Lately, we’ve talked with many plumbing companies about highly technical services that marketing agencies try to sell. In today’s podcast, Nolen and Jason talk about the dangers of single-service “cure-all” solutions.
We’ve also provided a short terminology guide to help you understand some of these crucial terms. If you’ve struggled to determine what your plumbing company needs to succeed online, be sure to listen in!
Look Out for These Key Points
- Can a singular service improve my rankings online?
- Is a low-dollar service package a good deal?
- What do these online marketing terms mean?
Confusion Regarding Online Marketing
Explaining concepts and processes to homeowners is a crucial portion of the job for plumbing contractors. Not only do you manage expectations better this way, but you also enable your customers to make informed decisions based on their needs.
Now imagine a homeowner that claims they need a particular service (which you know to be unnecessary) because a shady plumber said so. Naturally, you’d want to guide your client toward the best solution and steer them away from potentially wasteful suggestions.
When it comes to online marketing, plumbing contractors often rest at a significant disadvantage to the professionals within the marketing industry. That’s because marketing experts spend countless hours researching the latest trends in an online search.
Most businesses use this information to serve their current and future clients better. Unfortunately, some marketing companies try to exploit this knowledge gap for their own ends.
That’s where we see the rise in buzzword marketing, promoting a technical service in a way that sensationalizes both the function and the results of the solution. In buzzword marketing, an agency salesman often takes a service out of context with the rest of search engine optimization (SEO), making it difficult to understand its purpose.
Of course, the sales pitch usually comes with dramatic claims of soaring site traffic and customer leads.
Be Careful of Cure-All Solutions
Plumber SEO is influenced by hundreds of different factors. Many rest within the confines of your commercial website and how well it’s optimized for search.
Other external factors include your business’ reviews, the completion of your Google My Business listing, and your social media marketing activities. All of these points contribute towards your overall online marketing success.
If a business struggles with low rankings, slow traffic, and poor lead generation, it’s almost never because of one factor. So when a marketing firm comes along and promotes a singular service to turn everything around, plumbing contractors should automatically be suspicious.
If a company approaches you with a brand new, highly complex solution, take it with a pound of salt!
Taking a Full Health Approach
The most successful (results-producing) marketing companies always examine their clients from a broad point of view first. Our team at the Plumbing Webmasters examines hundreds of data points whenever we take on a new client.
That’s because your search engine marketing (SEM) success depends on your success in several key areas.
Crucial Factors for Success
- Factor #1: Your Company Website – Coding, Keywords, Content, and Management
- Factor #2: Your Advertising – Adwords PPC Campaigns, Facebook Ads, etc.
- Factor #3: Social Media Content – Visitor Experience, Reviews, Response Speed
- Factor #4: Citations – Reviews on Google; Listings on Yelp and Angie’s List
- Factor #5: Phone and Email – Employee Courtesy, Responsiveness, Organization
- Factor #6: Credentials – Licenses and Certifications (Including Their Promotion)
All of these elements contribute to your lead generation and online search rankings. If that seems like too much to handle for your plumbing business, don’t worry! Experienced digital marketing companies have both the time and the experience needed to handle all of these elements (minus the credentials, that’s on you).
Below, we’ve taken some of the big industry buzzwords and provided a brief explanation for each. The next time a marketing company tries to sell you something you don’t need, you’ll have a wonderful surprise waiting for them!
8 Fancy SEO Buzzwords Explained
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
This broad term encompasses all the activities devoted to promoting your business on Google and other search engines. Practically every element of online marketing falls under SEM.
Another broad term, typically referring to website design and other activities meant to get your site acknowledged, analyzed, and (highly) ranked by Google and other search engines. It can be divided into two categories:
- On-site SEO: activities and elements inside of your website meant to improve rankings
- Off-site SEO: activities and elements outside of your website meant to drive better site rankings
Keywords / Key Phrases
These are words and phrases intentionally placed inside your site content. Ideally, your content should include words and phrases frequently searched by people in the Google Search Bar.
The search engine identifies these words inside your site and uses them to determine a page’s relevance during a consumer’s search query.
Content
This short but profound term refers to any material created by a business, organization, or individual for the purpose of consumption. This may include written material, videos, infographics, pictures, and more.
In the context of a plumbing website, content usually refers to the material in your service pages, homepage, “Contact Us,” “About Us,” and blog posts.
Content Marketing
This concept made its popular debut over 5 years ago now. It refers to the development and distribution of non-sales-oriented content for the purpose of creating followers. This is why businesses now produce so many guides, top 10 lists, industry FAQs, blog posts, and podcasts (like this one).
While the process takes time and consistent effort, content marketing is designed to grow brand value, enhance rankings, and establish your company as an authority.
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