So much of what we’ve talked about on this blog is on how to increase your contracting website’s Search Engine Optimization by improving your website itself; we’ve talked about fine-tuning each page, getting a secure server, and changing your website title. We’ve also spent a little bit of time just talking about SEO as a whole and why it matters for contractors. Today we’re not going to be looking at improving your website; instead, we’re going to be exploring the benefits of buying online advertising. Whether it’s to jumpstart your website’s reach or to connect with a new target market, we’ll cover it today. Enjoy!

1. Target Your Ideal Client

Paid online advertising gives you the power to target your ideal prospect. Taking all available data from people who are online will show you that it’s possible to place your ad in front of the exact person who needs to see it. This is a game changer for contractors.

You can show your ad to people living in a specific zip code, making a certain income, married with a specific number of children, owning their own home and who are interested in golf. Go back to our little exercise where you created your ideal customer profile. With online advertising, you can show your ads to those specific people.

2. Use Native Advertising

Native advertising is the ability to create ads that look and feel like the platform. For instance, if you’re advertising on Facebook, you’ll create an ad fitting into Facebook’s native format. Then while people are scrolling down it doesn’t feel like you’re shouting an advertisement at them. It feels more like you are joining the conversation they’re already having.

Instagram advertising works the same way. Create a short ad to be played or viewed on Instagram that appeals to your target audience and is like the types of videos/posts they regularly view. This allows your message to influence them without appearing pushy. Instagram also offers ads within Instagram stories. A very effective and attractive way to get attention.

3. Pay Only for Those Interested

You can advertise online and only pay if people are clicking on or watching your ad. You don’t have to waste money paying for advertising if people aren’t interested in your ad, and because you are using a targeted marketing strategy, your ad is not being seen by people who are not interested.

4. Click-To-Call

Most people today do their research on their smartphones. If your ad shows up on their smartphone screen and they want to call you, they can tap your ad and immediately place a call—they don’t even have to type in your phone number or visit your website.

This system removes all of the unnecessary middle steps—clicking, redirecting to your website, reading your message, getting your phone number, entering your phone number, calling you—making it much, much easier for the potential client to reach you. Furthermore, you can even add a tracking number to that ad so you will know exactly how many people clicked on it and placed a call.

 5. Retarget Prospective Clients

Internet technology allows you to track the people clicking on your ads and follow them up with another ad. For instance, imagine you have a piece of content on your website that you want people to read, so you advertise that content. Someone clicks on your ad, and they are redirected to your website.

Now they are added to your retargeting list. These are the people who have heard about you and read your content—therefore you are going to show them a totally different ad which will take them a little bit deeper into your business.

It’s most effective to advertise to the people with whom you’ve previously engaged; in this case, you do not waste marketing cash on people who aren’t interested, but you’re showing your ad to people who’ve already encountered some of your expertise and inviting them to learn even more.

6. Analyze Metrics and Analytics

Digital advertising makes it easy to measure and track the performance of your ads. Tracking your ad-performance is powerful, because you can see what people are clicking on, what that click is leading them to, and the results of their searching. This will help you know which ads are effective in getting you the most new leads.

7. Improve Your Performance

After measuring your metrics, go in and tweak small portions of your ads to see if performance can improve. If your changes improve your ad’s reach, draw, or effectiveness—keep them. Continue to edit them over time and refine your advertising until it’s a powerful marketing machine.

SUMMARY

Paid online ads are an investment, there’s no doubt about it. They take time and money to set up and streamline, but they can be an invaluable addition to your marketing scheme.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post 7 Benefits of Paid Online Ads appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Today I’ve compiled a list of the Top 4 things we’ve learned in 2018 about a contractor’s online presence.

Enjoy!

1. How to Get Found

We’ve talked a lot this year about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the system search engines employ to rank websites in internet user’s search results. Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Explorer analyze each search result for many aspects. Is this website popular? Do people spend time on it? Do internet users respond well to it? Does it load quickly? Where is it located? Etc. These reviews happen within milliseconds of searching and determine where the website should be placed in the search results.

Obviously, the higher on the list of results a website gets placed, the easier it is to find and view, so it will receive more web circulation and traffic. There are so many ways (both big and small) to work on adjusting your website to sit as high as possible in the search results. Some take time, some take money, some are no-brainers, but for the sake of your business, it is critical to invest in your website’s SEO so that you can get found online.

Here’s what we learned this year about Getting Found Online

Change Your Website Title to Accurately Reflect Your Business.

Your website title should be able to tell Google and any potential client searching the internet exactly who you are and what you do. Generic doesn’t work. Google needs to know who you are, so they can recommend you to the perfect match.

Here’s the best formula for a website title:

Business Name + Best Key Phrase + Location

An example: Holsinger Construction – Custom Home Builder In Yakima, WA.

Find Your Ideal Customer

If you’re an experienced contractor, you know the beauty of owning your niche. Whether that’s kitchen remodels, patio pavers, custom home building, or bathroom plumbing—you know it’s what you’re best at, and you want other people to know it too. You also know that everyone is not your ideal client. Your ideal client is people in your location who need your services and want to pay for them.

