If you’re in home improvement, you’ve no doubt noticed that Sears is everywhere online. And they’re especially strong in some key categories: replacement windows, siding and cabinet refacing. You’ll see their ads in the paid search listings, some organic listings, e-mails and a host of other online advertising channels.
The folks at Sears are undoubtedly smart, so you can assume that if they’re advertising, they must be doing so because it’s profitable for them. Here’s the question you should be asking yourself: “Why them and not me?” Said another way, how can Sears find it cost-effective to advertise across so many channels, while local home improvement companies seem to have so few profitable online advertising options?
For over four years, our company has connected dealers to homeowners searching the Internet for solutions to their home improvement challenges. We’ve loved every minute of it, as we have enjoyed the opportunity to work with many of you.
As both the Internet and the home improvement market evolve, so will our company. After a three-year debate inside our company, we’re changing our name to Keyword Connects.
Many home improvement brands spend great sums of money buying national media to generate leads for their dealers. A great strategy…or a big waste? Read on.
As we’ve worked with home improvement brands and manufacturers, we’ve learned a lot about their challenges of running national media campaigns. Turns out that brands that run campaigns on behalf of their dealers take on key challenges…not just to develop programs that work, but to also track the results.
When it comes to hiring Internet marketing help, you’ve got a lot of folks to choose from. Here are thoughts for separating the contenders from the pretenders.
In the new world of the Internet, it seems everyone does search engine optimization. Everyone is a Web designer. And everyone knows paid search marketing. And they do print advertising and direct mail, and can handle your e-mail marketing.
As a home improvement company, you’ve heard this in pitch after pitch. “We do that!” “We can handle that for you…” and “We’re experts at that.”
If a little video is good, is more better? If so, how much? This week we consider the different sides of these important questions.
How Much Video Should I Use On My Web Site?
In my last post, I talked (literally) about using video on your home improvement Web site. But the question I left unanswered was “How much video should I use on my website?”
My answer is simple. Use what’s appropriate.
OK, I will get off the fence. There’s no hard and fast rule for how much video you should use. Nothing is not enough. On the other hand, your Web site should also not be one big TV commercial either.
The article’s “Instant Improvement Idea #1” was “Get a Better Follow-Up System”. In other words, learn to make re-hashing really work for you. Being an Internet guy, I naturally began wondering what that meant for online-leads-gone-cold.
In short, it’s a big opportunity. Re-hashing Internet leads is as valuable as re-hashing your leads from other media. You’d think that would be an obvious point, but for too many home improvement companies, Internet leads still fall to the bottom of the follow-up pile.
My past three posts explained why home improvement companies have such a hard time clawing their way to the top of the search engine rankings. If you haven’t (yet) read them, don’t despair. I’m finally getting to the point.
Here it is: Real responsibility for high rankings on the search engines does not rest with your home improvement company.
It rests instead with the owners of the brands you sell.
Last week we considered search engine rankings—and why it’s so hard to get (and stay) on top. It seems that Web sites run by online lead brokers and national brands dominate the search engine results. You’d simply like to get your own Web site to rank highly for common terms like “replacement windows” and “vinyl siding”, the ones you know homeowners in your territory are searching for.
Those Web sites that do get the high ranks certainly look authoritative. But the frustrating part is that you know that their owners have probably never swung a hammer for a customer in their lives.
Our clients frequently call me about hot Internet marketing deals they’ve been offered. Those that promise to get their Web site ranked on the first page of Google.Others that promise boatloads of visitors will beat a path to their home page. Frequently these deals pitch a flat-rate and guarantee overnight results.
I certainly see the appeal of these deals. They’re quick, they’re easy and they require no work or sustained effort. Sounds sort of like those ads that promise, “Lose 50 Pounds in Just Two Weeks!”
Indeed, judge these deals against the old maxim: “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” Then, disregard “probably”.
The roof of my sun porch recently sprang a leak, causing water to seep into my ceiling and walls.You know what water damage looks like—ugly and brown.
Because I have the home repair skills of a toddler, I decided to call a contactor before any more damage was done. I figured that I could call someone who knew roofing and could handle the interior wall work and repainting.
Unfortunately, instead of calling just one contractor, I had to call five.
Why? Because the first four didn’t answer the phone and worse, they didn’t bother to return my calls.
Every week, Todd Bairstow—our online expert—shares his wisdom on an aspect of Internet marketing for home improvement companies. You can read his thoughts here on his blog or you can subscribe, and we'll send you his latest posts each week.
