Forum Moderators: open
Can a one page site get good search engine ranking?
here is why:
I have a client that runs a local locksmith business. The purpose of the site is to replace my clients phone book ad. Now, I realize that that is insane, unfortunately, my client got in a battle with the phone book publisher over a mistake they made and as a result he has no ad in this years book. His business is plummeting, inbound calls are down 80% from this time last year, he is laying off staff and this is a last ditch effort for him.
He has given me a small budget for adwords, etc. but ultimately I would like to get him up to the top of the SE's when someone searches for the city he is in, in combination with the word locksmith. Can a simple site get there? I don't want to load the site with a lot of useless pages when the purpose of the site is to get customers to call him.
Any ideas, suggestions, comments?
On the downside, how many people go online to search for a locksmith? Probably not many.
Sorry, a website is not the same as offline advertising, that's a mistaken premise. Your client will have to put a genuine effort into a site for it to work - including backlinks and some genuine content.
If he's got a physical street address and phone number specific to the city, check out what's working to get sites into the local search at Google and look at the top ten for locksmiths in some major cities.
A minimum effort might work for some tiny small town, but see what's in the top ten now for that town - compare what they've got and see if a one page business card page will have what they've got that's helping them rank.
Also check out ODP - locksmiths in local categories. Will a one page business card site without unique content get a listing at ODP?
Can a one page site get good search engine ranking?
Not too frequently, especially for any competitive terms.
My advice to the client would be to make the last ditch effort at a traditional marketing level. Heavy local advertising would be his best option at this point. Usually when people are looking for a locksmith, they've locked themselves out of somewhere. I doubt seriously that they will have computer access to run a search on Google for "locksmith my city".
First thing they will probably have access to is a telephone. They'll dial 411 and look for a local locksmith. If they are at a pay phone, which seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate these days due to technology, they might have access to the Yellow Pages. I would imagine that is where the bread and butter business is for a local locksmith.
If the client is a commercial locksmith and installs security systems, etc., then hooking up with local businesses to promote his services would be on the list.
If the client is a residential locksmith and does everyday repairs such as rekeying, installation of locks, etc., then doing the house to house thing with quality printed literature would be on the list.
The last thing I would spend money on at this point would be the Internet, especially for a local business making a last ditch effort. In the 3 to 4 months that it might take to establish an online presence, he could do much better using a traditional approach.
Do a vehicle wrap (full wrap vinyl graphics). Plaster that local number all over the place. Hook up with local apartment complexes, that is where the bulk of the weekend business is going to come from.
The list goes on and on. While the client is concentrating on his local presence, maybe his one page site can buy dinner a couple of times during the recovery period. ;)
If a one page with PPC is not possible, then read the posts above and develop the site properly.
You may also want to look into the "online" phone books - switchboard, superpages, etc. They are pretty good at driving regional traffic.
There truly is no appreciable extra effort involved in doing 3 pages instead of one. A locksmith certainly doesn't need anything fancy and it can't hurt to try. It also doesn't hurt to have a URL to include in a yellow pages ad.
And moishe, if you're just starting out learning about seo, a little site like this can be a great learning experience for you.
The only way to make a one page site pay is to make it very professional with super seller content and THEN point PPC ads at it
Agree, this will be a quick and efficient way to send targeted people his way. Make the page so people want to pick up the phone and call him right away. Look at yellow page ads for ideas ;)
Like people mentioned above, it won't hurt to add a couple extra pages to the site.
If it is the city I am thinking off, you can be at the top of Adwords for 5 cents and Overture for 11 cents - not bad at all.
The competion for that search term in that city seems almost non-existent . A few strategic links pointing to the new site, and he'll be number one in no time (well, maybe a couple of months).
Good luck.
We know what you want And we're not going to make you read through a dozen pages to get it. 555-0101 Because we know when you need a locksmith, you need one fast.
... then you can run on with your text.
Anyway, my customer is getting some calls, $.05 in Adwords gets him 1st or 2nd on Google and a $25 a month ad purchased on the top site on google for mycity locksmith are getting him some results.
Anyone else had this same experience with Yahoo?
I don't really understand how a business can have so many eggs in 1 basket. This 1 offline ad dies and his company goes belly up? If I had a company and it's lifeline was somehow 1 ad, I would stand around the guys writing the ad to ensure completion, offer to take it to the print house, and even deliver the phone books door to door. Not really, but you get the idea.
The first thing I thought about when I read this was, why do you limit yourself to 1 page? If the guys business is going down the drain, I don't think he will object to you adding a couple extra on topic pages? Pages to help boost the ranking for the term your looking for. I would build a website with a few pages on plumbing all seo'd for the term(s) you think will convert the best. On each page I would create a graphic similar to the text deejay suggested at the top of the page. Since this is a type of "help me!" service, people want just that - not tons of on topic plubming research data from your city for the last 3 years.-But thats not to say you cant have that info below the obvious call to action image.. Then I would throw some money at adwords & overture. Pay for a targeted spot in the Y! dir.. Submit to dmoz dir's, and go on a hunt to get links to any site (mainly in your city) that could provide a link - not only for a pr reason, but for a more important lead generation.
If you just go the seo route he might starve before you rank anywhere, even with the best seo. If you go all out ppc you might quickly dwindle the budget. If you do a careful combo you might have a recipe for success. For many reasons..
