The SEO world is always changing. With Google rolling out new algorithm updates and constantly tweaking its ranking system, it can be difficult to stay on top of things.
But what’s really important for any business is that they have a solid strategy in place to keep their website at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). So if you want some expert advice on how to succeed online, listen up!
Here are 39 things you need to know about SEO for moving companies:
1. Moving Company SEO: Keywords are the foundation of your website’s ranking strategy
Keywords are the most important part of any SEO campaign. As many as 200 to 300 words may be associated with a customer’s search, but they only type in 3-4 words when performing a search online. Optimizing your website for the right keywords brings you closer to meeting that potential customer’s needs and helps increase your conversion rates.
2. Google is always changing its algorithms
For any company, staying on top of Google’s ever-changing algorithm can be difficult. To succeed online, moving companies need to ensure their SEO strategies are up-to-date at all times. The most recent algorithm update, named “Penguin 2.0” (and officially named the “PayDay Loan Algorithm” by Google), was designed to punish websites that participated in link schemes or used black-hat SEO tactics.
3. Google is a big fan of content with high quality and originality
Yes, moving companies want their website to rank well for specific keywords, but they also need to be creating useful high-quality content. This is actually one of the biggest ranking factors for Google right now and it’s important for every business out there to be creating new content regularly. That doesn’t mean you have to create a new blog post every day, but you should at least feature a piece of quality content on your website once a week.
4. Longer content ranks higher in the SERPs
Google likes satisfying answers to search queries, especially if those queries are long-tail keywords that are more specific and have fewer results. The longer your article is, the better chance you have of ranking for long-tail keywords with fewer searches per month (relative to shorter keyword searches).
5. Keep your title as short and descriptive as possible
You must include a strong keyword in the title of every blog post you create, but you don’t want to make it too long or confusing. The ideal length for each post’s title is 55-57 characters. In these titles, you can use a number, but it must have some meaning to the post. For example, if the blog post is about a 3-step moving process, that would be fine to use in the title.
6. Moving Company SEO: Keywords are still important for your website’s on-page optimization
There are many other factors at play when it comes to local SEO, and many of them have been taken into account by Google’s algorithm. However, having your business name in the meta tags can still be beneficial. It’s also important for your website to not only use its company name in the <title> tag but to also include it in the metadata description for better exposure in the SERPs.
7. Make your website content more readable with an H1 header at the top of each post
When you’re writing a piece of optimized content, it’s important to create an appropriate title for that article. However, another thing you should always do is create a heading tag for the entire page and insert it at the top of your content. This is known as an H1 tag or Heading 1, and it helps Google understand what your page is about while also helping the reader scan through your post. Make sure to put your keyword in the first heading – otherwise, you may lose a lot of valuable SEO points.
8. Write concise, yet informative, meta descriptions for your blog posts
If someone is looking at your website in the SERPs, they’re going to want to know what the page is about before even clicking on it. That’s where a meta description comes into play and why it can be so important when it comes to ranking. It’s not enough to just use your keyword in the description, but you also want to spice it up a bit and give people a reason to click.
9. You have about 2500 words of content for each blog post
When writing SEO-optimized content for your site, remember that Google will only look at the first 2000-2500 words when analyzing what your post is about. The rest of the words are unnecessary for now and will only help with padding your word count.
10. Over-optimized meta titles can hurt you, so don’t do it
This one might be a bit confusing to some people, but here’s an example: Your business runs a moving company that does door-to-door services. If your page is about how to prepare for a move, you might want to title it “How to Move From Your Home”. However, Google doesn’t like this because it looks unnatural and over-optimized. They believe that a person looking at the SERPs would search for something more specific, such as “Moving with a Door-to-Door Company”. Instead of having a generic title, you should use the keywords people are actually searching for to get better rankings.
11. Use long-tail keywords and keyword phrases whenever possible
These days, Google is using longer keyword searches by default. That’s why you should always include keywords and phrases that are around four or five words in length whenever possible. It doesn’t really matter what order they come in, but your business must be targeting long-tail keyword searches rather than regular ones. Also, make sure there aren’t too many long-tail keywords in your post, or it will look strange. You don’t want to target more than two-three long-tail keyword searches per article.
