How can I get my business higher up on google?

[Newbie242815]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum, and have a relatively new business. We are a Joinery Manufacturers, so the online side is completely alien to me, and I am hoping someone can help.

How can we get our website to show higher on google, currently not showing on the first page, and we are getting no interest via our website, we are on facebook and instagram. But again we don't really know what we are doing. Website is going to have a revamp soon, we post regularly on social media.

We don't know if this is something we can pay someone to help us get higher through the ranks, or if it is something we can do to help.

Hoping someone can help

 

[DanBullBranding]

Google, Adwords and SEO is another language.

It would take you ages to learn everything and then to keep up to date with it all.
If you think it's the right route for the business I would suggest talking to an SEO expert.

Another way to help get you found on Google could be writing a weekly blog on your website, if it's a useful article that will help people or educate them and it has plenty of key words in you may get found!

Dan

 

[fisicx]

Stop posting on social media. That's not going to get you new clients.

If you want to rank higher on Google you need the right website with the right content focused on the things you want to rbs for.

Get help. Don't go for a revamp of the site until you have done some project management and know who you are targeting, for what and where. Once you know that you can get the content written, sort out the information flows and navigation, built your calls to actions, added trust marks and citations. Once all that is in place you can begin to experiment with page layouts and designs.

 

[Nochexman]

You need to subscribe to Google Adwords to get to the top of the page.

We are a Joinery Manufacturers, so the online side is completely alien to me, and I am hoping someone can help.

However, if you don't know much about online, I would start by explaining her why it is that you are interested in online?

 

[Newbie242815]

Hi guys,
Dan, great idea with the blog! I definitely think we need to consider a SEO expert, any recommendations?

Fisicx, agree doing some research, it is quite clear the content is all wrong on our website. Need to address this asap. Some of what you say makes sense to me, but you lose me a little on call to action, and adding trust marks and citation.

Nochexman, most of our competitors have websites now, and we have over the years of being in the industry had quite a lot of work through our website for our joinery supply website. However manufacturing seems a much bigger fish! We know we need to look at other sources of advertising, we have done local magazines and papers, considering maybe billboards in the local area too.

 

[DanBullBranding]

I did some marketing for a local independent bathroom shop recently, we picked a very niche high end brand that no one had really wrote about online and started blogging about the range they offered.

We ended up selling 6 units from the couple of blogs we did as people where seeing them in independent showrooms then going online to buy and getting in contact with us.

I know a couple of guys that have set up a SEO company if you want there details... they resigned from a big company so they can offer value for money as they haven't got large overheads.

 

[Steve Alphabet]

Alongside the SEO, do something to keep visitors coming back to your site. Otherwise you'll keep having to spend to attract customers. Offer something (eg 10% off first order) in return for people's email addresses, so you can stay in contact (eg send news of special offers).

 

[Newbie242815]

Dan that sounds very interesting, and is definitely food for thought, we have a lot to consider! Yes I would be very interested in their details please.

Steve agree, we need to definitely look at that.

 

[Newbie242815]

One other thing, on google, when I do a search for joinery manufacturers in nottingham, the top section which shows the businesses nearby, ours doesnt show, but we are registered on the maps. Wondering what gets you at the top of this list?

 

[ChrisRM]

SEO is one route. But I have just checked an SEO tool and 'joinery manufacturers' is only searched 350 times a month on average, across the whole country. The search volume in your town/area will be a lot less. There may be other searches people will use that I do not know and can check how often they are searched for you.

In regards to the listing in the map at the top of the results, you need to verify to Google that the business is real. Have you done this? They will send you a postcard with a code for you to enter online. Then you need to get customer to leave a couple of reviews. The number of reviews you have on your listing helps ranking there a lot.

 

[ChrisRM]

By the sounds of it, you need to look at some 'direct response' type offers. I don't know the market to be honest. But what would encourage someone to leave their current supplier and move to you?

A free extra with a first order? Or a nice discount on the first purchase? Promote this to people who would use you.

It sounds counter intuitive, spending money promoting an offer which costs you money, but its how you get customers to trust you.

