It’s likely if you’re a local business owner, you’re skilled at a trade that’s valuable in the community, and SEO isn’t your cup of tea.  You may be a doctor, lawyer, General Contractor, or an entrepreneur of another sort.  You see the value of making your business information available to local internet searchers, you may know to some extent the work it requires, and you’re okay with hiring out the work to someone else, but you don’t want to throw your hard earned money down the drain.

 

I get it.  I remember when my husband and I started our San Antonio General Contracting Company.  He would get calls all the time saying, “We looked up your business and noticed you’re not showing on the first page of Google for San Antonio Contractor would you like us to get you on the first page?”.

 

The first few times, my husband signed up for offers like that excited–thinking he landed on a goldmine, and unfortunately many of the companies we’ve tried disappoint.  Simulataneously, I grew more and more interested in digital marketing and learned more and more how to analyze what these fraudulent companies were doing right and wrong.

 

Major Difference in Key Performance Indicators

What they don’t tell you is their key performance indicators can be different than yours.  As an entrepreneur, your key performance indicators are sales, leads, retention, and things like that.  As an SEO company, their key performance indicators is search engine ranking even if they get you ranking for a keyword that has a low search volume!  We’ll discuss that more later.

 

It’s important that all entrepreneurs serve their clients a product THEY’RE happy with, and unfortunately, there’s alot to filter thru in the internet marketing and local seo companies’ space.  This is a short list of questions to ask local seo companies you work with to ensure you’re on the same page with your campaigns and efforts…

 

1. What Keywords are You Targeting and What’s the Search Volume? (They Should Answer)

At KOHA, we use Jaaxy, a keyword research tool that tells us how often search engine users are searching for a particular keyword and if it’s worth the effort to rank for.  It tells us how much competition we have and so on.  We also use Bing keyword Planner and Google keyword tool in a similar way.

 

If we know a client is looking to achieve a certain key performance indicator, we operate unlike other search engine companies because we create a suitable marketing plan for their goals.  Unfortunately, other local seo companies may choose a keyword like “San Antonio Pottery Company” and get the client to rank for it, but look at the results from Jaaxy…

 

In the “Avg” column, it tells you how many people search for that keyword monthly.  In the case of “San Antonio Pottery Business”, the search volume is “<10” and the “traffic” is “<10”.  This means less than 10 people are searching for a San Antonio Pottery business every month.

 

Some local seo companies would still call and offer to get the San Antonio Pottery Business to rank for that keyword.  Often times, the entrepreneur is not knowledgeable about keyword research or search volume, but they assume that if someone is calling them making that sound valuable, then maybe it’s worth the hundreds of dollars they’re asking for, and they pay.

 

I think that’s messed up!

 

If I called the San Antonio Pottery Business to pitch seo services to them, the highest value for them would not be to rank for that keyword, right?  There would be very little to no sales, revenue, or retention which are the normal key performance indicators of entrepreneurs.

 

Instead, as a reputable local seo company, I would offer a keyword research package where we can agree on a keyword strategy first and decide whether content marketing or paid advertising is more consistent with the entrepreneur’s goals.

 

2. Do the Keywords Have a Clear Intent to Sell? (They Should Answer)

In a recent article I wrote called 4 Steps to Do Keyword Research Using a a Website Keyword Suggestion Tool,  I mentioned how there are different keyword categories: informational keywords and money keywords.  Internet marketers suggest that money keywords convert into sales better than informational keywords.

 

For example, a keyword like “Should you hire a San Antonio Contractor” or a keyword like “San Antonio Contractor” may suggest two different intents.  One search user is targeting information, and may enter the sales funnel at some point, but the search user typing “San Antonio Contractor” may be closer to the buying phase where they’re looking for a quote or appointment.

 

It’s important with local seo companies that they take their clients goals into consideration and target keywords with an intent to sell if that’s the clients main aim.

 

3. Does Your Landing Page Have a Clear Intent to Sell? (Some Local SEO Companies May Not Be Able To Help Here)

 

Added onto choosing an appropriate list of keywords to target, it’s also important that the landing page is clear and has a clear intent to sell also. Take a look at two of our brands for an example…

 

Defending Our Freedom

Please ignore the battery dying on my computer…

As a veteran who strongly empathizes for my fellow veterans, I decided to start Defending Our Freedoms to inform others about what it’s really like to be a soldier or veteran.  I’ve noticed from interacting with many people they don’t really realize what it’s like.  I’ve been asked so many times, “Why would you separate from the military?” because people genuinely don’t understand the sacrifice, the price,  and sometimes, they consider the money and overlook all of the other factors that go into defending our freedoms.

 

As a result of the mission, I chose not to make a “salesy website”.  It’s not intended to be a “cash cow”, but instead, it’s a project I’ll pursue as KOHA Inc. grows with the intention of causal marketing.

