CITYFLOORSUPPLY.COM CITY FLOOR SUPPLY E-GUIDE / VOL.1 11 WAYS TO ADVERTISE YOUR HARDWOOD FLOOR CONTRACTING BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET SNEAK PEEK:»» Google Analytics Overview»» SEO Analytics
Introduction Hardwood flooring contractors have always relied on word-of-mouth advertising to connect with new clients, and this method still remains the primary lead generator for many. But the world of industry has evolved rapidly in the past decade along with the growth of the internet. Businesses of all sizes, including independent contractors, are now expected to maintain attractive websites. What s more, you re not only expected to build a website you also have to employ a host of marketing tactics to convince people to actually visit it. Taking action online is crucial to attracting visitors to your website, promoting your business, establishing your credibility, connecting with prospective clients, and converting prospects into customers. If you re unwilling to spend money to host a website, you can utilize free site-launching options like Wordpress, Blogger, and Wix. These websites allow you to get a site up and running in no time. Although you won t have your own domain name if you choose one of these free options (if you go with Wordpress, for example, your site name would be cityfloorsupply.wordpress.com instead of just cityfloorsupply.com), it s much better to have something on the web to represent your business than nothing at all. Because so many contractors in the hardwood flooring industry have yet to launch a website, you can put yourself ahead of the competition by starting to build and improve your web presence today. Here are a few tips to build an effective website for your contracting business 2
1 Create a portfolio to show off pictures of your work. Scott Avery, owner of Auburn Refinishing, says that professional pictures of past projects are a crucial component of a contractor s website. An NWFA member and industry blogger, Scott says that the pictures on his website are extremely influential in people s decisions to hire him. < Create a gallery on your page that people can click through, and include details about each project. iphone pictures won t cut it, Auburn says hiring a professional photographer could bring you a lot of business in the long run because they can make your work look breathtaking. > 3
2 Learn the basics of SEO. Simply put, SEO is about increasing the chances of connecting to your target audience via search results. The best way to improve your chances is to edit the text on your website. According to Scott Avery, the best customers are those who do extensive research before committing to a product or service. You don t want these people to gloss over your website. If you re serious about marketing your business on the internet, you should focus on the content of your website first and foremost. Search engines are the biggest generators of internet traffic. More than 11 billion Google searches are conducted in the U.S. alone each month, so it s important to make sure your site is attracting visits from people who are likely to invest in your services. Writing website content is where SEO (search engine optimization) comes in. You ve probably heard the term a lot. You likely know it s important, but you might not be too sure what it means. Here s Wikipedia s definition of SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine s natural or un-paid ( organic ) search results. If someone looks up your business on the internet, they should be able to find your website. Potential customers will make a decision to either contact you, or drop you from their list of prospective contractors based on the level of trust and authority established after browsing your site. In order to have a successful website that converts leads, you want to attract not only people who are searching for your company, but also locals who are searching for contractors but might not know about you yet. This is exactly what good SEO techniques help you achieve. There are multiple ways to improve your site s SEO and attract relevant visitors: 4
Find the best keywords to use on your site Keywords are the phrases that people type into search engines. SEO involves figuring out which keywords are best for your purposes, and incorporating those keywords into different areas of your site so it shows up when people search for them. Ideally, your website would appear on the first page or even in the top five results when people search for the most important keywords you ve incorporated into your website. There are a number of ways to find the best keywords to use on your website. One way to do this is to simply start typing different search terms into a Google search bar and looking at the suggestions that pop up. The most popular phrases are those that are closest to the top of the list. In the screencap below, we have entered a search query for floor sander, and Google has suggested other related terms based on our location in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Top Search result related to term floor sander Better to use. More localized = more relevant traffic. If you owned a site for a hardwood floor equipment rental center in the greater Philadelphia area (like City Floor Supply), the second key phrase ( floor sander rental [in] Philadelphia ) would be better to incorporate into your website because it s more likely to attract people who are looking for that very specific, localized service. If you were to trying to attract people who are just searching for the term floor sander rental, however, you would be competing with big-name companies like Home Depot and Lowes who have more money to spend on their internet marketing efforts. It would be more difficult for your site to appear on the first page of Google or any other search engine for such a broad and popular search term. To make your site stick out and attract potential customers, you should include specific, locally-oriented phrases, such as hardwood floor contractor in Philadelphia, on your website to attract locals who are more likely to invest in your services. If you only serve certain areas, you should also list them on your site to increase the chances of locals finding you. It s easier to compete with a few hundred local competitors websites than to compete with thousands of companies that operate on a national scale. It s also more practical to focus on local keywords because locals are most likely to enlist your services. 5
