Responses and communication

Yesterday, Toby Henderson of Omega Garage Door Service in Anaheim CA gave permission to identify his business, referenced in yesterday's posting. He sent this note:

In terms of local online marketing, yes we are on top.... (not to be confused with Florida's Omega Garage Doors), we are Omega Garage Door Service)....

Secondly garage doors seem to parallel plumbing in terms of acquiring the sale however plumbing many times can have a higher ticket price as in re-piping homes....

In terms of search-ablity try typing in garage door repair orange county... (more localized metro)

Henderson appears to have it "right" regarding local search engine marketing optimization. (I should note that since I am not in Orange County, the localized functions within the search engines will not give the same priority if searching generally.)

In a separate email Toby (wisely) asked if I could link directly to his site, which I have.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, I received this comment to the posting:

Online marketing is now the best way (not to mention the most cost effective) to reach your audience. Sadly, many business owners who come to me for help at (embedded URL removed) say they're online marketing is working but the reality is if you are not getting enough customers, it is not working. And 99.9% of the time that is because they do not have the knowledge or skills to develop a strategy and marketing plan. They are just throwing things out there willy-nilly.

For someone like your reader who emailed you, owning the local market is vital, and eliminating anything other than that is important. Don't waste efforts where they won't get customers.

I responded by private email to the commenter, saying that I appreciated the remarks but am reluctant to publish comments with embedded links.

The commenter responded to my email:

I can understand you not wanting people to spam your blog, but does it also stop your readers from getting worthy information that might help them? If you take a moment to look at my website you will see I strive to give away valuable tips they can use without engaging my services.

But it is your blog! I highly respect you run it as you see fit, so DO NOT take this as a complaint.

Thanks for the posting, hope it helps your reader.

In case you are wondering why I am happy to post the links for Omega but not the person who commented about the posting, it is because (a) Toby Henderson communicated with me offline with in important and valid question, and, (b), he is not marketing his garage door services directly on this blog (which unlikely has that many readers within his Orange County service area.)

I have a distaste for embedded links in comments when they are intended to seek self-promotional publicity. If you want to build a relationship with me, go ahead and comment. If you want a link, please communicate offline (or request a sponsored link -- see the little box at the bottom right of the sidebar for more information.)

Free links continue to be available for blogs and resources relating to construction marketing but these require individual review and sometimes a little time to assess. And I may provide some publicity to the person who commented, whose site/service may be useful to the blog's readers. Right now, however, I need to finish getting five regional construction publications to press (yes, the old print media!)

Blogger or Wordpress

Clay Posey of Mychiefmarketingofficer.net, who is helping me on developing and managing leads, shares the perspective of Hubspot that business bloggers should always host their own blog rather than rely on external services such as blogger. He outlines his reasons in his personal Marketing Fusion Blog posting. (A screenshot of my own 'holding' Wordpress blog at constructionmarketingideas.com is on the right.)

I agree, in part, but think this issue is on the weaker side of the 80/20 rule; that is, 80 per cent of the value and business you create is in 20 per cent of your activities, or (conversely), 80 per cent of your frustrations and problems occur within the bottom 20 per cent.

Whether you place your blog on your own site with Wordpress or use something like Blogger is only vitally important, in my opinion, to the extent you don't get so cheap that your host is allowed to place or control ads for non-related businesses on your business site. If that is the case, you must take steps to find a better host or operate the blog server yourself.

(Blogger, to its credit, does not host ads on your site unless you wish to "monetize" it with Google ads, for which Google will share revenue with you. If I am using the site to promote a business or professional service unrelated to advertising, I would not worry about the modest potential revenue from this source, and just use the space for your own blog content, without third-party advertising. As my business's primary revenue source is from advertising, obviously this rule does not apply in our situation.)

Otherwise, the points made by Posey (and Hubspot), are helpful but really insignificant in comparison to the key issues: Your frequency, content, and relevance.