Sit down. Make a list of the defining qualities your ideal client would possess. Age, location, family, income, etc.

There you have it. Now direct all your marketing to that person. When you’re putting your business in front of people that already want it, it’ll be much easier to get found.

Buy a Google Ad

If you’re anxious to get to the tippy-top of the Google search results, run a Google Ad.

Optimize Google Maps to Get Found in Your Own City

The Google Maps ranking engine is built with the purpose of providing local people with local search results. Go to Google My Business to start the process. You cannot put enough emphasis on advertising WHERE you’re located. Your clients will generally be coming from your own or neighboring cities.

The next tip is the most time-consuming, effort-based tip of them all, but ultimately pays off well for your business:

Create Valuable Content

We touched on this briefly here. Popularity, relevance, and authority are a few of the factors search engines analyze. To get found you will need to create popular (people like it), relevant (people can find it when they search for something specific) and authoritative (aka you’re the BEST tile-layer on this side of the Mississippi) content on your website. Blog posts, videos, FAQs—anything that will be helpful to people on the internet and get them to check out your site. This helps your website’s SEO by getting more traffic to your website and therefore more leads for your business.

2. How to Build Trust

Building trust is about cultivating your online reputation and presence to be one of helpfulness and value to your future customers over a period of time. Your online presence should be there to serve others not just bring in sales for you.

Here’s what we learned this year about Building Trust!

Provide Value to Online Users

 You’ve created content in order to boost your SEO—use that same content to foster a relationship of trust with your potential customers. Answer their questions, provide them with the occasional ‘freebie,’ show them that you’re there not just to garner their business but to help them out.

 Provide Reinforcement for Content Created

And how will your future clients be able to trust that what you’re telling them is true? That you are who you say you are? That’s where reviews, testimonials, credentials, and a high-quality portfolio comes in. The proof to back up your own statements. Satisfied customers and photographic evidence provide the reinforcement necessary to build the trust foundation.

Write a “Meet the Owner” Page for Your Website.

A little bit different than an About Page, a Meet the Owner page is the place where you get to introduce yourself as a person to your potential clients. Your interests, hobbies, family, values, etc.

When clients come to your ‘Meet the Owner” page, they are looking to see if you are the type of person who they would get along well with. Remember, they have to trust you tremendously to allow you to come onto their property and into their house to perform these services. Your “Meet the Owner” page is a place you can build trust by letting them get to know you better.

3. How to Stay Safe

The danger of getting your website hacked gets stronger year by year. Currently, if you have a website and any online presence, it’s not so much a matter of IF your website will come under attack, but WHEN. Do everything you can to secure your website’s vulnerabilities and protect your information and integrity.

Here’s some of what we learned this year about contractor website security.

Update Your Passwords

To make sure your password is strong, use a combination of uppercase/lowercase letters and numbers or symbols such as stars, dollar signs, hyphens, etc.

Lastly, I then recommend that you change your passwords regularly. Twice a year is sufficient, but if you want to be really proactive, change them once a month.

Install WordPress Security Plugins

If you have a WordPress based website, you should use the security plugins they offer for an extra layer of safety.

Click here for a list of plugins to install.

4. How to Use Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps of its time. Created to share pictures and create community, it’s the perfect set up to build a contracting portfolio and interact with other contractors and future clients.

Get Started on Instagram

Once you’ve created a business profile and made sure your location is in the description and tied into the account, start posting high-quality photos of your work.

Optimize Hashtags

Instagram employs a built-in cataloging system using hashtags (#s). If you label your posts with relevant hashtags (#midwestcontractor #seattlehomerenovation #phoenixkitchenremodel) when people search Instagram you will be where they can find you. You can follow hashtags, use them to find other contractors to interact with, and using hashtags is proven to increase views on your posts.

Master Instagram Stories

While the bread-and-butter of Instagram is the classic Instagram post and caption, Instagram stories can hold their own in a different way. Once posted they disappear in 24 hours unless highlighted on your profile, and they’re the perfect place to share behind the scenes footage from your job sites, news and updates, and maybe just your own daily life. Instagram stories make it easier to show the person behind the business without dampening the aesthetic of your high-quality Instagram feed.

Expand Your Reach

Hashtags, linking your location, interacting with other people—these are important things to do on Instagram to expand your reach within the app. It’s also important to draw people from Instagram to your website. Link your IG posts to your website and book your clients from your website. This helps you have a well-rounded online presence instead of depending on only one app/platform.

Instagram TV (IGTV)

Instagram rolled out a new video platform in 2018 called IGTV. Instead of the minute-long video limitation on a normal Instagram post, you can now post up to 10 minutes of video. It’s a good opportunity for contractors to make DIY videos, vlog style videos or announcements available to potential clients all within the Instagram app.

