Not familiar with SEO? For cleaning companies, it could mean the difference between a pristine future or a trip to the waste bucket.
Pop quiz. What’s the first thing you do when you’re looking for a new place to eat out? Or if you want to pick your own apples? Or you need a new stove in your kitchen? There’s a good chance you pull out your phone or open up your computer and go to Google. You probably type in something like, “restaurants in Cleveland,” or “best pizza in Tulsa.”
The results you get are thanks to something called search engine optimization, or SEO. For cleaning companies, SEO can be a game-changer. We’ll get into some details below, but think about how you look at the results of your searches for a moment. Do you click on the first two or three links? Do you ever get to page two? Page three? Maybe if you’re looking for something particular. But for most of us who just want to find a cleaning service or a restaurant or two plane tickets to paradise, we don’t go past the first several results.
When you’re running a cleaning company, that makes a huge difference in your revenue. The more eyes on your website, the more calls to your business. So how does this all work, and how can you take advantage of it?
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How to “do” SEO for cleaning companies that want more business
There are entire continuing education courses around SEO. For cleaning companies, though, that’s probably not a necessary venture. After all, unless you operate a national franchise, you just want to reach the people who will actually hire you. Going back to the restaurant analogy, if I want pizza in Tulsa, it doesn’t help to get results for pizza shops in Philadelphia.
So what we’re looking at is actually local SEO for cleaning companies. How does it work? SEO is based on keywords. Keywords are those words and phrases you type when you’re looking for something, like “commercial cleaning company in Dallas.” When you type that and hit enter, Google searches millions of websites to find that phrase and gives you the results based on several factors, such as how many times the phrase appears in context on a website, where it appears, and how frequently people click and stay on that link. This works for About Us pages, for services offered pages, blog posts, and any web page that includes text.
To give you a real-life example of how this works, this blog post’s keyword is “SEO for cleaning companies.” You see it in the title, in the subtitle, in the section heading, and several times throughout the post. Chances are that’s the phrase you googled to get here.
So if you were working on SEO for cleaning companies in Tampa, Florida, you might have phrases on your website and blog posts such as:
That’s the fundamental version of how SEO works. Now how can you make it work for you?
Your 7 step guide to SEO for cleaning companies
1. Sign up for a Google My Business account. There are several subpoints to this, but let’s start with the best one, which is that a Google My Business account is FREE. Once you sign up, create your business profile. The more you can add here, the better. That includes, among other things your:
Why is this important? The more information Google has about your business, the more likely you will show up near the top in search results. And you also show up on Google maps, which will showcase not just your address, but also your business info, reviews, and other information. But sure to add areas of specialization, too, like medical office cleaning or large retail space.
2. Respond to reviews. Google takes into account how regularly you respond to reviews. And don’t even think about skipping the bad reviews. Failing to respond to bad reviews will lower the SEO for cleaning companies – or any other business for that matter. Plus, the way you respond to negative reviews can be a great way to showcase your customer service. By the way, it’s okay to ask for reviews, but it’s not okay to ask for good reviews or to offer something in exchange for positive reviews.
3. Create a website. If you don’t already have a website, you can create a free one through your Google My Business account. One crucial piece of advice here is that when you create a website, or if you already have one, make sure it’s mobile-friendly. The number of people searching the web on their phones is going up every day, and you don’t want to get left behind.
4. Don’t forget to use local phrases on your website. This will help your local SEO ranking and help people in your service area find you.
5. Create social media business profiles. Google isn’t the only place people search for local businesses. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are popular social media sites where people look for local companies. Also, try to stay somewhat active here. If you haven’t posted anything in six months, people may assume you’ve closed your doors.
6. Add other local content to your website. If you have a blog or a news section on your site (and it can be beneficial to have these), be sure to post as much relevant local information as possible. This will add to the localization of your SEO, plus it shows support for the community in which you live.
7. Don’t forget to take advantage of local business listings. Claim your Yelp profile, make sure you’re listed correctly in the Yellow Pages, and get listed on any local directories that you can. Your local Chamber of Commerce or small business association may have these, but look at other professional directories that are specific to your industry, as well.
In short, SEO for cleaning companies means getting your business name, location, and correct information into the digital universe as much as possible.
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