Often as contractors, we get caught up in the busyness of life on the job and push our website to the background of our mind. “SEO is too complicated,” or “I don’t have time to fix it” are some common excuses. I think we forget that while some changes to our websites are complicated, time-consuming and may involve a professional coding expert, others are simple and fast—something you can do yourself, maybe even from your smartphone—and will still help you improve the effectiveness of your contracting website.

One of the easiest and most effective changes you can make today to impact your SEO is to simply change your website title and subtitle.

Your website title and subtitle is one of the main factors that Google uses to determine who you are, what you do, and where you live. I know, there are hundreds of other factors Google uses to determine this stuff as well, site title and subtitle is at the top of the list. After all, it’s what people will see first upon visiting your website.

Suppose my website was titled as follows: “Martin Holsinger – A General Contractor.” The only information Google can draw from that title is my name and a vague description of my job. Google won’t know to recommend my site to homeowners in Yakima, Washington. Google won’t know not to recommend my site to a family searching for a plumber in Sacramento, CA. However, if I changed it to “Holsinger Construction – Custom Home Builder In Yakima, WA.” suddenly Google knows who I am, what I do, and where I serve.

See what I mean? It’s so important that you give your site an accurate title and subtitle.

Now, let’s explore how to do that.

How Do I Find My Website Title?

Hover over the tab of your website with your mouse cursor. What shows up? That is the title and subtitle of your website. Alternatively, do a search for your business in Google and see what Google says about you and your website in the search results. This also will reveal what your title and subtitle is.

How Do I Change My Title?

In WordPress, you simply go into settings and make the change from there. WordPress makes it very easy to change your title and subtitle. I don’t have a lot of first-hand experience with other platforms, but I know it is just a simple change there as well.

What Do I Rename My Website?

This question is obviously the crux of the whole article, and the answer is going to be completely different and customizable for each person reading this.

When you go to rename your website (if it’s necessary) It’s important to not fill your title and subtitle with spammy keywords. This may actually hinder your SEO because Google is very sensitive to spammers.

For the Title, I recommend that you use your business name. For the subtitle, I recommend that you use your best key phrase. If your best work is building custom homes, then use that plus your location.

Your Business Name
Best Key Phrase + Your Location

This will tell Google what your name is, what you do, and where you live. That’s all you need to do. Don’t try to trick Google, or they might put you under penalty.

There you have it. Now that your website title accurately reflects you and your business, internet searchers in your locality will have a much better chance of finding you online. Your journey to funneling your target clients through your website just got easier!

SUMMARY

Changing your website title and subtitle is quick and easy, and it could have a large impact in your SEO. Don’t put it off. Make these little changes now and reap the benefits tomorrow.

*****

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 One Thing You Can Change Today to Improve Your SEO 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.

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.

At my company, we build our clients’ contractor websites with long, scrolling homepages. Someone recently wondered if that was a bit cumbersome.

In this article, I would like to address this issue and talk about why I believe that a scrolling homepage is the best way to build your website right now.

In the past, it was smart to design your websites with a slide-show on the home page. If people wanted to learn more, they could click deeper to follow their interest level on to different pages. With the evolution of the faster mobile internet, the new generation of internet users prefers simple, quick and easy websites.

Because of this shift in preference, there are two reasons I believe scrolling, flat-designed home pages are best for your contracting websites.

1. It’s Simple and Easy
2. It Increases SEO

Read on to learn how and why we make our contracting websites the way we do.

1. It’s Simple and Easy

As a time-sensitive generation, your potential clients want to find the exact information they need as soon as they click on your website. When you have your most important business information on your homepage it makes it easy.

We usually design contractor websites with a basic company description at the top of the web page, followed by the location—usually with a big, gorgeous picture behind it. Next, there are two clickable buttons; one is “Get Started,” and the other is “Explore Gallery.” Those buttons will take people deeper into the website if they’d like.

However, if they keep on scrolling the next section is “About Us;” this section tells the client about the company. Keep scrolling and they’ll find out what the company does and what services they provide as a contractor. Finally, we’ll re-emphasize the location and the service area it operates in.