The Google AdWords Keyword Planner is another great tool to figure out which keywords to include on your website. Although AdWords itself is a paid advertising service, you can use the Keyword Planner for free. Create your free Adwords account by visiting the AdWords homepage at https://adwords.google.com. You can start by compiling the best keywords you ve found in a spreadsheet or document to keep track of them. Then, work your selected keywords into different areas of your website. Be sure to incorporate them into your text gracefully. Avoid simply lumping them all together this will make search engines classify your site as spammy and untrustworthy, and your search ranking and website will be affected negatively. Besides inserting keywords into your content (such as your about page), you should also work them into titles of pages, menus, URLS, and image descriptions, which we will discuss next. Use pictures Uploading pictures of past projects to your website not only shows off the work you produce, it can also help out your SEO if used properly. Insert some of your key phrases in the titles and descriptions of the pictures to attract traffic to your website from image search results in addition to text searches. City Floor Supply uses WordPress to publish our blog, so this is an example of how to optimize pictures on WordPress for SEO. Our targeted key phrases for this post were riding floor sander and riding floor sander for sale. We chose these terms because of their popularity as search inquiries on Google. Step 1: To add a picture to a blog post or page, click the Add Media button above the content box. 6
Step 2: Once you select the image you want to use, fill out the boxes on the right-hand side. Pay particular attention to the Title, Alt Text, and Description boxes. For best results, incorporate your keywords into each one of them. If you host your website through WordPress, download the free WordPress SEO Yoast plugin. This plugin for WordPress allows you to manipulate the meta descriptions (the little blurbs that appear under Google search results) and Google search result titles so they include your targeted keywords. The plugin also lets you define the SEO keyword that you want to focus on for each specific page, and tells you how well you ve incorporated it into the content. 7
3 Start a blog to show off your expertise and improve your SEO. Blogging is extremely important for SEO purposes. Incorporating a blog into your website allows you to share your expert knowledge with your readers. It does what all good web content should do: solve people s problems. According to Darren Slaughter, a marketing strategist for home improvement contractors and founder of DarrenSlaughter.com, Blogging is the single most important tool you can use to set yourself apart from your competition simply by educating your readers and not selling to them. To achieve the results you want increased website traffic and consumer trust it s important for your blog content to be informational, not just promotional. If people find your content helpful, they ll be more likely to share it via social media or link to it from their own websites, both of which will improve your site s search ranking. You don t have to be a writer to share your knowledge through the written word. You just have to know what you re talking about. People are always seeking out expert knowledge on the web. Scott Avery, owner of Auburn Refinishing, suggests that contractors use what he calls the 3 P s of blogging to find out what they should write about next: projects, products, and problems. You can publish how-to guides and lists, or write about topics like common hardwood floor finish mistakes, proper floor maintenance, how to tell whether it s time to refinish your floors, and the like. You can also discuss products that you find useful in your day-to-day work as a contractor that your target audience might also benefit from, such as wood-friendly cleaning products for hardwood floors. Make sure to add a personal twist to your blog posts to distinguish them from the multitude of content that has already been written about the same topics. 8
For example:»» You can write about finish problems that are unique to your area because of humidity, temperature fluctuations, or other environmental conditions that can affect the appearance of hardwood floors.»» Since the end goal of your blog is to promote your business, you do want to use some space to discuss news and updates related to your company. For example, if you recently completed an installation job that you re especially proud of, you could write a blog post detailing your process an informational post with a promotional twist.»» Blog posts also give you tons of new opportunities to incorporate keywords into your website.»» According to searchenginejournal.com, Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages. And companies with more indexed pages get far more leads. Try to publish a new 500+ word blog post at least once a week, if time permits. 9
