If you’ve ever made copies or prints at Office Max, you know two things:
Chances are good you’ll be the only customer at the copy/print counter.
On a busy day, you’ll have to wait 5 minutes.
You also know it’s a pretty straightforward process. You walk up to the counter, hand the clerk your flash drive (or whatever you have your images on), tell him what you need to have printed or copied, how many you need, and what sizes you need. That’s it.
It’s as simple as it gets. Or, it was…
About a month ago I went into my usual Office Max to have some prints made. It’s where I always go when I’m making wood transfers, and it usually takes me no more than 5 minutes to get in, get what I need, and get out.
I’ve never seen more than four customers in Office Max at a time, and they’re usually scattered about, not waiting in line for prints or copies. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked up to the copy/print counter to find this sign:
According to the sign, this process was added to “better help” my shopping experience, and to “ensure prompt and timely service!”
Now, instead of going right up to the desk to be helped immediately, I have to stop short of the desk, read this, and download the app (no effing way Office Max) or text a code to a number.
With no one else in line, isn’t that actually wasting my time?
I thought so too, so even though I’m a millennial, I went the low-tech route, using my eyes to decipher that I was the only one waiting.
I skipped past the sign and went straight up to the counter, only to be told by the clerk that, before he could help me, I would have to go through the 3 “simple” steps. Ya know, to save time?
“Even though there’s no line?” I asked.
Yup.
I gave in. I texted the code to the number, but nothing happened.
Together, the clerk and I waited. After a few moments, he said he’d have to manually add me to the line so he could help me.
Day one: not impressed with this change.
The next time I went in for prints, I texted the number — although it was painful because I’m a woman of principle. Did this miraculous time-saving system save me any time this time?
Here are the texts I received:
As usual, I was the only one there, but I still received a “Your est. wait is now 5 min” text.
Thankfully, my favorite clerk was working this time, and when he saw me standing there he asked how he could help — without waiting for the “OK” from the virtual queue.
Quick side note on text #3: Why in the holy hell would I need more time if I literally joined the line to save time? UGH.
I couldn’t help myself. I asked the clerk what he thought of this new system. His response, “I mean, I guess I get what they’re trying to do. But if it’s not broken, why fix it?” Did I mention he’s my favorite clerk?
I joked with him when he was handing me my prints, saying, “Good news, my estimated wait is now 1 min.”
When I finally received the “You have reached the front of the line!” text, I wasn’t even in the store anymore. I was over at Books-A-Million feeding my book addiction, which made me wonder, who was I waiting behind in this virtual line? There was no physical line, and if I had relied on the system to tell me when I could be helped, I would have been waiting for at least 10 minutes, pointlessly.
Whoever’s brainchild this was, if they’d actually gone through the process, they would have realized that they weren’t saving customers time, they weren’t better helping their shopping experience — they were adding friction. They were making what should be easy, more complicated, and dressing it up as a time-saving, beneficial thing for their customers.
What were they really trying to do? Get more people to download their app or give them their phone number? They certainly weren’t trying to save any time — and if they were, they failed miserably. My guess is that nowhere in the world is the copy/print counter of Office Max so slammed that this virtual line queue actually saves anyone time.
But hey, let’s not be too hard on Office Max. Adding friction seems to be a favorite past-time for a lot of businesses. But it’s a big mistake…
Are You Adding Friction?
Think about it: we want people to buy what we’re selling. So why do we sometimes make it harder for our customers to do just that? Why do we create friction in the buying process? Why do we insert steps and hoops to jump through in processes that are already as streamlined as it gets?
Are you making the same mistake as Office Max?
I get it, it’s easy to see these things from the outside. It’s easy for me to walk into an Office Max and — as a customer who’s done things pre-process and post-process — realize that this time-saving step is actually time-wasting and frustrating.
But that’s why it’s so important that you actually go through the steps and processes you’re asking your customers to go through to buy. You need to experience it outside of your mind, outside of a meeting.
So my challenge for you is to take some time this month to have the customer experience. Are you adding friction for your customers? Are you making it harder for them to buy from you or use your services? See what it’s like to do business with you from their POV.
If you spot friction — even if it’s in a process that was designed to make things easier or more convenient — be honest with yourself. Do you really need that added step?
Your aim should always be to eliminate friction and make it as easy as pie for your customers to reach into their wallets and hand you their money. Buying from you should never feel like going to the DMV. You’ve got what they want — let them have it!
For more on eliminating friction in the workplace, check out Roger Dooley’s new book on the subject. I haven’t had a chance to read it but he’s always very insightful so I’m sure it’s brilliant.
