Having a website is great, but not doing any marketing pointing people to your site is like having a billboard up in the woods. Sure its there, but no one sees it. The same holds true for your website, which is why you need some type of search engine marketing.
The advantage to online advertising for contractors
Search marketing is a huge market these days. While other marketing platforms are experiencing double-digit erosion in market share, online advertising will grow by 14% this year, even in a fragile economy. Here are some key points to marketing online:
- 78% of consumers research online before they purchase offline
- Search engine marketing targets ready-to-buy shoppers
- 82% of people who look up a company online, contact that company offline
Now, at first glance you might think there isn’t much difference between 1 and 3 above, but re-read the numbers. While 78% do research online before they buy offline as stated in number 1, 82%, or 8 out of 10 people will CONTACT YOU when they look for (and find) you online.
Think about it:
- Consumer searches locally for your product or service
- Your ads appear alongside relevant search results
- Consumer clicks on your site
- Consumer evaluates your site, your products and services, and your company
- 8 out of those 10 people who evaluate your site will contact you
If you aren’t there, guess who is getting those calls – your competition. My point is, in 2011, contractors need a presence online that pull people into their sites, because just having an online presence isn’t cutting it anymore when you can have an online showroom.