 

[Newbie242815]

Chris thats really interesting, how do you access that information? I am sure many customers search doors, or windows nottingham. We did verify the business on google, it is showing as a star though rather than a box/building which is what made me question it. We need to get some reviews on google though.

I think you are right we need to look at some direct response offers. I think the customers who get the odd new door or window, they tend to use whoever is fitting their windows or doors, thats where most of our work comes through now, through my husbands joinery fitting business. But we need to get joiners using us, I am not sure how we do this, as most stick with who they use. There is a company is nottingham my husband used previously, who is always snowed under, and makes silly money. He has no website, no promo, all through word of mouth, and has some big contracts. We just dont know how we get some of these big ones! Our quality is as good maybe better and our prices are better.

 

[fisicx]

Fisicx, agree doing some research, it is quite clear the content is all wrong on our website. Need to address this asap. Some of what you say makes sense to me, but you lose me a little on call to action, and adding trust marks and citation.

Trust marks: address, phone number, photo of the team, professional membership details etc.
Citations: testimonials (with pictures) and reviews, links to websites where you festures and so on

The call to action is the bit you want me to do. It's more than just a phone number, it's adding things like:

Call 0123456789 to arrange a home visit so you can show us what you need doing

Or fill in the form below (you can attach an image if you want) or email us on [email protected]

In other words, point them in the right direction. At the moment for all they know ringing the number will end up in the lockup where he keeps his tools.

We just dont know how we get some of these big ones! Our quality is as good maybe better and our prices are better.

You may be cheaper and better but the local builder will use the same bloke he always has simply because he knows what he is getting. If you want some of these big contracts you need to stop being a joiner and start being a salesman. It means getting out and talking to people. Looking at planning applications, networking, calling and meeting people, going to place where the money men hang out.

 

[ChrisRM]

I accessed it via kwfinder.com and semrush.com, the former has a couple of free searches a day and the latter has 10. Make sure you select UK only data. What do you think they would search? 'window supplier <your town/city>'?

I'd be happy to check out the listing if you PM me the name, etc. Reviews always help, they are a form of social proof that helps persuade people that they are making the right choice.

The competitors seem like your challenge, they sound like they are good to their customers so they keep returning. Price is one factor but quality and service are others. Why change supplier when the one you use is decent and does the job?

That last question is what you need to persuade your potential customers. They know, like, and trust their existing supplier. You'll need to be better.

How about sending a letter, or maybe email, to every joiner in Nottingham (+shire), with an irresistible offer (as Raja said in the other thread). Something that is worth them coming to you for their next job, rather than their existing supplier. Your products may be better but joiners need to learn that about your company. They won't know until they try, and an irresistible offer is what is needed to get them to try.

 

[LSG Creative]

Hey, more than happy to offer some best practice tips and pointers.

I would personally say that the hot areas for increasing your online visbility this year are:

• Quality unique content - plenty of it. Perhaps how to guides would suit your business?
• Videos to work alongside the content, this means you can get some exposure via youtube whilst embedding the videos into your website to increase dwell time
• Get Secure - make sure your website is HTTPS encrpyted - cloudflare offer a free secure certifcate
• Look at multi-channel approach, you could use a service like Brightpearls Inventory Management Software to manage stock on multiple platforms
• Regularly updated social media helps Google crawl your website more frequently

<removed>

 

[MASSEY]

There are things you can do to help, to keep the costs down. Seo isn't that difficult. Just reading articles on seo sites gives you plenty of tips.

You need to include the city within the title tag of the page, and work out which pages are about what, and what keywords are relevant to each page. What do people search for if they want to land on your solid wood windows page?

Carpentry and joinery nottinghamshire, Experienced Carpenters

You need to internally link pages. That's not your navigation, it's hypelinks within the body text.

So, homepage would be more substantial than a couple of paragraphs.

We manufactrure real wood windows, a classy, elegant alternative to the more common pvc trash. With a wide selection including traditional sash windows , Suffolk sliding sash windows, Bi-fold window, Casement windows, you're sure to find the perfect solid wood window for your nottinghamshire home.

That's just an example.

Your services seem to be a more high end product so bear in mind you're not going to get as many visitors as more generic cheap services.

I'd move to wordpress firstly, and make sure you redirect the existing urls to the new pages.