Each of these sections has a ‘call to action,’ so at any point while someone is scrolling and learning more, they can click to act. Usually those calls to action are ‘Let’s Get Started!” or “Contact Us Today” which will lead them to the contact page where they can get started working with the company.

It’s so important to have a quick loading website so people can find the information they’re looking for as soon as possible. Google likes fast websites. As internet-users today, we like fast websites. We don’t like coming to a website and needing to dig around. I know that when I go to a website looking for something specific, and I must go poking around in the back recesses of the website find the basic info, I get frustrated.

When building a contractor website, we want to avoid frustration for the potential clients when they visit. We want to give them what they are looking for—information on who the company is, what they do, some of their best work, a few featured testimonials—all things designed to build trust in their minds, leading them to eventually make a business connection.

All of this is on one scrolling page. It’s simple, fast, and easy to use.

2. Increases SEO

The second reason I like a scrolling home page is because of the opportunity to create lots of content on the home page. Google search engines love content, so the more we can write about the company, including keywords for the services they provide, the more opportunity there will be for them to rank higher in the search engines.

Granted, if we had only one picture at the top and then a document of just text below, it would be really long and hard for people to read. When we break it up into sections with a picture followed by a section of text—picture, text, picture, text, etc—it’s a much more pleasant way to load a lot of content onto the homepage of the website. This homepage content will help you increase your website’s SEO and aid it in ranking better in the search engines.

Summary

A fast and easy-to-navigate website that lets Google access all the homepage content—that is why I recommend going with a flat design where most information is stored on the homepage in a scrolling fashion.

Now, of course, websites should go deeper. Each website needs to have a page with a gallery of featured photos. Each website should also have a page for reviews to help with your online reputation, a ‘Meet the Owner’ page, and, of course, a Contact page. There’s definitely the need for potential clients to be able to click on through for more information, but for the simple homepage, I truly recommend the scrolling, flat design.

*****

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 Why You Should Have a Scrolling Homepage 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.

A website is essential to running a successful contracting business in today’s marketing economy. A well-developed website serves as a central hub for the company; it’s a place to list contact information, showcase pictures of completed work, answer frequently asked questions, and ultimately attract your target clients.

The most important factor in a website is how easily it can be found by internet users. You may have a beautiful, up-to-date, twenty-first century website, but if you are not visible when the right people are searching for you, you might as well not be online. You will get the most business leads when you are visible to potential customers searching for you.

We See Things Differently Than Google

When we view a webpage online, what we see is not what Google or other search engines see. Google views the coding and other factors that are not immediately obvious to the casual internet user. A lot of contractors assume if they publish a website they will receive immediate results by ranking high on a Google search. Unfortunately that is unlikely because Google uses over 200 unique factors to determine who will show up on the first page of an internet user’s query.

What Does Google See In A Website?

Google has little robots crawling the Internet through millions and millions of pages, multiple times per hour. These robots sort through web pages all across the Internet, gathering keywords, sentences, and all sorts of information from each separate web page.

Then the robots take the information into the library Google has set up and begin to categorize each page. They index it according to topics and keywords, creating a tremendous library of information that is all filed, categorized, and indexed. This library system makes the Google search engine very quick. Therefore, it’s very easy to find the web page answering a specific question within milliseconds.

A Shortcut To Get On The First Page Of Google

If you want a shortcut for getting your website to the first page of the results, you will have to pay Google to put you there. That’s called Google advertisement.

Typically, on any Google search, two results will come up—paid ads and organic search results. Organic search results are ads that are not purchased.

When you perform a search such as “Seattle Kitchen Remodeling,” you will find three different sections on the first page of the search results.

1. Paid ads. The contracting companies paying Google to be at the top of page one.
2. Local Search Results. The contracting companies optimizing their local visibility.
3. Organic Search Results. Includes all the other results that Google thinks would answer the search term “Seattle kitchen remodeling”.

The first results will always be the paid ads. If you don’t want to pay Google, but you want to receive that high ranking you’ll have to do some work!

