Optimize your Google Business Profile
Immediately, you'll want to claim and update your Google Business Profile. This is a pivotal tool that businesses use to be digitally seen across Google Searches as well as via Maps. The listing contains exceptional amounts of valuable information from a customer perspective including; company name, address, hours of operation, and phone number. On top of this, you have the opportunity to showcase your services through text, photos, and videos.
For landscaping companies specifically, this process is essential for customers who are searching for a local company that is looking for your specific services. From there, they can directly reach out to you and then provide a review after completing the service. There is so much traffic from Google that you could capitalize on and thus tons of prospective leads you could gain from only investing time into this phenomenal tool.
Now you might think this sounds great, but how do you set this up? Below is a detailed guide to get you started!
1. Sign in to Google My Business
- Visit the Google Business Profile website.
- Sign in using your Google account or create a new one if needed.
2. Add Your Business
- Once logged in, click on the “Manage now” button.
- Enter your business name in the search box. If your business isn’t listed, select the option to add it.
3. Choose the Right Business Category
- Select the category that best fits your business (e.g., Landscaping).
- This will help Google understand your business and show it to the right audience.
4. Enter Your Location
- Add the physical address of your business.
- If you offer services at customer locations (like landscaping), you can check the option for providing services outside your business location and list the areas you serve.
5. Fill in Contact Details
- Add your business phone number and website URL.
- These details will allow customers to contact you directly.
6. Verify Your Business
- Google will ask you to verify your business. Most businesses choose the postcard-by-mail option, where you receive a postcard with a verification code.
- Enter the code on Google Business Profile once it arrives (this usually takes a few days).
7. Complete Your Profile
- After verification, fill out the rest of your business details.
- Business hours
- Services offered
- Photos of your business
- Make your profile as detailed as possible for better results.
Focus on Local Keywords
In the nature of a landscaping business, you will be tailoring your services to a local audience. From this, you'll need to focus on keywords to increase your chances of appearing in searches related to your local area.
As an example, instead of using more general terms such as "Landscaping Services" on your page, you should stick to phrases like "landscaping services in Burnaby." From there, search engines perceive your business as one that services that particular area which makes it much easier for customers to find you.
Now, where do you place these keywords? Great Question!
Titles: adapt your page titles to include local keywords; for example, "Top Landscaping Services in Burnaby." This not only gives your site additional rapport, but it signals to both search engines and visitors that you are offering those specific services in that specific area.
Meta Descriptions: These are effectively short descriptions that appear under the title of a search result. Although they do not directly affect SEO, they are very important as visitors will read that content to see if its relevant before clicking through to your website. An example of a good meta description for a landscaping company is; "Offering professional landscaping services in Burnaby, specializing in lawn care, garden design, and more."
Content: This includes any written components on your page where you can naturally slip in local keywords. This could be your website copy, blog posts, service descriptions, or even your FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Create High-Quality, Relevant Content
As a landscaping expert, you have ample tips and helpful information that you could share with the world. Conveniently, this is also one of the best ways to boost your website on SERPs. Taking that information and moulding it into blog posts or articles is one of the most common SEO practices. For example, you could create a post titled "Seasonal gardening tips" or "Best plants for your garden in Burnaby" and fill that with relevant and helpful content. Often, this can lead to someone searching for that exact title and stumbling upon your article. From there, they will click through to your website and can navigate to your CTA (Call to Action) and book a call.
In order to maintain best practices, it's important to update your articles occasionally and post regularly to have a better chance of showing up in search engines. Finally, be sure to add all the relevant keywords within both the blog titles and post content that you would like to be known for.
Build Local Citations and Directory Listings
Another effective way to improve your landscaping SEO is by building local citations and listing your business within local directories. To explain more clearly, citations are mentions of your business's name, address, and phone number on other websites. For maximum effectiveness, be sure that those three pieces of information are consistent across all your listings.
Some of these popular platforms include:
- Yelp
- Angie's List
- Google Business Profile
- Landscaping-specific directories such as HomeAdvisor or Houzz
These platforms are not only an incredible assisting factor to reach new potential customers, but they also strengthen your local SEO by signalling to search engines that your business is both legitimate and active. Be sure to regularly update all the information on these platforms so that your listings are accurate.
Use Visual Content to Your Advantage
In the landscaping industry, images and videos are a powerful tool to showcase your incredible work. By leveraging beautiful before-and-after images of your portfolio, you can immediately grab the attention of potential customers and give them a more visual representation of your expertise. With that in mind, it's also important to optimize these images for SEO.
How can you achieve having optimized content? Check below for some quick tips!
Use Descriptive Filenames: Before uploading an image, be sure to rename it so it has relevant and keyword-rich titles. For example, change the name from "image123.png" to "landscaping-service-in-burnaby.png" to provide the search engine with more relevant information about the image.
Optimize for Fast Loading: Make sure you compress your images to ensure that they load quickly. There are plenty of resources online such as Optimizilla that can do just this without sacrificing quality. Fast-loading images improve the user experience and consequently reduce bounce rate which ultimately increases your position in search rankings.
Leverage Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Customer reviews and testimonials are pivotal not only for SEO, but for building trust with potential clients. Positive reviews can significantly boost your local rankings and are a direct contributor to a business's credibility and quality.
How do you leverage reviews to their fullest? Below are some tips!
Encourage all Satisfied Customers to Leave Reviews: After completing a landscaping project, ask your clients to leave a review on your Google Business Profile, this can be done by either directing them to your Google Business Profile online, or providing a link directly to your review page. The more positive reviews you accumulate, the more trustworthy your business appears to both search engines and prospective customers.
Respond to all reviews: Whether a positive or negative review, you must always respond. Acknowledging positive feedback helps build credibility and addressing negative feedback in a professional manner shows that you are committed to customer satisfaction. This engagement not only strengthens your reputation as a business, but also signals to search engines that you are active and highly responsive to customers.
