Even a fifth grader could tell you that there are a few basics every business must have to be successful: a business phone number, a customer-ready storefront if applicable, and a website. Wait, what was that last one?
According to Lawn & Landscape’s State of the Industry report in October 2012, 56% percent of lawn and landscaping businesses are using Company Website/Email Marketing as a marketing method, meaning that a whopping 44% of landscaping contractors do not have a website. Furthermore, 78% of them are not using internet search or SEO as a tool and 80% do not use internet referral services.
Is the landscaping industry behind the times?
Those numbers actually fall right in line with small business across the board. SocialMediaExplorer.com reports that 44% of small business owners still lack a website, and about half of those who do don’t keep up with the site’s metrics. This represents an enormous gap from consumer behavior, with 97% of consumers now searching for local services online.
Opening a landscaping company without a website is like opening a store without a storefront. How are customers supposed to find you? More than that, it’s essential to have a well-built website. More than half of small business websites don’t have a “contact us” form. Would you forget to hang a sign up in front of your store?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a technical and evolving field, but here’s one way of looking at it. Every business wants to have the prime location in town, the corner lot on Main Street with the best chance of walk-in traffic and high visibility. Think of Google as your town, and page one in search results as Main Street. Better SEO helps your website rank higher in Google, giving you the prime real estate for customers to find you on the web.
The State of the Industry report shows that landscaping contractors continue to lean heavily on grassroots marketing efforts– referrals (98%), yard signs (30%), and direct mail (23%). While those methods are still an important spoke in the wheel of lead generation, as the Millennial generation grows into its late twenties and thirties and buys homes, web presence and online branding will become more important than ever to reach customers.
Mobile: The Next Big Thing
Bluetrain Mobile reported in January that mobile traffic nearly doubled between Q4 2011 and Q4 2012, with mobile now accounting for 18% of all browsing, up from 10% just one year earlier. Some experts predict that mobile traffic will surpass desktop traffic as soon as 2014.
Only 6.7% of small businesses today have a mobile-optimized website, meaning that most are leaving money on the table when customers are driven to their site on a smartphone, but then “bounce” because it isn’t user-friendly.
Don’t be left behind in the evolving world of digital marketing. If you’re overwhelmed, you’re not alone.