Too many people start blogs, and fail to update or maintain them. Others see the blog purely as a Search Engine Optimization ploy, and hope that just setting it up will significantly boost the interest and traffic to their main site. Still others crank out entries mostly by lifting material from other sources or referencing other blogs. Others hope for as many back links to their site or blog as possible without realizing that the principal of reciprocity works wonders when you simply offer your own free back links (without expecting anything in return) to truly relevant blogs or sites.

Finally, blogging success requires two other things. You need to be first within your niche, and you need lots of patience.

If you are second or third within your niche, you will have to consistently apply some of the other principals here to dislodge the first place player. I needed to wait for upwards of eight months before my blog broke through to page 1 on relevant Google search keyword listings, and it has taken another year for it to consistently be in first place (finally dislodging, at least in the U.S. and Canadian markets, a long-established British site.)

Remember, of course, that you may have less problem becoming first place if you are working within a local or highly specialized niche. Of course, you should also realize that the more focused you are, the less "traffic" you can expect -- but this won't really matter, because the people who visit your blog will be truly interested in its content, and the responses will produce relevant leads for your business.

That doesn't change the fact that I will most likely make the switch to the Constructionmarketingideas.com Wordpress site once I'm satisfied the template I elect to use is robust and ready as obviously I have the capability of setting up and running the site on my own. I can see how having the site under my own domain will ultimately be more professional and like the aspects of self-reliance and control a self-hosted site has. But I don't think these issues make or break a successful blog. You need to have your niche and content right before self-hosting becomes an issue. Focus on these issues first.

Bill Thomas and his effective online marketing approach

One of Bill Thomas's Youtube videos, which help explain to homeowners how his service works -- the videos and website marketing enhance trust, reduce inconvenience, and cut marketing costs -- allowing him to 'over deliver' to consumers, and thus expand his business further. Seems, however, the previous blog posting about his business has resulted in some unintended consequences. . .

Bill Thomas Jr. of Mechanicsville, MD, called me today to apologize for the delay in responding to my initial inquiry about his intriguing website, www.homerestorationsmd.com, and his intriguing approach to online marketing and roofing service sales. He said he had been on vacation, and his administrative staff did not give my call priority (and for some reason, my emails to his address did not get through to him.)

You can read the previous blog entry about his business here.

Regardless, he elaborated on how he has built a seven-figure business using Internet marketing techniques that other contractors would be wise to consider and emulate. (However, local competitors are not happy, he says; following the publicity about his business on contractortalk.com and this blog, he says he received at least seven "threatening calls.")

So how does his system work?

Lets start with the email he sent to me today:

Thanks, Mark. Truly a pleasure for me to speak with you. Your site is a great asset to the community.

I read the thread on ContractorTalk.com. Pretty neat. Some of the guys seem to "get it", and that's very cool.

I'll send you some links when I get back in the office.

Again, our system works like this:

The website develops the "know you, like you, trust you" automatically, saving both us and the customer MUCH time . . .

We over deliver on the education and the trust aspect, and back it up with social proof (testimonials, public video)

We know immediately what they're looking for and present them with an irresistible offer.

We over deliver on service, do something extra that's a benefit (not in the contract) then present them with before/during/after photos and video for total proof, peace of mind)

We encourage them to send their links to their friends and family that need our services.

Most of our marketing and follow up you don't even see unless you're a qualified prospect or a client.

It's all about the customer, and we're always trying to improve . . .

Thomas says a surprising percentage of his clients conduct the entire business relationship online. They feel trust and confidence in his services, and appreciate the convenience that they don't have to wait around their home while his employees complete the inspection to prepare the online proposal, then the final work. (A few clients speak with him on the phone, but direct sales calls and visits are not needed, he says.)

Thomas isn't a kid -- he's 52 year's old. The website is only part of his marketing system. "We know the 'hot' (potential clients), how to market to them . .. we do direct mail, we have a list database that is proprietary to us."

He says his company is set up to repair roofs, and this creates future business for more significant jobs.