SUMMARY

As a contractor with an internet-based marketing system, it’s vital that your future clients can find you easily when they search the internet. When attracting customers to your website, build trust in their minds toward you and your company by being a person of value to them. Don’t put off doing even the small things that could strengthen your website’s security; it’s so vital to the entirety of your online presence. Instagram is an ever-growing platform with lots of unique opportunities for contractors. Post high-quality photos and connect through hashtags and simple interaction with other users, but don’t forget to draw people back to your website.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my new book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Top 4 Things We Learned in 2018 appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Contractors are busy. Demolishing, building, remodeling, upgrading, crafting, and designing day in and day out. When you spend every day on the job site with dirt on your knees and blueprints in hand, you often aren’t thinking about one crucial part of your business platform—your website.

Your website’s job is to be forming good impressions of your contracting company while you’re out doing the dirty work. Your website works for you, and just like the rest of your employees should be giving its best.

I want to go over 5 simple checks you can run on your website today to make sure it is operating at peak performance.

1. Is Your Website Secure? (https://…)

Website security is of utmost importance. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you will be hacked. It’s not if, it’s when. I’ve discussed website security at length in this post. But for today, just know that at the very minimum you need to check to make sure your site url (webpage address) is protected by a secure socket layer (SSL).

Here’s the simplest way to check this for your website: go to Chrome, Safari, or any other internet browser and enter https://yourdomain. See if you are able to access your site securely or if you get an error message. Make sure you have the “s” after HTTP …. like this… https:// That is the secure protocol for web browsers.

This is important because not only is an unsecured website dangerous to your privacy, if your potential clients get an error message upon entering your website, they may turn away and never come back. It’s vital that your website is secured with an up-to-date SSL Certificate.

2. Is Your Website Mobile Responsive?

Mobile-responsive websites are designed to look good and run well on both a desktop computer and mobile phone. If you are a millennial this is a no-brainer. You’ve probably got this covered. However, if you are an older contractor and have owned your website for a long time, you should probably check into this. No one wants to pull up your website on their phone and need to zoom all the way in to see your phone number.

The easiest way to check your site’s mobile responsiveness is to run your site through a free online tool. Search “mobile responsive site check” in the search bar, and Google gives access to their site checker right there in the search engine. Super easy. Enter your web address. Then analyze the results. It should be very clear if your website responds to mobile devices or not.

Another easy way to check: pull up your website on a desktop computer. Drag the size of the browser window down so that it is very narrow like a phone. Your website should adjust automatically to a mobile layout if it is mobile responsive.

This is important because today nearly 60% of internet searches are made from phones. If your website is not mobile responsive you could be losing potential customers. If your website checks out to be not mobile responsive, do some research or hire a professional to fix it for you. You want to be able to meet the needs of the current audience.

3. Is Your Website Fast Enough?

People searching the internet, do not like to wait around for a website to load. Waiting is especially trying if it’s being held up by fancy moving graphics with cumbersome files. Most internet-searchers will leave the site if it takes more than a few seconds to load. Call it instant gratification, impatience, entitlement or whatever you want, but it is the state of the internet today. Get in front of it and make sure that your website responds quickly.

Again, there are free tools to check out your site speed. Here are two that I recommend.

Gtmetrix.com

This tool will give you a comprehensive report on the speed of your site. If it appears to be too slow, they will even give insight into how to fix it.

Google Dev Tools

Developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Google makes it easy and free for you to check your website speed. Visit that link above and enter your website address. This search will reveal lots of data for your website, but the main thing, for now, is to check how fast your site is.

If it’s slow, do what you can to speed it up. Clear the homepage of large, clunky files, etc. This is important because a quickly-responding website could be the ticket to getting your website visitors to stick around.

4. Does Your Site Have Broken Links?

When you first designed your website, you probably linked to other pages on the internet. Information pages, contact information, additional resources, etc. Over time, these links will change, but the website pages that contain the embedded link do not change. Clicking on the link will take your website visitors to either the wrong place or nowhere at all. The longer your site exists the more potential there is to have links that no longer work.

There are some cool tools that check for this and show you exactly where these broken links are on your site. Then, all you must do is fix them.

The simplest and easiest tool to use for this is probably brokenlinkcheck.com.

This is important because your website visitors need to be able to trust you and your information. If your links are broken, you cannot provide them with the information they need. A secure system of working links makes the experience of visiting your website much easier and enjoyable for them.

5. Is Your Site Being Indexed in The Google Search Engine?

Did you know it’s possible for you to have a website live on the internet without Google indexing it to include in the search results? It is possible! That is very alarming.

Make sure that you have Google Indexing “turned on,” and that there are no other indexing issues concerning your site.

Go to: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/index-status. Add your site and click on “Index/Coverage.” Google will let you know if there are any issues concerning the indexing of your site in their database.

This is important because the main reason you have a website at all is so that you’re there when people search for you. You need to be the answer to their question. If you’re not even in the index, you can’t work on getting to the top of the search results!

How to Move Forward

Once you’ve run these 5 simple checks, take care of any issues you encounter. If you do not have an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate—install one. If your site is not mobile responsive—get a new one. Speed up your lagging website, and make sure you’re included in Google search index.

