Author Archives: DataPins

Aug '22

The 29 Best Roofing SEO Tools to Boost Rankings in 2024

Roofers dislike SEO, and for a good reason. Most roofing SEO agencies provide mediocre services. Just ask Backlinko, who reports that 70% of consumers dislike their current SEO provider.

And who can blame them? Most agencies don’t understand the contractor lifestyle. Most marketers have never had the inherent work ethic of authentic roofing professionals. They also don’t provide roofing SEO tools.

There are other reasons why roofing companies loathe SEO. For example, roofers are regularly bombarded with emails, DMs, and other unwanted propositions for marketing services.

Most of these roofers already have an ineffective marketing provider and certainly don’t need an additional consultant who learned their SEO “skillset” from TikTok videos.

While roofers’ disgust with the marketing industry is warranted, the shame is that SEO works if you have the proper tools. The problem is that agency owners claim that tools are “black magic” and that “real SEO” requires paying multiple thousands of dollars per month for “hard work.”

There’s nothing hard about having one of your flunkees write an uninteresting blog post about “roof repair in city.” and then telling clients you can’t update their Google Business Profile because it might cause a suspension.

So, what exactly do these agencies do? Aside from charging hardworking Americans way too much money for “content.”

But that’s enough about why roofing marketing agencies are incompetent. You’re probably wondering about the best roofing SEO tools for your business. Well, here are the best 29:

1) DataPins

DataPins is the best SEO tool for roofers because it automates content, reputation management, and Local SEO in a single app. Roofers snap a photo of their job, write a short caption, and apply the necessary location and service tags.

DataPins does the rest by assigning geo-coordinates and publishing the pin on the corresponding website page. For example, if you drop a pin for a shingle roof repair in Plano, TX, your pin appears on the shingle roof repair service page and the Plano location page.

Using pins beats blog posts because it consistently keeps service and city pages fresh with unique content that describes your jobs. The SEO benefit is apparent as you can rank for more long-tail keywords like GAF Shingle Repair in Plano and increase the word count on your primary pages.

Aside from the ranking benefit, DataPins also enhances reputation. Regular city pages usually fail to convert because they look like spam and provide no evidence that your company works in that city. DataPins provides social proof and also connects local reviews to their corresponding pages.

2) Yoast

Yoast is one of the best WordPress SEO plugins available, evidenced by its 200 million downloads. Roofing companies can easily assign a target keyword, title, meta description, and URL slug to each URL.

Also, Yoast grades your on-page SEO based on your assigned keyword. As a result, you can make real-time edits to improve your on-page SEO score and have a better chance of ranking for the target keyword.

For roofers who lack technical savvy, Yoast also allows you to manually set a page as noindex, meaning Google is instructed not to crawl that URL. Typically, you would need HTML knowledge to perform this task.

3) Rank Math

Rank Math is a Yoast alternative and, in some ways, is a better plugin. For example, RankMath allows roofers to insert schema markup and structured data, including schema FAQ, without HTML coding.

Like Yoast, Rank Math helps you refine your on-page SEO in real-time. The plugin uses 30 grading factors to help roofing companies maximize their SEO potential. RankMath also lets you target multiple keywords.

Furthermore, Rank Math presents pertinent information at the right time. Its simple and powerful user interface highlights the most critical statistics about your posts and pages on your screen. As a result, roofing contractors can immediately upgrade their content.

4) Google Search Console

Every roofing company should set up its Google Search Console dashboard for daily reports about which pages are getting clicked on Google Search. Search Console has the best user experience (UX) of all the SEO tools from Google and provides easy-to-understand insights.

Setting up your website as a domain property on Google Search Console requires you to access your hosting account for DNS records verification. Google explains the process here, but you may need further assistance.

5) Ahrefs

While SEMRush and Moz provide similar SEO suites, Ahrefs is the most complete tool for roofing companies. Ahrefs is second only to Google regarding the size of its web crawler. Additionally, the Site Audit feature is unmatched by competitors. It reveals tons of SEO insights for your website and competitor websites.

Roofers can also use Ahrefs to evaluate competitor backlink profiles and perform a content gap analysis. If you target specific keywords in an area, Ahrefs will give you a roadmap to overtaking competitors that rank for these terms. In addition, Ahrefs helps you fix broken website links.

6) Google Analytics

Although Universal Analytics (the soon-to-be expiring version of Google Analytics) provides a better user interface than Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the tool remains one of the most valuable in search engine optimization. GA4 can track all of your website data and organic traffic, including from non-Google search engines.

Setting up GA4 is relatively simple if your website is already tracked with Universal Analytics. Google explains how to add GA4 to your website property here, which you’ll be required to do by 2024.