You’re proud of yourself. You looked past the stereotypes and hired a millennial. And you did what a lot of business owners do: you put your token millennial in charge of managing your business’s social media accounts.
But is the office millennial really the best person for the job?
Sure, they might know how to navigate all of the platforms better than you do. But there’s more to nailing social media than just getting familiar with the platforms. If you put a millennial in charge of your business’s social media just because of their age, here are five questions to ask yourself to determine if you’ve made the right choice:
Do they know my audience? Your millennial employees may know everything there is to know about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat, but do they know your audience? The only way social works for businesses is if it connects with your customers. And in order to connect, you have to know the people you’re attempting to connect with. You have to know their likes, their dislikes, their values, their pains, their wants, their needs, etc. If you go out there and start posting without considering who your audience is and what will resonate with them, you risk offending them, excluding them, or even worse, disengaging them. The moment you lose their trust or attention, you’ve failed. So make sure your social media manager intimately knows, not just the social media platforms they’ll be using, but also the audience they’ll be engaging with.
Do they know my brand? If there’s one thing people hate about brands on social media, it’s when they’re inconsistent or do things that don’t align with who the brand is and what it stands for. When you do things that don’t make sense for your brand or you contradict yourself on social media, the results can be disastrous. Your customers will know and they will comment when you appear to take a stand for something in a post that doesn’t align with your company and its values. So before you put someone in charge of your social media just because they’re digital natives, make sure they know your brand inside and out and can effectively represent you on all channels.
What is their grasp of CTAs (calls to action)? The point of social media is to engage with your customers and potential customers. It’s not a one-sided conversation or a way to shout at your audience. But in order to engage, build relationships, and see a return on your investment in social media, you need to have clear, concise, effective CTAs on your posts. A lot of brands nail this by asking questions or urging people to take specific actions or click the link in their bio. But all CTAs are not equal, and your social media manager needs to have a good understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Don’t assume that your office millennial is nailing the CTAs — that’s not a given just because you “get” social media.
Do they know regulations and what to avoid for legal reasons? Social media can get you into a lot of trouble if you do it wrong. You could lose customers or even be sued or fined. Each platform has its own rules and regulations, and there’s a lot to consider in terms of how to use each platform and what to say/not say. Is your millennial social media manager familiar with these rules and regulations or are you just assuming they know what to do/what not to do because they’re socially savvy? Assuming is a bad call and could put your business at risk of a lawsuit, fine, or other issue, so make sure they have a good understanding of this important aspect of social media.
What are their intentions? At the end of the day, your social media manager should be connecting with your customers and making your brand look better. Is that the goal of the office millennial you’ve put in charge of your social? Think about it: How good will your social media manager’s decisions be if he or she is only using your business’s platform to solidify his or her place as an influencer? Hey, it’s happened. We’ve seen it. So make sure you and your social media manager are aligned in terms of the goals, purpose, and intentions behind your social media decisions and actions.
Have You Picked The Right Person For The Job?
Your office millennial may be a great fit for the social media manager role, but it’s not a given. Take the time to really consider whether or not you’ve put the right person in place or if you need to spend some time reconsidering or educating your social media manager. Being a millennial does make the social media game a little bit easier — but it’s not a guarantee for success. There’s more to that recipe!
Your vegetarian cousin, Sarah, graciously sat through the entire 4 hour affair pensively spooning the only vegetarian dish on the table (the spinach souffle she’d *thankfully* brought) into her mouth, while everyone else raved about “How delicious all of the turkey dishes were in their own unique way.”
Poor Sarah.
It seemed Aunt Shirley hit SEND and then NEVER again checked her email to see who was bringing what…And so, Thanksgiving turned out to be Meatsgiving.
Truth is: Thanksgiving was supposed to be a wonderful time and a wonderful meal for everyone at the table. Aunt Shirley didn’t set out to make anyone feel excluded or uncomfortable.
But because she was so busy thinking about what tablecloth she was going to put out and where she was going to seat everyone, she forgot to do the most important thing: prep the guests.
The event was unforgettable, just not in the way Aunt Shirley had hoped.
But hey, let’s not be so hard on Aunt Shirley.
After all, it’s a mistake we all make: we fail to realize that a lot of the “experience” is determined by things that happen before the “start.”
The Experience Before The Experience
As a business owner, hopefully you’ve put a lot of thought into that “first impression” — from the uniforms and name tags your techs wear to the trucks they show up in and the ways they greet the customer.
