A San Diego Local Business Success Story
When this San Diego local business first spoke to us about building their website, they had absolutely no online presence at all.
In the real world, they were doing pretty well.
When it came to the online world, however, they weren’t just invisible… they simply didn’t exist.
Fast forward to today… this local business ranks #1 on Google, due to the great local SEO work we’ve done here at Shared Graphics, with them.
Not only that, they continue to grow in search impressions, clicks, and of course the thing that matters the most, calls, leads, and revenue.
Our Client’s Search Impressions & Clicks Increased over the Past 18 Months
Ranking #1 On Google Really Means Business
This small local business in San Diego is now currently getting around 25 calls, and 40+ website visits, every single month. These are all new customers, all looking to hire them… and all without the business paying a penny for ads.
This San Diego business owner says this has been a complete gamechanger for him.
The business is called ‘Aquaphoria Spas’. They show up in 2 of the best places possible on the search engine results page.
Here’s how this local business appears in Google search results, when you search for ‘Hot Tub Cleaning San Diego CA’:
Position 1 in Google Maps Results: The Top Result Possible for Any Local Businesses
Position 2 in Organic Search Results on the Same Page
This business is positioned in 2 of the most powerful places on Google search, for the most specific search term, EXACTLY WHEN their customers are looking for them. All with ZERO advertising.
What Does This Mean for This Local Business?
This local business has exploded, and dominated their local area. As you can imagine, being in this position ina big city like San Diego, is not just a vanity metric.
This business has done so well, they’ve hired multiple technicians to service the customers they’ve been bringing in over the past couple years. This business now grows on autopilot, and he far exceeds the income of any of his local peers.
This success story shows exactly how smart Local SEO, killer web design, and reputation management from Shared Graphics can change everything for a local business just like yours.
Let’s take a quick look at how Shared Graphics made it happen for them. Then we’ll show you how we can also do the same for your local business, too.
How Shared Graphics Delivered Results for This San Diego Local Business
First, we did some market research, to see what exactly was going on in their local market.
We did this, because in order to know what needs to be done to rank number one on Google Maps, you need to have a deep understanding of the local market.
Having a solid picture of the competitive landscape, is essential to build the right strategy.
Google Maps Local Business Competitive Research
We needed to know what type of website we would need to design, to be able to compete, and rank. This is different for different businesses, so we wanted to make sure we got this right.
In marketing, your business needs to do at least the same as your competition, or better. When you’re trying to rank higher, you need to do better.
Our research showed that whilst there were quite a lot of competitors, these local businesses had mostly DIY websites. The businesses that didn’t, had sites that had very little content, or poor SEO.
After looking over our local competitive research findings, we believes we’d be able to make some impact with a really well hyper local SEO’d, one-page website. Our client agreed with our assessment, and decided to go ahead and design the one-page site first, to see how well that did. Then, we’d know how much to adjust from there.
We also noticed that not many of these businesses focused on generating reviews, or building up their online reputation using their Google Business Profile.
Next up, we needed to look under the hood of Google itself. What keywords can we rank for, and what shoudl we target specifically.
Interestingly, we came across something REALLY important. A mistake ALL the other local businesses were making…
Now we’d found the perfect gap in the market, we knew could take advantage of.
Our Keyword Research Results
When we did the keyword research for this business, we initially researched the term ‘spa’.
We also looked into more localized keywords such as ‘spa cleaning san diego’. This was because the owner had told us that’s what he did.
What we uncovered in our keyword research though, completely **changed the direction of the whole website strategy.
Spa vs Hot Tub: A Tale of Local SEO
When we researched the keywords, we found that ‘spa’ is a word used to describe MANY things.
A ‘spa’ could be a:
- Nail Spa / Nail Salon
- Medical Spa
- Day Spa
- Health Spa
- Spa Resort
- Hot Tub
This meant that anything involving the word ‘spa’, would be very difficult to rank for.
It would also be difficult to not have this business website rank for these other terms, or to end up competing in the wrong spaces. We absolutely did NOT want the phone ringing, looking for a nail salon.
This business needed to be found for EXACTLY what they do.
Keyword Research Uncovered Gold
After a little more research, we could see very clearly that ‘hot tub’ was the better term to target as a seed keyword.
We knew this with 100% certainty, because it was hyper-specific.
Afterall, hot tub only means one thing. Not only that, but it was less competitive, and easier to rank for.
Another really important thing, is what we call ‘contextual association’. Google understands the association between the keywords ‘hot tub’ and ‘spa’, and will therefore rank the site both, by only targeting one. This was a gap in the market.
Another important thing, is in digital marketing we want to find people searching with ‘buyer’s intent’. In other words, they’re looking to buy, and need this service as soon as possible.
Now it was time to choose our long-tail keywords.
Hyper Local Long Tail Keyword Targeting
We chose to target the long tail keywords ‘hot tub cleaning San Diego ca’, and ‘hot tub maintenance San Diego CA’.
When targeting these long tail keyword specifically, this business couldn’t be confused with local hot tub repair businesses, as he does not provide hot tub repair as a service.
Now that we had the competitive research, and the correct keywords to target, it was just a matter of getting to work on building the right on-site content.
We built a highly localized, simple, fast , one-page website targeting the long tail keywords for the best success.
Even we were a little surprised by the results…
Position 3 in Google Search Within 60 Days: Pack 3 Success
The Google Maps ‘Pack 3’, is displayed above other search results when you search for a local business. It’s called the ‘pack 3’ because it only shows the top 3 results.