Although, unless you are semi techy or good at researching and following instructions about such things you may struggle without help. So there are things you can do to help but i wouldn't advise doing it all yourself if you have some money that you can afford to part with for help.

 

[ChrisRM]

Guest blogging and blogging itself would be helpful or get traffic to your website from back links which you can order from fiverr. They are very effective yet cheap to get, the only problem this will take about 60 days or so to show any results but worth the try for the price, pm me if you like i can give you details of people i use (no affiliation just they have very good feedback 40k users can not be wrong).

Please don't buy backlinks from Fiverr.

Google will spot these spammy links, will penalise that site, and all efforts to rank the site will be wasted.

 

[Vikrant Singh]

Just like others have said here, it is a mix of SEO, PPC and content that will get your business ranking high on Google.

In my opinion, SEO shouldn't even be an option if you have a website. Your site should always be optimised correctly so there is a good natural climb to the top.

PPC is a great way to acquire customers and get high up on Google quick. You need to assign a budget that is adequate to get enough clicks/conversions/impressions. I manage PPC accounts, so would be more than happy to advise you further.

Content is something not enough people give time to, but very important! Blog articles, up-to-date website content such as customer reviews, project details, and social media posts all help to get you ranking on search engines more.

Once again, happy to have a chat with you to advise further.

 

[Gmehat]

I did some marketing for a local independent bathroom shop recently, we picked a very niche high end brand that no one had really wrote about online and started blogging about the range they offered.

We ended up selling 6 units from the couple of blogs we did as people where seeing them in independent showrooms then going online to buy and getting in contact with us.

I know a couple of guys that have set up a SEO company if you want there details... they resigned from a big company so they can offer value for money as they haven't got large overheads.

Could I have these details please

 

[webgeek]

Hiring an agency or a consultant is going to get some work done, but you don't know how well or whether it was sustainable (not cutting corners for a quick result).

It sounds very much like you need some knowledge first and then can decide how much to do in-house, how much to hire in, and be able to choose from your service provider options by making an informed choice.

Invest a couple hundred quid by taking the course over at Fresh Bananas.

Get the knowledge/skills and then you'll know what needs done and how it should be done. From there, it'll be easier to decide on who should do the work.

Be cautious. There's a high percentage of people who claim they can 'do' SEO but who don't know sh1te from apple butter. Make them prove what terms they've ranked for a few companies then check the rankings and call the companies. If they are unreachable - don't walk, run the other way!

 

[Nochexman]

How can we get our website to show higher on google, currently not showing on the first page, and we are getting no interest via our website, we are on facebook and instagram. But again we don't really know what we are doing. Website is going to have a revamp soon, we post regularly on social media.

Why not write a series of articles promoting the local area? Ideally, these should relate to the business you are in, but by focusing on local towns and villages, Google will hopefully get the message that you are a local business between Nottingham and Newark.

Quite apart from your website; do you have an extensive mailing list? When you publish your local content, you can bring this to the attention of your established customer base. This will contribute to you having a stronger online presence.

 

[BusinessTradeCentre]

Stop posting on social media. That's not going to get you new clients.

.

Not sure I would agree with this, social media is a great way to gain customers and its also a ranking factor.

 

[fisicx]

...social media is a great way to gain customers....

Only for the right products. They are a joinery business. Posting on Facebook isn't going to find new clients.

...and its also a ranking factor.

No it's not. There are ways to leverage ranking from SM posting but it's not easy and it's very transient.

 

[BusinessTradeCentre]

If they join relevant groups and also share ideas, tips etc then they will get exposure. This would defiantly lead to leads. Also advertising on facebook by area, interest would lead to more exposure and leads.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, a Facebook fan page or Google+ Page you’re missing out. You’re not building up a network that can help spread (aka share) your content, site and brand.

 

[fisicx]

It used to work like that but now that everyone is marketing themselves on social media the number of leads will be tiny. Advertsing may work but they are a specialist company so they will not get the high number of targeted impressions needed.

Have you looked at their website and the services they offer? There are lots of ways thay could generate great leads - social media marketing isn't one of them.

And Google+ is pointless. You can see the tumbleweed drifting across the network.