That alone will put you ahead of the competition, considering that a lot of the “other guys” show up reeking of cigarettes and last night’s handle of Evan Williams. But are you still missing something?
Is this really the “first impression”?
What about every interaction and encounter your customer has with your company before you even show up to do the work?
Are those “experiences” working to prep your customers for the service appointment?
Are they communicating the right message and setting your techs up for success?
Or are they introducing disappointment to your customer’s mind before your team ever steps foot into their home?
Truth is, if you only think about the experience your customer is having or the impression your company is giving once you’re at their door or in their home, you’re missing out on a big part of the experience and the power and responsibility you have to prep your customers.
What can you be doing before the actual appointment to guide and shape the customer experience?
What can you be doing to get your customer ready so they know what to expect?
These are things you need to think about if you truly want to make a great “first impression” and avoid being like Aunt Shirley on Meatsgiving.
So take some time to inspect every interaction and encounter your customer will have along the journey — from your website and ads to their first impression scheduling with you and any other communication that happens (or should happen) leading up to the appointment.
Consider the whole experience. ‘Cos your customers sure will!
P.S. If you want to read a super interesting book that covers the concept of gathering and can help you conduct better business, better meetings, better dinner parties, and better gatherings of all kinds, check out Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering. It’s eye-opening!
When you’re a kid, it can feel like time is stretched out, never-ending, slow like honey. Especially when you’re grounded or waiting for school to end. But as adults, we don’t have that problem. Time just flies. That’s especially true for business owners, who have the herculean task of getting three days worth of work done in a single 24 hour period.
It would be a lot cooler if we were here to share a time-slowing or stopping secret with you — and if we did, this post would probably go viral — but we’re realists. We know we can’t alter our reality or yours, but we can certainly make use of time-saving tools, tactics, and apps to make it seem like we’re slowing and stretching time. And that’s good enough for us.
So what are some of the best time-saving tools, tactics, and apps for business owners?
Managing your business & your customer data
Running a business is never easy, but with the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, it can be easier. Tools like Housecall Pro and Jobber allow you to easily manage your team, send quotes, schedule, send invoices, and get paid. Both also sync with Quickbooks, saving you the extra step of adding the numbers after a job is done. If you’re ready to save hundreds of hours and free up some time, you need a good CRM, so check these guys out. For more advanced field management software, check out ServiceTitan. They’ve got a variety of tools to help you run your service area business.
Keeping your eyes on the numbers
Every growing business needs accounting software that will grow with it. That’s where Quickbooks, Freshbooks, and other similar tools come in. Easily track income and expenses, send estimates, send invoices and accept payments, organize receipts, manage bills, track time, and more. If you’ve been living spreadsheet to spreadsheet, save yourself time and headaches by switching to accounting software. Plans are affordable and there’s something for every business, regardless of size.
Managing company files, data, and SOPs, while using a professional company email address
GSuite is Google’s solution to data and storage management, but it also allows you to create multiple “@yourcompany.com” email addresses so any customer-facing employees can send professional-looking emails to customers (for example, you@yourcompany.com or sales@yourcompany.com). You can also create group mailing lists, manage mobile devices (even erase data), and store important company documents that your team needs access to on the go.
Communicating with your team
Communication only gets harder with each employee added, but with the right tools, team communication can be simplified. Need to alert your whole team to a change or issue or create specific groups? Even if you’re out on the job and don’t have time to take off your gloves and type it all up, there are ways to get the message out there to everyone you need to communicate with. For text-based communication, there are apps like Slack and GroupMe, and for voice-based communication with the option for text, try Voxer. All three allow you to share photos and videos and communicate with groups or individuals, but Voxer and GroupMe also allow you to share your location, which is a bonus for service area businesses.
Managing HR & benefits
Everyone knows HR can be a real headache, and the more employees you have, the harder things get. But with GoCo, an all-in-one HR platform, it’s easy to manage payroll, time off, benefits, etc. You’ll have all of your employee information in one place, and there’s even a built-in compliance component so you know your butt is covered.
Managing team and personal tasks, lists, and projects
No one wants to micromanage, but every business owner wants to know what’s getting done, when, and by whom. That’s where project management platforms like Trello, Wunderlist, Teamwork, and Monday come in. Trello allows you to create boards, lists, and cards, and is great for visualizing where you are in a process and what’s next. Wunderlist is great for creating and assigning lists and tasks, and setting reminders for yourself or others. You can also add due dates, comments, and tags. With Teamwork, you can create projects, assign and check off tasks, comment, and view workflow by individual, due date, and project. You can also set it up so that email notifications go out to the responsible individual every time a task is assigned to them. Monday is similar, but what makes this great is that you can view things six different ways, so no matter how you prefer to conceptualize projects in your mind, Monday can accommodate.