7) Answer The Public

Answer The Public is a free SEO tool that helps roofing companies find topics consumers search for online. A recent study from Ahrefs revealed that Google hides more than half of its user queries in Google Search Console, which means a ton of non-tracked keywords drive traffic to websites. A tool like Answer The Public helps you find these keywords.

ATP also helps roofing companies target featured snippets for various subcategories. For example, you might want to answer a question like how much does roof repair cost in Dallas? Claiming the featured snippet for this phrase can help you eat up SERP real estate and gain traffic.

8) SEMRush

SEMRush has been a powerful SEO tool dating back to 2008. Over the past 10+ years, SEMRush has continued to evolve and add new features like user intent filtering. In addition, the domain analysis tool is helpful for roofers looking to assess their website against nearby competitors.

SEMRush’s reporting features make it easy for roofing contractors to pull metrics that can inform future SEO strategies. Also, the on-page SEO checker makes tracking keyword rankings a breeze. SEMRush is an intelligent investment, as we can trust it to evolve with new algorithms.

9) Moz Pro

Moz Pro was once considered the #1 SEO tool for roofing companies but has dropped off recently. Instead, Ahrefs and SEMRush offer more helpful and innovative features in 2024. Still, Moz Pro remains a valuable tool for keyword research as its volume estimates are the most accurate.

However, it’s now best to use Moz Pro in collaboration with other tools like Majestic since Moz’s link-building metrics leave something to be desired. In addition, Moz’s on-page SEO grader is also obsolete, so it doesn’t make sense to craft content using Moz’s on-page analyses.

10) Majestic

Majestic is an excellent link-building tool for SEO-related analysis. Majestic’s Site Explorer allows you to analyze any domain’s link-building metrics quickly. For example, you can track the number of backlinks, the anchor text, and the trust flow of referring domains. This tool helps you hone in on links.

While Majestic is great for link analysis, it’s limited in other areas of SEO. As a result, it’s best to use Majestic in collaboration with a keyword research tool like Moz Pro. You may also need a content analysis tool like Surfer SEO to maximize the findings from Majestic.

11) Google Trends

Many of the best SEO tools for roofers come directly from Google. After all, Google has the best data about itself. One example is Google Trends, which helps roofing companies measure a topic’s popularity trajectory. Google Trends will even break down the metrics by location.

Contractors can evaluate rising queries, interest over time, and geographical locations of a keyword. Google Trends is especially helpful for local roofing companies looking to gauge their specific service types in a particular zip code. There’s always a benefit to using Google Trends.

12) SEOQuake

Free SEO tools for roofers are even more appealing because they require no payment. SEOQuake is an example of one of the most popular free Chrome extensions for SEO. In addition, SEOQuake performs on-site audits and helps you evaluate a website’s indexed pages and potential rankings.

SEOQuake is easy to install on your browser, especially using Google Chrome. In addition to the features mentioned above, SEOQuake allows you to analyze keywords and keyword density on a particular page. So a roofing company can’t go wrong by installing this free extension.

13) Siteliner

Siteliner helps prevent roofing websites from publishing duplicate content, which can cause keyword cannibalization and limit SEO effectiveness. In addition, Siteliner is free and easy to use as it scans your entire website for duplicate text. Also, Siteliner identifies broken links and average site speed.

While Siteliner is an effective way to track duplicate content, your job is not done after running the scan. First, if the tool finds duplicates, you must determine which of your pages ranks better for the target keywords.

Then, you can use Google Search Console to measure each page’s performance. Eventually, you’ll redirect the worse page to the superior URL.

14) Keywords Everywhere

Another excellent SEO Chrome extension is Keywords Everwhere which aggregates data from various Google tools to identify the best keywords. Installing this browser extension saves roofing companies lots of time as it consolidates the work of several tools into one convenient dashboard.

Keywords Everywhere works while you search Google as long as you activate the extension on your Chrome browser. Using this tool, you will indeed find countless roofing keyword opportunities to target in 2024.

15) Screaming Frog

Roofers know that a property relies on its foundation; the same is true of a website. Screaming Frog is the best technical SEO tool on the market. It allows roofers to crawl their websites to identify every kind of technical issue, including indexing, status codes, and problematic redirects.

Unlike many other SEO tools on this list, Screaming Frog is an external software you run on your computer. Since some websites have thousands of pages, the software must use many resources to crawl the URLs fully. However, most roofing websites are not more than 300 pages, so they should go fast.

16) Detailed

Detailed is another Chrome extension that provides incredible SEO insights for roofing contractors in 2024. Detailed delivers one-click info on any website you visit, including title tags, meta descriptions, no index tags, and much more.

