Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Roofing Company Owners Don’t Have Time to Deal with Google Algorithm Updates

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is not for the faint of heart. SEO isn't something you can learn in a weekend, a week, or even a year. SEO is one of those things that you can NEVER stop learning because it is always evolving and changing. For business owners wanting to get their websites found on Google, this can present a real challenge. Trying to juggle running a roofing company and staying ahead of the latest SEO trends and algorithm updates is overwhelming and exhausting.

That's where our experts can help you. The Search Engine Optimization team at Roofing Contractor Marketing is always up on the latest updates and working to incorporate the necessary changes to get your website found organically. That means you can spend more time running your business and we will worry about things like this:

6 ways the August core algorithm update impacted local business

Was your site affected by the recent core algorithm update? Here's a look at the changes made to local and small business sites after the update.

1. This update was not related to links

As far as we can tell, this update was related to on-site content quality more than backlinks. We have a new client of two months who saw an increase organically across almost every keyword we are tracking. All the work done so far on his site has been related to improving content quality — no links were built.

2. Keyword impact

In the local search world, it is hard to get a business to rank in the 3-pack in a surrounding city, but it is sometimes possible.

We work with a company in a suburb of a large city. Let’s say they’re in Addison, Texas, but they get all their customers from Dallas (They’re not, but it’s a similar scenario). With this update, the majority of keywords we were tracking that used [keyword + Dallas] increased, even though his location is in Addison (the suburb of Dallas).

In another example, Tom Waddington sent me an example of a business that decreased both locally and organically for the name of the major city but sustained rankings for the suburb (where they are actually located).

3. Organic and local results changed

We have ranking trackers that scan all our accounts daily so it makes algorithm updates easier to track. Many algorithm updates only impact the organic results or the local results, but we are seeing that this update impacted both. We are also seeing a small gap between the two updates. The local update seemed to have happened over July 31-August 1, and the organic update happened from August 1-2.

Reviews: The Good, The Bad, and The Fake

One of the big hurdles that roofing company owners face is developing trust with their clients. This is in large part due to scammers who have infiltrated the industry and given a bad name to credible businesses in the industry. For roofing contractors who are working to overcome these preconceived notions, it is critical to have an online-reputation of good reviews. When consumers are in the research stage of choosing a roofing company, one of the first things they will check is your online reviews.

"A study from Harvard Business School shows increasing a business’s online rating by one star causes sales to jump 5 percent to 9 percent." (Search Engine Land)

That means managing your online reputation is increasingly important to your bottom line. Some businesses have tried to take advantage of that system by writing fake good reviews but the research suggests that these fake reviews may actually be hurting your business. The reason is simple, most consumers can spot a fake review. Fake reviews will not build trust with your clients, it will inspire the opposite.

Why we need to fight fake reviews

1. Trust precedes substance

I mentioned before that 85 percent of consumers report that they trust online reviews. Maintaining that trust is important, and consumers are increasingly sensitive to information that challenges their brand loyalty. Reviews are part of your business content and reflect your reputation, whether positively or negatively.

Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy found that people evaluate others by answering two questions in order:

Can I trust this person? and can I respect this person?

Trust is evaluated first, and only if the person is deemed credible is substance evaluated. Thus, as applied to a local business, it doesn’t matter how good you are at your trade or how good your food tastes if you don’t pass the first test.

Consumers who realize reviews are fake will move on from your business. And they’re pretty good at sniffing them out. Almost 80 percent of consumers say that they’ve spotted fake reviews.

2. Short-term gains are a losing game

While you might get a temporary bump in business from artificially raising your star rating, the long-term risk is great.

Consumer behavior statistics reveal that customers are likely to stop patronizing your business if they feel misled by false reviews. When targeted with irrelevant information, 67 percent of consumers unsubscribed from email lists, 43 percent ignored future communications, 32 percent boycotted company media and 20 percent stopped buying from the company. The reaction to false information is likely to be even stronger.