The best news? All of these platforms are accessible from your phone, desktop, or tablet, so no matter where you are, you can see what’s going on and what needs to be done.
Managing your time
Need to buckle down and spend some time in the office? Wondering how long your day-to-day tasks take? While some of the tools we’ve already listed have time-tracking features, if you’re looking for a tool that does that and that alone, try Pomodoro Tracker, Tomato Timers, Toggl, or TomatoTimer. All of these apps are based on the Pomodoro Technique for productivity, and break down work into intervals with short breaks. Great for hunkering down, focusing, and getting higher-quality work done. Plus, they help you get an idea of how long each task takes, so you can better plan and schedule in the future.
Managing social posts
A lot of business owners hate the social media aspect of business management, but you’ve got to be where people are looking and engage with your customers and potential customers. That means you need to be regularly posting on the social media channels that make sense for your business.
But figuring out what you’re going to post on social and making sure it gets scheduled and posted doesn’t have to be super time-consuming. Tools like Canva,DesignWizard, and EDIT make it easy to create graphics and find photos for social posts. (Disclaimer: EDIT.org supplied us with free Premium licenses to try out their online graphics editor, but the decision to include it in this article was made independently by our team because it is a worthy choice.) Hootsuite and Buffer make scheduling, posting, and analyzing performance/engagement simple and fast. So if you’ve been overwhelmed trying to manage social media in-house, rest assured, there’s help.
Managing trip details and hotel arrangements for conventions, expos, and that dream vacay
The devil’s in the details, and whether you’re trying to keep track of your own travel arrangements or the arrangements of several people from your team, it’s easy to miss something, lose something, and get overwhelmed. Take the stress out of things by using a tool like Tripit. Simply forward all of your booked arrangements to plans@tripit.com and receive a master itinerary that’s accessible from any device. The pro version even allows you to receive real-time flight alerts, locate alternate flights, find out if a better seat is available, get fare refund notifications, share plans, and track rewards. Forget about printing all the details and fumbling through your bag to find the information you need. Keep it all together with Tripit.
Managing your knowledge and growth
As a business owner, it can be hard to find the time to invest in learning and growing as an individual and a leader on top of everything else. And it can also be hard to ask your team to invest in growth when they already have packed schedules. But thanks to podcasts and apps like Audible, it’s easy to learn and grow on the go.
Driving to or from a job? Sitting in traffic? You and your team can make use of this otherwise wasted time by listening to an audiobook or podcast and adding to your knowledge. Now, there are no more excuses for why you didn’t finish that business book. You can even pay for Audible memberships for employees as incentives!
Managing follow-ups and open estimates
While CRMs like Housecall Pro and Jobber can help you send invoices and quotes, you still have to manually take care of the follow-up. That means either setting aside time every week to go through the stack of open estimates, make calls, and send emails, or just hoping that anyone who’s interested will eventually call to schedule. Neither is a very good option, and you could end up leaving some big money on the table if you’re doing things that way.
Closing Commander is a system that automatically follows up with every customer you add up to 7 times, and makes it easy to track opens, responses, and won bids all in one dashboard. The best part? All emails come from and go to your business email address, so nothing looks automated or spammy, and you won’t miss a single message. Save time, close more estimates, and know the follow-up is getting done.
Customer Engine is another tool that automates 12 points of communication with your customer in one place. From texting customers to email campaigns to automated appointment reminders, Customer Engine will save you time and money. Best part? You’ve got us in your corner every step of the way. This is not one of those times where you get a login and a “good luck!” email after signing up. Nope, with us by your side, you get turnkey solutions and concierge-level attention and training with a service that remains unmatched in the marketing industry.
Now Go Forth & Save Time
Well, that about wraps it up! We could, of course, make this list longer, but this is all about time-savings, so why would we? Thanks for sticking it out with us, and let us know in the comments what your favorite time-saving tools and tactics are!
SEO, or search-engine-optimization, is brilliantly simple or surprisingly complex, depending on who you ask. Some people make sweeping promises and guarantee dreamy results, while others won’t make promises at all.
So what’s the deal, who’s right? And who should you trust your SEO to? Should you do it yourself in-house or hire an individual or company to do it for you? To find out, let’s look at what SEO is at its most basic, and what it takes to really do it right.x
What Is SEO & Why Is It Important?
What is SEO? SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” and in a sentence, it’s the work that goes into making sure your website and brand will show up in search engine results.