Many roofing company owners don’t know much about reading HTML source code. Detailed translates the information, so it’s easy to consume. You can immediately look at competitors’ websites and grasp their SEO strategies.

17) HubSpot Website Grader

HubSpot Website Grader lets roofers insert their URL for an instant report card containing insights about site performance, issues, mobile Optimization, user experience, and security. While some similar on-site graders fail to deliver worthwhile metrics, HubSpot is an exception.

Be careful, however, that HubSpot wants you to enroll in their SEO training academy, where you can find out how to improve their recommendations using other resources, including many of the tools on this list.

18) Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is like getting the answers to a test before you take it. Insert any roofing keyword into Surfer, and it’ll tell you every SEO tactic used by the site currently ranking for that term.

Sometimes editing your content to a 100% score won’t be enough to rank #1 (because of the lack of backlinks), but it will get you closer than you ever imagined.

One downside of Surfer is its price. Surfer costs a minimum of $50 per month. The good news is most roofing companies won’t need an upgraded plan since they manage only one roofing company website.

19) Cora SEO

Cora SEO is a more in-depth but less user-friendly variation of Surfer SEO. To be fair, Cora SEO existed before Surfer’s emergence and is a more accurate on-page SEO analyzer in many ways. Still, the clunky UX and high price encourage roofing companies to choose Surfer SEO instead.

For contractors wanting to get into the nitty-gritty of SEO, Cora is an appealing option. It says no other company uses the 2,000 ranking factors this software considers when grading your URL.

20) Jasper

Jasper generates coherent AI content to a degree never previously witnessed. For example, roofing companies have many service pages that require mundane explanations that visitors rarely read through. Jasper makes it easy to generate helpful content and speed up the SEO process.

While Jasper is the best AI tool, you still need human oversight. Google’s Helpful Content Update warns against content created primarily for search engines, which is what most AI content aims to accomplish.

For example, Editing the content that Jasper outputs for your roofing website is vital before hitting the publish button. We recommend that you use it for outlines instead of writing complete pages or posts. Still, Jasper is a valuable tool for generating all types of content outlines for SEO purposes.

21) Canva

Image optimization is an underrated aspect of SEO for roofers, and Canva provides lots of great resources. Instead of uploading cheesy stock photos to your roofing company website, use Canva to develop original image files and infographics.

Canva makes it easy for roofers to brand their graphics by pulling the color scheme from the company logo. In addition, creating new image files is helpful for SEO, as Google’s crawlers no the difference between a stock photo and an original graphic.

22) Link Whisper

Roofers are constantly bombarded with blog posts about the importance of link building. Still, internal links can be equally as effective for SEO. One tool that makes internal liking easy is Link Whisper. The tool suggests the most appropriate internal linking opportunities on each page and post.

Roofers can quickly add relevant internal links to their pages based on Link Whisper’s recommendations. As a result, link equity transfers throughout the website while expanding topical authority.

23) HARO

Building links externally is a complex process for some roofers. The best way to get links is by getting featured in news articles. In addition, you might have some local contacts to reach out to on your company’s behalf directly. Still, HARO provides daily link-building opportunities.

Signing up as a HARO source allows roofers to receive daily emails with lists of reporters and their topics. The prompts will outline what kind of sources they need for articles. Press CTRL + F (Command + F on Mac) and search for roofing and related keywords to find excellent opportunities.

24) Ubersuggest

Uberssugest is a SEMRush alternative that provides limited free SEO research. If you’re looking for fast keyword research on one or two terms, Ubersuggest can be helpful. However, upgrading to a paid account doesn’t make much sense despite its relatively low cost.

Roofers can benefit more by investing in a superior tool like SEMRush or Ahrefs, providing all the data they’ll need for an SEO campaign. Still, it’s nice to have Ubersuggest as a backup option.

25) Open Link Profiler

When you get deep into the weeds of competitor analysis, you’ll find that some competitors hide their backlinks from popular crawlers like Ahrefs, Majestic, and SEMRush. One way to combat this is to use the Open Link Profiler tool.

The tool’s relative lack of popularity allows link builders to overlook its crawlers. As a result, stealth roofing companies can find hidden backlinks from their competitors by checking for them on Open Link Profiler.

26) SERPerator

Roofing companies need to know how search results look in a specific zip code. The SERPerator tool from Mobile Moxie helps them achieve this. First, assign a country, state, city, or zip code and insert a keyword. Then, SERParator does the rest by providing accurate local search results.

In addition, SERPerator allows you to test local SERPs by device type, like iPhone 12 Pro, Google Pixel 5, etc. Roofing companies can even preview the results as they appear on the specific mobile dimensions of each device.