12. Don’t worry about overdoing keywords too much
Despite what you may have heard from other sources, there is no overdoing the use of keywords when it comes to SEO writing. The only time you might want to be careful is if you have too many keywords within the title tag, but that’s about it. Google doesn’t penalize you for having your keyword in the text a few times; they just want more than one instance of that word on the page. If they don’t see that, you could get suspended.
13. Site speed is an important factor on the search engine results page (SERP)
SEO can be a very difficult job, especially if you have to deal with slow-loading websites. Since Google created the SERPs, it has been known that site speed plays an important role in their algorithm and determining whether or not your page ranks well. Make sure to have a programmer optimize your website for speed as you don’t want the search engine giant punishing your business for slow loading of content.
14. User experience is another important factor on the search engine results page (SERP)
User experience is something that SEO businesses need to worry about quite a bit and that’s because of the SERPs. When someone clicks on a listing, they need to see an image or video of your business rather than a blank page. If you don’t have anything but basic information provided about your website, then it looks unprofessional and doesn’t give people any idea what your business is about. Avoid things like this whenever possible and you’ll see higher rankings in the SERPs.
15. Find a balance between on-page SEO and off-page SEO when it comes to your site
When it comes to optimizing your website for search engines, there are two different ways that you can do so: on-site and off-site. On-site SEO will help your business rank well in the SERPs for keyword searches that are aimed at driving traffic directly to the site, such as local business listings and content targeted towards industry professionals. The off-site portion is when you target other sites through social media or link-building strategies to increase referral traffic from other high-ranking websites. There is a difference between these two strategies, but they can also go hand in hand. On-site SEO will help off-page SEO because it will boost your rankings on the SERPs and help you get more traffic to off-site pages. Off-site SEO will help on-page SEO because of all of the referral traffic it will bring.
16. Optimize your website for mobile devices as much as possible
A study from Google reveals that there are now more searches conducted on mobile devices that are using the local search option than desktop computers, which is surprising to many people and a sign of how much things have changed in recent years. Even if you don’t do much marketing to your local area, it’s still important to consider optimizing for mobile devices so that people can find you quickly and easily when they need your services.
17. Use HTTPS instead of HTTP whenever possible
When someone is searching for a site or a business that has sensitive information on it, they want to make sure the website is secure and encrypted. This is why it’s important to make sure you only use HTTPS rather than HTTP on your website. It doesn’t come with a guarantee that you will be ranked higher in SERPs, but it does help and maybe something you decide to work into your SEO strategy for the best results possible.
18. Get your contact information on the website
Since users are so quick to jump onto mobile devices when they are searching for something, it’s important to make sure that you have a contact form available on your website. This will help people get in touch quickly and easily without having to call you or go through other issues, which can be troublesome for them. You can also rank well in the SERPs by having a map and directions available on your website so that people know how to get to you quickly without making any mistakes.
19. Quality content is going to help you stay ahead of the game
Not all businesses understand just how important it is to have quality content when they are trying to market their business online. This includes things like blogs that are well-written, updated regularly, and don’t have spelling or grammar errors. It can be a hassle to create this content, but try to make an investment in it whenever you can so that you won’t see your rankings slipping as time goes on.
20. Make sure you have a Facebook business page for your company
Having a Facebook business page is part of any SEO strategy these days. It’s where you can update people on new offers and promotions, give them updates on what’s going in your store, or blog about any events that you are having. This will also make it easier for customers to spread the word about your business on a social media platform that has over 1 billion active users.
21. Use keywords in your Facebook page URL and description
Some people don’t fully grasp how much SEO can be used on a Facebook business page, but it is something worth working into your strategy when you are trying to improve traffic coming in from a Facebook search. Make sure the URL is relevant and includes a keyword or two, and that you are putting the same keywords into your Facebook page description.
22. Link to internal pages on your website to increase traffic from Facebook
It’s really no secret that most people forget about all of the other pages on a business’s website when they visit it for the first time. This makes it a good idea to link to internal pages that have some information on them from your Facebook business page so that people can see what else you offer and are more likely to come back for more.
23. Change the image on your Facebook business page regularly
It’s always a smart idea to try changing up the image on your Facebook page, to see if that causes engagement levels to shoot up. If you’re having a hard time coming up with ideas for images, look back at the posts on your page and pick things that got the best response so far. This can be another good way to get more people engaged with your business on Facebook.