There are a few reasons why SEO should matter to you.
Even with Google Local Service Ads, Google Ads, and other paid search options, organic search still garners the most clicks, which means that’s still where people are looking. Without an optimized website, you won’t have much of a chance of showing up in organic search (outside of directory sites).
SEO helps establish your business as a credible, trustworthy entity. The more Google trusts your site, the more confident it will be in showing it to those searching for the services or products you offer.
A well-optimized website will always provide a better user experience. When searchers find your website to be fast-loading, attractive, useful, easy to navigate, and helpful, Google takes notice, and over time, rewards you for that in search.
The world wide web is a BIG place with so much to sift through. Local SEO can help those near you who are looking for the services or products you offer find you faster and with less effort, which means more business for you. If finding your business online is like finding a needle in a haystack, who’s going to bother?
In other words, SEO can help or hurt your business.
Ok, so SEO matters. But is it something you have to outsource or is it something you can do yourself?
Doing SEO Yourself: What’s Involved & What Are The Biggest Considerations & Challenges?
If you’re considering doing your SEO yourself in-house, keep in mind that time is going to be the biggest challenge. Unfortunately, SEO isn’t a once and done thing; it’s something that requires ongoing attention and ongoing effort. There are monthly, bi-monthly, and sometimes daily tasks that need to be done — and on top of the work, you need to stay up-to-date on any Google, Yelp, Bing, etc. changes to algorithms and rules.
Not only will you need to know when the changes occurred, but you’ll need to fully understand what those changes mean for you and if/how they’ll impact your business. This usually means a lot of reading, so you’ll want to subscribe to daily newsletters from search engine digests, and possibly spend hours watching Google hangouts with John Mueller.
As you probably already know, Google and other big players aren’t always transparent about what they’re doing or why, so it’s also a good idea to spend some time reading about what other people in the industry are noticing and predicting, so you’re not completely taken by surprise when big changes hit, new features pop up, or old favorites disappear.
Having other eyes on the landscape can be really helpful, especially when you’re doing it yourself. After all, you only have so many hours in the day!
You’ll also likely need to invest in tools to help and to save you some time. There are all kinds of tools out there, like keyword research tools and rank trackers, some paid, some free. We’ll share some tools with you as they relate to the tasks we’re tackling below.
First Things First
Before you can really dive into some of the ongoing SEO work, you have to start with the basics: a website. If you don’t have a website, you don’t have anything to really show up in search results, aside from listings and citations on niche sites and directory sites.
We recommend starting with a website before creating listings and citations, because you’ll want to include your website URL on the listing sites/directory sites, and if you don’t have a website yet, you’ll have to go back in and add that later. Start by creating a well-optimized, mobile-friendly website, and save yourself a step.
Alright, on to some website basics. Your website needs to:
Be well-designed, user-friendly, and easy to navigate.
Look good on mobile, desktop, and tablet devices.
Include your services, phone number, address (if applicable), and the location you’re optimizing for.
Include internal links that make navigating the site easy and show Google what pages are most important.
Have high-quality, optimized images.
Have optimized headings, title tags, and meta descriptions.
Include relevant Schema markup.
Include content that contains the keywords you want to rank for and is informative and helpful.
Content Tips:
When writing your website, be sure to avoid what’s known as “thin” content or “duplicate” content.
Duplicate content is content that’s unoriginal. You may have taken it from another website or publication or from another page on your own website.
Thin content is content that doesn’t really say anything worthwhile and isn’t worthy of a page on your website. If you only have one or two sentences on a page, that’s probably going to be marked as “thin” content.
Make sure the content on every single page of your website is unique and that every single page provides value and serves a purpose. While there aren’t direct “penalties” for duplicate or thin content, both can negatively impact your rankings because of how Google handles them.
For example, with duplicate content, Google will try to determine what the original source is (or what URL has the most authority), and will show that one in search results, but not all the others. The reason for this is that the algorithm doesn’t want to show the same results multiple times. So if you’ve taken content from a bigger, more authoritative site, that site will show up in search, not yours. And if you’ve taken content from one of your other site pages, only one of those pages will likely show up in search for that query.
If your website content is deemed “thin,” Google will know your site isn’t likely to provide much value or be what searchers are looking for, and won’t show it as a top search result. Likewise, you’ll have a lower chance of showing up for specific keywords, because you’ll have so little content and keywords on your site.
Speaking of content and keywords, how do you identify what keywords to include on your site and what content you need? Well, listening to your customers and how they talk about their needs as they relate to your services is a good place to start. You can also use tools.