"We get a lot of leads through videos, Google Adwords and search engine optimization," he said. "We're not blowing off a lot of money on our keywords -- we're right on our target."

He says the money saved on client acquisition -- he says his competitors may spend upwards of $85 per lead -- is used to over deliver to clients; to give them more than they expect, and thus build the reputation even further. Thomas declined to discuss his cost-per-lead, and the online sales approach certainly would reduce the direct sales costs, but he declined to get more specific.

He says he is ready to share his ideas and methods with other contractors elsewhere in the country, and is not seeking money for consulting services. He attributes much of his online success and knowledge to Mark Hendrick's internet-success-system.com.

Thomas added a PS to the email which is especially revealing (and shows the power, I suppose, of this blog!)

PS. I purposely try to communicate with my customers electronically rather than by phone. People that come to my site are usually highly focused local prospects, and when I DO talk to them by phone, we establish e-communication immediately. The idea is to save time on the phone, and I reward them by passing along the savings.

Since you published my phone # on your site, I'm now getting TONS of spam calls, sales people, and others -- and since I roll the calls to my cell -- it's become a little disruptive. I've gotten 25 calls or so since you and I talked this morning that are non prospects, and I usually don't get many of those per day. It's a testament to how well your highly ranked site (#1 for contractor marketing in my area) is working.

Would you consider removing the # from your post so I don't get international attention?

I know it's "fair game", but it's kind of time consuming, and maybe if you helped me out, I could write an article or shoot you a link from another site that could be helpful to your cause as a return favor.

All in all, international attention is good, but my focus is on my clients, and I hope
you understand . . .

I'm removing the phone number from the previous posting, as he requested.

Below is another example of his youtube videos:

The press release (and PressRelease Grader)

This overview video at the PressRelease Grader site explains how effective Internet press releases can be in promoting your business.

If you are a SMPS member, you have access to a weekly e-letter with some useful tips and resources. This week's newsletter includes a link to an intriguing tool, The PressRelease Grader, and assorted information from Hubspot.com, outlining methods to use news releases to accelerate your presence and web-based marketing impact.

Hubspot advocates that you frequently issue news releases, not primarily for the news media's interest, but to help your search engine status. And it suggests certain formats and styles are most effective. In other words, you shouldn't wait for something really newsworthy -- something you think the mainstream media will find interesting -- before you issue a news release.

Well, how does the news release issued here fare with the Press Release Grader? It is the Construction News and Report Group of Company's announcement of an agreement with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every advertisement in each issue of our publications. We posted this on the Canada News Wire Service since obviously the news release is only really relevant in Canada.


Attention News Editors:

Construction publishing company becomes first in Canada to plant more trees than it consumes

    OTTAWA, Nov. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - The publisher of a group of Ontario
construction industry newspapers will plant at least 70 trees for every 11 it
consumes, making it the first Canadian print publisher to produce more forest
life than it consumes.

"We have made arrangements with Tree Canada to plant a tree for every
advertiser in every issue of in our publications," says Chase, who
co-ordinates the initiative for the Construction News and Report Group of
Companies(CNRG). "Our printers tell us we consume approximately 11 trees per
month - we expect to plant 80 or more each month in return."
The CNRG publishes Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report,
Ontario Construction Report, as well as speciality publications under contract
for associations such as the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA).
Tree Canada, established in 1993, has planted over 75 million urban and
rural trees, potentially sequestering more than 58 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide.

Further information about Tree Canada is available at
http://www.treecanada.ca.

"We believe this initiative will make a significant contribution to
improving forests and urban life - and make us 'net positive' with
environmental and global warming issues," said CNRG President Mark Buckshon.
"We are hopeful that other businesses will follow this example for their own
communities."

For further information: Construction News and Report Group of
Companies: Chase, 888-432-3555 ext 211, chasemarketing@sympatico.ca or Mark
Buckshon, 888-432-3555 ext 224, buckshon@constructionnrgroup.com; Tree Canada:
Michael Rosen, (613) 567-5545, tcf@treecanada.ca.