 

[webgeek]

Social media ROI for B2B is absolute crap compared to organic seo, ppc, email, referral marketing, collaborative marketing, cards in phone booths , etc

Take 10k and put it in social media marketing then put that 10k in the hands of someone who is a real pro at SEO, like Tin (just one example). 20 days of his time vs 20 days on Twitter, FB, G+, LinkedIn - let's compare who makes the client the most money.

C'mon people don't play the hard-8 on the craps table, it's a bad bet, like trying to throw a 4 when your point is 8. Stick with pass or don't pass line, play the best odds you can get and walk away from the table once you get ahead (if you get ahead).

 

[Deleted member 69011]

Start with the very basics which you can do yourself.

1. Login to a google site master website and set up an account there (its free and you will be guided through it). This will get your site submitted to google and give you a few other steps.

2. Then ensure your website is being built with some SEO plugin or similar built in so that you can also follow the steps given to ensure your site is set up correctly.

3. There are lots of websites where you will generate a free report to show where your 'on page' content (that's on your actual website) needs to be tweaked. They will of course try to hook you into their services later, but just take the report initially and work on it yourself.

You can do all of these things yourself for free. Then start to think about bringing on some additional help for SEO.

My big tip is not to forget about your offline audience and existing customers. Make sure you put your website address (and Facebook page if you have one, if not, why not?!) onto every piece of information your customers come into contact with (biz cards, flyers, email signatures, signs, invoices etc).

 

[Tony Kelly]

Look at keywords your competitors are targeting on their main pages - that should at least give you some ideas to what you should possibly be targeting if you don't know where to start.

While content is important (product pages, blog, etc), you also need to work on building links to your pages (from both pages on your own websites and other websites) to enable search engines to find and index them. Generally speaking, this will improve your rankings in Google quicker than most other things you do.

Do not use Fiver or such sources for a quick fix. You would be better doing nothing.

Try to find some easy opportunities - do your suppliers have websites and do they link out to other companies they supply? Ask them to link to you. If there are any local / national online directories that are specific to your industry and not riddled with spam, it may be worth listing your business there. Associations your business may be part of, local chambers of commerce, etc. may all provide the possibility of listing your business. If some of your customers have websites, write a case study on where they are using your products and ask them for a link. These will all help your rankings and pass referral traffic through to your websites.

It will also be very worthwhile including your business name, address and telephone number on these types of sites when you can to point the right signals to search engines and let them know that this is where you are based and the area you serve. This should help your local results over time.

SEO & PPC isn't just something you do and walk away from. It's an ongoing process that you need to work at constantly - the more you put in, the more you will get out.

It's probably worth speaking with an expert / agency if you have budget available, but also consider educating yourself or someone in the business on at least some of the basics / best practices.

If you do decide to go with an agency or consultant, don't just go with the cheapest. Set clear goals for your campaign from the start and try to get agreement on a rough timeline for the campaign. Your goals should cover both website performance (more traffic to your website, ranking improvements for your main keywords, etc) and business performance goals (more leads / calls and more revenue generated through your website). More traffic and better rankings alone won't pay the bills at the end of the month...

 

[harshita]

Start adding your website to all local business listing sites. Also, don't forget to create google business listing. This can help you bring some results not as much as you wanted but can help you to get indexed.

 

[Allan03]

SEO or website ranking will help your business. look for SEO team online they are freelancer who can help you regarding your business.

 

[natalieporter]

SEO and Google AdWords are the best ways to make your business higher up on Google.

 

[PropertyWebmasters]

Social media engagement is a good starting point as this can contribute a little towards your rankings factors. Make sure you share links from your website to get people onto your site.

Once your site is revamped, be sure to do some target audience analysis through keyword research (which is important - you can do this via AdWords) and by analysing Google Analytics.

From there you can build a portfolio of who your target audience is then optimise your website pages (via Meta Data & content) which will target your audience and better rank in Google.

Content on your website can benefit to ranking factors. Making sure all your pages have high quality content is a must and providing a blog that is updated regular shows Google that you are constantly updating your website with useful content.

If your target keywords are more competitive, it will take longer for you to rank on the first page of Google. From here you could look into paid advertising (PPC) but only once the new website is up and running and you have enough targeted data.

