A while ago an old client of mine got in contact regarding setting up a Google Adwords account. He was keen to up his company’s profile and get more customers. His website was not getting enough traffic and customers. There was nothing wrong with this, in fact it’s good to explore new ways to expand your customer base but what about website content updates?
Sixmile Design had put his website design together a few years ago when he was just starting out with his new business. He was working in the construction industry. I had a look at the website and within seconds realised, at this stage, Google Analytics wouldn’t be the preferable option. The problem with the website was a lack of any decent information.
We could have spent time putting an Adwords campaign together to drive traffic to the website but there again, what would be the point if people reached the website and found no concrete information, no decent landing page or testimonials or case studies. Just general info that lacked detail. Look at this way. If you were needing construction work done would you choose the company that had sparse, general information or the company that had a ton of info including case studies backed up by photography, testimonials, social proof and a detailed breakdown of construction services undertaken?
Competitive Research and Analysis
The first thing I did was Google his competitors. Having a look at the competition in a situation like this can be a real eye opener. There were some great looking sites full of detailed information, testimonials and countless case studies. The idea here is to put some keywords into a Google search and find the competition. Have a look at their pages, see if they have a blog, what articles have they written and understand how you can make your own site better. How can you improve on what they’ve done and in doing so make your own site better.
However it is possible to dig deeper and gain insight into the competiton by using ‘competitor analysis tools for SEO’. These tools are designed to give you a much deeper and detailed understanding of your competitors websites.
‘Researching’ the Competition
Regarding researching competiton there are now a number of ways to do this. This wasn’t always the case, however today we have a couple of different avenues to explore on gaining detailed information on what the competition is up to. Ideally you want to find out what their traffic is like, what keywords they’re using on pages to gain traffic and what backlinks are elevating them up the results page.
Backlinks are also called inbound links because they represent another website’s traffic coming to your own site. The quality and quantity of your backlinks can help you rank higher in search engines such as Google. Although it must be remembered Google still places, and will always place, the greatest emphasis on actual website content quality when it comes to Search Enhine Optimisation. Backlinks are just part of the SEO jigsaw.
SEMrush
Two words ‘SEMrush‘ (or maybe it’s just one word) is the ultimate tool for analysing competitor’s websites. After inputting the competiton’s URL you are able to view a host of metrics, analytics and detailed information regarding where the competitor’s site is ranking. This in itself helps businesses improve their online visibility, optimize their marketing strategies, and analyze their competitors. Here are some key features and functionalities of SEMrush:
- Keyword Research: SEMrush allows users to research and discover valuable keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns. You can find information about keyword search volume, competition, and related keywords.
- Competitor Analysis: The tool helps provide insights into your competitors’ online strategies. You can analyze their websites, traffic, backlinks, and keywords to identify opportunities and gaps in your own strategy.
- Site Audit: SEMrush can analyze your website’s health by checking for technical issues, broken links, and other factors that affect SEO. It provides recommendations for improving your site’s performance.
- Backlink Analysis: It offers a detailed analysis of backlinks to your site and your competitors’ sites. This information helps you identify link-building opportunities and assess the quality of your backlinks.
- Advertising Research: SEMrush provides data on your competitors’ advertising strategies, including the keywords they target and the ad copies they use. This is helpful for optimizing your PPC campaigns.
- Content Analysis: You can evaluate the performance of your content and identify opportunities for content improvement and expansion. It also provides topic ideas for content creation.
- Social Media Tracking: SEMrush allows you to monitor your social media accounts and track engagement metrics. You can also schedule and manage social media posts.
- Market Analysis: Gain insights into specific markets or niches, including market trends, competitors, and audience behavior.
- On-Page SEO Recommendations: Receive recommendations for optimizing specific pages on your website to improve their search engine rankings.
- Rank Tracking: Monitor your website’s rankings for specific keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs) over time. You can track your progress and identify areas for improvement.
- Local SEO: SEMrush includes tools for improving local SEO, helping businesses with physical locations improve their visibility in local search results.
- PPC Keyword Research: Discover new keywords and analyze the performance of your PPC campaigns to optimize your advertising spend.
- Content Marketing: SEMrush offers tools to help you plan, create, and manage your content marketing efforts.
