because my customers tell me so.

Follow these 5 steps to make your carpet cleaning website more personal:

1. Use personal photos and videos. You can use some professional graphics in your website, but it is also good to include photos that you took yourself. This includes photos of your truck, your face (make it a good one) and even your family. Customers appreciate this and will remember your face when you show up to do the cleaning or the estimate.

Videos can go along way. I created a demo clip in which my 1 year old daughter and I make a mess on a white carpet and then clean it up. I can’t tell you how many people have commented on how much they liked it.

2. Use your own voice. This is especially important on the Home and About pages. Customers like to feel that you are speaking directly to them. They don’t want to be fed the same old sales pitch that all the competition is spouting. Take some time to really say something unique and honest. Customer’s will respond.

3. Provide testimonials. This is a big one. 2 or 3 are great, but 15 or 16 are better. Make sure to always include the person’s first name and city or neighborhood. This makes you look more like a community service rather than a faceless company.

4. Write updates or blog posts. People (and search engines) like to see fresh content. That is why a blog is so beneficial. You can make connections with customers by giving them simple cleaning tips, new services that you offer or even updates about new employees. You don’t need to constantly be writing everyday, once every 2 months is plenty.

5. Use a local phone number and address. Clients that are looking for a personal touch are more likely to call a local number than an 800 or toll free number. This also helps with SEO as search engines are becoming more focused on local rankings.

I have been doing a lot of research lately on “link networks”. These are basically a bunch of websites created specifically for feeding links to other websites that pay for them. It turns out there are thousands of these networks in existence and you can pay anywhere from $50 to $1000 per month to be part of them.

The big question is “Do they work?” The answer is yes, but for how long?

All of these networks leave some sort of footprint that the folks at Google can easily detect. It makes you wonder how many “SEO professionals” out there are simply buying into these networks and then charging their clients 10X the $$. Sure they may see a return now, but what happens when Google changes the algorithm and those links become useless?

We carpet cleaners aren’t investing hard earned money into Internet marketing for the short-term. Most of us want a long term payoff that increases not only the number of calls we receive each month, but also the value of our business. A high ranking website can mean big bucks when it comes time to sell.

Think long-term, “It’s important to clarify that any legitimate link building strategy is a long-term effort,” says Google Search Quality Strategist Kaspar Szymanski. “There are those who advocate for short-lived, often spammy methods, but these are not advisable if you care for your site’s reputation. Buying PageRank-passing links or randomly exchanging links are the worst ways of attempting to gather links and they’re likely to have no positive impact on your site’s performance over time. If your site’s visibility in the Google index is important to you it’s best to avoid them.” (emphasis added)

That being said, I am going to stick with my current method of link building. Yes, the work is time consuming and sometimes boring, but I want my client’s rankings and my reputation to be intact for years to come. No shortcuts!

Call Joe at 406-214-6504! I offer a free consultation and sample website so you see what you’re getting before you purchase.

What’s so magical about the number three?

The Rule of Three is a principle used by large corporations such as Apple, McDonalds and Citibank. It suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, easier to remember than other numbers of things.

Your website should take full advantage of this concept.

This Website as an Example

We use the Rule of Three in three obvious places:

1. Top Left: Most people’s eyes with go directly to the upper left area of a website first. It has to do with early reading education where you always start a book at the upper left corner of a page. On this site we include three bullet points explaining the benefits we provide.

2. Pictures: Most people are visual so we included three circle pictures of sample websites we created.

3. Content: If you notice, we use three short paragraphs to get our message across quickly. Too much content on the first page looks cluttered and over whelming. Remember that internet customers have short attention spans. They want to know whats in it for them and they want it quick, concise and easy to read.

Make it Memorable

We recommend using the Rule of Three not only on your website, but all your marketing material. This includes yellow page ads, print ads and even your business cards.

It all comes down to the way we humans process information. We like pattern recognition by necessity and three is the smallest number of elements required to create a pattern. This pattern recognition makes stuff easy to remember and that’s why you should be marketing with the Rule of Three.