A locksmith industry survey revealed that about 16,000 people in the US lock themselves out of their cars or homes daily. Getting locked out is harmless in most cases but it can be quite unnerving. When locked, people are more likely to get online and call any of the 28,774 locksmiths across the country.
People don’t have patience when locked out. They want to get inside their house or car quickly, safely, and with minimal damage to their locks. A quick internet search will bring results of locksmiths in their area including those offering emergency services.
Every locksmith business owner must aim to be in the top search results when people search for information about locksmith services. However, it doesn’t come easy. You must have strategies in place for people to know about your services online.
Digital marketing is key for any locksmith business that wants to stand out. Here are ideas on how to market a locksmith business.
Keyword Planning And Strategic Use
Keyword research is the first step to implementing a good SEO strategy. It ensures prospective clients who need locksmith services come to your website, not anywhere else. The process determines the ideal target keywords including the questions your potential customers ask search engines.
The search terms and phrases are helpful for use in your content and overall marketing strategy. Keyword planning allows for obtaining organic search rankings. It means achieving your position without paying for ads. You need strategies for improving keywords such as checking your rankings using appropriate tools.
Higher rankings require researching high-quality keywords and online trends more likely to generate customers. The more related keywords you have on your website the more traffic you’re likely to receive. This is because search engines index and crawl a website by matching user search queries.
How To Use Keywords Strategically On Your Site
Every page must have one or two main keywords with other supporting keywords. The keywords must appear where people and bots see them. So, ensure to have them in the meta description, page title, H1s, and H2s. People will easily understand what the page is about.
Poor keyword placement will mean Google will filter them depending on the content scattered on your site. Therefore, ensure to strategically choose and place perfect phrases on your site. Keep the needs of the audience in mind while prioritizing valuable content and readability.
Never repeat a keyword more than five times on a page. Additionally, avoid targeting multiple pages using the same keyword. It will make the pages compete with each other for ranking. A keyword map helps choose the best one and avoids cannibalizing your results.
Updating Keywords And Content For Products And Services
Revising and updating old content on your website can bring magical results. The right approach can revamp old posts to reach number one in Google. It determines content freshness on the type of search queries. The content to keep fresh includes hot topics, recurring events, and frequent updates.
Evergreen content such as how-tos may not need frequent updates. However, you must know the triggers to update your content and keywords including:
- A post currently part of your SEO strategy
- Availability of fresh elements for the post
- A keyword that needs a boost
A change in keyword rank may happen over time making your site dip. It may result from algorithm changes or a competitor ranking higher for the same keyword or phrase. You can also make changes to your website that might make your ranking fall.
A small change in site load speed has a significant impact on SEO. The content update on your site may have a negative or positive impact. A change in keyword ranking can result from a change in user intent for a ranking keyword.
How To Update Your Keywords And Content
Updating the keywords and content on your locksmith website goes through five simple steps highlighted below.
- Determine current keyword ranking
- Find posts ranking on page two
- Optimize the post by improving its length or adding visuals
- Repost without changing the URL
- Track the progress of the revamped post and keywords
Internet Marketing
Most locksmiths work alone or with a partner leaving little time for marketing. Locksmiths traditionally get new clients through referrals. It allows gaining clients quickly since the referrer already trusts your services. Traditional marketing takes time and costs more money.
However, you can gain more clients through internet marketing. This is because most people search online when locked out of their cars or homes. Having a reliable nearby locksmith is a lifesaver.
You need a great internet marketing strategy to make your business come up at the top of search results.
Let’s show you how.
Your Website
Your locksmith website is your business card today. People search online to find a locksmith. They type in keywords while on a desktop, smartphone, or tablet and call the locksmith whose site appears at top of the search results. If your website isn’t among those, your phone isn’t going to ring.
Your site must reveal your locksmith services, the locations you serve, and how to contact you. Other things to include on your locksmith website include:
- Appropriate how-to videos
- Before and after pictures of your work
- A brief history of your business
- A portfolio highlighting past customers
- Accreditations you have
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- Industry bodies where you have membership
Your locksmith website makes a stellar first impression on potential customers. It determines whether they give you business or not. The design of the website significantly impacts its effectiveness.
Here are the features that make a stellar locksmith website.
- Simple to navigate
- Has optimized images
- Blog section with helpful content
- Fast page loading on desktop and mobile devices
Search Engine Optimization
Good SEO practices and dynamic internet marketing efforts contribute significantly to the success of a locksmith business. You must optimize keywords related to your locksmith services and your target areas.
Using location-specific keywords attracts more potential customers looking for your services near them. You must also optimize your website for mobile devices. This is very important because people usually use their phones during a crisis.
When locked out of their home, people use their phones to search for a locksmith near them. You must make your website mobile friendly so potential customers can use the same features whether they are on their computer or mobile device.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Anyone doing business locksmith must have solutions to questions such as how to market my locksmith business. A good idea is to consider acquiring per-click (PPC) advertising to improve your online presence.
A PPC campaign will help narrow down your target audience. An effective campaign will take your business to the next level.
Getting started with PPC requires:
- Optimizing for relevant keywords
- Use of ad extensions
- A/B testing ads and landing pages
- Creating custom landing pages for each campaign
- Use of negative key terms
Locksmith PPC allows for obtaining more qualified leads and ultimately more customers. However, you need strategy and enough time. An effective PPC campaign is a reliable way for clients to see your phone number, location, and the services you offer.
Email Marketing
You can stay in touch regularly with your customers and potential clients through email marketing. These appreciate being kept up to date with your services and promos.
Email marketing is five times more likely to yield new customers and retain existing ones. It’s so easy to use and cost-effective.
The four ways to use email marketing and how they can grow your locksmith business include:
- Newsletters – to give subscribers knowledge and tools including how-tos, thought leadership, and new services.
- Acquisition emails – offering prospective customers attractive offers and informative content to people who expressed interest in your services.
- Promotional emails – to boost sales, announce new services, and encourage signups. They also reward engaged subscribers with exclusive offers and cross-sale services.
- Retention emails – request feedback or make offers to subscribers who haven’t interacted with your business.
Social Media
Whether you’re a one-man team or a big corporation locksmith for business, you need social media to generate leads for your business. Other benefits include strengthening the customer base, boosting engagement, growing the fan following, and earning relevant revenue and traffic.
Locksmiths need social media to boost their reputation. Social media channels are highly effective at encouraging direct interaction with customers and responding to their requests. Engaging posts on social media increase fan following and boost sales by about 75%.
Your locksmith business must be active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Pinterest, and Youtube.
Posting on social media channels generates shares, likes, and visits through:
- Sharing various content types
- Promoting your locksmith services
- Creating special offers and promos
- Replying to customer queries
- Making announcements
Summing It All Up
After having everything in place to start your locksmith business, marketing is very important. You can market through social media, PPC ads, a website, email marketing, and the effective use of keywords.
A successful locksmith business must also incorporate the use of locksmith software such as Field Complete in your operations. It streamlines operations such as estimation, quotes, approval, schedules, and communication.