27) WPRocket

Speeding up your website is one way to improve its SEO performance. WProcket helps speed up your roofing company website without needing technical knowledge. As a WordPress plugin, WProcket automatically assigns settings that enhance your website’s loading speeds.

You should check your current speed by visiting Google Pagespeed Insights. Be sure to monitor the desktop speed score and the mobile speed score. You can combine WPRocket with a CDN like Cloudflare for even better results.

28) Imagify

Image file sizes can slow down your website and ruin the user experience. The Imagify plugin automatically converts your image files to WebP, making them easier for browsers to load. Imagify helps you maintain your image SEO and contributes to potential SEO improvements via speed.

Of all the WordPress image compression plugins, Imagify is the most effective. The tool allows roofers to resize images on the go and auto-optimizes photos to the ideal compression level. Finally, Imagify backs up the originals if you need to restore images.

29) Whitespark

Roofing websites require foundational links in the form of NAP citations. Whitespark is the best SEO tool to submit dozens of citations for your roofing company or update current listings with new contact information.

Foundational links help establish your roofing company domain on Google search and prove the legitimacy of your business from a local SEO perspective. In addition, roofers can invest a one-time fee of $199 per location.

Do Roofing Companies Need SEO Tools?

Although the SEO industry has earned its horrible reputation, it remains a highly effective method to produce new roofing leads in 2024. However, roofing companies need the best SEO tools to get the best results.

Like roofing projects require the best tools and equipment, so does an SEO strategy. As a result, compiling the most effective roofing SEO tools gives you a better chance of ranking on Google searches and acquiring new customers consistently.

Jun '22

8 Revealing Florida Local SEO Statistics for 2024

It’s no secret that Florida businesses can benefit from search engine optimization in 2024.

However, a hyper-local focus on specific cities and regions within Florida is what separates good marketing campaigns from great marketing campaigns.

At DataPins, we don’t expect you to take our word for this, which is why we will provide insightful data on the power of Local SEO for Florda-based businesses.

Key Florida Local SEO Statistics

78% of local searches lead to purchases

22% of zip code queries register search volume

Local queries have increased 34x since 2011

Over 50% of “Near Me” Searchers Visit The Location

62% of consumers disregard businesses with no online presence

84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

46% of all Google searches include location

Google implemented the Pigeon update in 2014. Over the past ten years, how search engine optimization tactics work has shifted.

The update allows local businesses to reach more consumers in their immediate area. However, small companies have been slow to take advantage of it.

Business owners should reference these local SEO statistics in Florida when allocating their marketing budget.

This post aims to impress Florida business owners with the importance of local SEO and how it can benefit your bottom line.

1) 78% of local searches lead to purchases

According to at least one study, 78% of local searches (searches wherein the user specifies a geographic location) lead to purchases. Likewise, someone looking for a service or business near them on their computer or mobile device will purchase with that business 78% of the time.

Local searches commonly have purchasing intent, which is why local SEO is so powerful. You are essentially putting your business in front of pre-qualified leads who are ready to purchase. All you have to do is be available to them.

2) Only 22% of zip code queries register search volume

Marketing agencies have long been testing and promoting various Local SEO theories to attract new clients. One long-standing claim is that inserting zip codes within an SEO title increases its performance.

Unfortunately, a study found that only 22% of zip code + service queries register any search volume in keyword research tools.

While this doesn’t tell the full story – since over half of all search queries come from hidden terms – it casts doubt on the impact of zip codes within SEO titles.

While zip codes are more of a spam-like technique, using branded digital signaling like geo-coordinates from your recent Florida-based jobs is a great way to increase the local relevance of your web pages.

3) Local queries have increased 34 times since 2011

One of the most common phrases for local searches is “near me.” People are constantly using this phrase to find local businesses and services.

For example, someone might search for “pizza places near me” or “mechanics near me.” And according to Google, the frequency of “near me” searches has ballooned over the past few years.

Many people use “near me” searches to find local businesses and services. You have probably done one yourself!

4) Over 50% of “Near Me” Searchers Visit The Location

It’s all well and good to have your business visible online. But what percent of people who see your business on a local search will come in and visit your physical location?

Well, according to Florida local SEO statistics, more than 50%. So, over half of the people who find your business through a local search will visit your brick-and-mortar location.

Getting people’s foot in the door is essential for most businesses. This statistic shows that local SEO can help.

5) 62% of consumers disregard businesses with no online presence

What can happen if you don’t have an online presence or don’t optimize your site for local searches? According to one survey, 62% of consumers won’t even give a business the time of day if they cannot find information online.