There is so much to and consider, make sure you have a strong digital marketing plan and you will be on your way up in Google.

 

[Matt Temple]

As a few people have said here Google AdWords is the fastest way to the top.

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is a whole different ball game however the basic premise is content, content, content. Content is king as long as you get it right. The wrong content can do more harm than good.

If you want SEO from an agency I would be careful as webgeek said above a lot of agencies claim they can do but very few actually can.

 

[Chris Needham]

A good place to start would be doing some old-fashioned partnership work with businesses that share the same customer group as you. Are there any you can think off?

 

[fancymore]

I would recommend you not to hurry up with the blog without seo expert, while the content should be really informative as well as optimized from the side of SEO.
If you need a seo expert, you can find it on any freelancing platform

 

[TheConsulter]

There are several things that you can do to get your business higher up on Google.

1. You can run a weekly blog on your website that relate to your business. If the content is educating and useful, your website will get traffic and this will let your website climb on Google.

2. You should list your business in credible online directories. There you should add your business name, address and contact details.

3. To be on the top of Google search you should consider AdWords. You should use a budget for how much you want to spend every month on this, but it can be rewarding when you get increased sales.

 

[Boxchilli John]

Hi 'Newbie'.

While I know your question specifically asks about ranking higher on Google, I do believe that there are other things you can do to improve your companies presence, brand awareness and ultimately increase your sales, both on and offline.

There has been some good advice about ranking higher on Google (I would include - whitehat backlinks, being present on online directories (like Yell, Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing etc.), blogging, being part of a good, clean back linking strategy, as well as being on social media platforms).

There are lots of things you can do to improve your ranking on Google but also some things that can help grow your business and increase your brand awareness and exposure outside of Google.

Below is a small list of some ideas that would help any marketing campaign:

Facebook/ social media campaign - Increasing page likes (gives you a wider audience to target for free, although Facebook's algorithm does prevent you from being able to advertise to this whole group for free - think more like 5% reach). Increasing website traffic from Facebook. Posting relevant and interesting posts. Boosting certain posts. Content is key here. Be interesting, engaging and relevant. Sometimes it helps to have a "professional" take care of this for you at the start.

Leaflet drops. Still a great way to advertise in your industry. Also goes along with door knocking, to try and increase the success rate.

Make sure you are on all online and offline directories (as above).

Email marketing. You can purchase a list for almost anything nowadays. Email still is one of the best ways to use your marketing £ for positive results. Contnt is key here. Make it engaging, interesting and relevant.

Website, SEO and PPC. It's important to have great online presence as your industry is a very competitive one. It is advisable to get a professional to take care of this side for you, due to the technical difficulty and time required to really get good results.

 

[TheConsulter]

Blogging can at first glance seem unrewarding. But it can be beneficial. Add a blog to your website and write interesting content. This will drive traffic to your website. If you write about things within your niche you will get relevant traffic that can convert to sales. However it may sound easy but you need to do a research before you make the posts and make sure that the texts have quality and value. Also, consider writing guest posts.

 

[Rob @ Love2night uk]

Go for the free business advertising media, there are loads out there and free, most allow you to add a picture or two, title description about you business and links - Page Url etc - Thomson Local, business index........ But as stated content and a nice clean web site are pretty much key.

You wont get instant results with the free business advertising but give it a few months and you will see some results....

 

[Mark_Taylor_]

Stuff you can do for free (with a bit of graft and time) is a lot of the on page SEO, so going through your whole site and auditing every page (or the most popular / profitable ones if a large website).

Basic things like:

• Making sure your meta title, H1, H2 tags etc are present and correct.
• Making sure your images have decent alt text
• making sure the page(s) load in quickly (useGTMetrix or similar)
• Checking you have no errors in the browser console (404 files or JS errors etc) - This may require help from a professional
• Optimising your on page text for SEO / keywords (read MOZ blogs and the like)
• Maintaining a decent blog and deep linking to relevant pages on the main site (keep the blog on the main domain)
• Adwords of course
• keep the site fresh and maintained with regular new content (or as much as you can)
• Then off page SEO - but i don't no much about that stuff!