The PressRelease Grader gave this effort a truly failing score -- 25 out of 100. Ouch! This release is too short, doesn't have suitable clickable links, and fails to include the boilerplate company description and links required for the best results. The reason for some of these rather significant failings is that the company's corporate website is still under construction in a rather major rebuilding project -- when things are done in the next couple of months, the links here will work much more effectively.

The PressRelease Grader documentation also provides insights into why you should be striving for a high search engine placement. It of course is part of the most effective methodology in online (and for that matter any) marketing: Give away lots of useful stuff and clients will be attracted to you -- and you'll sell a whole lot more than by pushing your product or service in their faces.

Still, be cautious in rushing to implement Hubspot's strategies or implementing their services. Many people are trying a variety of techniques to game the system; to push up their organic search engine rankings, but you will find nothing works better than sincerely doing your best and relating and connecting to your current and potential clients.

Crete Busters, Track Haulers, and Search Engine Optimization

This image is one of several embedded youtube.com videos on the Crete Busters site -- you'll see here how effective use of video really enhances the marketing power of your websites.

Kerry Patrick, marketing director of Crete Busters Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, called today to ask about effective methods to enhance his business presence on the search engines. He says the company, in building its local business, discovered a unique and truly useful tracked hauler -- ideal for small, heavy loads, in places where larger equipment wouldn't work practically, and where the traditional small-haul load tool -- the wheelbarrow -- could break backs and strain even the most diligent construction workers.



He asked whether certain commercial services would be effective in raising his site's Google presence; and whether embedding blogs and forums could be useful. Regarding blogs, you can read the previous posting for some insights. Forums are challenging -- first, it is truly hard to gather enough 'traction' with core and interested users, and then there are really big challenge (if you are successful) in moderating the forum (not something that really makes sense for a concrete cutting business.)

However, Kerry really has it right with the use of video to demonstrate the equipment. The images show clearly this equipment's potential -- and Youtube.com video postings are free.

If Kerry can write a blog -- or contract with a local writer to handle the writing -- the site could rise in the search engines. Another idea: Create a separate site for the hauling machinery -- hosted perhaps on a different server -- with lots of videos and useful content/testimonials (and maybe another blog).

Blogging power

Keith Bloemdaal (left) of Raleigh Fence Contractors observes how his blog has succeeded with me and North Carolina Publisher Bob Kruhm.

Keith Bloemendaal has discovered blogging power. The Raleigh, NC fencing contractor has developed a new network of clients, relationships, and connections just months after starting his blog -- and he hasn't yet reaped one of the most tangible (and business building) rewards of a well-managed blog -- really high search engine rankings for his business.

North Carolina publisher Bob Kruhm arranged for us to meet with Keith during my visit to Raleigh yesterday. At 3:30 p.m., we consumed several cups of coffee at an Olive Garden restaurant, as he relayed his life story and experiences, and how he has found the blogging process has influenced his business.

Bloemendaal's web designer created a blog that combines the immediacy, relevancy and ease of updating of a blog, with the design of a professional business home page/website. I like his blog -- it exudes professionalism. And he writes well. This has caused his blog to attract attention of some of the leading luminaries of the blogging community, creating link backs and traffic -- and within Raleigh, connections within the community's high technology community. Many of these people need fencing for their homes, and some have been calling him for estimates, and to give him work.

Keith however must wait several months for Google to do its thing. Google takes its time in giving high search engine rankings to new blogs and websites -- sometimes you can wait for upwards of a year before you are out of the "sandbox". We can speculate on the reason for the seemingly unmovable delay -- it could be to ensure authenticity and discourage spamming, or it could be a device to induce people needing higher search engine rankings to purchase advertising through Google's Adwords program.

