Getting your custom integration company on the first page of a Google search can potentially make a big difference in your topline revenues. But short of hiring a Millennial to sit in your office and spend hour upon hour trying to game Google (which seems to change its search criteria monthly), how can you rise above the competition?
Well, for the 3,100 Control4 authorized dealers in North America, there is a way.
“If you’ve searched for any home automation term in your area you’ve most likely seen a local Control4 dealer page on the first or second page of results,” says Jason Gshwandtner of Tributaries Digital Strategies, a digital marketing company based in Bend, Ore. “Each dealer is given the ability to create a ‘microsite’ that is hosted on Control4.com.”
Gshwandtner explains that there are essentially two pages to each dealer’ microsite.
“The first is a generic page in which the content is somewhat restricted. You can enter a short description of your business and then select from some “canned” content that Control4 provides about home automation. The second page offers much more customization. Here you can enter up to 1,500 characters giving specific details about what your company does. The second page also allows you to enter pictures of past projects. Both of these areas should be maxed out with content.”
But unfortunately most Control4 integrators are not taking advantage of the opportunity to elevate their Google search status.
“In the world of search engines the authority of your domain name is hugely important,” he explains. “Control4.com for instance is very powerful. There are thousands of sites from around the Internet that link to it, making it an authority in the home automation niche. To give you an idea of scale, a site like YouTube has a domain authority of 100, while a typical integrator’s website would have an authority of 15.”
As comparison, Control4’s website has a domain authority ranking of 64. So anything an integrator can do to hook up with that site helps them.
“When you search for home automation terms in your local market, you’re very likely to see one or more of these sites. Unfortunately most dealers don’t understand the importance of this resource. Rather than taking the time to customize their page, they enter the basic information about their business and leave it at that,” he notes.
How Do You Optimize?
To help integrators make the most of their Control4 microsite, Gshwandtner has posted a step-by-step tutorial on his website that guides integrators how to do this for free. The 19-step tutorial covers everything from creating the actual microsite page for your company to upload your logo, writing a description of your business, add your social media accounts, choose the product disciplines in which you specialize, select the geographic areas you cover, and even note your hours of operation.
There is also an area to write a 1,500-word description about your business, and the ability to add images from your past projects, client testimonials and upcoming events, like hosted lunch-and-learns with builders, architects and interior designers. You can also add in your trade association memberships and any awards you have won.
“Now that you’ve published your site just sit back and wait for the search engines to take notice. This can happen within a couple hours and can sometimes take anywhere up to a month. Eventually you will start to see your page ranking for local search terms. You can help it along by linking to your microsite from your website,” adds Gshwandtner.
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