thebamboo23
01-18-2015, 04:19 PM
When someone makes a website, one of their first thoughts are, "I have to SEO my website. I need to be the number one spot on Google for [insert city] mobile auto detailing!"
What is SEO?
It stands for search engine optimization. It's the process of affecting the visibility of a website in a search engine’s “natural” or “organic” (not paid for) search results.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8645/15690720423_3cf8a9c011.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pUx3wt)[/url] (https://flic.kr/p/pUx3wt)
Getting to the top of Google will bring in a lot of customers, right? Well that's what we think (and wish for).
I live in Houston and our market is HUGE (2.1 million population). Lots of folks are into race cars, exotics, classics, muscle, daily drivers, etc.. Houston has a VERY diverse and large car culture.
So it would be ideal for me to get to the top of Google for phrases such as:
Houston auto detailing
Houston mobile detailing
Houston car wash
and so forth...
I went into the Keyword Planner (Google Adwords) and analyzed all the phrases that had to do with my services. Then I exported them into a Google Doc and nicely organized them for you:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7478/16309581852_a7a665381d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qRdSt7) (https://flic.kr/p/qRdSt7)
In total, there are over 3,090 searches a month for auto detail related services in Houston.
Now I know what you're thinking, "If I can get at least half of those people to visit my website, I'll be booked for months in advance. This is going to be great!"
I don't blame you for thinking that. But let's dive in deeper to see how effective this will be for my business.
Below is a photo of the Houston area that Google outlines for me. All the searches from the photo above are coming from these areas:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7471/15690570663_84dcc65520.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pUwh1p) (https://flic.kr/p/pUwh1p)
Doesn't seem to bad, right? Personally, I'm in the mobile detailing business. So I go to my customer.
Here's the one problem I have with targeting the Houston area: that's not the area I want to target.
Take a look at the photo below:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7516/16123072970_ab7b74630b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyJXSJ) (https://flic.kr/p/qyJXSJ)
This is the actual area I'd like to service (Spring, Tx). As you can tell, it does not fall under the Houston area and the population is MUCH less.
So what does this mean? Well I went back into the Keyword Planner to come up with some numbers:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7519/16122898498_f22be3e788.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyJ51A) (https://flic.kr/p/qyJ51A)
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8582/16124289559_62e9315e6b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyRcwp) (https://flic.kr/p/qyRcwp)
So now instead of getting over 3,000 auto detailing related searches per month, I know have less than 300 searches a month for my targeted area.
Why this is important
Because the monthly searches are so low for Spring, Tx, should I rely on SEO to bring me customers? I'd say no.
Is it still something I should focus on without putting all my effort in? Yes.
Even though it has such a low volume, down the road it probably will bring me a few customers.
Should I not worry on ranking for Houston related auto detailing phrases? Well, it depends. Take a look at the photo below:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/16308662901_49f7a49852.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qR9ai8) [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/99143810@N03/] (https://flic.kr/p/qR9ai8)
I wouldn't want to get calls from people in these areas. Why?
For one, it's waayyy too far for my liking. Second, they probably won't pay my prices.
And since I can't control who from Houston calls me, I'd rather not even rank for the Houston area. It'll be less of a hassle for me.
Keep this in mind
Whenever you're starting your business, always be hyper-targeted. It doesn't matter if you're going to run an Adwords campaign, Facebook ads, rank well in Google, or pass out flyers by hand.
Always be specific as possible with the area you want to service.
You want everyone to know who you are and that you're in business. This will make it easier for you to get referrals, word-of-mouth, and overall more exposure.
Of course, this is going to vary from city to city. But you can still follow some basic rules:
- Don't always rank for the biggest city. Other businesses will also want to rank for the biggest city which will make it harder and longer for you to rank well.
- Make sure the you're trying to rank for a specific area that has your ideal customers
- Just because you rank well for a big city does not mean you'll get the customers you want
- It's better to target an area with low searches but that have your ideal customers rather than a larger area with not-so-good customers
Hope this helps someone:dblthumb2:
What is SEO?