(Keith says he tried Adwords but this grew costly as local competitors engaged in bidding wards, pushing the price for key words through the roof. )

I told Keith that a good sign his blog will be leaving the sandbox is when he finds, suddenly, that Google disables it. I experienced that on my Blogger account -- to find once the site had been manually inspected by a real person (presumably to ensure I wasn't publishing a Splog -- or a blog entirely designed to manipulate search engine results), that this blog's search engine rankings suddenly skyrocketed. Keith may not experience the same thing; he is using an alternative template and thus may not be subject to the Blogger controls I experienced.

Regardless, Keith's blog combines the right combination of authoritative, interesting information, and practical self-promotion. You can read the blog and learn stuff about fencing whether or not you have any interest in calling him, but you'll find his phone number clearly displayed if you need fencing in Raleigh and wish a free estimate. (I don't really like 'free estimates' but realize it is common practice among residential contractors and service providers.)

Keith suggested he in the future he could provide blogging consulting services for other contractors. He could succeed at this, I think, but the challenge is really good blogs must reflect the individual character and personality of the blogger; and not that many fencing contractors, I think, are great writers who enjoy the hours that need to be spent in making an effective blog. Of course, if you are in that category -- or are willing to pay someone to be your ghost writer -- you could still succeed.

If you know of other examples of well produced local blogs from construction contractors, let me know. I expect I'll segregate these into a special reference list -- and of course the blogger will gain the advantage of a one-way positive link from a highly ranked and relevant blog. (And that gets into that other area of Internet marketing -- Search Engine Optimization).

Construction Marketing, Construction Business Development and Search Engine Optimization (What a mouthful!)

The Construction Business Development logo. This U.K. firm offers a sales cold calling service. In an email to me, David Crick wrote that he doesn't know of counterparts in North America, but in the late 90s "I did several tours of construction sales seminars in Canada and the U.S. with David Oliver - these were practical sales seminars with me doing a live telephone demo in the seminar itself showing how to make cold calls for contractors to architects. Worked well. These were sponsored by the sales leads specialist CMD - a major competitor of Dodge as I recall . . . In the UK we have two similar firms - Barbour-ABI and Glenigan. The U.S. market then seemed very similar to the UK market in the way these calls worked and the positive responses we had - we did 8 seminars in major centres from Toronto to Tampa over a 2 week tour - I did the cold calling for CMD contractor subscribers in each centre and always had a good reception with good relationships being started each demo. Cold calling like this always does seem to work for me."

Dave/Andrew Crick have posted another intriguing entry on their U.K.-based Construction Business Development Blog, outlining their "one day a week cold call" strategy. Almost simultaneously (and totally without coincidence, I speculate) someone with the name "CBD Sales" posted this inquiry on the Contractortalk.com forum under the heading: "Getting a Website Out There or Getting Your SEO on".

At the moment I am working on a website for Construction Business Development, a UK firm that focuses on construction marketing. I am trying to promote this site and I am running up against massive brick walls. First and foremost, I am having problems finding places to place links. Most of the sites out there seem to be standard directories based off of the Dmoz page that's really about it. Does any one have some practical experience in this field that would know of some great ways to build links?

Other contractors responding to this inquiry. One recommended software calle SeoElite. I haven't tried it. (Reviews are mixed). Another suggested:

Build relationships with construction industry bloggers. A little new media PR will go a long way when your company needs to ask for some promotional favors and links with useful title tags.

And a third poster answered:

Write a blog update it 2 or 3 times a week.Go to other blogs and leave comments that link back.Go join forums like this one and leave links.

Hmm, looks like this is exactly what the Cricks at CBD are doing, exactly. So is their frustration feigned, just one of a number of strategies to create links and attention? Or have they missed the most important ingredient in this puzzle -- patience.

It took me about six months of virtually continuous blogging to get out of the Google Sandbox -- and then upwards of a year for the blog to acquire meaningful search engine rankings. (Now, when I check, it often is in first place on the search engines for relevant keywords.) Obviously this is a slower sales cycle than the CBD bloggers are accustomed to with their "one day a week" cold calling" strategy

In the latest blog entry, David Crick elaborates on the CBD strategy and model. It is intriguing, and, I expect, highly effective for contractors who use it.

