Knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is becoming more important to landscape companies. To compete against larger competitors, they must ensure their presence on the major search engines. The final thing you want is to miss out on potential customers because your company isn’t visible on the top search results when people are looking for local services.
Landscapers must take advantage of these new ways search engines and social media marketing determine rankings. However, they also need to understand how to use keywords effectively to get noticed. This is where smart landscape SEO strategies come into play.
Here Are Your Top Landscape SEO Tips Every Landscape Company Needs to Master
The landscape industry is one of the most competitive industries out there. There are hundreds of companies competing for every job site visitor. You want to ensure you’re doing everything possible to get the best return on investment (ROI). If you haven’t got any clue what’s the first step, here are some landscape SEO tips to help you dominate the market.
Optimize Your Pages with Local Landscaping Keywords
If you aim to rank well for local keywords, it helps to know what those terms mean. For example, if you’re trying to rank for “landscape design,” you might think about optimizing your pages for words like “design,” “planting,” “garden,” etc. But there are many other ways to describe landscape design besides just saying “landscape design.” For example, if someone searches for “landscaping near me,” they don’t necessarily want to see the same information as someone searching for “landscaping design.”
Google’s Keyword Research tool can help you discover how people search for things online. This allows you to determine which keyword phrases are most relevant to your niche and target audience. You’ll also learn which keywords are popular with your competitors, which gives you insight into what keywords they’re targeting.
Once you’ve found some good keywords, you’ll need to ensure you’re not overloading your pages. Overdoing it could lead to penalties, so keep your content focused on one main topic per page. Also, don’t repeat yourself too much on different pages; keep each page unique so that readers won’t feel like they’re being bombarded with similar material.
Research the Right Brand Keywords
Keyword research is one of the most important steps in optimizing your site for search engines. How can you rank well for those terms if you don’t know what words customers use to describe your products/services? Start by making a list of your business’s core services and offerings. Then add relevant keywords for each service. This way, you’d be able to identify exactly what customers are searching for when looking for your product or service online. You can ask your current clients to help you identify the best keywords.
You can also use Google AdWords to help you figure out which keywords to target. In addition, Google AdWords lets you test different variations of your ad copy and bid amounts to determine which ones work best. After identifying your keywords, you can begin writing ads for them.
Create Content Specifically to Target Landscape Customers
Content creation and optimization are often used interchangeably, but they are quite different.
On-site content creation involves creating original content for your site — like writing, designing, video production, etc. This includes text-based content (like articles, press releases, case studies, infographics, white papers, etc.) and visual content (like images, graphics, logos, etc.).
Optimization refers to how well your content performs once it’s live on your site. For example, does it load quickly? Does it provide useful information? Is it easy to navigate? Are there broken links? These are all areas where you might want to optimize your content.
Strategically Use Those Keywords
Many different aspects must be considered regarding lawn care and landscaping businesses. Unfortunately, most people don’t consider the importance of using keywords where it matters most. For example, if you’re trying to rank for “lawn mowing Fort Collins,” it doesn’t matter how good the quality your content is if no one knows what you do.
The same goes for your blog posts. For example, if you’re writing about “How to Grow a Lawn,” you want to ensure that your target keyword appears in the post. Of course, you could write an entire article about how great your lawn looks now, but if it’s just filled with your target keyword (that’s what we call keyword stuffing), it won’t help much.
You’ll find that some of your best-performing pages are those that have a lot of unique content. So don’t worry too much about having many images or videos; just ensure each piece of content contains your target keyword.
But Make Sure You Only Use a Maximum of Two Keywords per Page
There are many ways to optimize a site for search engines, but one thing most people forget about is targeting keywords. Knowing how to do this is important because it can make or break your success. You won’t rank well for those terms if you don’t target the right keywords. You’ll waste money and energy trying to rank for something no one wants.
Thinking like your current customers is the best way to determine what keywords to use. What do they want? How do they ask for it? Where do they look online? These questions will help you determine what words and phrases your target audience uses to find information online. Once you understand the types of queries your potential customers are making, you can start building your list of keywords.
A fast and easy way to build a keyword list is to go to the search bar on Google and type in some broad terms related to your product or service. Keep in mind that there are different types of keywords. Broad keywords attract visitors to your site and give them a general idea of what your business does.
Your Permalink Should Also Contain Your Target Keyword
Permalinks are text strings next to each link on a web page. They tell people where to go and can affect how well a site ranks in search engines.
When creating permalinks, keep in mind that longer URLs are better. This makes sense because a URL’s lengthier, the less likely someone is to copy and paste it into another location. In addition, shorter URLs are easier to remember and more likely to fit within the space allotted on mobile devices.
However, longer URLs aren’t necessarily better—sometimes, they can hurt your rankings. For example, the browser might take several seconds to load the page. That extra wait could cause people to bounce off your site, hurting your chances of getting found online.
Another thing to consider: don’t let your permalinks become too generic. If you have a lot of pages on your site, it’s possible one URL could cover several categories or subcategories. You want to avoid having a single URL that covers everything.
