Digital Marketing Strategies for Service-Area Businesses

Are you a service-area business (SAB) struggling to grow your visibility online?

It can be hard to expand your reach on search engines, like Google and Bing, and attract more customers when your biggest digital marketing obstacle may be a lack of a single storefront.

Because you visit the customer directly instead of the customer coming to your business location, we’ll help you target more customers in your desired geographic area by discussing tactics and digital marketing best practices for local SEO, geo targeted advertising, and user-friendly websites. 

Whether you’re in the HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, IT, or any service industry, this guide will help you leverage digital marketing strategies specifically tailored to service companies like yours. 

Common Industry Challenges

We want to make sure your business is found when your customers are looking for your service, whether they are right next door or across town, which means addressing some challenges.

• Competition: Increased competition can make it difficult for your company to stand out in the market. One way of doing this is by specifying the area and cities you serve so your target customers can easily find you. It also ensures that you get the customers who are closest to you, reducing your driving time.
• Customer Expectations: Customers today expect businesses to have a modern and user-friendly website that makes it easy for users to contact you. Offering fast response times and exceptional service that’s personalized and respectful lets them know that you prioritize them. It also nurtures customer loyalty. 
• Economic Uncertainty: Economic challenges, like a recession, affect consumer and business spending, putting big ticket and non-essential spending on hold. For example, your customer’s landscaping project gets postponed or a business’s computer upgrades get slashed. Having a plan in place for economic downturns is like having a safety net there when you need it.  
• Hiring And Keeping Employees: Finding and retaining a good employee is difficult, especially in trade industries. Advertise to job seekers your positive and rewarding work environment that fosters career advancement opportunities and incentives. 
• Innovation and Adaptation: Experiment! Try new things! It’s a great way to stay ahead of your competition and differentiate your business.

No matter what challenges you face, let’s talk about building that robust digital marketing strategy that is innovative, adaptable, and will grow your business. 

Marketing Strategies For Service Area Companies

Local SEO & Location-Based Marketing

Create & Optimize a Google Business Profile

If you don’t have a Google Business Profile, it could be the difference between people knowing you exist or not. 

Google Business Profile (GBP) is an online listing on Google. You likely already have a listing, even if you haven’t claimed it. You want to be in charge of how your local business shows up across the search and map results and it will make you twice as reputable.

So go claim it! 

And since you serve customers in a specific geographical area, setting those locations will make it easier for them to find you.

If you need help, we set up and optimize Google Business Profile listings every day for businesses just like yours.

Use Geographic Keywords for Local Search

Geo-targeted keywords are keywords on your website that help identify your business and attract leads based on location. 

For example, say you own a locksmith company in Portland, Oregon. If someone searches for “best locksmith in Portland” and your website mentions “Portland,” the likelihood of your business showing up on the first page is much higher. 

You’re not only making it easier for potential customers to find you, which leads to higher conversion rates, but you’re also giving yourself an edge over your competitors that aren’t optimizing their website for local search. 

You can go even more granular with the names of specific neighborhoods, such as Beaverton or Pearl District. 

So how do you optimize your website? 

As soon as you’ve chosen your geo-targeted keywords, add them naturally in your meta tags, website copy, and ad copy. 

It can take time to see results with this approach so the sooner you get started, the better. Or, let us optimize your website for you and we’ll use more than just location-based keywords. We build full, researched-backed content strategies for maximum impact.

Get Customer Reviews

Over 99% of users read reviews when they’re shopping online or looking for a service-based business like yours. 

Feedback and ratings actual customers leave on online platforms including Google, Yelp, Facebook, and industry specific directories can build credibility, or destroy it. Nurturing quality reviews with great customer service is your key to retaining customers and bringing in new ones.

The number of reviews also plays an important role in influencing a customer’s decision. A whopping 43% of users prefer businesses that have over 100 reviews as it shows expertise, professionalism, and knowledge. It’s a gauge of how your business will be perceived by customers.

Reviews are important ranking factors for search engines, especially Google, which  takes into account the quantity, quality, and recency of online reviews for businesses. 

It seems obvious but let’s dig into these factors and how they can impact local SEO results:

• Quantity: The more reviews your business has, the more likely you are to have a larger customer base, better products and services. Additionally, it shows potential customers that your team has the knowledge and expertise they are looking for. 
• Quality: Do your reviews only have ratings or do they have detailed feedback with examples of what made your product or service exceptional? Positive reviews signal to Google that your business is trustworthy, while negative reviews can negatively impact your business. 
• Recency: Newer reviews hold more weight than old ones. You want to ensure that you are receiving a consistent number of reviews over time as it shows that you are active. 

We all want amazing 5-star reviews to attract new customers but negative reviews are a reality no matter how great your customer service is. If you get a negative review, make sure to respond to it promptly and professionally, offering a solution to resolve the issue with the customer. 