The 4 Main Factors That Help You Rank in Google

The Google search engine has over 200 different factors determining how they rank a web page, but these four are the most important for optimizing your contracting website.

Location.

First, Google checks the location of the internet user’s query. In our previous example, we used “Seattle Remodeling Company.” Google wants to answer this question by showing results that relate to Seattle. It doesn’t make sense to show a Miami, Florida remodeling company to someone who’s located in Seattle.

Google is now paying more attention than ever before to the physical location of the person performing the search. In other words, if a person is located on the outskirts of Seattle, and searches for “Kitchen Remodeler,” then Google will try to show results that are in close proximity to the person searching.

When you are optimizing your online presence for local people, make sure to clearly include your location in your website, and local directories, so that Google’s robots know to categorize it to your region.

Relevance.

Second, Google examines relevance. If you were to ask Google how to lay tile, it would not make sense to read a web page about how to mow grass. Google wants to provide the most relevant results for a search query.

If you want your website to help you achieve a certain purpose (i.e, remodel kitchens for the older generation of your locality) fill your website with only content relevant to that purpose.

Authority.

Third, Google looks for authority. To be an authority, write and produce content that helps people. When you set yourself up as an authority on a subject, people will begin to reference your work by linking to your website.

If you’re an expert tile layer, write blog posts about the best ways to lay a tricky tile piece. Share DIY videos on the fastest way to install a backsplash. Create content that shows you know your way around the business that you want to attract.

The more other websites link back to your page, the higher you will rise in the search engines.

Popularity.

Fourth, Google analyzes popularity. Are people staying for a long time on your website? Do they read the entire piece of content? Are they sharing it with their friends? Is it spreading across the Internet?

The more people share your website content, the more popular it will become, and therefore the higher you will rank in the search results.

Summary

All four of these factors help determine where your website ranks in search results. When starting your website, ensure that your location is locked into your website so that you’re visible to local internet users. Create content that relates specifically to the work you are trying to sell. Become an authority on your niche by writing helpful, shareable blog posts. Do everything you can to become the source of information and authority for your subject. Gain popularity by sharing your posts on different social medias and inviting others to share them, too.

All these factors working together will steadily push you up the search engine rankings. Have a long term vision for your website, and do not be afraid to put in the hard work necessary to see it pay off!

*****

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’re wanting to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my new book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post How To Get Google to Pay Attention to Your Website appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Today, some will tell you that you need to be focusing only on social media. While social media does play an important role in online marketing, remember that your contractor website is one of the most fundamental keys to your online presence. It’s the home base for your company. You store your information there, and you can use it as a platform to showcase your work. It is an asset of your business that you own and easily control.

To the success of your online presence, here are five reasons that you may need to redo your Website this year.

1. Your Website Is Outdated.

When conducting an online search, it doesn’t take long to see which contractor websites are up to date or not. Technology and design trends change so rapidly that even a site built five to ten years ago can look outdated today. That is why in 2017, 57% of business owners chose to invest in an updated and improved website.

Five years ago, web design focused on punchy, statement graphics. Drop shadows, glares, and image slide shows were a big trend in website design for contractors, but today they’ve gone out of style.

This year, flat design is the most widely received and accepted web design. Think simplified, minimalistic and easy to read. A clean home page with beautiful images, portraying an overall picture of the location of and services offered by the company, usually featured on a flat page where you scroll down for more information. For more specific information and bonus features, you can then click through to the internal pages.

Here is one of our most popular website designs for contractors in 2018.

Your website is your online reputation. If it’s out of date, people who visit your website may assume your business is out of date as well. If your website doesn’t look current, then you are not positioning yourself well in today’s economy.

Think of five or ten leading contractors you respect, and take a look at their websites to see how they’re presenting themselves to their ideal customers. Good chance if they’re successful contractors that they’re successful in their online presence as well.

If your contracting website was developed before 2012, have someone in the web design industry examine it to see if it is up to par with today’s design standards. If it’s not relevant or designed to meet today’s trends, take the necessary steps to update it.

