The race to the top of the page
Everyone wants their site on the top of SERP’s, I get that, that’s how customers can find us, it’s the route that many are taking that drives me nuts!
Looking at my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I see article after article on “Panda, Penguin and Google’s latest algorithm changes and what you should do”. Keeping up with all these changes is a full time job in itself!
Did you know that Google changes its search algorithms between 500 and 600 times each year, and it experiments with over 10,000 changes in that same time?
Look on any online contractor’s forum and there are numerous discussions on how to manipulate your rank by using back links, meta tags, directory submissions and more. While these are often things that do need to be implemented on your website, they can be like “putting lipstick on a pig”.
What good does it do to have your website rank well if it is not designed to convert visitors to leads? You have hundreds of visits to your site? Big whoop if they from all over the country. Why are you trying to make your website please Google?
The good news is in the common thread that every improvement Google makes is designed to provide a better user experience to searchers. That means your search results need to deliver where it matters most: high click-through rates, low bounce rates and long time-on-site.
You can only outperform in these areas when your keyword and content strategy is optimized for the real people behind the queries — and that means understanding the user intent.
The user intent of a keyword is the goal of the user typing the search query, and it typically falls into three categories: Do something, Know something, or Go somewhere. In fact, there’s often more than one intent per query.
Content written for user intent wins the day (and keeps those coveted high rankings).
Source
So what good it does it do to rank if your site does not focus on the user experience because you don’t spend time on……
Content! Content! Content!
Writing content for users and properly using keywords is critical to a proper website. We have always promoted this here at BP. I know of several contractors who write for their own sites and do a great job.
Some, not so much!
I have helped several contractors with their websites and the hardest part is always getting content added. This has delayed the launch of the website for months at times because writing can be hard! Recently I had a client hire my friend Tess Wittler for a site I was building and I was very impressed with the results, as was the contractor. This can be a great option for someone who does not have the time or desire to write.
Here is an interesting batch of statistics about why content marketing works, much is geared towards B2B, but the overall message is good.
So, put the lipstick down, pick up the pencil and get to writing!
Great post Chris and from someone who has been on the World Wide Web since 2001 with my first site I couldn’t agree more. Content is king and updated content and portfolios are big plus as are you and Tess . If your gonna do it build a website do it right the first time and get help form professionals.
Thank Nick! For a trade that always promotes “Hire a Pro” it is amazing how many will try such endeavors on their own and think it is just fine. While there are contractors that can do it, we need to realize where our time, energy and budget is best used.
Spot on advice as ever, Chris. It is no easy task. Readers are arriving at different stages of need to know. Some are researching from a zero knowledge base, others know exactly what they want and are looking for the who is going to do it for them. And you also have readers with all levels of knowledge and interest in between. That is a lot of info and angles to cover and I would say that one sell your services article probably doesn’t wash, without some useful support from a related blog or two.
Andy,
Great points! Creating content that customers can understand, as well as get to know you, will always be more more beneficial than some arbitrary ranking! Thanks for commenting!
Great eye-catching title, Chris! Love it!
When it comes to writing content, it is important to get the facts across as well as your personality. Consumers have so many options today. The internet is the new yellow pages and there are many companies for them to research, so you want content that reflects your business. This is how you attract your ideal customer.
Having said that, many contractors don’t feel comfortable with writing. If this sounds like you, hire someone who can get it done. While it does cost money to do so, you truly do get it back 10-fold with the new business (and referrals) you bring in.
Thanks to you for the mention. I always enjoy working with your clients and BP readers!
“Content that reflects your business” Could not agree more! Thank you Tess!
Couldn’t agree more, Chris. I don’t know why so many are willing to work so hard to find shortcuts and put out junk, when it would be easier to just focus on the basics of good relevant content.
Thanks, I don’t know why either!
I dunno about all that. Local painters around here where their sites have not changed in years. some look like they were done in the early 90’s are the first to show up in the local searches.
I guess if it’s not broken then no need to fix it. But when I hear, content and content and update on a regular basis, it does not fit the local profile around here.
Pat
Pat,
Be very interesting to see how those old sites convert, but you could be right.