Being in the Pack 3, is a primary goal for any local business. Because of this, Pack 3 positions are the most fought over positions in Google rankings for local business.
Our simple one-page website design with built in local SEO had knocked it out of the park. We’d done so well, that in just 60 days, this San Diego small local business had gone from being completely invisible, to in the Pack 3.
They began getting calls and more business, and it didn’t stop there. With these great results, we could see that with such good success so far, there was room for more growth.
We also knew, however, this might take a little more work to achieve…
Our Client’s Journey from #3 on Google Maps to #1
Position 3 was okay, and it was achieving results for him. But after monitoring the search rank position, we noticed that his ranking would also fluctuate between position 6, and position 3.
The next thing to do, would be to strengthen his position in the market. We needed to build on the foundation we’d established, making his position unshakeable.
To do this, we had 2 strategies we needed put in place.
Local SEO Strategy 1: A 5 Page Local Website
To strengthen the foundation we’d put in place, and increase the strength of this business, we built a 5 page local website to strengthen his web content.
We built specific pages to add more content about what services his business offers, a page showcasing his amazing reviews, a feedback page to help generate more reviews, and also a contact us page.
This strategy made his website stronger than his competitors for content.
This is the home page for the website today:
Local SEO Strategy 2: Reputation Management
Having good reviews, and having more of them, is highly important in ranking on Google Maps for a local business. It’s also really important to get Google reviews consistently.
A local business with 200 reviews in one month and then none for 2 years, will not rank as highly as a business that’s had 200 reviews that happened consistently over the course of 2 years.
Many small local businesses get reviews naturally, when their really awesome, nice customers decide to go out of their way to do so. But waiting for reviews to happen, and hoping for them is neither a strategy, or something you can rely on by ‘just doing a good job’.
Happy customers LOVE to give good reviews. It gives them a great feeling of reciprocation, because you’ve been doing such a good job for them.
We Generate More Positive Google Reviews By Asking for Them
Getting more reviews is important, but it’s also important to build this over time. You don;t want to have 100 reviews in one month, and then none for a year. Being consistent, and gaining reviews over time, is key.
We set up a phone number registered to the business, so we could send SMS messages on their behalf, as their marketing team.
Then, we texted 40-60 customers each week, asking for reviews.
Each time we did this, we generated 2-3 honest, new reviews for them.
We Also Email and Ask For Google Reviews
We also emailed and asked for reviews, which generated some. But, texting worked better for this client. So, we stuck with what was working.
We Replied to Every New Google Review
Being active on your Google profile, helps your profile rank higher. In a similar away, being responsive to customers, also helps with ranking.
So, we reply to every single review this business generates in a professional manner.
Reputation management is extremely important if you want to grow your business, and get your Google Business Profile to rank higher. Most business owners don’t have the time to constantly do this, so we often add it to our clients services, so we can continue to accelerate the business growth. This also solidifies their position, and makes it a lot harder to beat them.
If you’re using reputation management as a strategy and other businesses in your area are not, it makes it VERY hard for them to keep up, or catch up with your position. This makes your local business a lot more competitive.
This also makes your business an easier choice when potential customers are comparing local businesses on Google, to yours.
The Result: Position 1 on Google Maps
Simply put, being in position 1 on Google Maps, makes your local business the leader in your area.
All other competitors are in second place, or lower.
Your business is the solid, top-of-the-line business, that everyone wants to work with, first.
This business doesn’t just rank for ONE of the keywords we targeted, either…
This Local Business Ranks Number 1 on Google for Both Target Keywords
Just in case you thought this was a one-off, or something we’re not able to repeat, or do again… …take a closer look at this result at position number 3.
Jason’s Spas and Repairs
Jason’s Spas and repairs might not do maintenance or hot tub cleaning, but he’s an amazing hot tub repair guy, with over 35 years of experience, over 2 generations.
Not only is he a great friend of our client, but he’s also our client.
Jason’s hot tub repair business is a Shared Grpahics client that ranks in position 3 in the pack 3 on Google maps for ‘hot tub maintenance san diego ca’ AND ‘hot tub repair san diego ca’.
Shared Graphics Can Rank Any Business Higher on Google
Local Business SEO is not a secret. It’s not magic, it’s a systematic way of doing things, that we can do with any local business. Yes, even yours.
No matter where you are in the world, no matter how competitive the market is.
Whether you sell guitar strings, repair washing machines, fix cars, walk dogs, have a retail store, or help with interior design, we can get your local business to rank higher.
We can get any local business to rank higher on Google.
So, if you want more calls, more leads, more clients, more revenue, and more growth for your local business, we need to talk.
Want Your Business to Rank Higher on Google?
If you want your business to get found, outrank competitors, and generate steady leads without paying for ads, we can help.
But first, we need to take a look at a couple things, to see what we need to do.
Let’s schedule a quick call. We’ll do a little research in preperation, so we can take a look under the hood of your business, and tell you what’s needed.
Even if you decided not to do business with Shared Graphics for your project, that’s not a problem.
After our call, we will provide you with:
- Comprehensive Local SEO audit of your current website
- Complete breakdown of your Google Business Profile & search position
- Full competitor research, showing you the strategies your local competition has in place, and how to beat them
- Strategy Report to beat your competition and rank higher
- A quote for Shared Graphics to do this all for you
Book a free Local SEO strategy call today — and let Shared Graphics turn your website into your best salesperson.
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