Hey everyone,
To stand out from the crowd in today’s digital world, tradespeople can no longer simply rely on word of mouth to keep them in work – they need to get digital marketing savvy and have a good, and more importantly, active online profile.
One way to do this is to enlist yourself with a reputable online directory like us, Checkatrade, but, there are other ways you can build your online profile as the marketing experts over at Land Digital will be outlining below.
As you start your journey with online marketing it’s best to be focussed and start with just a few actionable steps. This will help you start growing your online presence and ultimately your reputation which in turn will keep quality work rolling in.
Deliver a user-friendly customer journey
First things first, you’ll need a website – and this website should be optimised to provide a user-friendly customer journey. Sound a little technical? Not to worry, let us break it down for you…
The customer journey is the way in which a customer explores your site and how your site layout and design guides them from A (arriving on your site) to B (becoming a customer). Of course, you’ll want this to be as user-friendly as possible – and by that, we mean as logical and straightforward as possible for the user to engage with. Ultimately, you want your website to drive conversions, so consider how clear and obvious the path to your contact or quote page is for users, while still allowing your users to obtain all the information they need.
Utilise design and content features like breadcrumbs (the links across the top of a page that allow users to click between the pages they’ve visited seamlessly) and calls-to-action to refine this customer journey. Within this, you’ll also need to ensure your content actually adds value to the user and is clear about the types of services you offer. Whether this is through visual content (such as images or short videos of previous projects) or a concise list of services you provide, the key is to enable site users to easily find all the information they need to make the decision to use you.
By having a user-friendly site that makes use of intuitive features such as the ones mentioned, you’re likely to see more leads as a result – meaning if you’re not tech-savvy, it may well be worth your money hiring a professional web design and development team to create an optimised site for you.
There’s also no escaping the fact that a lot of work for tradespeople comes through customer recommendations, so it’s worthwhile including some customer testimonials on your site to increase the level of trust with potential customers and give your business an even better chance of being noticed.
Get listed on high-authority directories
We don’t need to tell you that directories have been the tradesperson’s best friend for years. Still, the days of Yellow Pages dominance are over – today, online directories have a significant part to play in generating business for tradespeople.
Sites such as Checkatrade enable users to search through thousands of recommended and vetted tradespeople at the click of a button – so ensure you’ve signed up and listed your services in your local area. What’s more, we offer users the ability to review people like you, the tradespeople, so make sure you harness any positive reviews you have and show them off to the world – after all, this is likely to have a direct impact on whether a user chooses your services over the alternatives.
Get social media savvy
Social media is now a staple of day-to-day life, making sharpening your social media marketing skills an absolute must for any tradesperson looking to harness the power of social media from a business perspective.
Though each of the world’s major social media platforms boasts its own advantages, we recommend setting up a Facebook business page or Instagram as your primary avenue for exploration as a starting point – ensuring your profile looks the part by uploading all of the essential details, such as your contact information, profile picture, website URL and page descriptions.
Whatever platform you use, another key part of being savvy with your social media presence and using it to engage potential customers is ensuring your pages are regularly updated with relevant posts. This could be updates showcasing your latest and greatest handiwork, providing a visual insight into what you do like Just Wood Flooring who use quality, wide lense images to show off their capabilities. Try to personalise these images where you can, too, so as to make your mark and increase brand recognition in the long term.
Always shout about your websites and social media platforms where you can. By including a link to your website directory(like Checkatrade), you’ll strengthen your site’s link profile by driving link equity into your site. Put simply, and this will improve your site’s ranking potential on search engines.
Do you have any other great SEO tips and advice?
Last edited by Lauren; 22-02-21 at 17:26.