As a contractor, you are out on the job every day making a huge impact in your community. Don’t forget that the more “unseen” part of your brand is very important too. For many people, their first impression of you is what they see online. Make sure your first impression is a good one by ensuring your website is performing to the best of its ability.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Five Simple Checks For Top Website Performance appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of building up and streamlining your contracting website’s SEO. Search engine optimization helps you get found by your target clients and helps place you higher in the Google search results. Google also provides special local service ads. Is there any chance Google local service ads could replace SEO as we know it?

The short answer is “Nope.”

I don’t believe they will replace SEO, and the rest of this article will show you why.

What Are Google Local Service Ads?

Google local service ads allow you to advertise your local business on Google and receive communication directly from your potential client. Your potential client can simply click on the ad to place a call or send you a message. You’re able to send and reply to messages, track your connections, and manage your bookings within the app and online.

Google local service ads are a pay-per-lead deal, but you’re able to set a budget for your costs per week or month.

Here are four points about what Google’s local service ads are and how they work:

1. Limited Availability

Google local service ads are only used for a handful of local service-based businesses. They focus on five main services:

• HVAC contractors
• Electrical contractors
• Plumbers
• Locksmiths
• Garage-door service contractors

They’re testing out a few more categories in California—towing, painting, house cleaning, handyman, etc.

2. Seen Above the Normal Search Results

Google local service ads appear as banner-style ads ABOVE the top search results.

Here’s a pic I just took of a search for Seattle Plumbers:

3. Require a Screening Process

To apply for these ads, Google requires you to complete a screening process. Once you go through the process and are approved, you receive a little green “Google Guaranteed” badge beside your company’s ad. Google then covers claims on the job invoice amount with a lifetime cap of $2000.

How much is the “Google Guaranteed” badge really worth to a local contractor? That remains to be seen.

4. Google Selects the Keywords

Unfortunately, with a Google local service ad, you cannot set your own keywords. Google chooses which keywords are relevant for the job types your company has selected. In fact, Google does not provide you with any keyword data to further streamline your ads. You just trust them to do the right thing!

Why Google Local Service Ads Won’t Replace SEO

Contractors, I don’t think this service will replace SEO at all.

The Google search engine will stay the same, and the local and organic search results will still be there every day. So unless you are Roto-Rooter, or One Hour Heating and Air, then I do not think you should spend a lot of time and money on local service ads.

If you have a solid online presence, custom SEO working well for your website, and money left over—go ahead and test them out, but for most of my audience (typically custom home builders and remodelers), I do not recommend Google local service ads.

Summary

Google local service ads are a specialized ad service working with a limited amount of local businesses. These ads are viewed at the top of the search results and provide potential clients with the ability to contact contractors directly through the ad. Google controls the keywords.

While the specialized ads could be helpful for some business, I do not think they replace the need or effectiveness of regular SEO for your contracting website.

Hopefully, this has helped answer any questions you may have had concerning whether local service ads would replace SEO. If you want to look into Google local service ads a bit deeper, I recommend these articles.

https://support.google.com/google-ads/topic/6224863?hl=en&ref_topic=6224857

https://www.brightlocal.com/2018/05/21/google-local-service-ads/

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Will Google Local Service Ads Replace SEO? appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

By 2018, all contractors should have their own website. It’s your company’s home base. It’s the place to feature your best work and best reviews, and, most importantly, it’s a way to give potential customers the means to connect with you after getting to know you.

But what’s important for a website? Is it enough to simply own a domain in your company’s name and drop some text and a few photos onto a flat web page? That may be better than nothing, but to truly get the most out of your contracting website, I believe you should have the following pages:

• Home
• Meet the Owner
• Portfolio
• Contact
• Our Reputation
• FAQ
• Blog

In my last blog post, I talked about why I think the long, scrolling flat web page design is the current best design for a contracting website. It’s easy to use, the information potential customers need is easy to find, and this design works fast on mobile devices. Regardless of how you set up your website—whether you go with my recommended scrolling design or click through to each page from a central home page—your website should contain in some way these seven sections.

1. Home Page

The home page is incredibly important. It’s the central hub of your website, and it becomes the face of your business when people open your site.

It’s your place to make a good first impression.

Your home page should ultimately speak directly to your potential customers’ needs, briefly describe who you are, and provide a description of your services. It’s also good to talk about the locations you serve on your home page as well.

Do what you can with your first impression to build trust toward you in potential customers’ minds from the first moment.

2. Meet the Owner

I highly recommend a meet-the-owner page. This page gives you a way to add an even more personal and trust-building aspect to your website, in addition to the “About” section, which should be on your homepage.

I have one client who sent me a message and underscored the importance of this page on their own website. They won new clients simply because they had a meet-the-owner page on their site, which helped build trust and rapport with their website visitors.

3. Portfolio

Your website’s portfolio page should display high-definition images of some of your best work. Give as many pictures as possible. You want your portfolio to show off how good you are at what you do!

4. Contact

The contact page gives customers the basic information they need to contact you—phone numbers, mailing address, and your location. If this information is not already part of a longer, scrolling home page, it should be clearly seen from the home page so that potential clients can easily access it.