The fact of the matter is that the internet is the way that people do consumer research. Suppose a consumer can’t get the answers to their questions about your business by looking it up online.

In that case, they will likely purchase with one of your local competitors.

Essentially, if you don’t optimize your site for local searches, you aren’t going to be visible to local consumers.

6) 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

Part of optimizing for local searches is getting reviews for your business. Here at Datapins, we provide an accessible software suite that helps you get more reviews and leverage your existing reviews to get more leads. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The main point is that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as in-person references.

More than that, most consumers need to read at least one online review before making a purchase decision. Online reviews are an essential part of your off-site optimization – meaning there are ways to get more web traffic outside your website. Getting reviews and managing them will generate more leads.

7) 86% of consumers report using Google Maps to find local businesses

Have you ever opened up the Google Maps app and typed in a category like restaurants, malls, or gas stations? We’re going to assume you answered “yes” to that question.

We’re confident in that assumption because 86% of consumers use Google Maps to find local businesses.

When you search for anything in Google Maps, it will show you the closest matching results. And with so many consumers using the app to perform these kinds of searches, it’s clear to see how important local SEO is.

For business owners, it’s a valuable tool that allows you to gain more leads through a service that people already use.

8) 46% of all Google searches include location

Google is a top global resource for information ranging from news to entertainment. However, despite its wide-ranging coverage, nearly half of all Google searches contain location information.

As a result, the number of local searches that occur on Google is revealing for Florida businesses.

When Florida consumers need services from a roofing company or HVAC contractor, they primarily go to Google to find them. Whether it’s the Local Map 3-Pack or traditional organic results, the companies ranking in these spots will generate the most business.

How To Use These Local SEO Statistics

The statistics outlined in this post reveal how Local SEO is one of the best investments a business owner can make. Whether operating from a large city like Orlando or a smaller town like Altamonte Springs, Local SEO for Floridians can be a game-changer for your small business.

Check out DataPins: The Map-Ranking App to automate your Florida Local SEO strategy.

Jun '22

Yelp Vs. Google Reviews (Which Are More Important in 2023?)

Yelp vs. Google has been a debate in reputation management for over a decade. So which platform is better for customer reviews?

Make no mistake about it; reviews are critical to your business. Consider that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth referrals. In addition, most people find new services by searching online.

While establishing a presence on multiple review platforms (Google, Yelp, Facebook, and others) is the best strategy, it’s still important to understand which platform you should prioritize for your business in 2023.

The Best Platform for Customer Reviews

Google Business Profile (Google My Business) is the best platform to focus on customer reviews. As you gain more reviews on Google, your listing begins to rank higher in search results for relevant queries. Furthermore, more customers will contact your business after a search when they notice the positive reviews associated with your listing.

Creating Business Profiles

Both review platforms are free. However, optimizing your profiles for SEO and managing your online reputation requires time, effort, and resources. Still, it all starts with the first step of creating your business listing. Here’s how you do that for each platform:

Google

With Google, you will have to have your business confirmed by sending in a postcard with some of your business’s information. You can start the process right here; it isn’t very much work. Once you are set up, you can fill out your profile, and you will be able to see the reviews people leave for your business.

Yelp

With Yelp, you go through a similar process to claim your business. Your business may already be listed, but you will still have to claim it. You can do that right here. Once your listing is live, you will find it by searching your company name.

Yelp Vs. Google: Lead Generation

A Google Business Profile listing is very likely to appear when someone is doing a relevant search on Google. Your Yelp profile may also appear, but probably much lower on the search engine results page. In general, Google Business Profile will make you more visible to those using Google, which accounts for about 4.3 billion individuals.

Compare that to the 178 million monthly users on Yelp, and you can already see a bit of a discrepancy.

Google Business Profile

One of the most fantastic things about Google Business Profile is that you can use it to generate more leads for your business. The platform allows you to write a bio and share critical information like what areas your business serves, what services you provide, and an overview of your business.

The more you fill the profile out, the more visible you will be to people in need of your services.

Yelp for Business

On the other hand, Yelp is a bit scanter with the type of information you can provide. For example, you can add photos, and your customers can add photos too. But most people don’t see the complete profile page when they search on Yelp, which leads us to a crucial point.

Yelp Vs. Google: Mobile Experience

The next thing to compare is the mobile-friendliness of each platform. Both Google My Business and Yelp have mobile apps. Both are pretty helpful for business owners too. You can do anything on the desktop version, so it’s pretty convenient when you’re on the go.

You can reply to reviews on both mobile apps during downtime and even update your business’s information. However, inequality comes on the consumer side. While 63% of Google’s organic search traffic comes from people using mobile devices, the Yelp mobile app is used much more frequently. The Yelp app has 37 million unique users every month.