Related: Best Practices for Managing Online Reviews

Leverage Local Directories

Local directories are online platforms that serve as a place for users to find local service businesses like yours. 

Separate from your Google Business Profile, directories include Angi, Yelp, Yellow Page, BBB, and many more. Industry specific directories, like Houzz for the home remodeling industry, are relevant too. 

Directories provide an additional layer of credibility for your business. Optimizations include adding photos, responding to reviews, and showcasing sales, blogs, and press releases. 

Because local directory links and optimization offer Google more information about your business, the more directories you are in, the better your chances are of appearing in more and higher ranking search results. 

Geotargeted Advertising 

What is Geotargeting?

Paid ads are an important part of most digital marketing strategies. 

But, as a service-area business, how can you ensure that your paid ads are reaching your customers nearest to you?

Geotargeting!

Different from geotargeting for local search (organic or SEO), geotargeting is a type of paid advertising that targets consumers. 

Think Google Ads.

For example, if you are a plumber and have an office in San Francisco, your ads should target users in nearby cities. Cities like Fresno and Bakersfield, which are over 150 miles away, are not ideal because they are too far. 

Benefits of Geotargeted Advertising

Geotargeted advertising is another digital marketing channel that allows you to reach more of your target audience.

• Faster: Paid ads get your messaging in front of customers immediately whereas organic search (SEO) takes time to build. Is it overnight success? No. But you could be raking in the leads in no time.
• Creating a personalized experience: Customers love personalization. Geotargeting helps with that because it shows that you understand their wants and needs, creating a great first impression. 
• Builds trust: When you explicitly say that you serve a specific area, consumers will feel more confident in their decision choosing you. 
• Being relevant: No one wants to see an ad from a business that serves a city that’s in a completely different state. Customers want to see ads that are local to them and easily accessible by car or public transportation. 

We are experts at paid ads for your service-area business whether you need help for your construction company, your IT business or anything else.

User-Friendly Websites 

Your customer’s experience starts with your website. Does your website stack up to your competition? If you are looking to propel your business into the future, then do your customer a favor and have a solid website.

COVID fueled the need for businesses to be online. In 2020, there were over 1 billion websites! And that number will continue to grow. 

Regardless of what industry you are in, having a high performing website that has good web design and is functional will set you apart from the competition. 

User-Friendly Website Elements

• Easy to Navigate: The site architecture should be intuitive, clean, and organized. Customers should be able to understand what your company has to offer and specific content should be painless, and not hidden in layers-deep menus. Make it easy for users to get in touch with you for an emergency service. Similarly, search engine bots should be able to crawl the pages so they can be properly indexed and ranked.  
• Fast Loading Time: 83% of users expect a website to load in 3 seconds or less. Anything longer means you risk the customer leaving your site and possibly never coming back. Improving your core web vitals, minimizing Javascript, and compressing images are just a few ways to improve load time. 
• Mobile Friendly: Almost everyone has a phone. Ensure that your site is responsive to all screen sizes and that the elements adjust seamlessly on mobile devices. Use the mobile friendly test to see if your site is mobile friendly or if you need to make improvements so users can easily contact you from their phone.  
• Readable Content: Content should be easy to read and easily scannable. This means having headings to break up the page into sections, utilizing whitespace, increasing your margins, and avoiding large paragraphs. Most users are in a rush and do not have time to read an essay. There is an art to copywriting to craft messaging that captures the audience’s attention and keeps them interested.
• Clear Calls to Action: Whether you want to increase the number of phone calls or contact form submissions, one thing is clear: your calls to action (CTAs) need to be front and center. Place them strategically throughout your site to guide users to take action.

We know that is a lot. And might not be in your wheelhouse. Give us a shout and we will take a look.

Benefits of a User-Friendly Website

• Boosts SEO: User experience = higher ranking. The overall experience a customer has with a website from design and navigation to copy and calls to action, is now an important ranking factor for Google. 
• First Impression is Everything: It only takes 1/10th of a second to form a first impression of a website, and believe it or not, 94% of those first impressions are related to the website’s design. The design influences how customers feel about your brand and its credibility. On the other hand, a poorly designed website can cause the opposite effect, including mistrust and pushing people to leave your website. 
• More Sales: Not only does a strong website design lead to improved credibility, but it can also result in increased engagement levels and higher conversion rates. With strategic CTA placement, you can encourage customers to take action such as calling you, filling out the contact form, or subscribing to a newsletter. 
• Easier Website Management: Maintaining a website can be time consuming and frustrating. A user-friendly website with a modern and up-to-date theme makes it easier for you to make your own changes. 

Get Your Phone Ringing with Service Area Marketing

In a world where customers have choices, be the business that stands out from the crowd. 

If you need help growing your reach in your city, Intuitive Digital can help! With decades of combined experience and a team of SEO, paid, and web professionals, we will take your visibility to the next level.

Give us a call at (503) 206-4988 or send us a message!