5. Our Reputation

The reputation page should display reviews, testimonials, and other qualifying information to build up your reputation in the eyes of potential clients. This is the place where it’s okay to share the good things others have said about you. You don’t need to be cocky; just let the opinions and words of satisfied customers speak for themselves.

People are more likely to be convinced of a company’s worth if they hear a positive review from a peer instead of just self-affirmation from a company, so don’t be afraid to showcase your best work and your happiest customers!

6. Blog

Your blog should feature articles answering questions from your ideal client, or creating dreams within their minds. Customers want to read quality content that helps them dream or solve a current problem.

Additionally, if you have a blog, your website will rank higher in authority for the Google search engine. When potential customers search for your related keywords, your website will come up first. Blogging is a great way to improve your SEO based on your website content.

7. FAQ

The frequently asked questions page answers the most common questions asked by your target audience. The more you can answer their questions online, the more they will trust you to do their job.

An effective website is a combination of many different methods and aspects of business and marketing. You can’t have just one. You need your home page to draw people in; you need your reputation page to add trust and value to an initial impression; you need your blog to establish you as an authority on your subject to potential customers and Google. You need your portfolio to put pictures to your impressive statements, and you need a contact page to establish that connection with your target customer. It all works together to build a solid online presence, the very thing that will help you the most in getting business and keeping it.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Seven Important Pages for Your Contractor Website appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

There’s nothing more unsettling than waking up in the morning to find your contracting website security has been hacked; It’s alarming to see your website directing readers to inappropriate material, clickbait, or any other link over which you have no control because your website has been hacked.

Recently I had a contractor come to me asking me about the security measures we perform for our website clients as his website had been hacked more than once. I’ve learned a thing or two in the years I’ve been helping contractors, and today I want to give you a few tips on how to keep your website as secure as possible.

Currently, if you have a website and any online presence, it’s not so much a matter of IF your website will come under attack, but WHEN—so here are five tips to ensure you have a rock solid, protected website!

1. Update Your Passwords

This is a very foundational tip, and one that’s important for you to practice across all your online activities—not just your website. Updating your passwords on a regular basis is vital and important for your online safety.

Also, it is highly, highly important that you create indecipherable and unique passwords for each of your accounts. Hackers are primarily able to access accounts through insecure passwords, and passwords created with your first name, last name, or date of birth are very insecure. To make sure your password is strong, use a combination of uppercase/lowercase letters and numbers or symbols such as stars, dollar signs, hyphens, etc.

Lastly, I then recommend that you change your passwords regularly. Twice a year is sufficient, but if you want to be really proactive, change them once a month.

Store your passwords in a secure space such as LastPass, where you can access them, but no one else can!

2. Use WordPress Security Plugins

The second security tip I have for you today (and this is assuming that your websites are built on WordPress) is to use the security plugins built for WordPress.

Here are a couple of WordPress security plugins I recommend:

SUCURi

SUCURi is a powerful WordPress security plugin. It does auditing, malware scanning, and hardening. The plugin developers are constantly updating SUCURi and building it up so that it works better and better every year. There’s a lot of things that I certainly don’t understand about hacking, but having a plugin like this installed in your website will definitely help with checking for malware, spam, blacklisting and other security issues.

Wordfence

The next plugin I want to recommend is called Wordfence security. Wordfence security is pretty simple to understand; it’s an antivirus firewall and malware scan and it constantly runs in the back of your website keeping track of what internet users are doing or trying to do with your site. If something goes wrong in your website, it will be recorded by the plugin.

The developers at Wordfence are continuously analyzing the current threats and developing new detection rules and protection to help stop hacks before they happen.

Brute Force Attempts

I want to encourage you to make sure your security plugins are set in such a way to limit brute force logins to your website. A brute force login is when a hacker will try to login to access your WordPress dashboard by using what are called ‘brute force robots.”

These robots go out to comb the internet, find a WordPress website, and start hitting the login with combinations of usernames and passwords. I mean, we’re talking thousands and thousands of attempts to log in within minutes—possible because it’s all done by robots and not by people. So you can imagine that by just sheer brute force they can eventually figure out what the combination is and get in to the website.

It’s very helpful to have a plugin that will limit brute force attempt. In other words, if you try to log in three times and all three times you fail, the plugin will stop the login option, making it impossible to login. Having that capability built into your website is very important to keeping your website secure from hackers.

3. Use a WordPress Framework With Child Theme

All right, we’re going to move on to our third point; use a child theme framework on WordPress. A WordPress child theme is a website theme that sits on top of a WordPress framework. The child theme takes care of the look and feel of the website, and all the customizations that may have been made. It makes updating your website easier, and there is no risk of losing your customized features.

We use and prefer the Genesis framework from Studio Press. We have used this framework for years, and it’s very, very good, rock solid, and secure. When they were developing Genesis, they brought in one of the core WordPress developers to make sure that the Genesis framework was as secure as possible. With his guidance, they were able to build their framework to follow all WordPress’s best security best practices, and they have continued to do so.