Experience

We believe that effective use of the phone coupled with good project leads over short focused periods of time is the single most powerful marketing tool available to most contractors.

For this plan to work, you'll need dedicated and skilled operators. As many of you will already know, cold calling new leads is not always easy and demands experience and confidence to get past the many unsuccessful calls that any salesman will have. (To read an interesting article on sales failures, look here).

So, how much experience should a sales person have? It’s a tough call, but as a general rule of thumb it’s best to use someone who has been doing cold calling in the construction industry for significant amount of time. Whilst this can be limiting, the idea is that firms should be able to compensate for not spending a great deal of time on sales and marketing by having experienced professionals focus on sales for shorter periods of time, thus saving costs overall.

Crick notes his strategy will achieve these results:

Experience shows that just one day a week can be very effective in developing new business. Results from this committed time are already covered, here – but effectively, this strategy should result in a new contract at least every 6-7 weeks with a tender conversion rate of 1 in 4/5.

The question is whether the CBD marketers will have the patience and energy to continue blogging with reliable consistency and intensity -- when the time to do this work obviously takes away from the profitable billable hours in contractors' offices cold calling for them (or hiring people to do the calling, or finding live clients through networking events, referrals and, yes, cold calling!) The same issue applies for your business.

I think Search Engine Optimization strategies, like effective media/publicity relations, can be the most cost effective and rewarding outbound marketing strategies you can use -- but your challenge is to realize that while occasionally you can hit a home run, these methodologies work best if you think in terms of months or years for signs of real results. Yes, the people at Construction Business Development -- reflecting their common sense and fast-acting approach to business -- are doing everything right to achieve SEO results. The true test is whether they will be patient enough to continue, day after day, week after week, month after month, until the reward output matches the energy input. In your own business, you have the same challenges.

What matters to you? -- Keyword search analysis

The blog Marketing M.O. -- Marketing tips from the trenches, provides some useful insights and resources on making more effective use of paid search engine marketing.

Previously, I reported that the bulk of inquiries to this blog are in the 'long tail' -- that is, most of the 676 distinct keyword searches leading to here in the past month happened only once. However, I think it might be useful to look at the top inquires -- that is keywords selected three or more times. With the statistics you can also see the number of visitors, the average number of pages viewed, the average visit time and the "bounce rate."

1.construction marketing
92 1.72 00:02:27 77.17% 67.39%
2.constructinmarketingideas.blogspot.com
69, 1.30, 00:01:14 0.00% 79.71%
3.change order boat
42 2.74 00:03:02 85.71% 19.05%
4.construction+marketing +niche
17 3.76 00:13:46 0.00% 41.18%
5.construction marketing ideas
12 1.67 00:02:60 66.67% 50.00%
6.change order boat picture
8 4.62 00:01:52 100.00% 50.00%
7.construction social network
8 2.38 00:03:50 62.50% 62.50%
8.marketing ideas
8 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
9.construction ideas
7 1.43 00:00:58 100.00% 57.14%
10.commercial construction marketing
6 3.00 00:02:28 83.33% 16.67%
11.boat change order
5 1.80 00:01:57 80.00% 20.00%
12.constructionpublishing.blogspot.com
5 1.20 00:01:29 100.00% 80.00%
13.best marketing ideas ever for construction business
4 2.25 00:04:59 25.00% 50.00%
14.branding 101
4 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
15.construction company marketing
4 1.50 00:01:18 75.00% 50.00%
16.construction mission statements
4 1.25 00:00:17 100.00% 75.00%
17.construction name ideas
4 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
18.construction subtrade marketing letter
4 2.75 00:03:60 0.00% 50.00%
19.marketing aec
4 1.50 00:00:20 0.00% 50.00%
20.marketing construction
4 1.50 00:04:11 75.00% 50.00%
21.change order boat photo
3 6.33 00:00:60 100.00% 0.00%
22.construction + marketing
3 1.33 00:00:17 100.00% 66.67%
23.construction+marketing+tips+niche
3 2.00 00:02:13 33.33% 33.33%
24.dewalt marketing
3 3.33 00:01:27 100.00% 33.33%
25.environmentally friendly homes
3 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
26.how to build environmentally friendly homes
3 1.00 00:00:00 33.33% 100.00%
27.marketing for construction
3 2.00 00:00:40 66.67% 66.67%
28.marketing ideas for contractors
3 1.00 00:00:00 33.33% 100.00%
29.marketing in construction
3 1.67 00:01:51 100.00% 33.33%
30.michael stone construction
3 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
31.remodeling marketing ideas
3 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%
32.sales commission ideas
3 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%

