KISS Your Contractor Marketing Brand
Your brand, or the overall look and feel of your company, is important to retain top-of-mind awareness, even for smaller companies. By keeping your contractor marketing brand message simple, your message is more memorable and effective.
WARNING: For existing companies, changing your branding shouldn't be taken lightly from a NAP and optimization perspective. While visual changes like logo design and color scheme are acceptable, changing core parts of your brand, including your domain name, phone number, and business name can adversely affect your company's web optimization and ranking!
While complex branding can be impressive looking, adhering to the KISS principle, or Keep It Simple Stupid, will help hyperfocus your company's overall presence into a one, easy to remember message. Let's take a look at four areas of your branding that we can streamline with some simplification.
Your Key Focus: Are You a Jack Of All Trades?
We talked before about the difference between being a specialist and being an all-in-one contractor - We're not saying that you should only PERFORM one service, but it is important to consistently market your service with a simple focus. By marketing your focus in a simple way, via your company's tagline or slogan for example, makes your company and what you do easier to understand. Even if you provide multiple services, try to consolidate them in your logo or slogan. The content of your marketing will allow you to be more specific as to the full extent of services that you offer.
In short, don't be "Bob – The Kitchen, Bathroom, Basement, Exterior Living Space, Outdoor Kitchen, Room Addition, New Home Construction Specialist in Pensacola". Be "Bob The Builder".
Your Domain Name: Be Easy to Remember With a Call to Action
There are many factors that should go into the selection of a domain name. When the world wide web was a simpler place, having a keyword dense URL was a ticket to great ranking. Nowadays, the age of a quality domain is much more important to search providers than the keywords within the URL.
If you're starting a brand new company or don't already have a web site for your existing business, select a domain name that is a memorable call to action. If you are "Bob The Builder", don't go for bobthebuilderconstructionservicesinpensacola.com – Instead, go simple – callbobthebuilder.com
Your Company Name: Don't Keyword Stuff Your Name
Your company name should also easy for customers to remember. It's also important to separate the idea of your slogan and your company name. Just as the case of keyword dense URLs, having a company name with lots of industry buzzwords won't help your optimization and won't do much good in general if it's not memorable. Furthermore, some longer company names won't be accepted by online listings and web citations, which will have an negative effect on your ranking. Find a name that is a balance of creativity and simplicity.
How to Reach You: Don't Overwhelm Your Potential Clients
Options are good. Too many options are confusing. Present ways to contact you without overwhelming a potential client. Does company need six different phone numbers? Or five email addresses listed on your website? If your company has multiple service areas, each with their own phone numbers and offices, consider operating a separate web site for each area. Otherwise, if you service one main area – have one phone number, one main contact page, and perhaps a sidebar quick contact form on your website. This gives your potential customers the ability to contact you in their preferred method while not overwhelming them.
WARNING: Again, keep in mind that some of these tips should only be used by new contractors or companies starting their first marketing efforts. For a pre-existing and optimized company, changing any element of your NAP or domain name should not be taken lightly – It may negatively impact your ranking and optimization if not done carefully.
About Chris Lonergan
Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their companies and grow their operations.
Chris Lonergan has previously contributed to and/or been featured in PM Magazine (Plumbing & Mechanical | Contractors x Engineers), theNEWS (ACHR - Air Conditioning | Heating | Refrigeration), Service Roundtable's blog, inPAINT Magazine, the SMB Marketing Agency Show, and the Green Industry Podcast. Chris is also a past SGI/CertainPath breakout session presenter.