There is a caveat here, too, though. Yelp has a bit of a genre issue regarding consumer usage. For the most part, Yelp can’t seem to shake the perception that it is only for reading reviews of restaurants. Mainly, people open up their Yelp app when their stomachs start growling.

While you can find pretty much everything on Yelp and even devoted tabs for home and auto services, you will see the first tab for restaurants. This can be a bit of a drawback if your business is not a restaurant.

Yelp Vs. Google: Requesting Reviews

Asking for reviews is very important for your business’s online reputation. Especially since 72% of consumers will leave a review if they are simply asked to. But in the age of the pandemic, you may be asking people for reviews online more than in person.

Google Business profile has a distinct advantage because you can ask consumers for reviews directly. You can create a shortlink to your review page and send it to all of your customers. Yelp not only discourages you from requesting reviews directly from customers, but it may violate their terms of service.

Google Business Profile Pros

Google My Business is generally considered the best review platform for most businesses, especially contractors. Because of its integration with the world’s leading search engine, Google reviews benefits are immense:

SEO

Google Business Profile is essential if you want your business to be more visible on relevant searches. Of course, yelp listings will also appear on relevant searches. Still, Google prioritizes its own service and will likely list a Google Business Profile listing higher than a Yelp one.

Ease of Use

With Google, your customers won’t have to create a special account to leave a review. Instead, they only need a Gmail account, which most people have anyway.

Trust

It’s much harder to dispute a review on Google than it is on Yelp, so people tend to trust Google reviews more. Furthermore, Google reviews often appear at the top of search results, creating automatic trust.

Google Business Profile Cons

Although Google offers numerous appealing benefits, it also has a few drawbacks. While these should not discourage business owners from focusing on the platform, they should be monitored to avoid pitfalls:

Slow Posting

Google reviews take more time to post than Yelp reviews which are nearly instant.

Disputes

As we mentioned in the pros, Google reviews are hard to dispute – a definite con if you have an inaccurate review on your hands.

Yelp Pros

Yelp remains a proficient review platform for small businesses even if it lost some of its market share to Google and other platforms. While Yelp’s domain authority allows it to show up high on search results for most queries, it’s still lower than Google Map 3-Pack results. Take a look at some Yelp pros:

Great for Restaurants

If you are in the food business, you want to be present on Yelp.

Disputes

Yelp makes it much easier to dispute reviews and remove them if they deem them biased or inaccurate.

Reputation

Yelp has been around longer than Google Business Profile, so it has a large built-in audience.

Yelp Cons

Yelp has faced its share of criticisms in recent years, particularly regarding its increasingly strict review filters. Yelp’s reputation has suffered because of its seemingly arbitrary decisions to terminate business listings. Take a look at some of the common criticisms:

Autonomy

Yelp reviews are filtered, which means they can reject a review if they determine that it violates their terms of service.

Listing Termination

Yelp can terminate your listing at any time and has been known to wield its power liberally.

Yelp vs. Google: Final Call

Yelp is where you want to focus your attention if you own a restaurant. However, if your business is not a restaurant, Google should be your emphasis. It helps more with SEO and is better for all businesses – not just restaurants.

Ultimately, however, you should aim to collect reviews on both platforms and showcase them on your primary website. The DataPins Local SEO plugin allows you to request reviews on Google and Yelp and display them directly on your website.

May '22

5 Helpful Home Services Review Management Tips for 2024

Home Services Review Management (Blog Cover)

Managing your online reviews as a home services company can present significant challenges. You can have 50 5-star reviews until one unhappy customer directs their misdirected frustrations on your company and threatens your reputation.

Fear not; your online reputation is not ruined. I’m Nolen Walker, the founder of DataPins, which is a tool I developed to help home services companies manage their reviews and maintain their reputation.

As a business owner, you can effectively control how you respond to and manage online reviews, which is an essential part of your broader marketing and SEO strategy. Review management is important because reviews are crucial to how future customers view your business.

Table of Contents

Importance of Review Management for Home Services

Consider the following statistic: 79% of consumers report that they trust online reviews at least as much as personal referrals. That is a staggering amount of trust to put into the opinions of strangers. It’s also why home service review management is so important. But there is much more to the story.

Review Management Tips for Home Services Contractors

Read the following post if you’ve overlooked your home service company’s reviews. I discuss how you can leverage reviews to earn more business.

Check out the following tips to improve your review and reputation management.

1) Be Easy to Find Online

Your home services company should appear on all the major review platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Angi, etc.