I highly recommend Genesis and a child theme for your WordPress website. Not only is it secure, but it also makes updating your site and your site customization easier.

4. Regularly Update Your Website and Plugins

It’s very important that you update not only your WordPress site, but also your plugins on a regular basis. Hackers often take advantage of vulnerable websites through outdated plugins. The plugin developers will continue to run updates to keep their plugins secure.

Whenever they issue a new update, you should immediately go into your dashboard and update those plugins. This is so important that we’ve included regular updates to all the core codes and plugins of the website as one of the main services we offer in our contractor website maintenance package. It helps keep your website very secure.

5. Secure Your Website Domain Name

Our final tip for this article is to make sure that your website domain name is secure. I’m talking about the SSL certificate at the front of your domain name.

If you go to a website on a desktop and you look at the domain name, it should say (https://). It will not be just “http” because the “http” is not secure and Google is now requiring that all websites have the “s” added. This creates a secure socket layer and makes it obviously harder to hack—better for Google and better for everyone.

This is also something we require of all our contractor website clients as well, and thankfully, secure socket layers are not expensive. They’re also easy to purchase and install. Of course, there are different levels that you can purchase. One level contains a green bar that shows very quickly if a site is secure. It costs a little bit more, but still it’s not too expensive. In my opinion, it’s totally worth it. Securing your domain name is a practical way to protect your website from hackers.

Summary

To keep your website as secure as possible, update your passwords regularly with unique and indecipherable passwords. Install WordPress security plugins to protect your website, and update them every time an update is released. Use the Genesis WordPress Child Theme for a secure, easily customizable website, and ensure that your contracting company’s domain name is secured and approved by Google.

These are just a few simple tips to help you zip up your website security in the present and as you move forward with building your online presence!

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Contractor Website Security – How to Avoid Getting Hacked appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

The three ways to rank in Google search results are Google Ads, Google Maps, and Google Organic—in that order!

The purpose of this blog post is to bring a little clarity to your mind about these three sections of the Google search results, and hopefully spark your interest to pursue at least a couple of them with your business.

1. Google Ads

If you’re anxious to get on the first page of Google right away, run some Google Ads. The first page of Google is pretty important for getting your website found—seventy five percent of internet users never scroll past it. (Junto, 2017). Google ads will put you there immediately.

The Google AdWords engine is getting smarter and smarter, and it’s not all that hard to get started today. The only downside to this, is that Google AdWords can be a bit pricey. If you don’t have a large budget to work with, then one or both of the following options would be best for you and your business.

(For a sweet infographic on how Google Adwords works, click here.)

2. Google Maps

The Google Maps ranking engine is built with the purpose of providing local people with local search results. When you search a business or service on Google, the search results will include the Google Maps results right below the Google Ads. So, if you have a local business, then you definitely need to be optimizing your business in Google maps. You should be trying to rank #1 for your service in your city!

When potential customers make a Google search for ‘Seattle home remodel’ or ‘Houston custom homes’ and the Google Maps top 3 businesses are laid out below the ads, your name should be first one they see! If you want to be found by people in your locality, be where they can find you!

To optimize your business on Google Maps, go to Google My Business to begin the process. Start by naming, claiming, and verifying your business. Then create a good quality description, include your location (vital for being found in your own city), and collect local, verified reviews. These steps will help you rise in the search results and be seen by people in your city!

3. Google Organic

Google Organic—here’s where all the rest of the search results hang out. Organic search results are the natural results for every Google search. The results that rank below the Google Ads. Every directory and their mother and brothers are here, but if you know what you are doing you can still outrank them over time. Over time, following SEO best practices, you can pull ahead and eventually start leading the pack in the organic search results.

An interesting side note is this—the time and effort you put into SEO for Google will also pay off on the other search engines as well. For instance, as you see your rankings increasing on Google, you’ll see your page rank increasing on Yahoo and Bing too. It’s like running an ad on CNN, FOX, and NBC all at the same time.

Summary

Google Ads, Google Maps, and Google organic are the three ways to rank on Google. I highly recommend that every contractor work on at least the last two sections. You can hold off on Google AdWords for now, but don’t hold off on Google Maps and Google Organic. Investing time and effort into these platforms will help your business get found online and in your local region. The more available your business is to the online traffic, the more value it has, and the more leads you will receive!

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post 3 Ways To Rank Higher in Google appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

In the last couple years, we’ve watched Instagram roll out update after update—some smaller, like the ability to post photos of any orientation and follow hashtags—and some larger, like the introduction of IG stories. Each of these new updates has given you unique ways to promote your contracting business on Instagram.

This month Instagram released a brand new, revolutionary feature…Instagram TV.

What is IGTV?

IGTV is Instagram’s first ever long-form video platform.
Previously, videos posted on IG have been restricted to 60 seconds long; on the IGTV channel you can post videos from 10 minutes to an hour long! The one limiting factor is that videos can only be posted in the vertical format, but that should not be a hindrance, since we’ve all grown accustomed to filming video for IG Stories.

