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Local service businesses want one thing: to make the phone ring.
But local service business owners face a problem, their website is not optimized for Google’s E-E-A-T standards. These are experience, expertise, authority, and trust.
To build their site, maybe they messed around with other website builders and did it themselves. Maybe they paid $20,000 to a web development agency. Either way – what’s important is if the website is generating phone calls.
And the website can only do so if it’s optimized for SEO.
This is like groundhog day for us and we see examples everyday of businesses who do great work for customers yet fall short on building their website to attract more.
And in the case of Southern Values Cooling and Heating, they used GoDaddy instead of wordpress – a super common mistake.
Why Should Local Service Businesses Use WordPress?
WordPress is renowned for its flexibility and customization options.
Unlike GoDaddy and other website builders, which often come with limited templates and design choices, WordPress allows businesses to create a unique and professional website that stands out from the competition.
This level of customization extends to SEO as well. WordPress offers a plethora of plugins, such as Yoast SEO and All in One SEO, that enable businesses to fine-tune their website’s SEO settings, ensuring that they are optimized for search engine visibility.
Let’s use this audit with Chris as an example:
WordPress was built for customization and flexibility.
WordPress offers a wide range of themes and plugins, allowing businesses to tailor their websites to their specific needs and brand identity.
This level of customization enables businesses to create a unique online presence that effectively showcases their experience and expertise.
Additionally, the ability to integrate various functionalities, such as contact forms, galleries, and social media feeds, further enhances the user experience and demonstrates a company’s commitment to providing valuable and relevant content.
Chris’s company initially used a GoDaddy site, which limited their ability to implement advanced SEO strategies and optimize their online presence.
With WordPress, businesses can tailor their websites to their specific needs, enhancing their brand identity and user experience.
For example, the audit revealed that the website lacked a favicon, which is a small, iconic image that appears in the browser’s address bar and tabs.
Favicons are a small but important part of a website’s branding and user experience.
While seemingly minor, they contribute to a site’s identity and professionalism, factors that can influence a user’s perception and engagement.
Additionally, the website did not have the Facebook pixel or Google pixels for advertising, analytics, and tag management. These tools are crucial for tracking user interactions, understanding website performance, and optimizing marketing campaigns.
The absence of these pixels suggests that the website was not fully leveraging the potential of digital marketing and analytics, which are essential for understanding and improving online presence.
Advantages with content management are clear.
The ease of content management with WordPress is unparalleled. The platform’s user-friendly interface allows even those with limited technical skills to update and manage content regularly.
This accessibility ensures that businesses can keep their websites fresh and up-to-date with the latest information, news, and insights, which is crucial for maintaining authority and relevance in their industry.
Regular content updates also signal to Google that the website is active and providing ongoing value to users.
By using WordPress, Chris can easily create and manage location service pages, as well as regularly update the site with blog posts, case studies, and customer testimonials.
This would not only improve the website’s SEO but also provide valuable information to potential customers, demonstrating the company’s expertise and experience in the HVAC industry.
While there are obvious things that can be improved like using stock art on their main page, the website builder is crucial.
WordPress’s user-friendly CMS enables businesses to keep their content fresh and relevant, a vital aspect of maintaining authority and relevance in their respective fields.
Using WordPress means your site can be more SEO-Friendly.
WordPress’s SEO-friendly nature is a significant advantage for businesses aiming to improve their search engine rankings.
The platform’s compatibility with SEO plugins enables businesses to optimize their content effectively, ensuring that it is discoverable and ranks well for relevant keywords.
This visibility is essential for establishing authority in a particular field, as it increases the chances of being recognized as a credible source of information by both users and search engines.
One specific example of how switching to WordPress can enhance SEO and online visibility is through the use of SEO plugins like Yoast SEO.
These plugins provide guidance on optimizing content, including keyword usage, meta descriptions, and readability. For instance, Chris’s website could benefit from targeted keyword optimization for terms like “HVAC services in Bradenton” or “air conditioning repair in Bradenton.”
Yoast SEO would provide suggestions and feedback on how well the content is optimized for these keywords, helping to improve the site’s relevance and rankings for local search queries.
WordPress can enhance user experience (UX).
The importance of a positive user experience cannot be overstated. WordPress themes are designed with UX in mind, ensuring that websites are not only visually appealing but also easy to navigate.
This focus on UX is crucial for building trust with visitors, as a well-designed and user-friendly website is more likely to be perceived as professional and reliable.
Moreover, a seamless UX can lead to higher engagement rates, longer visit durations, and lower bounce rates, all of which contribute to a website’s overall authority and trustworthiness.
Given that Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, having a website that performs well on mobile devices is crucial for maintaining and improving search engine rankings.
By switching to WordPress, Chris can take advantage of responsive themes that automatically adjust the layout and content of the website to fit the screen size of the device being used.
This means that whether a potential customer is browsing the site on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, the website will provide a seamless and user-friendly experience.
For example, if a customer in Bradenton is experiencing an air conditioning breakdown during a hot summer day, they are likely to search for HVAC services on their mobile phone. If Southern Values Air’s website is mobile-optimized, the customer can easily navigate the site, find contact information, and request a service call.
On the other hand, if the website is not mobile-friendly, the customer may struggle to use the site and opt for a competitor’s services instead.
Social proof and reviews are easier to document.
Incorporating social proof and reviews into a WordPress website is straightforward, thanks to a plethora of available plugins.
Displaying testimonials, reviews, and case studies can significantly enhance a business’s credibility, as these elements provide tangible evidence of the company’s success and customer satisfaction.
For example, implementing plugins like GMB reviews has helped Oasis IV Therapy rank higher on keywords in Tampa.
This would not have been possible if they used a site other than wordpress.
This social proof is a powerful tool for building trust and authority, as it shows prospective customers that the business is respected and valued by its existing clientele.
Because documenting social proof is absolutely critical for SEO success, WordPress makes it way easier.
Since this audit, we’ve implemented a WordPress site for Chris.
You can already see the improved site links to things more clearly and we have the added benefit of updating information.
But remember – implementing WordPress without following Google’s EEAT standards won’t get you results.
The most important thing for local service businesses is to prove that you do what you say you do, in the area you do it in.
In Chris’ case – he’s one step closer to increasing his SEO and ranking higher on the keywords that matter to get calls organically.
At the end of the day you don’t “do” SEO.
You document your good work and experience for Google to see. And in the case of website builders, WordPress makes that much easier.