You should also claim your business on other platforms like Facebook and Houzz. On most of these platforms, you can opt-in to review alerts that notify you every time a user submits feedback about your company.

Beyond notifications, you’ll also want to regularly log in to these platforms to monitor and respond to reviews. While the process can be time-consuming, you must keep in touch with your customers online.

Screenshot of Yelp Review for Home Services Business

2) Respond to Every Review

97% of consumers read company replies to consumer reviews, which means that your potential leads and customers specifically want to see what you say in response to a customer review.

Apart from ingratiating yourself to potential customers, responding to reviews lets existing customers know that you care about their experience. While it’s good practice to respond to both positive and negative reviews, it is essential to respond to negative ones.

Acknowledge the complaint and ask how you can do better in the future. Don’t make excuses; be apologetic but not overly apologetic, and let the customer know you will work to correct the issue.

Review Response from Home Services Company

3) Reach Out to Customers

Don’t be afraid to ask customers for reviews. They will be more willing than you probably think, which is crucial for your business. The only thing worse than having negative reviews is having little to no reviews.

The more reviews you have, the more a customer will be willing to research and hire your business.

Would you likely hire a company with a perfect 5-star rating but from a pool of only two reviews? Maybe, but you’d likely move on and look for a business with more reviews to evaluate.

I understand that asking for reviews can be tricky, so here are some tips:

Include a Link: Make it easy for the customer by texting or emailing them a link that leads them right to your review page.

Speak Sincerely: Let customers know how vital their review is to your business. After a well-done job, they will likely be more than willing to help.

Train your Employees: Make it protocol for your team members and employees to ask for reviews.

Use DataPins: Utilize the DataPins tool to automate review requests via SMS and email.

Home services reputation management significantly influences conversion rates. Contacting customers can help your business reflect well on digital platforms.

Screenshot of Google Reviews from Business Listing

4) Use Feedback to Improve Your Company

Don’t just read your reviews; listen to them. You’ll find that only rarely will anyone leave a completely false review of your business. By and large, they will highlight their actual experience. When the reviews are reasonable, you can learn about your company’s strengths and weaknesses.

When the reviews are bad or mention a minor dissatisfaction, you can learn where you need to improve. Of course, you can’t completely invest in the opinions of emotionally charged internet users. Still, take every point into careful consideration and learn from your reviews.

Remember that sometimes bad reviews result from unavoidable causes, such as slammed staff, supply shortages, or simply the customer having a bad day.

Screenshot of Negative Review for Home Services Business

5) Use Reputation Management Software

A good reputation management software suite will make home services review management simple. The software can automate some things I discussed, such as SMS and email review requests.

A good reputation management software suite will also provide you with a single dashboard from which you can monitor and manage reviews from all review platforms. Reputation management software will also help you leverage your existing reviews to earn new ones and generate leads.

Take DataPins, for example. The DataPins tool streamlines the review request process and leverages your reviews and jobs as social proof for your website. Users can monitor your company’s reviews across various platforms directly on your company website (via a plugin slider).

DataPins is incredibly unique because it allows home service contractors to showcase their recent jobs with geo-coordinates, schema markup, photos, and captions. As a result, your service and city pages rank for more keywords and convert at a higher rate because of the user-generated content.

Streamlining Review Management With DataPins

I invested millions into creating the DataPins app to help home services companies improve Local SEO visibility while managing their online reputation. DataPins features an automated review request feature that sends review links to your customers through email and text messages.

DataPins’ comprehensive dashboard empowers home services businesses to evaluate their online reviews and manage their overall reputation. Contact me today to learn more about how the DataPins tool can help manage your reviews.

Apr '22

6 Helpful Tips for Sending A Review Request Via SMS in 2023

Sending a Review Request Via SMS (Blog Cover)

Sending a review request via SMS can be challenging for business owners. How do you find the review link on Google, Facebook, or Yelp? How do you send it to your customers? Can you automate this process? These are common questions, and DataPins provides the answers.

Below, DataPins provides several helpful tips for sending a review request through text messaging.

Sending a review request through text messaging is shown to increase review frequency and help build an online reputation. Still, you have to understand how to achieve this at scale in 2023.

Table of Contents

Tip #1: Include A Link

The first thing you should do is make it easy for your customers to write a review of your business. One of the easiest ways to request a review is to include a short link to your Google review page.

It’s straightforward to get a Google review link; once you do, you can include it in your SMS review requests.

Most people fail to submit a review because the process is too long or too complicated. However, when you send a link that leads right to your review page, you will get much more reviews for your business.

Be sure to include the link in your text message requests. Bonus tip: you can also use this link in your marketing emails.