Anyone can start an IGTV channel, and the videos can be viewed either in IGTV’s standalone app, or on the IGTV channel within the IG app.

Why is IGTV Revolutionary For Contractors?

The introduction of IGTV for the contractor’s business account is exciting for several reasons. If you’re wanting to post longer videos for your followers but haven’t yet made the leap to open a YouTube channel, you’ll now be able to do that without even leaving the IG platform. If most of what you post on your IG stories is long videos chopped up into 15 second portions, IGTV gives you a way to post those videos smoothly, leaving your IG stories for daily updates and before and after photos.

I’ve seen quite a few contractors sharing vlog style videos where they start the IGTV video in their pickup and by the end are at a job site explaining something in detail. It’s cut up and edited into a nice vlog style video, but it’s in the vertical format. That’s great use for IGTV—bringing your followers along with you on job sites and explaining your work process. Another great way to use the new channel is instructional videos—film a series of how-to videos in the vertical format and post them (daily, weekly, monthly) on your IGTV channel to provide value to your followers.

How to Start an IGTV Channel

• Download and sign in to the standalone IGTV app.
• Click on Settings > Create Channel
• Click on the + Icon to add your first video!
• Give your video a title and description.

Include relevant keywords in the title and description so that IG users can find you when they’re searching for videos related to your topic! You’ll also need to select a cover photo for the video; it can be either the first frame of the video or any other frame from the video—whatever will make the most compelling cover and draw people to your video.

After your video is posted, you can interact with other IG users in the comments as well as view statistical insights from your post in the “Insights” section.

Summary

If you’re a contractor on IG looking for a new way to provide value to your followers, IGTV gives you a way to do just that. It’s simple, easy, and rewarding to be able to post videos of longer length on Instagram. Enjoy filming insight-rich and informational videos for your followers without even leaving the platform.

The post Introducing IGTV For Contractors appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Changes in Marketing Technology

Just like contracting and construction itself, I think we can all agree that marketing technology has changed a lot over time. Think of all the various platforms businesses have used to promote themselves through history—

• City Forums
• City Gates
• Storefronts
• Carrier Pigeons
• Telegrams
• Newspaper Ads
• Radio Ads
• Direct Mail
• Brochures

Now, take all those mediums and think about the change that has taken place over the last ten years. From the beginning of the twenty-first century until now, each of those different aspects of marketing has been moved onto the Internet. For example… Instead of:

• Networking events like the city gate or the marketplace, we have social media.
• A storefront, we now display a website.
• The telegram, we have instant messaging on our phones.
• The newspaper, we write our news on blogs or have our own newspaper right on our websites.
• Yellow pages and directories, we have online directories employing search engines to find the information we need at lightning speed.
• Direct mail, we use email.
• Radio, we now listen to podcasts. There’s a mass movement of people switching from radio to podcasts in their cars.
• Billboards displaying ads to everyone, we target the exact people we want to see our ads.

With internet marketing, all the historic mediums for marketing your business are now available at your fingertips.

Marketing Principles Haven’t Changed

While the technology for marketing is constantly morphing and developing, the principles of marketing do not change. Build Trust. Build a Relationship. Tell the Truth. Sell your Work. However, you do not grow a twenty-first century business on the last century’s technology. You need to keep up with the changes that are taking place today.

What Does This Mean for Contractors in 2018?

Simply put, it means if you haven’t already…Get Online! Having an online presence is one of the pre-requisites for building trust in today’s business economy.

Your potential clients will be confused, frustrated, and suspicious if they cannot find you after a quick Google search; people today want to be in control of their own research—reading reviews, evaluating your online content, seeing photos of past work—each of these things are crucial to establishing a relationship between yourself and your potential customer. None can be accomplished without some type of online presence.

The BASICS of an Online Presence:

• Website
• Google Business Page
• Social Media Account

Any of these platforms gives searching potential customers something to research, learn from, and make a decision based on information provided. Make sure that your information online is accurate, trustworthy, and easy to understand.

Learn 5 Reasons To Build Your Online Presence Here

Marketing with Today’s Technology

Direct mail, telephone ads, advertisements in the Yellow Pages—those methods of advertising are seldom effective in today’s internet-centric society.

Today, it’s:

1. Ads on Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc that will get seen by your potential customers.
2. Blog posts, providing value to your future clients.
3. YouTube videos of Do-It-Yourself Projects, helping your target audience solve their own problems until they need your help in the future.
4. A high quality Instagram feed full of high quality photos that whets their appetite for a sparkling kitchen remodel of their own.
5. The ability to send direct messages on any social media to answer any questions your future customers have about your business.

No Excuses

Today’s marketing technology is fast. It’s accessible on any smartphone and any computer. There’s no excuse to not be using it to the advantage of your contracting company in some way. Just because it’s fast and accessible, doesn’t mean that marketing is always easy.

Of course, it’s not.

Successful online marketing requires planning, studying algorithms and target audiences, and taking time to edit photos, write up text, and respond to messages.