4 Manage your business listings in online directories. There are tons of online directories that collect information about businesses and make this information available to consumers. You can google Top 50 online directories for more information. The Yahoo! directory search engine allows you to input your business s info, such as address and telephone number, which the website compares to what s currently listed in a number of online business directories. There are a few websites you can use to make sure your listings are accurate. One is Moz Local, which charges you an annual fee to update your phone number, website, address, and other company information across several online directories. This ensures that people are getting the correct information when they look up your business. 10
5 Take advantage of Google s tools. When you re done with an installation job, there are surefire ways to tell that it s been performed correctly. If the finish peels, you know you made a mistake at some point in the process. Tracking the progress of your internet marketing efforts isn t as tangible as reading the results of a new installation job, but nevertheless there are several ways to measure how well your internet marketing efforts are working. One way to see that your efforts are paying off is through increased sales landed through search engine traffic. But how do you find out which sales resulted from inbound traffic as opposed to other areas of the web? Google offers Search Console (formerly known as WebMaster Tools) and Google Analytics which provide you with (free) and useful statistics about your site. You can find out which phrases people type into Google to find you, track visitor behavior on your site, and make sure that the Google is able to navigate your site successfully. Because Google is the most popular search engine, taking advantage of what they offer is a great way to improve your site s rankings. Part of this entails signing up for a Google+ profile, which brings us to the next point. 11
6 Love it or hate it, embrace social media. Creating unique and helpful content is only half the battle in online marketing. The other half is getting it read. This is what social media is for. Social media websites provide you with an abundance of free opportunities to broadcast to potential clients, network with other industry experts, and brand your company however you want to. Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Houzz are particularly useful websites for generating interest in your contracting services. Google+ Your Google+ profile is one of the first things to come up when people search for your business on Google, so it is prime real estate. If your business doesn t have one yet, create one, and if you already have one, make sure to use it fairly regularly. It s also important to create a Google My Business account for your company. You can use your profile to push out links to your content and to connect with peers and potential clients via community pages. One con to using Google+ for branding is that it s not engineered to drive traffic to your website as much as Twitter is. 12
Twitter Twitter gives you free access to tons of networking and marketing opportunities. You can use the platform to share the content on your website, special offers, and helpful information you ve found around the web. The main reasons for opening a Twitter account are to promote your business and attract traffic to your website. You can use your profile to share photos, videos, and links related to your work. Posting pictures of your work on Twitter helps you gain followers and encourages retweets because tweets with pictures attract more attention than those with just links. Of course, sharing pictures also gives you a chance to show off your quality work and generate leads. Be conscious of the fact that Twitter is about sharing not only your own content, but also helpful information on other areas of the web, like industry-related news. Instead of encouraging people to invest in your services, a Twitter that s too salesy will likely be a turnoff to most of your visitors. Twitter Analytics, which is free to use, gives you insight into which of your strategies work and which don t how many people saw your tweets, how many clicked the links on your user profile, and how many people retweeted and favorited each tweet. You can use the information to fine-tune your tweeting strategy (such as tweeting at certain times of the day) to attract more followers and, ultimately, more clients. Facebook Facebook isn t just about connecting friends and family. For several years, companies have used the site to connect with prospects. Hardwood floor contractors can also leverage the site s tools to promote their services. Starting a Facebook page allows you to categorize your business and enter your address to attract relevant traffic. Other Facebook users can post reviews of your business on your page and share pictures of the work you did for them, which you can comment on and respond to. The keys to generating likes on Facebook include posting regular content and interacting with other users. Liking other pages related to your industry and contributing to them will generate attention for your page and, in turn, direct traffic to your website. 13
