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Should you be doing more with mobile online marketing?

Well yes…and no.  Fact is, most homeowners doing research online use a full-sized screen, i.e. they consider your offerings in front of their laptop or desktop computer.  That means they’re not using a mobile device when checking you out.

But Todd, you say, everything I read tells me that mobile online marketing is growing, growing, growing!  Indeed, that’s what the statistics tell us. From those statistics, I estimate that 10-11%% of all visitors arrive at home improvement Web sites via mobile devices.

I am delighted to be back from my New Years writing recess. And as I do so, lo and behold, Google is trying to change the game. Sound familiar?

This time, Google is looking to alter its search ranking algorithm (again) with something called Plus 1.

What is Plus 1? Plus 1 is most similar to Facebook, through which you can signal your approval online of someone’s post. To do this, you use the “Like” button. You can “Like” a friend’s picture. “Like” a friend’s status. “Like” a link they posted. You get the idea.

Five years ago, some quick-witted entrepreneurs were able to capitalize on one of America’s greatest weaknesses: Spelling.

This won’t really come as a shock to most of you, but most Americans are poor spellers, and even poorer typists. In “our” field, this manifests itself in errant search queries:

Windws

Windoes

Windowes

Windoze

Cabinets

Cabinnets

Cabinettes

I see mis-spellings like this all the time on Google and the other search engines. And years ago, it used to make a difference in the search results.  Google would actually show results for the mis-spelled words – not for the keywords that the user meant to search for.

Your Web site is finally complete. Your text reads great, your images are first class and your pages are easy to navigate. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Now that’s it’s done, it’s time to think about changing it. What?

For instance, here in the Northeast, many home improvement businesses are seasonal. For the most part, homeowners around here just aren’t thinking about the exteriors of their homes in the middle of winter. Which is exactly why the mix of products and services you sell changes with the season. And as that mix changes, so should your Web site.

No surprise:  lower-priced products are generally easier to sell than more-expensive products.  Ensure that you’ve got enough of the former, and you’ll be building a base on which you can cross-sell your customers to your more profitable offerings.

As a home remodeler, you get all sorts of pitches from financing companies willing to offer loans to your customers.  And it’s about time.  For the past few years, it’s been difficult for remodelers to offer good financing choices to their prospects.

And while offering financing to homeowners can certainly help you close more sales, I recommend resisting the temptation to offer credit to your prospects before your sales rep is in the home and have met the homeowner. Specifically, some remodelers are trying to capture qualifying information from their prospects on their Web sites via online forms, even before speaking with homeowners.

Should you have two Web sites? Three?  Twelve?

Remodelers constantly tell me “Hey, I bought a new domain!”  And with that goes the typical story that they are going to build a second Web site to seize on important new keywords and dominate their market!

Well let me offer a little reality on this strategy.  Finding a great domain name is terrific, and I’m happy for anyone who scores that coveted domain.  Securing, for example,  “SeattleWindows.com” is a great coup for a windows dealer in the Seattle area.

Many remodelers over the last few years have told me about sales pitches from companies like ReachLocal and Yodle. And while I understand their sales pitches to be slick and well-choreographed, these firms make a number of claims that are dubious at best.

But the one aspect of their sales pitches that is most egregious is what I call the “Bag of Clicks.” The pitch goes like this:

After four great years in the famous Waltham Watch Factory building, we have moved. We’ve found some great space in another former factory building…now with more twice the room.

Find us now at:

Keyword Connects
77 Rumford Avenue, Suite #4
Waltham, MA  02453

We’re actually just a short walk from our old location.

We have a new phone system as well.  Call us now at our main number, 781-899-3675 and use our directory to connect to the party you want to reach.

In the area?  Drop by and say hello!

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I considered how home improvement companies actually sabotage their leads with Google Earth. By using Google Earth to check out the exterior of a home before setting an appointment, they can unnecessarily downgrade a perfectly good potential sales opportunity.

Smart remodelers won’t stand for that. Instead, I’d expect them to first book the appointment . . .and THEN use Google Earth to come up with ideas on how to sell to that homeowner. Home improvement salespeople have long researched their prospects using Google searches, Facebook, and other background information they find on line, and the smart ones have now added Google Earth to their arsenals.