Are you finding your tree services marketing is hit and miss? Without the right marketing strategies, leads for arborists can be expensive or non existent. If you’re looking for new marketing ideas that will keep new clients calling in, then you’ve come to the right place! Following this tree services marketing guide will grow your leads and conquer a common challenge arborists face – generating enough leads to keep busy all year round.
To find an arborist, especially in an emergency people simply pull out their phone and search for it on Google. To be the one they find you’ll need to include tree services SEO or search engine optimisation in your digital marketing mix.
But how do you implement SEO for your service? In this digital marketing guide, we’ll give you a rundown of SEO marketing for tree removal and tree service companies with practical tips to help grow your business. We’ll cover:
- Digital marketing for tree services. Does it work?
- The 3 ways to get on the first page of Google
- The top 10 tree services keywords
- Website optimisation for tree services
- Example meta title and description tags
- Content writing for tree services websites
- Essential website pages
- Linkbuilding for tree services
- Social media for tree services
Digital marketing for tree services. Does it work?
Going through a yellow pages to find a business or service is but a distant memory. If you still use these kinds of marketing services you’re probably here because it’s no longer working for your business. In fact, there is an entire generation that has grown up with the internet, and probably wouldn’t know what the yellow pages are!
The fact is 4 in 5 consumers conduct local searches from tree removal to palm pruning. And in Australia, 93% of people use Google as the search engine of choice to find the products, information and tree services they need.
The proof is in the results…
The right mix of digital marketing can generate plenty of targeted website traffic and low cost tree service leads. In fact for all trades including plumbers, pest control, locksmiths….you get the idea. With a focus on local SEO, your website can achieve these results as well. Imagine what that mean for your business growth!
How do I get on the first page of Google?
There are three ways your tree services company can appear on the first page of Google.
Paid listings. The paid section of the search results is based on a bidding system called Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords). The order in which the advertisers are displayed is based on how much they are prepared to ‘pay per click’ (PPC) when the keyword they bid on is searched. So when you get professional help with Adwords, you pay a monthly service fee and then everytime someone clicks on your link.
PPC is a good way to market your business, but it should be thought of as a short-term solution, as some tree services keywords can cost as much as $27.00 per click which gets expensive quickly.
Google maps. The three map listings (or “map pack”) are very important for arborists and local businesses, as they appear anytime Google thinks local results are most relevant. Google knows someone searching for ‘tree removal + your city’ are looking for local tree services companies in their area, and shows the map listings accordingly.
You must submit your tree services business information on “Google My Business” to be able to appear in Google maps. Unlike paid ads, the map listings are ‘organic’ meaning websites are placed according to Google’s search algorithm.
Organic listings. The websites you see in the organic listings (and maps) are there because Google believes they are the best quality and most relevant to the search intent. The process of earning your place in Google’s organic and map listings is called Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO.
Tree Services SEO is a medium to long-term investment, once you earn a place in Google’s search results there is no cost per click to stay there.
Where do people click? Paid listings attract around 30% of the clicks with the other 70% going to map and organic listings. So the next question for tree services marketing is…
What are the top tree services keywords?
Understanding what potential tree services clients are searching for is a key part of any tree services SEO or digital marketing strategy. Below is a list of the most important keywords that you need to be targeting in a tree services SEO campaign (from highest to lowest search volume).
- tree removal (your city)
- tree services (your city)
- palm tree pruning (your city)
- stump grinding (your city)
- (your city) tree removal
- tree pruning (your city)
- arborist (your city)
- (your city) tree removal
- (your city) tree services
- palm tree removal (your city)
To rank for these keywords you need to use them naturally in all areas of digital marketing & SEO
Where do you rank right now?
Go to Google now and search, “tree removal (your city)” or, “stump grinding (your city)”. In fact, your website browser will remember the websites you visit most frequently and show them higher in search results, so to see what other people might see use an online tool to find your real ranking. If you don’t see your website listed on the first page, you’re losing business to other companies who have realised the value of digital marketing for tree services.
Why let your competitors get all the action! The tree services marketing strategies I’m about to share with you next achieve an average 4x traffic value vs paid advertising with Adwords.