Consider the Title Tag As Your Most Powerful Element
The title tag is touted as one of the most powerful elements of a web page. However, if you don’t optimize it correctly, it could hurt rather than help your site. Therefore, ensure your target keyword is included in the title tag, ideally near the front.
Also, keep it short – around 60 characters – because people scan quickly and won’t read anything longer. Think about how you’d tell someone about your business in a sentence. You probably wouldn’t use a full paragraph.
For the homepage title tag, focus on three of the most important words that describe the business/site. This helps ensure that searchers know what they’re looking for. And always consider storytelling. What do you want visitors to understand? How will you speak to them?
Finally, try to avoid jargon. Your customers aren’t experts; they just want to find what they’re looking for, and they’ll figure out the rest along the way.
Make Sure Each Page Discusses Only One Topic
Every page on your website – including blog posts, landing pages, and even the homepage – needs to focus on one topic. If you write a page about landscaping services and another page about snow removal, you’ll confuse Google and make it harder for them to crawl both pages. Instead, keep each page focused on one topic.
Have an Organized Website Structure
If you are trying to rank well in the search engines, it’s important to ensure that your website is organized properly. This includes having a clear hierarchy of menus, submenus, and subpages.
Additionally, ensure that all the pages on your website are easy to navigate. You don’t want someone to spend five minutes clicking around and still not find what they are looking for. In fact, according to one study by Google, if a person spends over 10 seconds navigating your site, they will probably give up and look elsewhere.
Add Testimonials and Reviews
Collecting and displaying client reviews is one of the best ways to improve your digital landscape SEO. There are several reasons why collecting and displaying reviews online is important for your business. Here are some of them:
- Your potential customers want to know what others think about your products and services before buying.
- Having positive reviews posted online gives you credibility and trustworthiness.
- You can use customer reviews to increase conversions.
- Customers love reading reviews because they give them insight into how satisfied other people are with your work.
- Customer reviews make your business look trustworthy and professional.
- If there are negative reviews, you can address those issues and fix problems.
Think of Ways to Earn Links
A backlink, also called a “backward link,” is when another website links to your website or blog. When someone does this, it’s known as an inbound link. These types of links are considered one of the most important factors in determining how well a piece of blog content ranks in search engine results. They help search engines determine whether your content is trustworthy and authoritative, which helps you rank better in search results.
Backlinks are often referred to as “votes” for your content strategy. When someone shares your content on the social network, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., it’s considered a backlink. So, if you see someone sharing your content on multiple platforms, there’s a good chance they’ve linked to your content.
Make Your Contact Details More Accessible
The fact that people are searching for businesses online is no longer news. Many companies fail because they don’t make it easy for visitors to find their contact information. Buyers go to great lengths to look up your business, especially when they’re ready to buy something. They’ll likely choose another option if they cannot quickly locate your contact information or call you directly.
Therefore, ensure that all your customer information is easily accessible on every single page of your website. Don’t hide your contact information under the hood or behind some password protection. Make sure it’s visible and easily found. You want your visitor to know where to find you, even if he doesn’t know exactly how to spell your name.
Improve Your Metadata
Metadata is often forgotten in the world of digital online marketing. But it’s important to ensure that your webpages are properly indexed and tagged. In addition, you can optimize your metadata, including using Schema markup, creating descriptive page titles, and adding relevant keywords throughout your site.
Employ Local SEO
Local SEO is about optimizing your business’ physical address online. This includes adding relevant keywords and descriptions to your Google Maps listing, creating a Google Business Profile page, and making sure your business appears in Google Search.
A successful local SEO strategy will help you reach potential customers in your local area. By providing accurate information about your business, including business hours of operation, phone number, and contact information, you’re giving searchers a reason to trust your brand.
Why It’s Worth Investing in Local SEO
In addition to driving foot traffic into your store, high rankings help you attract potential customers who might never come across your brand. This is especially true for smaller businesses like landscape contractor companies, where competition is fierce and profit margins thin. To survive in today’s marketplace, you must invest in local SEO. Here are three reasons why:
- Search engines favor local results.
Google has been making substancial changes to its algorithm over the past few years, including location-based features. These changes have allowed Google to understand better what types of queries people are searching for and what they are looking for when they type in certain keywords. Because of this, Google has begun favoring local search results, even when someone searches for something far away.
- People trust reviews
According to a study by Yelp, 90% of consumers use review sites to make purchasing decisions. Given that nearly half of all purchases start online, having a positive reputation among your peers matters more than ever. While there are plenty of means to boost your reviews, nothing beats getting real reviews from actual customers. A strong influence on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can help you build a following, but it won’t necessarily translate to more reviews. Instead, try asking existing customers to write testimonials about your work. Or ask your current employees and contractors to provide feedback.
- Customers prefer local businesses
If you’ve ever tried to order a burger or get directions to a restaurant, you already know it’s easier to find a place near you. According to a survey by the National Restaurant Association, 82% of Americans would rather eat at a locally owned brick-and-mortar business than one with national chains. Of course, if you own a chain, you should still invest in local SEO because it will help drive traffic to your stores. But as a small business marketer, you must prio