CATCH UP! (helping irrigators with technology)

Most irrigation business owners wouldn’t be caught without a business card.  You never know when you’re going to make a “first impression.”   

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, May 2010, 79% of adult Americans use the Internet and 78% of them do online research before making a purchase decision.  Your prospects’ first impression of you will likely be through Google–before you ever get a chance to hand them your card.

Google Is Your New Business Card

The way customers want to do business with you has fundamentally changed.  That’s not a problem as long as you think about your business with the new mindset.  But, if you’re still thinking your Marketing Program to find local customers is your business card, your yard signs and attending chamber events, you may be falling behind.  

That’s because people are using the Internet for buying direction–even on local purchases, (20% of Google’s searches are local).   Even if her first impression is seeing your crew installing a sprinkler system at a neighbor’s house, she will likely get online to check you out and to see about your competitors.  Are you part of Google’s results?

Don’t think this is a plug for Google’s paid AdWords.  According to Marketing Sherpa, 70% of the links search users click on are unpaid (referred to as “organic”) links.   So, how can you show up on Google’s search results without paying for it?  The short answer is

• Have a website.
• Make sure it is optimized for search engines.
• Publish helpful, valuable information so other, related sites will link to your site.
• Start a blog (short for web log) that shares helpful, valuable information.
• Generally, give, give, give–and be prepared to stay with it for the long haul. 

Experiment

Next time you’re at a computer think of a word or phrase you would use to find a company like yours.  Maybe something like “sprinkler installer ‘my town’.”  I may be off base for what you do, so think like one of your prospects and type that in as a Google search.  

How did you do?  If you’re on the first page, you’re doing well, and your objective is to get your irrigation business closer to the top.  If you’re not on the first page, keep looking to see how far back you are.  Keep in mind that over 90% of searchers will not go past the first page. If that’s you, you don’t have a business card.  

Perhaps we can help.  Keep reading this blog, and we will pass along search tools other smart people have given us.   And, if you haven’t already done so, get our free report on Nurturing Word of Mouth, (just fill out the form to the left of this post).

Thanks for reading.

Doug Saylor