 

This page would not be a lucrative paid advertising landing page.  It doesn’t directly sell.  It’s not clear what would be sold (aside from advertising), so if this was a client site, I’d want them to take these things into consideration.

 

Anointed Urban Development

In contrast, I created this site for my husband’s San Antonio Contracting Company, Anointed Urban Development LLC…

 

It’s clear without scrolling that his goal is to get calls and email signups from people who want to do remodeling projects.  Because his goal is clear, when we choose a relevant keyword with commercial intent and send that traffic to this relevant landing page with clear commercial intent, then it’s highly likely, it will convert to achieve his goals.

 

Important Things To Consider About Landing Pages

Similar to the entrance to a physical location, your landing page is your customer’s first impression.  When people pull up to your business location, you want them to know what you’re business is about.  You don’t want them to read your business name and look at your location confused because if they’re confused about what you do or what you’re trying to sell, the chances are, you’re missing out on money.

 

On your landing page, you want to consider:

 

• What message is communicated without scrolling
• You want the first impression to be representative of your primary business goal for the site
• It should communicate what’s in it for your client
• and, You want a clear call to action

 

Good marketing companies should recommend to you modifications to your landing page that can help your conversion rates and help achieve your key performance indicators.  As an entrepreneur who doesn’t specialize in marketing, you may be DIYing your site or trusting someone to build something that’ll achieve your goals.  If your web designer doesn’t understand entrepreneurship, he’s design for appeal rather than sales: two drastically different metrics.

 

4. Is Search Engine Optimization, Pay-per Click Advertising, or Social Media Marketing the best option for Attracting Your Customers? (They Should Answer)

It’s important for local SEO companies to do market research to propose the most valuable way to reach your customers.  For some entrepreneurs, they have a sizeable budget and want to dive into all of the digital marketing trifecta.  For others, they need to start small and start seeing returns before they can scale the marketing.

 

In an article I wrote called “What is SEO and SEM?”, I talk about the differences between search engine marketing and search engine optimization.  The schedules are different, the pace at which you recieve your ROI is different, and the investment is different–just to name a few differences.  It’s important for local SEO companies to know which tool is the highest value for the customer based on their goals, but often if SEO is their only focus, they could be unable to offer what you need.

 

Regardless of the situation, it’s important to evaluate the market and create the marketing strategy around that. Let’s use the San Antonio Pottery company again, we’ve already agreed that search engine marketing using the keyword “San Antonio Pottery Company” would be in vain.  Going further, if we chose to use “San Antonio Pottery Company” on the Facebook page or Pinterest profiles, it’s likely, it wouldn’t drive much traffic for us.

 

But, take a look at this pottery company and the attention they’re getting…

 

 

16.6K monthly viewers and 16,000 followers!

 

Like Skoby Pottery, Pinterest may be a good social media channel for you, or it could be best to direct your attention to pay-per click advertising.  Market research is the determining factor for creating a sound marketing strategy.

 

At Wealthy Affiliate, my #1 recommendation for Internet Marketing training, they always say, “There’s room online for businesses of all kinds”, but if you use the wrong strategy, you could waste loads of money in a seeming bottomless abyss of nothingness.

 

It’s best that local SEO companies use a technique like the Skyscraper technique where they find businesses and content in your industry that’s working and create better for you.  There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.  Instead, if finding what works and creating something better caused Brian Dean’s traffic to go up 110% in 7 days, why wouldn’t we use that strategy for you?

 

Final Words on Choosing Local SEO Companies

Overall, there are quite a few considerations to take to mind when choosing local SEO companies. It’s not like tasting a burger or choosing a restaurant.  While it can be a GREAT investment, choosing a local SEO company can require that you ask the right questions and ensure you get the right results.  Don’t let companies pull smokescreens over your eyes (as they did my husband and I)!

 

If you have questions or concerns about this, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section.  I’d love to help you out!

 

If you liked what you saw here and you’d like a free consultation on SEO for your business, give us a call to schedule at (210)564-7749 or CLICK HERE AND SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION TO US!

 

If you’d prefer to learn how to do digital marketing for your business or train someone to perform the tasks in-house, we recommend one Internet Marketing Training program because it’s the best, and you can get SO MUCH free of cost!  For free, you can get two free websites, ten free training lessons towards an Internet Marketing Certification, and access to a community of 1M+ Entrepreneurs.

 

If you decide to go further into the premium membership, here’s the discount link to get it for $19.  You’ll be able to learn local SEO, pay-per click advertising and so much more.  CREATE YOUR FREE ACCOUNT HERE, give it a test drive, and decide if the premium option is for you!

 

Now, it’s Your Turn…

 

Have you paid for local SEO companies?  What’s been your experience?  What made your experience good?  If you had a bad experience, where do you think you went wrong with the company?