2. Your Website Is Not Mobile-Responsive.

Mobile Internet use has skyrocketed in the past few years. Today, seventy percent of Americans own a smartphone, and more Google searches are conducted on a mobile device than a desktop computer.

Think about instant gratification—that desire to have what you want, exactly when you want it. That’s how your average homeowner is scrolling through the web. If a website is non-responsive on a smartphone, 61% of people surveyed said they would switch to another link.

It’s more important than ever that your website be easily accessed and viewed on a mobile device, because your potential clients are searching for their next contracting job on their smartphones. Your website needs to be there when they search for contractors in your area.

Web Design

Websites are made with either a static or responsive design. Static websites, always fill device screens with the same format, regardless of screen size. Usually, viewing a static website on a smartphone means zooming in and out to clearly read information. Not a likely way to keep a potential customer’s attention.

A mobile-responsive website, however contains coding written into the website’s design that allows it to expand, contract, or even completely change format depending on the device being used to view it. This makes the transition from a computer to a smartphone seamless—a comfortable user-experience.

If you have to pinch-and-zoom to see the content on your site, your website is not mobile-responsive and is not pleasing to the customers who view it. As a contractor, think about your target audience. They have questions for you, and you should present your content in a way that answers their questions quickly and successfully from a mobile device.

If you haven’t already, update your contractor website right away so that it is easily viewed and experienced on a mobile device. You can do this by purchasing a template or hiring a web developer. The purpose of this is not just to have a sweet looking website, but because you need to be able to keep your potential customer’s attention by giving them helpful content in an easy-to-view manner.

3. Your Website Uses Animation. (Or Even Worse…Has Music!)

Back in the day, it was trendy to animate text and have clip art flying across the screen when your website was opened. But unfortunately, it’s not cool anymore; it’s very distracting. People want to land on your site and find exactly what they’re looking for.

Online users, especially millennial homeowners, don’t want anything moving, popping, bleeping, or singing to them; these things could distract them from their goal. You definitely don’t want that to happen when you’re trying to make an impression and build trust in a potential customer’s mind.

Simplify your website design down to the basics; it should be easy-to-look at, and your potential customers’ eyes should be drawn immediately to the crucial information they need.

4. Your Website Is Too Slow.

If your Website is slow, people will be upset. They’re not going to wait around for all the media to load in your website. In fact, 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.

Your website should be your “lean, mean marketing machine.” When your website is pulled up online, people need to find the information that they’re looking for quickly. If people can find the information that they’re looking for without significant delay, they’ll like you, and they will come back to look you up again.

One of the key factors that Google looks at in determining where to rank a website, is how fast it loads. Google knows that people like fast websites, therefore Google is willing to help rank your website higher if it runs quickly.

If you have a slow website, it’s time for you to think about getting it up to speed this year.

5. It’s Difficult to Make Changes to Your Website.

I’ve had quite a few contractors come to me complaining about their current website provider, simply because they find it so difficult to get even small changes made to their website.

It’s important for you to be able to update your website content regularly. Relevant, helpful content creation is one of the top ways to please your customers, as well as rank higher in Google’s SEO. Being unable to post content to increase your business is a paralyzing place to be as a business owner. If you find it too hard to change, or to get changes made to your website, then this is the year to fix it.

Do some research; learn how to easily update your website yourself by taking online classes, reading articles, or just trial and error. My book Contractor Marketing Simplified goes into detail about how to do this. Or you could hire a comprehensive website provider who will work with you and on your timeline to keep your website updated and productive. I recommend you go with a company that specializes in helping the contractor industry.

Summary

Make this year the best year yet for building your online presence. If your website needs changes in any of these areas, make them. This will be beneficial to you not just this year, but in the future as well, as your website continues to draw potential clients to your company.

*****

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’re wanting to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my new book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post 5 Reasons to Redo Your Contractor Website in 2018 appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

On my WordPress blog I have another blog post called “Planning Your YouTube Marketing Publishing Schedule.” I’ll be using that post as an example.

