Why the need to be on the first page as a home improvements business?
It is often said that being on the first page of Google is important for a business but understanding how to get there can be tricky. Luckily, we are here to help with some easy adjustments to help get your home improvements business at the forefront of the market.
In fact, 68.7% of people click on the first, second, and third search engine results compared to the rest.
Firstly, it is important to research what your competitors are currently doing and why they are beating you to that top spot. Search for the key terms that are relevant to your business’ offerings. Invest time in looking at competitors that appear. What is their positioning; are they paying to be there, or are they there organically?
Here is an example of the difference between a sponsored ad and an organic ad:
Have a look at the landing page they have used, what is their website like? Consider some of the following points:
- Does it load quickly?
- Is the key term used throughout the page?
- Have they included images, and if so, what is the quality like? What about video?
- What is their call to action?
Think what home improvements service you offer and your USP compared to your competitors, then promote this through your site. Take the time to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of your competitor’s offering. Take the opportunity to integrate positive ideas, if required, and try to avoid imitating what you see as weaknesses in their site.
Google Ads:
Google Ads is a tool designed to help Companies to rank at the top of Google. It combines the user’s manual set up with machine learning, promoting and showing ads to the relevant audience. It decides on the position through an auction-based bidding system. This combines the bid with the quality and relevance of the ad and landing page, to decide when and where the ad appears.
Google is often renowned for dominating the industry of search engines and for good reason. In fact, 92.4% of users revert to Google when searching on the internet compared to only 2.86% using Bing and 1.5% for Yahoo, meaning Google Ads is the optimal server to gain reach.
Another advantage of using Google Ads is its flexibility and tailored approach to each business. This can be done in multiple ways such as filtering certain keywords to target or setting a maximum amount for each click. This oversight of the campaigns allows you to invest in those that are successful and get rid of others that are not financially viable, making it far more economical.
Moreover, Google Ads can also provide a range of good quality data through analytics that can be utilised to identify areas of improvements and further improve the campaigns.
However, depending on your home improvements industry, it’s not always easy to reach the top. If the market is too saturated, Google can take advantage of this by increasing the CPC (cost per click) which can become costly. As the price rises, if you don’t keep up with required budgets, you can be punished by being relegated down the rankings and losing valuable exposure.
Search Engine Optimisation:
In contrast, another way of improving awareness on Google is through Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO). This is the process of altering your website to optimise for keywords but organically through making sure content is up to date and relevant, writing blogs, improving the website from a technical perspective, and improving user experience.
Four sections of SEO for home improvements
SEO can be broken down into four sections that can collectively impact your rankings.
Local
The first of these is local SEO. This is great way of appearing for searches, particular geographical regions and targeting customers within that location. Improving your local SEO can increase your rankings on map pack. This is the 3 listings below the Google map image which directs users straight to your location. It can be useful for home improvement businesses due to the local nature of many offerings. This makes the website visit more likely to convert into an enquiry and sale, due to its practicality and relevance.
Additionally, SEO can also be split into on-page, off-page, and technical elements.
On-page
On-page refers to anything that can be optimised on the website itself. This includes the page title, meta description, and high quality, unique content.
Off-page
Whereas Off page is more targeted to the reputation of the site from outside sources. It is impacted by factors such as age of website, and the ability to gain links from other relevant, high authority websites.
Technical
Finally, Technical SEO is all about the user’s experience on your site. Optimise the site for a quick load and set up an efficient and logical linking structure. Finally, avoid broken links by redirecting 404’s.
SEO is a far more cost-effective option when compared with Google Ads. There are no charges when it comes to organic rankings, meaning you don’t pay per click for traffic to the site. Furthermore, when you stop Google Ads, the traffic dries up overnight. This differs from SEO as upfront investment can result in continued traffic way in to the future.
Traffic to the website can increase over time with the relevant changes. It can be more cost effective than Google Ads, leaving more room for profit. However, even producing relevant content and researching the necessary improvements to the site can be demanding and time-consuming, which still can be costly.
To further this, achieving results in SEO can be a lengthy process and does not just happen overnight. For some people, the lack of immediacy can be off-putting and seem risky. This is especially apparent for smaller businesses. However, with the help of a reputable agency that knows what they’re doing, it can be hugely beneficial. It may also be recommended to convert to Google Ads as a response to this problem. This is because results are far quicker meaning sales happen sooner.
Reach out
If you are a home improvements business and looking for some more handy tips on growing our business, take a look at our other blogs at https://search-buddy.com/blog/ . On the other hand, if you are looking to start digital marketing within your home improvements business and think you would benefit from our expertise do not hesitate to get in touch with our Home Improvement Marketing Agency today on 0113 467 5392, or request a proposal at https://search-buddy.com/contact-us/
