Friday, March 29, 2024
blogging painters logo

Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make Online

importance of an effective website

The web is maybe the biggest tool and advantage we’ve ever been able to use as businessmen and women in the history of the world. Never before have we had the power to advertise to a market on a 24/7 365 basis with a minimal investment as often as we’d like. And while some might disagree with me, I think it’s the biggest difference between businesses that make it and ones that don’t – especially in our current economy.

That being said, the overwhelming majority of people I see online are doing things wrong and only killing their business. That’s bad enough, but when you combine that with the fact that they don’t even know they are doing it and you just feel for these guys. Hopefully these couple of tips will help you avoid the big mistakes in online marketing and help you grow your business the way you would expect.

While there is anything but a set in stone wrong way or right way of marketing your contracting business online, there are a lot of different things you need to avoid in an effort to make sure you don’t shoot yourself in your foot.

AN EFFECTIVE WEBSITE

A lot of people look for the different tools and technologies first when they are marketing online, and while these bright and shiny things are the easiest to take notice of they are also the least powerful. Sure, you should have a website that is attractive and easy to run but it would be much more important to pack it with content that sells and a design that is geared towards converting visitors to clients than a color scheme or super-duper logo you think is attractive, wouldn’t you agree?

TARGETED KEYWORDS

The other thing that I notice a lot of people doing is something that drives me wild – major pushes for global keywords. I know that SEO work is critical to boosting business, but think of it this way – would you targeted keywords for small businessrather have 40 billboards in your own town talking about your contracting business or 40 of them all over the globe? Make sure you are targeting local traffic with your efforts. Not only will it be easier to rank but it will also be easier to get customers from your efforts.

The most important thing you can do – far more important than any tool, tactic, technique, or technology – is to focus with a laser like precision on EXACTLY the kind of person you are looking to do business with and then only market towards them.

LASER LIKE FOCUS

This is something that almost always gets ignored and cripples business from the very outset. Remember that your visitor has zero interest in you at all until they know you can help them and actually care. Most people think that their website is a chance to tell visitors their business life story, when very few could give a hoot. Most of them need help for a problem right now and are looking for someone that “gets it” – jump right in and outline the problem and the solution and you’ll get a lot more business than telling them you’ve been around for 25 years and offer “world class service”.

So remember focus, focus, and focus. Don’t become distracted by the latest and great marketing fads. Identify your target market and go after them.

8 thoughts on “Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make Online

  1. Great post, I could not agree more. With so many “do it yourself” tools available to business owners on the web, many folks just don’t understand enough about marketing to use them effectively. Often outsourcing or getting training for staff from a professional is the best way for a business owner with little time or marketing knowledge to get up and running effectively on the Internet.

    1. Thanks Barbara. I agree. The challenge that I see is that many contractors are so good at doing things themselves that they think they can market their business themselves, and without a lot of homework, and a lot of consistent dedication, they fail.

  2. Great article Tyson, I think more business owners should take the time to educate themselves or I will educate them, on the results gained from inbound marketing tactics like blogging and email marketing, and targeting the ideal customers.

  3. Totally agree, I handle the online marketing for my friends painting company. It’s competitive out there, so having all hands on deck yields way better results than painting all day and coming home to manage all the moving parts of an SEO campaign.

    1. Great article. I have been spending as much time as possible on my house painting business, building online presence and conveying my message in a simple and clear cut way. Online it has been all about having an easy to use website that directs peoples attention to get more estimates for interior and exterior painting. I’m happy to see others doing the same.

Leave a Reply to Brian Parson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.