When it comes to keyword research, one of our favorite free tools is Answer the Public, but there are also others, like the Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush.
For content analysis, you can use Google Search Console or Google Analytics to look at page metrics. Are pages underperforming? You may need to add some more content or optimize the content you have.
When looking for questions to answer in the content of your website, take advantage of autocomplete. If you don’t have a tool like Rank Tracker, which shows you autocomplete keyword results for big players like Google, Bing, and Amazon, you can always do it the old-fashioned (free) way. Just open up your browser, go to Google, Bing, Amazon, etc., type in a keyword, and see what pops up.
One great thing about Google is that they also have a “People also ask” section, which allows you to easily identify questions related to your search query, so you can answer those questions in your content as well.
Some other great places to look for questions to answer in your content are:
Quora, Reddit, and forums/threads
YouTube
Blogs
FB groups
Once you have your website live and optimized, and you’re sure it’s properly indexed and crawl-able, you’ll want to create citations for your company across the web. Essentially what that means is that you want to make sure that your company name, address, and phone number (NAP) are listed on industry-specific sites, directory sites (like Yelp), and other relevant places where customers might be searching. You’ll also want to create, claim, and optimize your Google My Business listing.
Tip: Make sure that you’re consistent every time you add your NAP, because consistency helps build Google’s confidence in the accuracy of your information. The more confident they are, the more likely they’ll be to put that information in front of searchers.
Ongoing Tasks To Schedule
If you’ve made it this far, way to go! But remember, SEO doesn’t end with creating a website and adding your NAP where relevant. It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it thing. Your website and NAP are only part of the equation, and there’s still work to be done.
So what are some tasks you’ll need to make time for on a bi-monthly or monthly basis if you do SEO in-house? While this list is by no means comprehensive, it’s a good start:
Check your GBP (Google Business Profile) for any updates, improvements, or changes.
Your GBP is what shows up on the right-hand side of search results when someone searches for your business in Google. Here’s what our Google Business Profile looks like in search results:
What kind of changes could you expect to see to your GBP? Some helpful – like COVID posts – and some problematic – like the bug that allowed competitors to go in and change the open date of a business to a date in the future. (By doing this, these individuals effectively had the business’s GBP listing completely removed from search results.)
If you aren’t regularly checking on your GBP listing, you might not even realize that your GBP listing is missing, because Google doesn’t send notifications of these changes. And that could potentially mean A LOT of lost business.
Do rank checks and look for any changes.
Rankings aren’t everything, but you do need to know where/if you’re showing up in search results. It’s important to do this on a regular basis because rankings can change.
Did you suddenly drop from position 2 to position 11 in organic search results? It’s time to do some investigative work. What’s changed? Was it something on your website or was it something Google or a competitor did? What do you need to do to see your rankings improve? It may take some time to figure out the answer to this, but it’s well worth it! And while you’re investigating, remember that rankings can vary depending on the location of the searcher, as well as other factors, so don’t think it’s something that’s always the same for everyone.
Tool tip: You can track your rankings by searching for your business in Google using incognito mode. You may also want to invest in SEO tools from BrightLocal, which allow you to track rankings, audit citations, and do a whole host of other necessary tasks.
Do analytics checks.
Who’s coming to your site? How are they finding you? Have there been any recent spikes or drops in traffic? What caused it?
A big drop in traffic could be caused by a number of different things. When you notice big changes, it’s important to take the time to dig deep and figure out what’s behind the drop. Knowing will allow you to react faster and make any changes you need to make before there’s a significant impact on your business.
But analytics checks don’t just alert you to bad news! Did you have a big spike in traffic after posting a new blog post? Great! Now you know what types of content and topics are bringing you the most traffic, so you can create more content like that. But if you never take the time to look at the analytics, you’ll never know these things!
Tool tip: Google Analytics is a great tool to use for this task.
Check & update plugins.
If you have plugins on your website, like Yoast (a social plugin), you’ll need to regularly check them for any updates, issues, or improvements. Too many plugins/outdated plugins can slow down your site and cause issues, so it’s important that this be a routine check. The best way to do this is to log in to your website. WordPress and other platforms like it will normally alert you if updates are needed.
Do backlink checks.
Backlinks are links that are coming to your site from another website, and these can have a positive or negative impact on your rankings. High-quality links can improve your authority and give you a bit of a rankings boost, but not all links are good links to have. If you’re being linked to by spammy sites, those low-quality links may do you more harm than good. You’ll want to have any questionably links removed so Google doesn’t think you’re crap, just because the sites linking to you are.