What can we learn from these numbers? Outside the obvious -- hopefully people searching for information about "construction marketing" are finding their way here -- the picture of the yacht "change order" moored next to the dinghy "original contract" continues to be the most popular search topic here. My suspicion is this viral email, making its way around AEC offices throughout Canada and the U.S., is inviting questions, but since there is virtually no information about the boat, other than my blog postings on the topic, it is propelling to the top of the search engine inquiries here.

I find it interesting that "construction marketing niche" have been grouped -- I can't imagine any contractor or construction professional using that kind of language; this suggests marketing agencies and the like, looking for some information about the construction community, are searching the words and finding the blog.

Looking at things from another perspective, I searched out the keywords which led to long visits to this blog -- 20 or more minutes per visit. Users selected each of these keywords only once, but when they found the blog, they stayed a long time (they also looked at several pages on their visits):

1."brand harmony" construction marketing
1 11.00 00:42:42 0.00% 0.00%
2.construction marketing blog
1 11.00 00:38:08 0.00% 0.00%
3.construction marketing ideals
1 6.00 00:34:58 100.00% 0.00%
4.construction marketing know how
1 3.00 00:31:59 0.00% 0.00%
5.general marketing contractor
1 2.00 00:29:27 100.00% 0.00%
6.marketing ideas for engineering
1 6.00 00:29:27 100.00% 0.00%
7.informational marketing for construction
1 19.00 00:29:06 100.00% 0.00%
8.corvinelli homes
1 3.00 00:27:26 100.00% 0.00%
9.free construction telemarketing scripts
1 4.00 00:26:19 100.00% 0.00%
10.roofing contractor marketing ideas
1 2.00 00:24:49 100.00% 0.00%
11.marketing renovation business
1 7.00 00:24:26 100.00% 0.00%
12.marketing don'ts
1 2.00 00:24:06 100.00% 0.00%
13.problem selling a house comment (1)
1 10.00 00:23:54 100.00% 0.00%
14.construction social networking
1 1.00 00:21:50 100.00% 0.00%
15.marketing ideas for hockey
1 3.00 00:21:24 100.00% 0.00%
16.hilton remodeling kansas
1 3.00 00:20:41 100.00% 0.00%
17.aec marketing
1 1.00 00:20:39 100.00% 0.00%

Theoretically, knowing what blog visitors are finding/care about should provide a better idea of what we should cover in the future in greater depth. Of course, the challenge here is that search engine inquiries are based on the blog's previous content and, to another extent, whether other websites are covering the same words and have higher or lower rankings. Yet they also suggest that once people arrive here, a significant number are exploring their way around -- I can't imagine that anyone looking up "Hilton Remodeling Kansas" would find much directly on that topic here -- but perhaps the searcher operated a GC or sub contracting business and found useful insights (or just had a lot of time to spend surfing around).

The types of statistics available for free today (through things like Google Analytics and the FeedBurner reports) would astound a marketer just a decade or two ago. Our ability to pinpoint and assess data and inquiries -- and presumably modify our approaches based on this information -- would be unheard of; except for perhaps the largest corporation with huge budgets. With this granular information, we can assess details and opportunities, 'hot points' and priorities, and shift our focus accordingly. We can also determine where we may wish to spend money on paid keyword searches and marketing -- using, as well, the analytical tools described in the marketing blog link under this posting's top photo.