Our Tree Services Marketing Strategy
Unlike Adwords, a top spot on Google’s map and organic listings can’t be bought. It needs to be earned through search engine optimisation, or SEO. Any tree services marketing needs to have a local SEO focus, to maximise exposure in your service area. The key parts of our tree services SEO strategy are:
- Optimising your website so it’s easy for Google to find and understand.
- Creating website content that explains your services, informs and converts potential clients.
- Building quality links to your website that boost your authority.
- Generating social buzz – After all how good can a website be if no one is sharing it?
Let’s look in more detail and give you some actionable tree services marketing tips.
Website SEO for tree services
Optimising your website for Google can help them find, understand and better rank your website. It’s a good idea to do an SEO audit of your website, often a few simple optimisations will have a fast impact.
- Make sure your website is indexed by Google. Search for “site:yourcompany.com.au” If no results appear, or your homepage doesn’t appear first there is a serious issue!
- Is your business address on your website? To attract local rankings and treeservices clients make sure to mention your location and service area on your home page.
- Write SEO optimised meta tags for your home page. The meta title and meta description are important because they influence how you appear in search results. They should include some of the local pest control services keywords we looked at earlier and your main services.
Here’s the example meta tags if you want to copy and edit them for your website:
Meta Title: - XYZ Tree Services Sydney. Best Tree Removal, Free Quotes!
- Meta Description: Professional arborists providing tree services in Melbourne since 2002. Free quotes for tree removal, pruning stump grinding and more. Call us today!
- Make sure your website is mobile responsive, Google uses this as a ranking factor and has created a free mobile friendly checker.
- Nobody wants to wait for a website to load (including Google) so go and check your website speed here. Make sure your website is faster than your competitors for another ranking advantage.
Copywriting for tree services websites
Most average tree services websites consist of just a handful of pages, home, services, gallery, contact, and maybe an about us page. Show Google you deserve to be ranked ahead of your competition by creating pages with the information people are looking for.
You need a library of content covering every question people search related to your services for maximum exposure. Here are the three types of website copywriting that will help you do just that.
Create individual tree services pages for each of the types of service you offer. With a targeted webpage, you are more relevant and likely to appear in search when someone is looking for these specific services. For example:
- Tree Removal Services
- Stump Grinding
- Tree Pruning
- Palm Tree Removal & Pruning
Having a visually appealing gallery to showcase your work is essential, but you need more than images to convince visitors and Google of your expertise. Regularly creating how-to articles in a blog builds your authority in the arborist niche, and has other benefits (which I’ll get to).
If people in your area are researching “tree pruning” or “permits for tree removal” they are only going to find you if you’ve written about it. And guess what? If they decide to get some professional help who are they going to call?
Build local landing pages for your most important suburbs. Once they are ranking each page will generate leads that can really add up. Start with the suburbs near you and work out from there. Don’t go overboard here, stick to the more populated suburbs for best effect and customise each page with testimonials from jobs in each suburb.
Linkbuilding for tree services
Links to your website an important signal Google uses to judge how to place you in search results. When another website links to yours it’s kind of like a vote for you and your business. Quality comes before quantity, so when you see those spammy emails promising hundreds or thousands of links, don’t be sucked in. That kind of low-quality high scale linkbuilding will only harm your website.
If your website content is awesome enough people will naturally link to it, but it pays to be pro-active. The best place to start is with these Australian local directories. Look for opportunities from other arborist and trade websites as well, such as home improvement blogs, environmental blogs, and tree services industry associations.
People look for and trust online reviews, so make sure you ask your clients to leave reviews on your Google my business listing and other directories. Proactively building a 5-star online reputation will mean more clicks from search results. So get more Google reviews than your competitors!
Social media for tree services
With 14 million Australians on Facebook for an average 50mins every day, using a Facebook business page is a great way to stay ‘top of mind’. Remember we talked about starting a blog? This sort of informative, entertaining or inspiring content is perfect for building your social media following! Mix it in with photos from current jobs, client testimonials, and sharing content from other tree services and home improvement websites.
The quickest way to turn people off your posts is to overdo the sales pitch. Keep your posts 90% informative and 10% sales to be well received.
Digital marketing for tree services: Conclusion
Can digital marketing and SEO for tree services grow a business? Absolutely! It’s working for your competitors right now. Following these SEO tips and guide will set you on the path to growing business profits.
Need help professional marketing for a tree service company? Have SEO questions? Get in touch and outrank your competitors!