Ranking on the first page of Google is essential to gaining new customers and growing your brand. 68% of online interactions start on a search engine.
In the competitive world of digital marketing, a visually appealing website is only part of the equation. Landscaping businesses need a strong SEO strategy to rank higher in search engine results and attract more customers.
This blog post will discuss essential SEO for your landscaping company, including local SEO.
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Before diving into SEO tactics, it's crucial to understand who your ideal clients are. Are they homeowners looking for garden transformations, commercial properties needing maintenance, or perhaps both? Knowing your audience helps tailor your content and keywords to match their search intent.
It would be best to create pages for each audience to target them—for example, a separate page for commercial services and general enquiries.
If you've been running your business for some time, you should understand your customers and who you want to target. Next, give your ideal customer an overall persona and create content to talk to your audience.
2. Keyword Research: The Foundation of SEO
Keyword research is the bedrock of effective SEO. Identify keywords and phrases your potential clients use when searching for landscaping services.
Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you find relevant keywords with good search volume and manageable competition. Focus on:
Local Keywords: Include phrases like "landscaping services [your city]" or "garden design [your area]."
Service-Specific Keywords: Target keywords related to specific services, such as "patio installation" or "lawn maintenance."
Don't forget to focus on targeting keyword intent. For example:
If a keyword has informational internet, the user searches for information on a topic.
If a keyword has commercial intent, the user researches options for a product or service.
If a keyword has navigational intent, it means it is searching for a specific website.
If a keyword has transnational intent, it is searching for a particular product or brand.
3. Optimise Your Website Content
Once you have your keywords, it's time to optimise your website content. Include your keywords in your title tags, meta descriptions and content.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Craft compelling and keyword-rich title tags and meta descriptions for each page. For instance, "Top Landscaping Services in [Your City] | [Your Company Name]" can attract clicks from local searches. Including your keyword in title tags and meta descriptions is essential, but do not keyword stuff - this will hurt your efforts.
Headings and Subheadings
Use H1, H2, and H3 tags to structure your content, incorporating relevant keywords naturally. For example, use H1 for your main title and H2 for section headings like "Our Landscaping Services" or "Why Choose Us."
Engaging content
Create informative and engaging content that addresses your audience's needs. Blog posts, service descriptions, and case studies are great opportunities to use your keywords and provide value.
Remember to write content according to the keyword intent you are targeting. For example, if you are writing a blog, include as much helpful information as possible. Do not self-promote in your blog posts.
If you want to self-promote in a blog, mention your services in the conclusion.
Promoting your business and services is more effective when targeting commercial keywords. Your customers are much more likely to convert when their search intent is commercial or transactional. Make sure your brand is front and centre for these searches.
4. Local SEO: Dominating the Local Search Results
Local SEO is essential for small businesses, including landscaping businesses. 46% of all Google searches are local searches, and there are specific strategies for growing your organic traffic from local searches.
Here's how to optimise for local searches:
Google My Business (GMB)
Claim and optimise your GMB listing. Ensure your business name, address, phone number (NAP), and hours of operation are accurate. Add high-quality photos of your work and encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews. Respond to every positive and negative comment to show customers you are engaged.
Example of a GMB listing -
Local Citations
Ensure your business is listed consistently across local directories like Yelp, Angie's List, and local Chamber of Commerce websites. Consistency in NAP information is critical for local SEO.
If you have a paid Semrush account, you can go to "local" and "listing management" to ensure consistency across all NAP websites.
Local Keywords
Incorporate local keywords in your content, meta descriptions, and GMB profile to improve visibility in location-based searches.
If you want to target more than one suburb with local SEO, you can make multiple GMB accounts. Optimise each account and link each GMB to a dedicated page on your website.
Having dedicated pages on your site for each suburb you want to rank in is a great way to grow your local SEO.
5. Mobile Optimisation: Ensuring a Smooth User Experience
With an increasing number of users searching on mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential. Ensure your site is responsive and loads quickly on smartphones and tablets. Google's mobile-friendly test tool can help you check and improve your site's performance.
If you host your website on a content management system, there should be a setting to switch from desktop to mobile editor. This will allow you to optimise on both platforms.
Tip - Google predominantly uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with the smartphone agent, for indexing and ranking. Therefore, keep this in mind when designing your mobile site. Make sure you have plenty of internal links pointing to essential pages.
Also, try not to rely too heavily on Javascript to run features on your site. Not all browsers can crawl Javascript. Google can crawl Javascript, but it takes longer.
Run a weekly site audit on your website to monitor your technical SEO. Most issues can be solved by yourself without the help of a specialist.
6. Monitor and Adjust website strategy
SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor your website’s performance.
Setting up your Google Analytics account takes several steps, but many resources are available online to help guide you through the process.
Track key metrics such as organic traffic, bounce rate, and keyword rankings. Based on your data, adjust your strategy to continuously improve optimisation efforts.
Conclusion
Effective SEO is vital for your landscaping business. Understanding your target audience, optimising your business by focusing on local SEO and mobile optimization, and increasing your online visibility can attract more clients.
If you’ve reached the end of this blog, contact me for a free PDF of keywords you can use to optimise your landscaping site. In the PDF, I include keywords for different landscaping services and blogs and recommendations for which pages to target these keywords.
You can also contact me, and we can schedule a consultation to discuss your website and business goals.