How To Optimize Your Flooring Business Online For 2020
Your Local SEO Resource
Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
Without going into detail here about Google My Business considering that we’ve addressed it extensively before, I urge you not to ignore GMB (Google My Business) in 2020! An optimized listing is your best friend when it comes to local SEO for your flooring business.
Make sure your listing is complete and up-to-date. Add flooring pictures and your company logo if you haven’t already and do everything you can to encourage people to review your business on Google. It’ll help –I promise.
Standardize Your NAP Listings
NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) listings are another topic we’ve covered extensively, but NAP has become more important than ever before for flooring businesses, thanks to Google’s Hawk update in 2017. Having even one listing that’s not standardized can and will dilute your online presence – so don’t skip this step.
Google your flooring company and make sure that your NAP listing is identical everywhere it appears. Remember that even minor differences (Ave instead of Avenue) can cause a problem. I know this is a painstaking, nitpicky job, but it’s important
Specify Your Service Areas (your local area and surrounding areas)
You own a flooring business and that means you have service areas. It’s important to let Google know where your showroom is located and the areas you wish to install flooring.
There are two quick and simple ways to specify your service areas without overhauling your entire website. You can:
- Add a bulleted list of cities, towns, or neighborhoods you want to install flooring in
- Embed a map on your website with pins in your service areas
Create Geo-Targeted Landing Pages
One of the changes included in Google Hawk is that Google made the target search areas smaller than they used to be to (at least in theory) prevent businesses from being elbowed out of search results. What we suggest is creating separate landing pages for each of your service areas. Here are some tips:
- Remember that Google ranks pages and not domain names, so there’s no limit on the number of geo-targeted landing pages you can have.
- Choose highly targeted flooring keywords to add to the pages.
- Do not duplicate content too closely or Google will flag your pages.
- Whenever possible, link social proof to your flooring website by including relevant local reviews and testimonials.
Most searches these days are happening on mobile devices. Having geo-targeted pages will help you to take advantage of voice search, including “Near Me” searches that are relevant to your flooring business.
Optimize Your Citation Pages
Did you know that it’s common for prospective customers to spend only a few minutes on your flooring business website before converting? That might sound unrealistic but it’s true – and it’s because they spend far more time on citation pages before buying anything.
Some of the best-known citation pages are review aggregation sites like Yelp and Yellow Pages, and many more.
To get a jump on optimizing your citation pages, check out this mini list from Moz, which lists common citation pages for flooring companies. Then, Google your flooring business and make your way through each citation. Keep in mind that, in some cases, it may be worthwhile to upgrade to a premium account, so you can add images and make the most of your business listing.
Use Schema Markup on Your Flooring Website
Another local SEO factor that you may have overlooked until now is Schema markup. Schema tells Google how to display your pages when they come up in search – and it can make a big difference in how local customers feel about your page.
You should use Schema markup to provide potential customers with vital information about your flooring products and services. Many flooring businesses don’t bother to include a ‘rich snippet” with their Schema markup. You can find more information about how to use Schema markup to boost your SEO here.
Focus on Reviews
There’s no denying that reviews are a huge part of local marketing. The research shows that almost all consumers pay at least some attention to online reviews, with many giving them as much credence as a personal recommendation.
You should start with your Google My Business because those are the reviews that people are most likely to see when they search for your flooring business. After that, you should look at review aggregation sites such as:
- Yelp
- BBB (Better Business Bureau)
- Industry-specific sites
Make it a company policy to ask happy customers for reviews. Reach out to customers after a job has been completed.
Consider linking directly to your review pages from your website. This is something local customers value and it will help your local SEO, too!
Getting optimized for 2020 doesn’t need to be complicated and you don’t need to spend a lot of time doing it. The quick fixes provided here will help you fine-tune your local SEO and grow your flooring business this year.
To learn more about optimizing your flooring business online for local SEO, and other marketing tactics that will help you sell more flooring, schedule a call with one of our experts today.