Smarter Marketing for Remodeling Firms - Continuum Marketing Group LLC

Tag: remodeler website

Something I bet you didn’t know about the term “Page Rank”

October 7, 2011
by David Alpert

I learned something new and amusing today about the SEO term called PR or Page Rank that you can use to win bar bets with. (no guarantees of course)  I always knew it was different than the term SERP rank which stands for Search Engine Results Page rank which means are you #1, #2 or #3 … in the search results.  Most people call this Page Rank.  However Page Rank has always meant the relative authority/importance of a particular page or website based on a Google algorithm that weighs things like number and importance of other websites that link to the page or domain and other factors.  What I learned today that was new and amusing was that Page Rank was named after Larry Page who cofounded Google and who came up with the concept of the Page Rank approach.

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: Remodeler and Remodeling Contractor Marketing, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Websites, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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The Widely Misunderstood Google Analytics Bounce Rate

May 1, 2011
by David Alpert

Consider this: a specific page on your remodeling company website has 100 visitors. 99 of the people came to the page from within your website and after visiting the page moved to other pages on your website. However, 1 person came to that page because they found it on a search engine. They came to your site directly to that page and then left from that page.

What would be the Google bounce rate for that web page? Would it be 1% ? (99 people visited the page and continued viewing your site.) No. It would be 100%. That page on your website would have a 100% bounce rate. All because one person visited that page from “outside” your website and then left your website without exploring your site more!

So, if you look at Google Analytics and see that the specific page on your website has a 100% bounce rate, should you panic? Not necessarily. It depends on the page. If the 100% bounce rate is for a “landing page” you created, then a 100% bounce rate is a BIG problem. It means that all of the people who were coming to that landing page from outside your website are leaving before they explore the rest of your site. That is bad.

However, if the page with the 100% bounce rate has information on it like a staff member’s name, the site visitor may have found that page while doing a search for a different person with that same name. And if that page is not a landing page, nor is it particularly important, a high bounce rate to that page would not be a problem.

As it was explained to me, Google calculates its bounce rate the way it does mostly because of Google Adwords. When a Google Adwords link is clicked and someone goes to your website, you are paying for each click.

So you really want to know that people going to the page you just paid for them to go to are staying on your website and not bouncing from the site. When you think about it from that perspective, the seemingly counter-intuitive percentage calculation makes sense. Once you understand how the bounce rate is calculated and what it should be used for, you can start making better decisions about your remodeling company website.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: Online Marketing, Remodeler and Remodeling Contractor Marketing, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Strategies and Tactics, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Websites, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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Publish or Perish – A New Remodeler Marketing Reality

April 3, 2011
by David Alpert

The need to “publish or perish,” once a pressure felt exclusively by college professors and other academics, is now shared, to a real extent, by remodelers. Like it or not, more and more homeowners are inclined to buy services from remodeling contractors who provide them with helpful information about design, remodeling, and the remodeling process. In today’s parlance, information is called “content” and in the world of online marketing, “content is king”.

While a lot of professional remodelers would be happy to share what they know with homeowners, only a small percent of remodelers enjoy and are really good at writing. This in itself should not really be an obstacle for remodelers because you can outsource writing and editing at a reasonable price. The trick is making sure that the content generated has strategic marketing value, is not sales-y, and is interesting and helpful.

But what about the publishing part? This is where technology has really helped. No longer is it expensive to publish your content. Some of the vehicles you can use include your remodeling company website, remodeling company blog, remodeling company e-newsletter, homeowner guidance and white papers, articles you write for local papers and online papers, etc.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: E-newsletter and Newsletter Marketing, Online Marketing, Remodeler and Remodeling Contractor Marketing, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Strategies and Tactics
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Search Engine Optimization vs. Website Optimization

March 2, 2011
by David Alpert

We frequently find that remodelers seeking marketing assistance are unclear about the differences between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Optimization. Both of these remodeler marketing practices are important and, though related to each other, they are not the same. It is important to understand that they are not the same and how they are different.

Search engine optimization, commonly called SEO, is a process in which changes are made to your website and “back links” are created to your remodeling company website from other websites that help increase your search engine ranking for certain search terms. Often times this can mean increased traffic to your website from other sites and to “landing pages” on your website specifically designed and written to capture traffic for specific keywords. However, ranking high in Google and increased traffic to your remodeling company’s website does not necessarily mean increased sales. The ranking and traffic increase are only truly valuable if the search terms you are using are ones that will attract the right type of visitors.

Website optimization is a process in which your remodeling company’s website, including its landing pages, is optimized so that visitors to your website take the actions you desire. This might be to sign up for your remodeling company’s e-newsletter, request a white paper, or contact you about a project. If you are getting the right type of traffic, but your website is not doing a good job of “converting” these visitors to leads, then your website needs to be optimized. The overlap between SEO and website optimization are the landing pages created for the purpose of SEO which must also move the visitor to take the next step towards the desired action. Arguably, the landing page can be the responsibility of either the SEO provider or the website optimization provider or both in terms of making sure visitors go beyond that one page.

If you have any questions about this post or other remodeler or contractor marketing questions, please contact us.

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: Online Marketing, Remodeler and Remodeling Contractor Marketing, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Strategies and Tactics, Remodeling Contractor Marketing Websites, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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