Summary

If you already have an online presence and developed marketing technology to fit today’s economy—kudos to you. Take this blog post as a pat on the back and an inspiration to keep up the good work.

If you’re a contractor in 2018 with no significant online presence, take this blog post as a push in the right direction. Join the crowd of fellow contractors using the internet and modern technology to advance their businesses and get in front of their target audiences! Your company will thank you!

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my new book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Contractors, Get Online Now! appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Nothing could be further from the truth. LinkedIn is still growing, and it’s not going away any time soon. LinkedIn has refined its platform over the years and will continue to do so to keep it relevant and useful to business professionals.

What Is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a platform for professional networking. It’s a space for business professionals to connect and recruit with other professionals. LinkedIn was developed strictly for professional use, setting it apart from other social media marketing platforms such as: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Founded in May of 2003, LinkedIn is one of the oldest social media platforms still in use. Has the company’s age made it stagnant? Certainly not; since its creation, LinkedIn has grown by leaps and bounds. Currently, LinkedIn has 500 million users, 40% of whom use the platform daily. Two new members join LinkedIn every second. (LinkedIn statistics)

So, the question is, how can LinkedIn benefit you as a contractor? First, we’ll look at the benefits of LinkedIn, and then we’ll look at some best practices for using LinkedIn.

Three Benefits Of LinkedIn For Contractors:

1. More Exposure

The purpose of social media is to gain exposure for yourself, your company, and your brand. You may think that LinkedIn, a platform exclusively targeting business professionals, isn’t the best place to find exposure because it’s “just” other business people.

Think this through; when you are active on a professional platform, all other professional eyes are on you. If those eyes belong to someone of influence within your community, they may like or comment on your LinkedIn content. That action then spreads your profile to the people and users in their community, increasing your exposure. As a contractor, any improved exposure is a win-win for your company.

2. Get Found By Industry Partners.

Brad Levitt from A Finer Touch Construction told me that LinkedIn has been huge for their company. Many of the people that follow Brad on LinkedIn are his own clients or potential clients, but many professionals who aren’t on other social media platforms love the content that Brad posts on LinkedIn and connect with him. His company has signed a lot of vendors from LinkedIn and expanded their subcontractor base from salespeople who follow him and want to be associated with their company’s brand.

Getting found by industry partners in your community is a must. That’s where exponential power can come into play. When you connect with other subcontractors, other designers, other realtors, other architects—the professional people on LinkedIn who are in your community serving homeowners just like you do, the amount of reach and collaboration that follows is endless.

3. Search Engine Friendly

When you publish a good article on LinkedIn while staying consistently active, the search engines pick up and provide your company as a search result to homeowners searching for your information.

How To Use LinkedIn As A Contractor

Now we’re going to talk about how to effectively use LinkedIn as a contractor.

• Take A Professional Profile Picture

The most important thing to do on your LinkedIn profile is to take a highly professional profile picture. This is the first thing people will see on your profile. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen on LinkedIn with no profile picture at all; it’s unprofessional. Ensure that your profile picture is up-to-date and looks good.

• Develop Your Profile

Then go through the steps; fill out everything that LinkedIn asks you to fill out about yourself—your company, your history, your location, and your area of expertise.

• Find Recommendations

After you finish your profile, reach out to a few friends and previous clients and ask them to endorse you for the skills at which you excel. Have them leave a recommendation; because they’ve worked directly with you, they can recommend your expertise to others.

Once your profile is rock-solid, LinkedIn will let you know that you have reached All Star Status. That’s an awesome place to be.

• Create Consistent Content

From this point on, your goal should be to publish something regularly and consistently on LinkedIn. Because you’re speaking to other professionals, you need to think a bit differently than you would on Facebook or Instagram. You want to attract potential collaborations, partners, and just people who will help spread the word about your company’s incredible services. As you create each post, think about its purpose.

Post a high-quality image of your latest project. Explain what went into that project; make your business look attractive to collaborators.

Publish an article on LinkedIn. Your article will be put on the blogging platform LinkedIn contains. This will help you get into the field more often, as well as increase your ranking in LinkedIn and Google’s search engines. Your articles should be of the highest quality in order to build a solid foundation for your other activity on the platform.

• Interact With Others

LinkedIn’s algorithm is unique in that if you’re connected to someone on LinkedIn, their likes will show up in your feed. The notification might even say, “your friend liked this post.” If an architect, realtor, or interior designer likes one of your posts, your post will show up to the people who are following them. Your exposure will grow. You need to be doing that for others, so that they begin to want to do that for you.

Like other people’s posts; leave comments; be social on LinkedIn, because after all it is a social platform. You can also join groups on LinkedIn; there are groups for your specific industry and communities where you can interact and help each other out.

Summary

A strong profile, consistent content creation, and regular engagement are key factors in your company’s success on this social media platform. Each of these things work together to help you build your LinkedIn following. This will in turn raise awareness about your company, increasing and growing your business.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. You may check out my LinkedIn profile here. And, If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you’re wanting to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my new book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Use LinkedIn to Expand Your Reach as a Contractor appeared first on Martin Holsinger.