Tool tip: For backlink checks, there are helpful tools out there like Majestic, Search Console, and SEO Spyglass.
Do page speed checks.
When a website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, most of us just hit the convenient back arrow and find a different website that won’t waste our time. Does that mean your website needs to be lightning fast? Probably not, because most aren’t. But you do need to make sure it’s not unbearably slow.
It doesn’t matter how great your website is if no one stays long enough to see it. So perform regular page speed checks. If your site takes too long to load, you may need to optimize your images, get rid of some plugins, or otherwise lighten the load.
Tool tip: To keep an eye on page speed, use the Google Page Speed Insight Tool or webpagetest.org.
Create & schedule blog posts.
Blog posts are a great way to educate your customers, answer their questions, and improve your chances of showing up in search results for the topics surrounding your product or service. Why? Because it increases the keywords you rank for. But, like everything else, creating and scheduling blog posts takes time.
There are differing opinions on how frequently you should post on your website’s blog, but the most important thing to remember is to be consistent. If you can post once a month consistently, then do that. If you can post more frequently, do that. Just make sure your blog posts are valuable and not just thin content that Google will quickly identify as pointless.
And, once you’ve published your new blog post, make sure to promote it a little. For example, you may want to share it on your company’s Facebook page or LinkedIn page to get it out in front of your audience.
Tool tip: Tools like HooteSuite and Buffer can make it easy to share your new blog posts to your social media profiles.
Check and respond to reviews.
Just about everyone in every age group is looking at your reviews to see what others are saying and how you’re responding. So you need to keep a close eye on your Google, Yelp, and Facebook reviews.
When negative reviews come in, you need to respond to them, and try to take those conversations offline so you can make things right. When positive reviews come in, you need to respond to those, too, and let your customers know you appreciate their business and the time they took to leave you a review. You should be set up to get notifications when a review is left, so this shouldn’t be as tricky to stay on top of as some other ongoing tasks may be.
That’s not everything, but if you can do all that, you’ll be doing alright. But what if you don’t have the time or resources to commit to doing SEO yourself?
Hiring Someone To Do Your SEO: What To Consider, What To Look For & What To Avoid
Ok, so maybe you’re leaning towards hiring someone. First things first: should you hire a company or a person?
Well, remember all the time and effort that can be required on an ongoing basis. Ask yourself, “Is that something one person can handle, especially if they have other clients?” Sometimes it’s better to go with a company because they have more eyes on the landscape, more tools, and more time and resources to dedicate to your SEO success. But that doesn’t mean all companies are a good choice.
Some will assign you an account manager who has more than 100 clients and can’t possibly give you much attention. In that case, how is hiring a company any better for you than hiring an individual? Well, it’s not. So take the time to consider the time involved and the client load of the individual or company account manager before making a decision.
What else should you do when vetting an SEO vendor?
Ask them questions.
You may feel like you don’t have the technical knowledge to really ask the right questions, but there are some simple ones that should help you determine if the SEO vendor you’re looking at is up to snuff.
One question you’ll definitely want to ask is if a mobile-friendly website is important. If they say “No,” keep looking. More than half of all searches are done on mobile devices. If an SEO vendor doesn’t think having a mobile-friendly website that performs well is important, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
If the company will be creating a website for you and buying a domain name on your behalf, ask them if you’ll have full ownership of that site and the domain name, even if your relationship with them ends. The last thing you want is to lose your website and your domain just because you decide that the SEO company that built your website isn’t a good long-term fit.
Another question to ask is what they do for their customers. They should be able to provide you with something more than general statements. Any SEO worth their weight has actionable items and tasks they perform on behalf of their clients in order to really move the needle. If you ask and they can’t really answer you or don’t make any sense, they’re probably not the company for you.
Psst. Steer clear of any companies making promises or guarantees about results or time frames. For example, “Get to the top spot in Google in 7 days.” They’re lying to you. And definitely avoid anyone who buys reviews or links.
Do some research.
When looking for an SEO vendor, take some time to vet them the way your customers vet you.
Look at their website. Is it HTTPS? The move from HTTP to HTTPS has been an important message from Google for years, so if an SEO vendor you’re looking at hasn’t made the move, they’re not on their A game. Look for someone else.
Take a look at their reviews. A company will always put themselves in the best light, but if you want an idea of what they’re really like to work with, look at what others are saying. Head to Google or Facebook and see what you can find. What are recurrent themes? Do people praise their communication? Do people warn against working with them because they lock them into contracts that are nearly impossible to get out of? Sift through the reviews and see what you can find.
