3 Ways To Find a Land Surveyor on Google

As potential clients look for us land surveyors, they have 3 ways to find us on Google. As we wind down this year and prepare for 2018, it is important to understand those ways and how we can show up when they search. If not, you're not going to get the call.

The 3 Ways are:

1. Google Business Page (Google Map)
2. Google Advertising
3. Google Organic Listings

Google Business Page

The listings that show up with the Google Map come from the Google Business page. This has been called many things since it was introduced a few years ago. It may change again, as most things Google do.

Getting listed on Google Business is Free. You just sign up for it and then plug in all your information, pictures, videos, content. Then, once your verify your address, you're automatically listed.

Getting listed doesn't mean you'll be in the Top 3 and show, but it does give you a chance. There are a few optimization measures you need to take to make sure you show up on the top. One is getting reviews from your customers.

Google Advertising

The top listings on Google go to those who PAY for that privilege. And, Google is making it harder and harder to tell the difference between Ads and the organic listings. Years ago the Ads were placed along side of the Search Results. Then they were placed in line and had shading around them. Now, it's a very small AD image in line with the text and the same color.

Can you spot the difference in this image? It's barely noticeable. That's because Google makes money from advertising. I'm sure that the number of clicks on the Ads are going up since this latest change. Some searchers have shied away from the Ads in the past, preferring to choose the organic listings. I'm sure there are lots of reasons for this. One is probably that they perceive that ANYONE can place an ad - even the Russians. But Google wants clicks on the Ads, naturally they do.

So, are Ads effective? Yes they are. If you do them right, and advertise for the right keywords and write the Ads appropriately they are very effective for increasing your calls to your business.

Google Organic Listings

This is the most sought after ranking - a high organic listing. Organic means natural, meaning not paid advertising. That doesn't mean that it doesn't cost you time and effort to get a top listing here. There are dozens of steps in doing this. And, this whole process is called Search Engine Optimization, SEO for short. That is the overall process of getting a website to rank on the FRONT PAGE of the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

The SEO Process for Organic Listings

The SEO process includes three major categories - Website Form and Content, Website Activity, and Backlinks. All three of these areas are very important in their own right.

Website form and content deals with what you put on the website and how you say things. The most important part of this is how your content relates to the keywords that you want to be found for. For example, as a surveyor we do boundary surveying. So, it's natural that we want to be found for that keyword. But, did you know that most folks search for "property survey" more than "boundary survey"?

Other items that you should be concerned about on your website are:

• Image & Video Optimization
• Page Keyword Focus including LSI keywords
• Length of content
• Internal & External Linking
• Keyword Relevance of the Page
• Page Load Speed
• Overall Look and Feel (for the human visitors)
• Title & Description of the Pages
• What the site looks like on Mobile platforms

Here's an infographic for you to use for this and for more information go here.

Website Activity deals means that you should be actively adding to your website and not leave it static. If your page isn't updated on a regular basis it becomes stagnant. Google likes to see activity on websites. It's automatic "spiders" come out every few days to check for new content on your site, generally on a weekly basis. So, in my opinion, a weekly blog post is great. You could probably get by with monthly, but that is the minimum, in my opinion.

Things change in your business. There are always opportunities to add content. You could announce a new hire. Say goodbye to someone leaving, talk about a recent project. Share some local news. Just about anything. It really matters more that you're adding content. Of course, the closer the content relates to your business the better. And, don't forget to share pictures and/or videos. Google LOVES multi-media.

The third category is the biggest - Backlinks. A backlink to your website comes from another website to yours. This category includes hundreds or thousands of places on the internet that can give you a backlink. The list literally is almost endless. For example, let's say you make a video of your business and then upload it to YouTube. If you place a link in the description of that video, this is a backlink to your website. (That blue text is a backlink to one of my surveying websites. I just got a backlink vote for my Madison Land Surveying site.) Google then finds it when it "spiders" YouTube and you get a backlink. The more backlinks you get, the higher you will rank. Think of this as a Vote for your website.

Summary

Getting online is VERY important for your business. Getting found is even more important. Just about any 5th grader can setup a website. But getting it found on Google makes the difference in whether you get a call or not. My company, AuburnBusinness.com helps with this overall process. And, I focus on helping Land Surveyors and Engineers. Email me at [email protected] or message me through LinkedIn for more information.

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J. Keith Maxwell is a Land Surveyor and Civil Engineer in Alabama. He loves marketing and talking about marketing. So, call him at 888-316-4124 to talk about marketing your business.