24. Run surveys and promotions
You will want to make sure that you do something like run a survey for your customers on Facebook at least once every few months. This is a good idea because it allows you to collect data from them, and they are more likely to engage with you. It’s also a good idea to offer discounts or incentives for people who take part in the surveys, because that will make them more likely to take part, as well.
25. Post engaging updates on your Facebook page
You need to really work at posting interesting and useful updates on your Facebook page if you want people to continue wanting to keep up with it. This can be tricky because you have a limited number of words when making posts, so try to keep them as short and sweet as possible.
26. Use the “like” feature on your Facebook page
You can use the like button on your Facebook page for a few different things, including having people click it when they hear about your business from friends or colleagues. This will help you engage with new leads who are more interested in your business, and it will also help you get more people to like your page.
27. Use the “share” feature on your Facebook page
It’s a good idea to use the “share” button on your Facebook business page instead of having to link back to internal pages every time you want someone to see something new. This allows you to share your content and get it seen by people who may not have visited you before. You need to be careful about what kind of things you are sharing, though, because some things might end up getting sent out into the world and back to your competitors.
28. Make sure your calls-to-action on Facebook work
If you are expecting people to click an image or a link on your Facebook page, make sure that they can actually see it. Don’t hide the call-to-action by placing it off to the side and making them have to scroll over something before they can find it. You need to be where people’s eyes will be drawn when they are looking at your page.
29. Make sure you are using Google My Business
If you want to improve your chances of getting organic traffic from Google, then you are going to have to spend some time working on the My Business portion of Google+. There is no point in having a business page on Facebook if you aren’t using this as well.
30. Use polls and quizzes
You can use questions like these on Facebook to see what your customers are interested in. You can then adjust the content you publish on Facebook based on that type of information, and it will help you get more engagement with your page.
31. Use a good cover photo
The image on top of your Facebook business page is going to be something that people notice first, so make sure that you use something eye-catching. You will want to make sure it’s not just text, and ideally, you should get someone who knows what they are doing to help with this part of your social media marketing.
32. Start a Facebook group
There are going to be some people who aren’t interested in following you on Facebook, but they are still going to want to know more about your business. If that is the case for you, then start a Facebook group and let them join. This is also a good way to get people talking to each other to help with SEO rankings.
33. Don’t do Facebook “likes” giveaways or contests
You shouldn’t get into the habit of giving away things to people who like your Facebook business page. You should also avoid having any type of contest or giveaway on that platform, too. This is because it doesn’t really make sense for a business since you can have up to 5,000 likes per page. The person at the top of the list is going to be the one who gets whatever prize you offer, so it can be very unfair for others.
34. Share your content with people on Twitter and Instagram
A lot of people use both of these social media platforms to get different pieces of information from businesses that they are following. Make sure that you are using them both to help with getting your content seen by as many people as you can. It’s a free way to market your business and one that most people are going to expect from you, so it’s important.
35. Use images in all of the right places
You need to use images on social media platforms because they are what will draw people to your page, and you will want to make sure that those images are being used in all of the right places. You can have them on top of your Facebook business page, but also use them for other posts as well.
36. Use an interesting profile picture
You might be tempted to just grab a stock image from somewhere else of yourself or of your business, but that might not be the best thing for you. You are going to want something that will represent your business in a good way, and it’s better to take some time on getting something just right.
38. Don’t forget about YouTube
A lot of people don’t think about having a YouTube channel, but it could be the best place for you to post your videos. If there are specific things that you can demonstrate in a video format, then you might want to consider making some videos. These can also be used as social proof if you belong to certain organizations or groups.
39. Don’t make Facebook your homepage
You are going to want your Facebook business page to be separate from the rest of your social media accounts, so don’t make it the default for any of them. Instead, you can let people decide if they want to check out your Facebook profile when they get there or click on another link. You’ll find that people will end up going to your Facebook page even if you don’t make it the default for all of your social media accounts.
If you’re a moving company, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest SEO strategies. You need your website ranked high in SERPS for both desktop and mobile platforms.
This article has 39 things that you should know about how to optimize your company’s social media marketing presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
If you’re looking for an experienced team of digital marketers who can help promote your business online by understanding human behavior and cognition science research findings – let us know! Our experts are ready and waiting to partner with you today!
I recommend signing up with Alignment Online Marketing to get an online marketing strategy for your business.