Are they local? By local, we don’t mean near you, we mean in the country you work in. Why does locality matter? Because you need your SEO team to be there when you need them, and if they’re 12 hours ahead of you, that could be a problem. But don’t get so obsessed with locality that you’ll only hire someone in your city. There may be companies that are an hour ahead or an hour behind you, but will provide you with far better service than the ones nearest your business.
Are they quoting a significantly lower price than everyone else? Price will always be a factor when you’re outsourcing work, because you only have so much money to dedicate to things like SEO. But for the sake of your business, don’t go out and find the cheapest company you can find. You usually get what you pay for. If someone is quoting far less than everyone else, there’s usually a good reason.
And lastly, trust your gut.
Your SEO vendor should be a partner that really helps you achieve your business goals faster and with greater ease. But working with the wrong company can be incredibly frustrating, costly, and wasteful. Take some time to feel it out and get to know them a little. If what they’re saying sounds too good to be true, they seem sleazy, or you just get a bad feeling about working with them, keep looking. In this case, you’re better off waiting for the right fit than hiring the wrong one.
If you’re like a lot of other business owners, you know that blogging can be good for business, but you hate trying to come up with topics. Trust me, I know the feeling. Sometimes, it feels like there’s nothing else to talk about. After all, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” right?
But there are some tried and true ways to get inspiration and come up with topics when you feel like the well has dried up. Here are some of my personal favorites:
#1 Listen to your customers.
One of the very best ways to come up with blog post topics is to listen to your customers. What are they saying? What do they ask about, again and again? What issues are they dealing with?
Here at Spark Marketer, we have a weekly chat where we share what our clients have been asking about or talking about, as well as any issues that have come up throughout the week.
Every topic and issue gets added to a spreadsheet that we can all access, add to, and pull from, which is great because it reveals themes and provides insight to those of us who don’t get to have regular conversations with clients.
Knowing what our clients are dealing with, asking about, and talking about, enables me to write (hopefully) helpful content that’s relevant to what they’re going through. So, yes, it’s altruistic. But, the bonus is, it provides me with a wealth of blog post ideas. It’s how I came up with this one!
Don’t ignore the wealth of ideas in the conversations you have with your customers. After all, they’re the very people you should be writing for!
#2 Use Google autofill & “people also ask.”
Google makes it kind of easy for you to “listen in” using autofill and “people also ask” in search results. All you have to do is start typing in a word or sentence, say, “Why is my fireplace,” for example, and see what autofill comes up with. There, you’ll find out how people are finishing that sentence and just what people are asking.
When you type a question into Google and press enter, you’ll also notice that Google shows a few related questions in the search results, under the title “People also ask.” This is great for finding related topics to write about or other questions to answer within that same blog post. It’s like a free look inside the minds of those searching for topics, services, and products you deal with. Creepy, but helpful.
#3 Check out Answer the Public.
Answer the Public is a pretty great tool that allows you to type a keyword or topic into a search bar and come out on the other side with a whole host of related questions people are asking on the web. It’s a great way of expanding your ideas when all you have in mind is a general topic or keyword. Plus, the guy on the home page is pretty entertaining, in a judgmental kind of way.
Here’s an example of how the questions are organized. The results below are for the keyword “fireplace.” Check it out.
#4 Spy on Quora.
If you can get past the fact that people ask some of the dumbest questions possible on Quora, you’ll find that it’s sometimes a good way to see what good questions are being asked about a particular topic. It’s also a great way to see what kinds of answers people are getting, so you know what misinformation and misconceptions to address in your blog posts. You can choose topics that interest you and Quora will send you emails when related questions are asked, or you can just go to Quora and start looking around. But brace yourself. Like I said, some of the questions are ludicrous, and you’ll spend a few minutes just wondering how these people have made it this far in life.
#5 Keep your eyes and ears open.
A lot of times, topics will come to mind and inspiration will strike in the strangest of places, so keep your eyes and ears open. If you’re a local service business, as painful as it can be sometimes, watch the local news. Are there reports of consumer fraud in your industry? Maybe you need to do a post on what to look for when hiring a company that provides the services you offer. Are there certain products you use to do your job that provide a better value for the homeowner? Maybe it’s time to showcase those in a blog post. Maintain a curious mind, keep your eyes and ears open, and you’ll come up with ideas. The more accustomed you get to thinking outside the box, the easier it will be to find inspiration.
Well, I hope you find these helpful. Now that I’ve shared some of my favorites, I’d love to know how you come up with blog post ideas. Let me know at jessica@sparkmarketer.com!
