The internet gives us the capacity to access a database of almost all human knowledge out there. Since it connects us and informs us, it’s no surprise that the average person spends about 7 hours online each day!
Every successful company in the home services industry must leverage the internet to find clients and reach their target audience. Read on to learn the basics of online presence management so you can build a brand that people trust.
Know Your Target Audience
It’s important to know your target audience before building a website. This will let you tailor your branding efforts to connect with the people who matter.
Conduct market research and analyze trends within your industry. For home services contractors that manage HVAC, plumbing, and lawn care, you will target homeowners and landlords. These people will likely be middle class because they have enough money to hire quality maintenance professionals.
You should also analyze competitors in your service area. See how they’re specifically connecting with people in the areas you serve. Emulate what works for them and improve on what doesn’t.
Once you know who you’re catering to, create a buyer persona. This character represents your ideal client by being part of all your core demographics. You can then tailor your business branding efforts to appeal to them.
Build an Engaging Website
An engaging website keeps the user experience in mind throughout all aspects of its design. You need to pass the 5-second test. People decide whether they want to stay on a website within 5 seconds of clicking on it, so you need to be as engaging as possible immediately after people click on your landing page.
Part of this is making your website easily readable. Don’t use a lot of text and instead rely on images and graphic content to convey your message. When you do need text on your landing page, make sure that it’s bold and has a high contrast with your page’s background.
Link to an about section and an FAQ page from your home page. These will have more text on them, but the user will need to choose to read them. You won’t immediately overwhelm visitors.
Over half of online traffic comes from mobile devices, so make sure that your site is appealing when people use smartphones and tablets. It needs to be easy to scroll and have bold, clear links on mobile landing pages. Make sure that users can easily find your contact information so they can reach out for more information.
Use Interactive Content
Chat systems that let people connect with chatbots 24/7 help people better understand your services. You also may want to let a live agent talk to people at their request. This prevents people from getting frustrated and bouncing.
Interactive content in the general sense also keeps people interested in your brand.
There are many practical features to include on an HVAC or other home service website. You need to lead people to a page that showcases all your services and packages. You need an appointment-setting feature and an emergency services page.
You’re not going to get people browsing long enough to see these pages if you’re not interactive.
Consider including video content on your website. People process it 60,000 times faster than text, and the movement and bright colors are eye-grabbing and appealing. Let people browse the webpage with search features that require active engagement.
This will let people feel in control of their experience so that they remain invested.
Invest in SEO for Online Presence Management
A quality navigation system makes a website SEO-friendly. You need an easy-to-use drop-down menu and a search feature that gives people the content they’re looking for. If you’re a plumber offering multiple services, provide sections for each of them (e.g. “emergency services,” “routine maintenance,” “pipe replacement,” “faucet replacement.”)
This will let people find exactly what they’re looking for. However, it’s only step 1 toward a good SEO strategy.
Perform quality keyword research and choose those with a search volume of 100+. Make sure that the keyword difficulty is low so that you have a chance to rank. Consider local keywords to reach a nearby market and long-tail keywords for those making mobile voice queries.
Better yet, hire a digital marketing professional to do this research for you. Reliable experts at Optic have the professional knowledge and tools to make your page SEO-friendly. We know how to optimize quality blog posts, image descriptions, and meta text to get you to rank.
Develop Personal Relationships
Building trust with your target market is an important way to gain conversions. You’ll need to nurture relationships with them to keep them loyal and engaged. This means creating a great brand voice that they’ll connect with.
Including explainer videos on your home page is a great way to connect. These videos feature someone discussing the ways that you resolved their pain points. Since people tend to trust other consumers in their demographic, it’s a solid way to make a connection.
Link visitors to your social media pages. Encourage them to reach out with questions. Have an email list where you get people to connect with the brand that you build.
Stay Up to Date
Make sure that your website is always up to date. You don’t want people to see something ugly and outdated that makes them click away. Many people judge how reputable a business is based on their online presence management, so make sure that you position yourself as a modern brand leader.
Keep up-to-date with recent web design trends. Manage your content to include upcoming dates and post on your blog frequently. This will show people that you care about your business and want to stay grounded in current trends.
Create a Great Business Branding Strategy
Online presence management can be tricky for new businesses, but company branding will ultimately help you gain customers and drive conversions. Now that you know how to build a brand from the ground up, it’s time to enlist the pros to help you create an engaging website.
Our team is excited to discuss your specific needs and help you create a website that represents your vision and values. Contact Optic Marketing Group to come up with a comprehensive digital marketing plan.