First of all, make sure you have all the blog content inserted just like you want it. Include all your images and everything.

Then find the place in your blog post where you want to embed your video. For instance,

Down at the bottom of my post, I have some text that says, “watch my video on planning your schedule here.”

Underneath this text, I want to have my YouTube video embedded so that it actually plays. I don’t want it to redirect people to YouTube… But I want it to actually play on my website. That way my visitors can just click and play the video from the blog post.

Let me show you how to do this – in 10 Easy Steps.

#1. Login to your YouTube channel

#2. Find the video you want to embed

#3. Click on “share.”

#4. Find the embed code.

#5. Click “show more.”

#6. Then scroll down and adjust your settings.

You can see that there are a few different options.

I’m going to go through these sharing options real quick:

• Privacy enhanced mode. Let me explain what that is. YouTube says that “Enabling this option means that YouTube won’t store information about visitors on your webpage unless they play the video.” So, I usually leave that turned off.
• I usually don’t want to show suggested videos when the video finishes, so I click that off too.
• However, the YouTube player controls are nice. If you’re video is on your website, you want to have the video player bar, so that people can rewind or watch the video as they choose to.
• I also leave the video title and player actions checked.

#7. Set the size of your video player.

You can then choose which size of video player you will embed. Of course you could change it manually to any custom size you want by changing the numbers in the code up here.

However, 640px width is about the maximum I really want on my blog anyway, so there’s no reason to embed a larger video. I like to change that to 640 X 360.

#8. Copy the code to your clipboard.

Note! Make sure the embed code is highlighted.

#9. Paste the code into your blog post.

Now go back to your blog post. If you just paste the code in to the WordPress visual editor, it’s not going to work.

So, go up and click on the text editor, and then paste it in to the exact spot on your post that you want it.

#10. Check your post. 

Then check to see if it works. Click “preview changes,” scroll down, and sure enough… there it is. The video is now embedded in your blog post, and ready to go.

There you have it. That is how you embed a YouTube video into your website in 10 easy steps.

If you liked this post, you’ll also enjoy these related posts:

• How To Plan Your YouTube Marketing Publishing Calendar
• TOP 7 Effective Call To Action Examples
• Setting Your Focus For YouTube Marketing Success

The post How To Embed YouTube Video In WordPress Blog Post appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

As you know Online Reputation is one of the most important factors when it comes to growing your business and branding yourself online. People are checking reviews, and you need to be sure that you are positioned properly online with reviews, and a good reputation in order to win their trust and eventually win their business.

Branded Online Reputation Site

I’ll show you exactly what it is that we do for our clients when we set up a branded online reputation site, or review engine as we sometimes call it,  to help them grow their online reputation.

On one of my client’s websites you will notice that there is a tab near the top of the website called Our Reputation, If I click on that tab it comes to a page that says “Our Reputation,” and the review engine that we set up for them is embedded on the site as well as on the side bar.

Anywhere you go throughout the website the Online Reputation Site is embedded in the side bar near the top where people can see your Reputation right away.

This review site scrolls down, and people can read the many reviews that this company has from their happy customers. This Review Engine is practically another website that is hosted and maintained somewhere else. We’ve embedded it in our clients website?

So let’s go visit the Online Reputation Site itself.

It is branded for our client, it look’s exactly like their company, has the name, address, Phone number, of the business here.

If somebody wants to leave a review, then the first step is to choose how many stars.

Now the power of this review, is the fact that if somebody chooses less than 3 stars it gives you a little more control over your reputation.

For example, let’s say someone chooses 1 star.

Then if you scroll down you’ll see that they’ve chosen 1 star and the title of the review is “disappointed” or “missed the bar,” and the question below is “How could we have better served you?”

So it prompts the user to put into description box what they’re not happy with, and there is a question below “Would you like a follow up call?” Then a chance to give their phone number so that you can follow up with them and make it right, if possible.

Then when they click submit review the description that they typed in does not get published in the public feed of all the reviews, but the rating is averaged in with the rest of the stars.

So this particular company has 29 ratings and only 27 reviews, that means 29 people have left ratings, and 27 people’s reviews got published which leaves them with a 4.7 star reputation, (which is basically a 5 star reputation.) It’s more accurate because it shows that there were a couple people who were either unhappy, or some competitor that was trying to damage this company’s reputation.

In other words, the review engine gives people a chance to honestly share their feelings while at the same time giving you a chance to follow up with them and make sure things are right.

SEO Optimized

This branded review engine is SEO optimized or Search Engine Optimized.

I have my review engine embedded in my personal website and Google sees that. Therefore if you search in Google for the title of one of my blog posts, you can see my blog post right there with a 5 star rating.

Google gives these 5 little orange stars to my search result because I have the review engine embedded in my website. Also whenever somebody is searching for one of my clients online, often the review engine also ranks really well.  So the website ranks well, and the review engine also ranks.

While people search online for your company you can get a double whammy in SEO,  so-to-speak. You can have your website show up as well as the online reputation site – plus those 5 orange stars. It is a very good way to market and grow your company on the internet.

Response

Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about this handy way of growing your online reputation.

Here are some more related posts that you may enjoy:

• How To Build a 5 Star Online Reputation This Week
• On Page SEO steps to Get You MORE Traffic
• Business Websites That Work

If you would rather watch the video of the above post you may do so here:

The post Take Control Of Your Online Reputation appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

This post will walk you through our website process and show how we create websites that get you big-time results.

1. Mobile-Friendly Business Websites

You all know what it is like to land on a website on your phone which is not mobile-friendly or mobile-responsive. You have to pinch-and-zoom, and try find your way to what it is that you are looking for. It’s a frustrating process. We have eliminated that frustration by creating websites that are fully mobile-responsive.

This means they look great on a computer, and they also look great on mobile device.

Mobile Responsive means that when I drag the screen size of the device that I’m using, the website will change accordingly.

This same website seen on an iPad right here.

But notice this, when I come all the way down to the size of a mobile phone… all of those buttons have now gotten bigger. The phone number has turned into a button that your finger can press. And when your finger presses it, You are prompted with… “would you like to call now?”

The menu is collapsed and out of the way, so it is not a hindrance. The call to action is top and center.

Of course, you can explore the website and go deeper if you want to. But the homepage is clean and simple. When people view your business website on their mobile phones, there’s a nice clear pathway to the call to action.

On the upper right corner, the phone number is pronounced and easy to find. The call-to-action button is above the fold. That means it is right on the top where people can see it.

2. Local Business Website Themes For Wordpress

We always start with a premium business website theme that we’ve developed for local businesses. Then we modify that theme for our client to match their branding.

Sometimes we embed a video right at the top. When you open the website it begins to play.

Sometimes we put a large slider image at the top showing off your best people and what they do.

We also work with authors, and speakers. If you have a message to share, you’ll be empowered to get it out to world.

We use WordPress as our website engine. And then we use a platform on top of WordPress called Genesis. This makes a powerful combination and when you apply our custom child-themes on top of that, you have an air-tight and powerful business website.

We use a mixture of free plugins and premium plugins. Each plugin has a specific purpose, and makes the website most effective for you.

3. Maintenance Plan To Set Your Mind At Ease

Our maintenance plan comes with all of our business websites. We host and maintain each website for our clients.

Our full maintenance plan includes all of these important services:

• Fast Hosting
• Plugin Updates
• Content Backups
• Premium Plugins
• Embedded Contact Forms
• Call-To-Action Buttons
• Uploading Content For Our Clients
• Ticket Support System

In Summary,

Our business websites work for you so that you get Maximum Exposure. Which will bring in More Leads, and give you opportunity to make More Sales.

Please let me know if you would like one for your business.
Thanks,
Martin

Here are some posts related to this subject that you may enjoy.

• 5 Reasons Why Your Business Website Needs Regular Maintenance
• What Should a Business Website Maintenance Plan Include?
• 7 Email Marketing Tips That Will Always Get Results

Would you rather watch my video about this?

The post Business Websites That Work appeared first on Martin Holsinger.