Houzz Contractors can use Houzz to show off their work, open up another line of contact with prospective clients, and establish themselves as thought leaders. Houzz is a social media website set up specifically to connect homeowners, designers, and contracting professionals to one another. Homeowners and homeowners-to-be love Houzz, and posting impressive photos of completed projects can generate leads for your contracting business. Signing up as a contractor gives you the chance to upload portfolio pictures, contact information, and helpful content for homeowners and designers to access. People can also write customer reviews that are readily available to anyone who visits your Houzz profile. You can show off pictures of past projects and cultivate ideabooks drawn from pictures posted by other users. Being a hardwood floor contractor means you probably do a lot of refinishing jobs, which are excellent photo opportunities. You can post before and after photos to your profile. The comment section on the project photos gives you an opportunity to field questions from interested viewers, which can create authority for your business. You can then push out links to your Houzz ideabooks and project pictures on Twitter and Facebook to generate views and additional followers. Yelp Claiming your business on Yelp allows you to upload pictures and update your phone number, address, and business hours so they are listed correctly. You can also respond to customer reviews, either publicly or via private message. Social media management Even if you choose to promote your brand on only two social networking sites, managing them can take up a significant amount of time that should be devoted to your business instead. Luckily, there are a variety of free tools that allow you to manage your social media presences with ease, freeing up time to actually do the work you re promoting on the web. Hootsuite is one popular social media management tool that offers free social media management services. It allows you to link your social media profiles together so they re all accessible from the Hootsuite website. You can schedule Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn posts in advance so you don t have to post in real time. You can also post on multiple social media platforms at the same time. 14
7 Start a YouTube account & upload informative videos Just like your blog posts, any videos you produce should ultimately be geared towards informing the viewer. Creating informational videos gives you a chance to show off your knowledge and build your brand s trust and authority in the eyes of your audience. Your site s search ranking will improve as your content gets shared around the web. You can publish videos of projects you ve completed or are working on, product reviews, tutorials for fixing hardwood floor problems, and anything else related to your specialty. When uploading your videos to YouTube, include important keywords and key phrases in the title and tags so users looking for relevant information will find it. Push out the content to your social media sites. Install a YouTube button on your website so visitors can access your channel directly. 15
8 Comment on and get quoted by industry sites. Interacting with the other industry professionals and getting mentioned in the right places on the internet can help you establish yourself and your team as experts. The only surefire way to get mentioned in different places is to network in both the real world and the virtual one. In the real world, attend industry events and workshops. If you have business cards, make sure to put your website URL on them, and tell your colleagues about your efforts to update your web presence. Keep abreast of what they are doing as well. Share partners and colleagues content, and use it to generate ideas for your own original content. In terms of virtual networking, commenting on other blogs and sharing other people s content on social media are important methods for drawing attention to your own site. When submitting comments to other sites, make sure to contribute something relevant and helpful. If you only provide a link to your website without saying anything else, your comment will be considered spam. 16
9 Ask clients to review your services online. You can ask satisfied customers to review your services on a site, or several sites, of your choosing. Google reviews are especially important to secure, as they re one of the first things people will see when they search for your business on Google. User ratings show up in the sidebar next to the results when people search for your business. While it s not easy to maintain the discipline to ask each satisfied customer to review your work, it s definitely worth the effort! 17
10 Consider consulting a website building company to optimize your results. There are several web marketing companies that specialize in building sites for contractors, such as Sites4Contractors and LiverMint Media. These companies and others like them are run by professionals who specialize in crafting web presences for contractors. Investing in their services could certainly pay off, as they re trained to specifically help contractors succeed on the web. 18
11 Don t neglect the methods that still work for you. Just because you ve expanded your marketing reach to the internet doesn t mean that you have to forget about using the tried-and-true methods that have brought your business success offline. If you find that lawn signs generate a lot of leads and conversions for you, continue to put them up. Including internet marketing in your efforts doesn t mean that you have to stop advertising in traditional ways. 19
Conclusion Although many contractors still rely on word-of-mouth referrals for new business leads, this is an unpredictable method of securing new clients. Most consumers begin their research online. In fact, 78% of internet users conduct online research prior to selecting a product or service. It s important to take advantage of this territory in order to maintain a steady business flow, and to increase lead generation and conversion. Luckily, internet marketing doesn t necessitate a lot of funding. Hosting a website can cost as little as $2.95 per month, social media profiles are free to use, and improving your on-site SEO to boost traffic simply requires time and research. Your internet marketing efforts can only contribute to your offline advertising success and bring increased revenue to your business. Contact Us:»» P: 800-737-1786»» info@cityfloorsupply.com C I T Y F L O O R S U P P LY. C O M Copyright 2016 City Floor Supply