It stands for search engine optimization. It's the process of affecting the visibility of a website in a search engine’s “natural” or “organic” (not paid for) search results.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8645/15690720423_3cf8a9c011.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pUx3wt)[/url] (https://flic.kr/p/pUx3wt)
Getting to the top of Google will bring in a lot of customers, right? Well that's what we think (and wish for).
I live in Houston and our market is HUGE (2.1 million population). Lots of folks are into race cars, exotics, classics, muscle, daily drivers, etc.. Houston has a VERY diverse and large car culture.
So it would be ideal for me to get to the top of Google for phrases such as:
Houston auto detailing
Houston mobile detailing
Houston car wash
and so forth...
I went into the Keyword Planner (Google Adwords) and analyzed all the phrases that had to do with my services. Then I exported them into a Google Doc and nicely organized them for you:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7478/16309581852_a7a665381d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qRdSt7) (https://flic.kr/p/qRdSt7)
In total, there are over 3,090 searches a month for auto detail related services in Houston.
Now I know what you're thinking, "If I can get at least half of those people to visit my website, I'll be booked for months in advance. This is going to be great!"
I don't blame you for thinking that. But let's dive in deeper to see how effective this will be for my business.
Below is a photo of the Houston area that Google outlines for me. All the searches from the photo above are coming from these areas:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7471/15690570663_84dcc65520.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pUwh1p) (https://flic.kr/p/pUwh1p)
Doesn't seem to bad, right? Personally, I'm in the mobile detailing business. So I go to my customer.
Here's the one problem I have with targeting the Houston area: that's not the area I want to target.
Take a look at the photo below:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7516/16123072970_ab7b74630b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyJXSJ) (https://flic.kr/p/qyJXSJ)
This is the actual area I'd like to service (Spring, Tx). As you can tell, it does not fall under the Houston area and the population is MUCH less.
So what does this mean? Well I went back into the Keyword Planner to come up with some numbers:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7519/16122898498_f22be3e788.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyJ51A) (https://flic.kr/p/qyJ51A)
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8582/16124289559_62e9315e6b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qyRcwp) (https://flic.kr/p/qyRcwp)
So now instead of getting over 3,000 auto detailing related searches per month, I know have less than 300 searches a month for my targeted area.
Why this is important
Because the monthly searches are so low for Spring, Tx, should I rely on SEO to bring me customers? I'd say no.
Is it still something I should focus on without putting all my effort in? Yes.
Even though it has such a low volume, down the road it probably will bring me a few customers.
Should I not worry on ranking for Houston related auto detailing phrases? Well, it depends. Take a look at the photo below:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/16308662901_49f7a49852.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qR9ai8) [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/99143810@N03/] (https://flic.kr/p/qR9ai8)
I wouldn't want to get calls from people in these areas. Why?
For one, it's waayyy too far for my liking. Second, they probably won't pay my prices.
And since I can't control who from Houston calls me, I'd rather not even rank for the Houston area. It'll be less of a hassle for me.
Keep this in mind
Whenever you're starting your business, always be hyper-targeted. It doesn't matter if you're going to run an Adwords campaign, Facebook ads, rank well in Google, or pass out flyers by hand.
Always be specific as possible with the area you want to service.
You want everyone to know who you are and that you're in business. This will make it easier for you to get referrals, word-of-mouth, and overall more exposure.
Of course, this is going to vary from city to city. But you can still follow some basic rules:
- Don't always rank for the biggest city. Other businesses will also want to rank for the biggest city which will make it harder and longer for you to rank well.
- Make sure the you're trying to rank for a specific area that has your ideal customers
- Just because you rank well for a big city does not mean you'll get the customers you want
- It's better to target an area with low searches but that have your ideal customers rather than a larger area with not-so-good customers
Hope this helps someone:dblthumb2: