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Home service owners are often afraid to touch their own marketing and instead pay high fees to agencies that don’t deliver real results.
Franchisees of “A Place At Home,” which supports seniors and individuals with disabilities, are unhappy with their current marketing company and the website changes made. Bryan Eisenberg organized a webinar and asked to provide training and strategies to improve their local SEO and marketing efforts.
In this article, we outlined practical, actionable steps for effective marketing, focusing on improving Google rankings, boosting visibility, and generating more leads, and how you are in the best position to take control of your SEO,
Creating Authentic Content to Boost Local SEO
Many agencies overlook the critical role local SEO plays in business growth. Without consistently creating relevant content, your business remains invisible online, no matter how much you spend on an agency.
Many agencies overlook the critical role local SEO plays in business growth. Without consistently creating relevant content, your business remains invisible online, no matter how much you spend on an agency.
Imagine stepping on a scale and seeing 223 pounds. You pay a “scale optimizer” $3,000 a month to make it read 165 pounds, but you still weigh 223. Why didn’t it work? The issue wasn’t with the scale.
SEO operates the same way. As a franchisee at “A Place At Home,” you should gather content, such as short videos or Zoom calls with your clients that showcase your daily operations. This authentic content enhances your online presence and connects you with your community.
Google seeks genuine signals that demonstrate you deliver on your promises. For instance, if you provide home care services in Scottsdale, ensure your content highlights that.
Don’t rely on tools like ChatGPT to create generic content about local attractions. Instead, share videos that reflect your actual experiences, whether related to your home care services or specific activities in Scottsdale.
Google’s new E-E-A-T guidelines emphasize experience alongside expertise, authority, and trust. It’s not about repeating keywords or using meta tags; it’s about showcasing real-world experience through your content.
As a local service business, you need to establish your presence in both your city and your services clearly.
Start by gathering authentic stories and content. Then, process and publish that content across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Google My Business, Instagram, and Reddit. Tools like ChatGPT can help with processing. Once published, apply the Dollar-a-Day strategy to drive targeted traffic.
Google measures relevance using metrics like click-through rates (CTR), while social networks evaluate engagement rates, such as how long users watch or interact with your video. High engagement signals to Google, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms that your content is valuable and relevant.
As a franchisee or a member of your staff, create these signals, ideally in video form. It doesn’t matter whether you post on YouTube, TikTok, or another platform. Focus on creating the content once; with proper processing, you won’t need separate content for each platform.
Many SEO experts don’t want you to know that effective SEO doesn’t rely on special tools or tricks. Instead, many take shortcuts, such as hiring cheap freelancers or buying low-quality backlinks, which ultimately fail to deliver real results for your business.
Mastering Local SEO for Specific Keywords
In the world of local service businesses, your goal should be to dominate your specific geographic category. If you’re based in Omaha, Nebraska, it makes more sense to focus on winning locally rather than competing globally.
For instance, if you want to rank for “Omaha Senior Care,” you’ll find that the keyword difficulty is relatively low. While “Omaha Senior Care” is moderately competitive, it remains manageable.
When you drill down further into specific niches like “mobile senior care,” you’ll discover even less intense competition. This approach allows you to target more specific, less competitive keywords within the broader category of senior care.
Incorporating this strategy can help you stand out more effectively. SEO analytics tools provide insights into keyword competitiveness and backlink sources, showing how challenging it is to rank for specific keywords and where your backlinks originate.
Does Location Matter in Content Creation?
Yes, location absolutely matters. When you create a video, film it in the location you’re promoting. Platforms use geo-tags to track where the video was made, signaling to Google and other platforms that your content is relevant to that area.
For example, if you’re in Montclair, New Jersey, and your content involves local activities or services, incorporate “Montclair” naturally. Avoid overloading your content with location names; let them appear naturally, much like in a conversation.
When you take pictures or videos on your phone, technologies like Google Photos or iCloud automatically capture what’s happening. They tag locations and context without any extra effort from you. Google’s AI scans everything and organizes it without requiring manual input.
Discuss the activity or place, and let the location name come up naturally, similar to casually mentioning the area while talking about your experiences.
Focus on sharing authentic experiences through real photos and videos. Google values genuine content over forced optimization, which drives real relevance. To rank higher for local service-related searches, you need more than just good reviews or targeting a single keyword.
Address the broader questions potential clients ask related to your service. Google rewards comprehensive, relevant content that answers these additional queries, improving your rankings beyond just focusing on the primary keyword.
For example, consider “Home Care Little Rock.” While this page ranks for relevant keywords like “Home Care Little Rock,” it’s not just about that term. Google shows that people searching for this also want answers to questions such as “What’s the most common diagnosis for home health care?” or “Does Medicare pay for home assistance?” Addressing these related questions in your content adds value, helping you rank higher and for a wider range of relevant terms.
Many local businesses miss this by focusing only on reviews or one main keyword. Addressing broader topics makes the difference in ranking. Answering these questions provides more value and helps you rank higher in searches.
Google tells us what it needs for the keyword we want to rank for. Are you confident you can answer those questions in about a minute? It doesn’t have to be exactly one minute.
The key is to provide clear answers in local settings, like in your car or near a well-known landmark. Google and TikTok recognize these local cues, so avoid generic backgrounds. Shoot your videos in locations that reflect your area, such as popular restaurants or landmarks. This helps Google understand the relevance of your content.
How Social Media Engagement Impacts SEO
When you post content on social media and it gets engagement, it can indirectly boost your search rankings. For example, if you post something on Facebook, like photos from a health fair, and that post receives good engagement, people will visit your website.
Take those pictures from the event at the Conservatory at North Austin, repurpose them into a blog post, and post it on your website. That content is now visible to Google.
It’s not just a Facebook post anymore; it can be turned into tweets, LinkedIn posts, or Google Business Profile updates (formerly Google My Business). Repurposing content across multiple platforms helps Google recognize your activity and authority.
This strategy is crucial for local SEO, especially for home healthcare, as these are low-competition keywords. We’ve examined the keyword difficulty, and they’re easy to rank for if you repurpose your content effectively.
I recommend dedicating just an hour a week to content creation. In that time, you can produce several videos without overthinking. Whether you’re on a walk, driving safely, or going about your routine, you can pull out your phone and record a quick video.
You don’t need to create 100 pieces of content a day. No one has time for that, and even I don’t always enjoy being on video, and this is what I teach!
The one-minute video strategy we use is about simplicity. It takes less time to create the video than it does to come up with excuses. Just press record, share your message, and you’re done. It’s that simple.
What’s the Value of Franchise Owners Engaging with Other Franchisees on Social Media?
Collaborating with other franchisees on social media builds natural relevance and authority. You don’t need to trade links directly, just discuss industry-related issues. This creates a content network that Google recognizes as valuable.
For example, plumbers in Austin might talk about frozen pipes, while those in Hawaii discuss volcanic plumbing. Linking to relevant content shows topical expertise. It’s not about link exchanges but about contributing valuable content that boosts your network’s relevance.
Get together with other business owners, share your day-to-day experiences, and interview each other. Collaboration among franchise owners allows you to share insights, increase visibility, and build your online presence.
Repurpose your content across YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and more. If you don’t have time, hire someone for $3 an hour on Upwork, many freelancers from the Philippines speak great English.
They can repurpose your posts so you can focus on higher-level tasks. Repurposing is crucial, especially on YouTube, as Google favors its own platforms, giving you a visibility boost.
In competitive industries like home care or plumbing, links move the needle. A solid website is important, but the authority of the links pointing to you drives results.
Linking to other experts in your field boosts your SEO without shady practices like PBNs. Think of it like tagging someone on social media, it amplifies both voices and strengthens credibility.
Use tools like Link Whisper or Rank Math to automate linking, but remember, it’s all about quality content and purposeful links.
Your authority and trust come from your network and the valuable content you create together. Stay natural, collaborate, and repurpose smartly to stay ahead of the competition.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations.You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel.You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.