As a business owner, you probably hear the term SEO all the time from solicitations, but unless you’re a geek (like pretty much everyone on our team), you probably don’t really understand what that really means. If you want to grow, it would be a big mistake not to fully understand the term.
To understand why, we need to look deeper into how search engines work. I know it sounds tedious, but trust me, your business will thank you.
How Search Engines Work
For ease, we’re going to use Google as our example. They are the largest and most popular search engine on the planet, with over 5.6 billion searches conducted daily. Additionally, we are going to use a location – in this case I have randomly chosen Phoenix, AZ.
Your potential customer goes to Google and enters “roofing” and gets 243 million results. They probably then will begin to use different terms. They then enter “roofing in Phoenix”. Great, now they are down to about 74 million options. Why? There aren’t 74 million roofing companies in Phoenix. However, Google searches for any combination of roofing and Phoenix on a webpage; not just roofing companies.
So let’s get more specific with “roofing companies in Phoenix”. Looking at the results remaining, at the very top we see 3 companies listed with a slightly yellow background. These are companies that have PAID for positioning. This is not a cheap solution as every click has to be paid for, though it does grab the attention.
Below that, you begin to find the unpaid listings starting with a map that shows various roofers and their locations. How are those ranked? By algorithms (a math term meaning formulas) Google has written. This is where SEO begins to come in.
Search Engine Algorithms
We’re finally through the math and into the meat and potatoes. All search engines, not just Google, use algorithms to determine rankings. Basically, they take the words in the search “roofing companies in Phoenix” and look for how many times those words show up in a site. The sites with those words showing most frequently are often ranked the highest.
You might think “I’ll just make a site with just those words repeated over and over to rank #1”. Good logic, but it doesn’t work that way. These algorithms are sophisticated enough to understand that subterfuge and will actually drop those sites from their rankings entirely. In fact, they will probably be black-listed by the search engine.
Instead, those terms must be woven within the content of the site in a manner that sounds normal and conversant.
Additionally, knowing exactly what words your client may use is a crapshoot. They may choose “roofing in Phx” or “house roofing” or “roofer” rather than “roofing”. Each of these words is individually considered by the algorithm. So, the results for “roofers in Phoenix” will have different rankings than “house roofer in Phx”.
The best way to rank higher in Google and other search engines is through a policy called SEO, which is the acronym of Search Engine Optimization.
SEO
SEO is the intentional design of your site to effectively score highly with search engine algorithms. It includes the layout of the site, the content within the site, and the addition of ongoing content in the form of blogs which add additional keywords to the overall site. This allows the number of times the most important terms and phrases are used to grow in an organic and natural appearing form. Just how Google likes it.
It is NOT quick. SEO takes time to build. If you try to go too fast with heavy backlinking and other shortcuts, the algorithms will flag the site and once again your website can be black-listed. Everything must feel natural and organic.
It’s important to always remember that Google is designed for the consumer, not your business.
The goal of a search engine is to provide the consumer with the most relevant responses to their inquiry. It only makes sense that if Google starts sending “garbage” to the consumer, that user is going to go to a different search engine. That is why Google black-lists companies and sites that appear to be attempting to circumvent their algorithm for their own benefit vs. providing true value to the internet community.
SEO not only takes time to work and improve your ranking, it also takes time to accomplish. Writing all the blogs, ensuring the keywords are properly placed, posting those blogs in a regular, scheduled manner, and sharing with social media (a whole other ball of worms) is time-consuming and tedious. But you are running a roofing company with so many other things to worry about. Who has the time?
We do. Plus, we come with years of experience to ensure efforts are properly focused for the best ROI. Contact Top Roof Marketing to discuss your site’s rankings in Google and see how we can help you improve both your positioning and the resulting additional business you will receive. Call us today at (800) 795-2187 or use the contact form and we’ll be in touch.