But equally I cannot emphasise enough the importance of truly understanding our clients and their relationship with us. I believe we indeed are misplacing our resources if we focus the bulk of our energies on the front end -- attracting brand new clients -- and ignoring the key to our marketing and business viability -- retaining existing clients and encouraging positive vibes and referrals.

The Google rise

Today, noticing continuing increases in search engine inquires, I checked and discovered that the "Marketing Advice" page of Ottawa Construction News is now the second listing on the first page when you search "Construction Marketing" on Google. The blog itself is at position 5, and a complimentary reference from Imaginit (Rand.com) about this blog is at position 8 -- creating three first page listings under the keywords. (We have yet to dislodge the U.K. based Construction Marketing Group from first place, however.)

Lessons to learn here for your own marketing initiatives:

• Blogs help. They really work. The challenge is to create an effective blog which attracts relevant search engine interest. Content helps, of course, as does frequent updating. I've probably helped my case with some effective back links from relevant highly related forums such as contractortalk.com (always with the permission of the forum administrator).


• Patience is vital. This is NOT a quick-fix answer. I think it took us about eight months for the blog to find its way to the first page of the Google keyword rankings; if you wish more rapid results you are going to have to pay for keyword advertising and accept that as your 'presence' on page rankings.


• This is a long-term process. I certainly can trace some useful business inquiries to the high search engine placement, but I expect the real rewards of this initiative will be months, perhaps years, in the future. This is not a rapid road to wealth.

Still, in measuring progress, we are heading in the right direction.

Image borrowed from Imthiaz Blog -- Search Engine Dubai. Why? It is the first image I could find when I used the Images function from Google Search

Google's power -- Success at Search Engine Optimization

In the last few weeks, I've noticed a significant increase in the number of inquiries and requests for newsletter subscriptions. Today, I found out why -- this blog and related websites now occupy three spaces on the first page of Google with keywords Construction marketing.

Is a high search engine ranking important for your business? Yes, the Web and search engines are now the most powerful 'reach' resource in connecting people who may be interested in your services.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a significant business, and experts and pseudo-experts market their services (though the best real experts don't need to market themselves; they have far more business than they can handle, through referrals and references). As I have achieved SEO success within the construction industry marketing niche, these are the principals that have guided the process:

• Content is king -- you need real, meaningful and useful information, without commercial and self-serving marketing. "Selling" with the immediate aim of getting money from clients will not work as well as sincere sharing.


• Backlinks from credible sites are vital -- but you can't 'force' this issue. You earn the backlinks not by pushing yourself onto others; but, again, through your content. Higher rankings occur naturally this way.


• Article and blog directories are helpful -- they won't put you to the top right away but make it easier for people to find you.


• If you don't have a blog, start one. Blogs provide a dynamic and active way to interact and build interest and traffic. As well, if you update your blog frequently, you'll create more page files, more opportunities for backlinks, and more 'buzz'.

Remember, most importantly, that this is not a quick fix -- you won't find cash rolling in and serious inquiries right away -- in fact, the minute you try to 'force' interest in your business, prospective clients are likely to run away. You need patience, and most importantly, must put your own business interests behind those of your readers -- I probably won't track my first real business/client from the Internet initiatives for another year or two. But the efforts, as noted previously, are not wasted, even short-term I can recycle blog entries for articles in my newspapers, and have discovered real and immediate advantages in recruiting employees and providing better service to our current clients.

P.S. A note about copyright. Often I 'borrow' images from Google. What about the copyright of the image owners? Unless the image is explicitly public domain, we must assume that the image is copyrighted and should only be used with permission. However, providing an inbound link to the image owners provides real value in most cases for the copyright holders -- both in traffic to their site, and in their Search Engine rankings. Of course, if someone explicitly says "do not copy" or requests we remove the image/link, we will, immediately. A higher level of permission seeking is required for print use, simply because the printed work is permanent and cannot be deleted with a button click.