MORE SEO and PPC Insights from a Pool Industry Expert…
By Brett Lloyd Abbott, MYM Austin Inc.
Last week I conducted a FREE WEBINAR regarding SEO and PPC, specifically for the pool industry. I can confidently state it was an OUTSTANDING webinar, loaded with excellent “insider tips” on “How to succeed with Google.”
I didn’t give much advance notice, so a number of people wanted to know if the session would be repeated and/or posted online somewhere. Well, it won’t be repeated, but I have managed to get it posted online. Click here to see the recorded session.
A word of caution – The session ran a full 90 minutes, so if you don’t have time for that sort of education right now, you might appreciate this “Cliff’s Notes” version of what we covered:
TIP #1: Pay Attention to Google-Owned and Google-Related Products, including YouTube, Google+ and Google Pay-per-Click programs.
In fact, in one of the most surprising revelations ever, Google has now publicly acknowledged that any company running a “pay-per-click” program (i.e. any paying customer of Google) will get BETTER search engine rankings than a similar company who is not advertising with Google. Wow! That’s been rumored and denied for years; now it’s a public fact.
We shared a suggestion to bump up your activity on YouTube. You can post videos of your Pool Studio 3-D drawings on YouTube. A collection of 3-D pool designs can be almost as interesting (to a pool shopper) as a collection of completed pool projects.
We also noted that while “social media activity” is important, Google is a lot more interested in your activity on Google+ than Facebook. (No surprise there; Facebook is clearly Google’s #1 competitor in the social media arena.) So if you haven’t gotten active with Google+, you should start that right away.
TIP #2: Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation.
Remember that no matter how much money you and I might spend on beautiful websites, brochures, DVDs, Pay-per-click programs and more, it only takes one or two ugly online comments (Yelp, Google+, AngiesList, etc.) to totally destroy your potential with a prospect.
My recommendation is that you consider PRE-EMPTING this problem by getting as many positive comments, reviews and testimonials from your customers as possible. (FYI, we can help you with that.)
TIP #3: Remember these 3 secrets of Pay-per-Click programs:
Use “Negative Keywords” to DRIVE AWAY the traffic that you DON’T want. For example, if you don’t do “hot tub repair,” or “vinyl liner pools,” then you should set up your campaign to specifically and deliberately IGNORE searches on those keywords. (This can save you a TON of money on wasted searches.)
Use COMPETITOR NAMES to bring YOUR name up when someone is specifically looking for your competitor. (This is totally impossible with organic search, but perfectly legitimate and achievable with paid search.) One bit of advice – focus on your “true competitors,” not just anyone and everyone who builds a pool. In other words, if you exclusively build high-end custom pools, then you probably shouldn’t be targeting your local “cookie-cutter” pool builder.
Hire an EXPERT. Five years ago, with a little bit of study, you could conceivably run your own Google ad words campaign. But like many other things, the pay per click/search industry has gotten so advanced and specialized that you are likely to waste a TON of money if you’re not a full-time expert. (It’s similar to the old attorney adage: “Anyone who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.”
NOTE – there’s only ONE Expert that I can confidently recommend for the swimming pool industry: Corey Zeiman of Guaranteed PPC. You can contact Corey directly at (877) 796-0297 x101 or email him at corey@guaranteedppc.com. You can also check out his website here: GuaranteedPPC.com.
To your success,
Brett Abbott
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