So, when you began your business you more than likely set aside funds for Marketing. Marketing is promoting and selling your services. Marketing may entail newspaper ads, radio ads, public relations, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), E-Mail Marketing, Direct Mail and more. What a lot of people seem to think is Marketing in the Cleaning and Restoration Business is Search Engine Optimization. “I need to be in the Top 3 Of Google and if that happens I won’t have to do anything else,” well that’s WRONG. SEO is only a small part of the pie that needs to contribute to the whole.
Marketing 101
“I can do Sales, What I can’t do is marketing?”
Think about that statement for a minute. Marketing is basically selling yourself. You’re attempting to sell that you’re an honest trustworthy individual that can do the job correctly. So, how do I as a business owner convey that message to potential customers?
There are several ways to tell customers that you’re the right business for the job:
- Your Website
- The way you present yourself on the phone.
- The Reviews you have on Google and Yelp.
- Branding
A lot of people tend to forget about Branding. There is research that has been done that consumers need to see your business anywhere between 3 to 8 times before they use you. Maximizing the value of how a consumer sees you will increase the chances of them using you sooner.
Branding is why it’s so important for companies to use multiple facets to promote their business. Think of it this way, I get a Post Card with a coupon on it in the mail and I kind of forget about it, then I see an ad in the newspaper from the company again and it kind of catches my attention, then I actually decide to get my carpets cleaned so I Google Carpet Cleaners in my area and I see that company again I’m more than likely going to put everything together and call them because I recognize the business name.
Always remember that spending money on advertising doesn’t mean you’re always going to have a return on it immediately. SEO especially, SEO is a long-term commitment and can help tremendously once all the pieces fall into place.
SEO & Strategy
- Getting People To Go To Your Website
It’s very important to have Traffic going to your site and that’s something a business should be working on. When you do E-Mail Marketing, Direct Mail, Facebook Posts & Ads, and anything else that has you business name it you should always include your Domain.
- Getting Reviews
More and more Clients of ours tell us people use them because they have great reviews. Okay, so you’re in the Google 3 Pack but you have No Reviews or One Bad One – Do you think that Helps or Harms your Business? Reviews are becoming more and more important to generate calls and I believe in 2016 after all of Google’s New Updates Reviews are going to mean a lot more to people’s Rankings then they ever have before.
- Powerful Link Building
This is our part. We’ve been buying more powerful domains that have been pricey but we believe they will create a bigger impact then ever before. We’re preparing for the Penguin Update that’s going to be a Real Time Updating looking at sites Back Links immediately. This update could have a major impact on Link Building, as we know it. It will be a fun year on learning how to manipulate this in our favor.
Google Updates Fears & Excitement
So, it’s only January 20th and we’ve already seen two Google Updates. They were updates on the Core Algorithm and we did see some sites get a little bouncy and now everything seems to be dropping back into place. Some clients Rankings seem to have improved and we’re still awaiting more info on these Updates but Google hasn’t been coming out with much information about them. Google did say, however, that there is going to be a lot more of these mysterious updates. That’s one thing people tend to forget is that’s what we’re here for. We like figuring out these updates and we work to fix the penalty or problem if there is one. These updates are more for people using Black Hat SEO tactics and that’s why we really focus on doing things manually and at a “human” pace because that’s what Google likes to see.
We’re still awaiting the Penguin Update, which will look at Back Links being built and these Links will be seen almost immediately. And we will see the impact these Links have on your site whether it’s good or bad immediately as well. I personally am looking forward to this update. I get frustrated that I build a Link and have to wait a few weeks or more to see the impact. The thing with Google, however, is this is all they’ve really told us about this update. And I know the “thing” with Google is there’s probably something more to this update that will have a big impact as well and we may not know it until the update occurs. This update is supposed to happen sometime soon and it is very unlikely anything will be announced. Our hopes is that this update will only help our Clients, however, our fears with any update is someone will get a penalty from one of these updates and our work will be trying to recover from that. Because this update is in “Real-Time” that means you should be able to recover from penalties faster and some say that people that still haven’t recovered from the last Penguin Update should see a dramatic difference with this upcoming update.
2016 should be a interesting year and we’re looking forward to it!