- User-friendly Interface: The platform features an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it accessible to marketers and business owners with varying levels of expertise.
SEMrush is widely used by digital marketers, SEO professionals, and businesses of all sizes to enhance their online presence and outperform their competition. It’s available as a subscription service with various pricing tiers, depending on the specific features and usage needs of your business. Overall, it is an ideal tool to help understand your competiton and in doing so give ideas on what to do to improve your own website.
What is Social Proof?
Now when you’re just starting out you may be forgiven for not having much of this kind of information. Website content may be a bit trickier to come up with. However if you you know your industry and what the customer wants you should be able to weave some good initial content together. Relevant information that the potential customer is interested in centred around keywords and phrases. Once you have some jobs done get them up on the website. This is especially important in the construction industry as potential customers will choose you based on past work completed. This is known as ‘Social Proof’. Evidence that you can help potential customers by including past projects and testimonials on the website.
In basic terms a website is a great way of demonstarting to the world who you are, what you can do and maybe more importantly how you can help potential customers. Don’t ignore this chance to pack the website full of relevant detailed information backed up with some photography.
The Website Content Updates Proposal
The following is part of the proposal I sent the client concerning website content updates:
To be favourable with google (and gaining more attention through the site) and encourage people to contact you I would advise updating the website with more content including:
- An actual section on Commercial, outlining commercial jobs undertaken, case studies (ideally photography included)
- An actual section on Residential, outlining residential jobs undertaken, case studies
- An actual section on Agriculture, outlining agriculture jobs undertaken, case studies
- A section with information on common building requests/problems/jobs you’ve come across
- -– New Builds
- -– Retro fitting/restorations
- -– Conservatories/Extensions
- -– Subsidence
- Is there any unique service you offer, different from other construction companies
- A section on Health & Safety
- A Q&A section addresseing common questions and issues customers have spoken to you about
- Testimonials from customers, jobs completed – Very important
- Section on eco building, energy efficiency info (this is very popular with people at the moment), BER info etc
- Ideally you’d want to put up some photography from past projects as well
- Any relevant logos of building organisations you’re a member of
- Maybe a news section. Although this would involve time to write articles on a continual basis. Some of your competitiors have this.
The case studies in particular would give you creedence with people viewing your site.
Overall Google likes sites that are updated with fresh content every while. Google likes detailed and highly informative sites that prove you are an authority on your subject. Information like the above on the site will also be more attactive to potential customers.
It would be beneficial to setup a Google my business page. Info here: https://www.google.ie/business/go/
Be Specific Using One Keyword One Page
When it comes to website content updates it’s crucial to get away from general information especially when it comes to the services you have to offer. Google will reward sites that are not only relevant but deal with one topic on one page. Specialisation over generalisation.
One particular strategy along these lines is to choose one keyword or keyword phrase per page of your site to serve as the “target keyword” for that page. For example, don’t write a general page on the services you offer. Instead breakdown the services you offer and write a page on each.
For example you could have a section on Commercial Construction and page dedicated to each of the Commercial services you undertake. These services could be something along the lines of “New Builds” (include case studies), “Extensions & Refurbishments’ (include case studies) and “Retail” (include case studies). It depends on what the company offers, specialises in or has undertaken.
Again, the use of case studies is ‘Social Proof’ and backs up the content of the page with actual evidence of ability. Including photography is vital for visually demonstrating ability through past projects. It’s also worth noting video would be even better!
Conclusion
The above information is obviously geared to the construction industry but the overall idea is to update the site with new relevant information aimed at answering the potential customer’s questions. Website content updates have two major benefits. Firstly you’re keeping your website current and attracting attention through updated and detailed information. Secondly the more relevant and detailed information you can offer the better chances you have of a better ranking in a Google search (depending on what the viewer is searching for).
If a Google Adwords campaign is inituated with adverts linking to current and relevant, detailed landing pages within the website including contact details and/or contact forms this will mean a better chance of converting a curious customer to a paying customer.
Case Studies with photography and Testimonials provide Social Proof. Evidence that you can do the job and have happy customers. This doesn’t need to stop at the website. Companies are now learning that articles and photography of past projects featuring in the Social Networks (Facebook in particular) is a great way of winning new customers as well.