Marketing window treatments online can seem like an overwhelming hurdle, because there is a seemingly infinite number of techniques and marketing channels to take advantage of. But some areas reap greater results in shorter amounts of time, and can have a powerful impact on the future of your business. I’ll refrain from calling the naming areas to focus on “low hanging fruit,” because the honest truth is marketing for window treatment products and service takes time, energy, and hard work.
Nevertheless, there is one facet of window treatment marketing that is both mission critical and foundational to success – I’m talking about local search SEO.
Why Is Local SEO Important?
Several years ago, Google released an update to its search algorithm named Pigeon, and its sole mission was to provide users with the most accurate and relevant local data and information. Failing to practice local SEO can really cause a window treatment business to fail to capitalize on steady streams of digital leads, because the overwhelmingly majority of searches are performed on mobile devices.
In fact, according to Statista, mobile searches accounted for 56% of all organic Google searches in quarter three of 2018. Furthermore, an ever increasing number of users rely on Google for queries with local intent, and as many as 82% of people who shop from their phones perform local searches. And if trends continue as expected, those numbers are only going to increase as time moves forward.
What Is Local SEO?
In a nutshell, local SEO is any optimization technique (and there are many) to help leads in your local town, city, or region find your business. If you’ve ever run a search for the nearest restaurant, gas station, or retail outlet, you were able to find the business you were looking for because the business engaged in local SEO marketing.
Targeting Local Search Keywords
Consider that ranking for keywords like “window treatments” is extremely difficult given the nature of competition. Often inexperienced marketers hunger for pie-in-the-sky keywords that get tens of thousands of hits per day, but in reality, the chances of ranking in the number one slot on the SERP for such a keyword is highly unlikely. However, when you append local search terms to mainstream keywords, suddenly your circle of competition shrinks form a national or international playing field to one in your city or region, providing realistic opportunities to rank well.
For example, when I simply Google “window treatments,” the very first two search results are Wayfair and Home Deopt. These are multi-billion dollar companies, and trying to outrank them is futile at best. However, if you were to Google “window treatments St. Louis,” you’ll notice that instead of a list of mega-brands, you instead see LLC’s and local businesses, which drastically evens the playing field.
Google My Business
Google My Business is another imperative pillar of a competent local SEO strategy, and is a partial way to show up near the top of the SERPs. Google intelligently deciphers the intent behind search terms, and sometimes populates the SERP with Google Maps data. However, if you haven’t entered your details into Google My Business, you won’t show up on the local Google Maps results.
For example, go ahead and query Google for “food” or “food near me,” and Google will return a Google Maps populated with restaurants in your local area and information about each business including rating, reviews, address, location, phone number, hours of operation, popular times the company does business, and other information.
This is one of the simplest, easiest, and low-cost ways local leads can find your business. If you haven’t already setup Google My Business, you should make it a high priority. On the other hand, if you don’t feel comfortable setting it up, then you need to reach out for professional help as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’re missing out on tons of local leads.
Local PPC Ads
When you Googled “window treatments,” you may have noticed some results at the top with a green “Ad” label next to the domain name. Essentially, Google generates ad revenue by allowing businesses to leapfrog to the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) with a paid PPC ad.
PPC ads allow a digital marketer to pinpoint target demographics based on a myriad of factors. And some of the factors allow for geotargeting, so you can be sure the quality of your leads is high because you can target people in a specific city or geographic region. After all, what would be the point of advertising to someone in a foreign country, state, or region in which you don’t do business?
Unfortunately, many forgo PPC advertising because it’s tricky to learn and tough to know how to set an ad budget if you’ve never done it before. It’s a shame to miss out on the benefits of PPC ads though, because they offer a great way to harvest high quality leads even if a website is new and not currently ranking organically.
Maps on Contact Pages or About Pages
Digital leads always follow the path of least resistance, so you need to make it as easy and effortless to find your business as humanly possible. I’ve seen some websites with about pages that do list the address of their brick and mortar stores, but simply listing the address then forces the user to look it up on Google Maps themselves.
Instead, it’s better to embed Google Maps and directions into your contact or about pages to make it that much easier for your leads to find you. People are busy and everything on the Internet is trying to get their attention, and you need to make finding your location as effortless as possible.
Final Thoughts
Local SEO is crucial for window treatment businesses, especially those that provide services such as installations, in-home designs, reupholstery, and repairs. If you haven’t engaged in local SEO practices, it’s high time to reach out to someone who can help you generate leads in your local community – or you’re going to miss opportunities to do business.
