Weekly Project Update: Countertops Contractors 10.04.2024

Hi, my followers and colleagues!

It’s been three busy weeks since our last update, and a lot has happened at Countertops Contractors. I’m excited to share what our team has been up to!

As always, I’m here to share both our wins and the occasional setbacks—because nothing is ever perfect! Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve achieved over the past few weeks:

1. Successful Integration of Reviews and New Site Features

We believe that customers choose contractors based on a variety of factors, and reviews play a crucial role in that decision-making process. After analyzing user behavior, we initially thought that pulling reviews only from Google would suffice. However, after talking with several contractors, we realized that Facebook reviews are also highly valued by users.

So, we decided to integrate Facebook reviews into our platform. Now, users can find comprehensive information about each contractor all in one place. We already have reviews from Google, and soon, we plan to add Yelp reviews as well, allowing users to make even more informed decisions.

Additionally, we’ve created an “Author” page on our website, showcasing the experts behind the articles published on Countertops Contractors. During the latest sprint, we set a goal to create individual pages for each author, including myself as the founder and our head of SEO. These pages will feature updates on how we’re working to improve our site’s performance.

In the near future, we’ll also be adding pages for our analysts, who are top professionals in their fields. We want users to know that the content they’re reading is created by industry experts.

2. Growth on Pinterest and New Reels for Instagram

Our social media activity has been steadily increasing as we expand our content offerings. Our SMM specialist has been putting in tremendous effort to grow our Pinterest account, where we showcase the best work from top contractors in the U.S. We understand the importance of visual content in attracting attention, which is why we’re putting more focus on this channel.

This week, however, we encountered a dip in Pinterest traffic and are currently working with their support team to resolve the issue. At the same time, we’ve revisited our Instagram strategy and are ramping up our work on Reels. Knowing how much Instagram users love short-form video content, we’re developing a stylish and modern design for our videos. Our goal is to make our content even more engaging and accessible to a broader audience.

Through Reels, we aim to showcase more contractors across various U.S. cities and help clients find the perfect match for their projects. Connecting contractors with clients is one of the main objectives of our project, and we’re committed to making that process as seamless and effective as possible through social media.

3. Finalizing Contractor Listing and Profile Pages

We’ve completed the design for our contractor listing and profile pages—an important milestone as we prepare to announce our rankings for the top companies. Our frontend developer is now working on implementing the new design into the live site.

We want to make our website as user-friendly and informative as possible, as the current design doesn’t fully reflect the essence of our project. This step is crucial so that when we reveal the top companies in the U.S. and each state in November, our site will look professional and be optimized for user experience.

4. Market Evaluation and Selection of the Best Options

As you may know, one of our key research methods is the use of secret shoppers. We continue to verify and cross-check the data collected by our team to ensure transparency and accuracy. We actively review prices, update our database, and make corrections to ensure that users can trust our rankings.

Our lead analyst, Ann, has been hard at work evaluating and analyzing data from new cities, and she has already handed over some of the findings to our copywriter for content creation.

We are constantly striving to improve our secret shopper program and ensure that our research results are as accurate as possible.

5. 10 Articles in a Week, Blog Updates, and Internal Resources

And here’s another piece of good news: we’ve brought a dedicated copywriter on board for internal resources. Alice has helped us enhance quality control and expedite the content creation process. Thanks to her efforts, content production has become more streamlined, and materials are easily adapted to the company’s needs. Over the past week, we’ve written 10 articles analyzing prices across various cities.

We are planning to launch a blog where we’ll share experiences and valuable insights with our audience. In the future, we may even offer expert interviews to the media, sharing our work results and research findings.

Each week brings new challenges and opportunities, and we are actively working toward finalizing everything in preparation for the U.S. rankings announcement. Our teams of designers, developers, and analysts are putting in maximum effort to ensure that our site is ready for this important milestone. We can’t wait to share the results of our hard work and reveal the top companies in November.

Thank you for your continued support!

Max Kuchma, Founder and CEO, Countertops Contractors