Tip #2: Keep It Concise

One of the reasons sending a review request via SMS is so effective is that the whole process is quick. When people open a text message, they aren’t expecting to read an essay, so keep your message brief and to the point.

Let the customer know that you value their business and input. Again, a link will help you truncate the message to just the important stuff.

A customer will immediately delete or ignore a text message if the body appears too long. Therefore, keep your message well under 160 characters for the best response.

Tip #3: Personalize your Message

We understand that running a business is extremely time-consuming. However, you should try to take the time to personalize your SMS review requests. Why? Because personalized messages get opened up a lot more than generic ones.

It’s true of emails, and it’s also true of text messages. But unfortunately, most consumers will simply ignore a text message as spam if the message does not seem personalized.

But what do we mean by personalized? For starters, you can use the customer’s name in the first few words of the text message. You can also reference the specific product or service the customer paid for.

Consumers appreciate it when they feel a message has been tailored for them and not just spurted out by some spammy marketing campaign. It may be time-consuming, but you will find that you get a much better response rate when you personalize your text message review requests.

Tip #4: Consider Timing

Timing is also crucial when sending a review request via SMS. Some customers need time to process the service before they can have an opinion of it. An immediate request is fitting for some businesses, but others may need to wait a day or two.

For instance, if you are a painting contractor, you won’t want to ask a customer for a review as soon as you leave the job site. Instead, you will want to let them live with their new paint for a few days to form an opinion.

On the other hand, if you run an HVAC company that provides emergency repairs, you will want to ask your customers for a review while their newly distributed cold air keeps them comfortable inside their homes.

Every business is different, so you must carefully consider the best time for sending a review request via SMS.

Tip #5: Avoid Incentives

One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is incentivizing reviews. People will eventually catch on when you have bribed your customers to leave a review because such coerced reviews tend to be disingenuous.

You want your reviews to be as detailed and honest as possible, so don’t offer discounts or freebies when you request your reviews. Furthermore, incentives violate most platforms’ guidelines and can get your account banned.

Instead, simply let the customer know how much their review means to your business. Again, you’ll find that most consumers will be more than willing to submit a review of your business if you simply ask them.

Tip #6: Include CTA’s

Last but not least, you should include a Call to Action (CTA) in your text message request. Don’t assume that including a link will be enough to get your point across. A compelling call to action will make things clear for your customer.

A simple phrase like “leave us a review here,” “Find us on Google reviews,” or “Let us know how we’re doing” can really drive response rates and get more reviews for your business.

How To Get More Reviews

According to social proof statistics, 79% of consumers said they trust online reviews as much as personal references. But the importance of online reviews of your business doesn’t end at lead generation. They are essential tools for digital marketing as well.

Since so many consumers seek out online reviews, they have become one of search engines’ most important ranking factors. You need reviews of your business to gain leads and convert customers as well.

How To Automate SMS Review Requests

DataPins allows businesses to automate SMS review requests using the app. Customers will receive a review request with a link in their SMS inbox. In addition, DataPins will enable companies to connect reviews with pins, providing further social proof of a job well done.

Sep '21

GPS Photo Tags for GMB vs. Schema Pins (Myth vs. Reality)

Many SEO experts have examined the myth that GPS photo tags influence Google Maps rankings. Extensive tests and research have repeatedly shown that geotagging photos has zero impact on search results.

Google strips the EXIF data from the image as soon as it’s uploaded, so any location data added to the image file is immediately erased.

However, don’t confuse GPS photo tags with other SEO techniques, such as schema markup and geo-signaling, which can, in fact, influence rankings.

Local businesses tend to misunderstand the distinction between tagging an image file’s EXIF data and inserting a schema markup property called geo into a schema markup type called place onto a website.

The confusion is understandable, especially for business owners lacking SEO and digital marketing expertise. However, people must educate themselves on the subject to avoid misinformation.

GPS Photo Tags Google My Business (Blog Cover)

What is Image Geo-Tagging?

Geo-tagging, also known as GPS photo tags, involves inserting location information into an image’s file data. The actual tags are the photo’s location information.

For instance, one might geotag a photo by inputting latitude, longitude, and altitude information into the EXIF data of a given image.

The user might then upload the geotagged photo to their Google Business Profile, hoping to provide Google with more information about the picture’s location.

People must understand that geotagging images does not influence rankings and is a complete waste of time.

SEO Alternatives To Geo-Tagging

While geotags don’t impact SEO, there are alternative techniques that are proven to influence local search rankings when adequately implemented.

For example, schema markup for location-specific information can influence rankings when combined with on-page SEO fundamentals.

Tools like DataPins automate this process by applying schema markup to “pins” on your website.

As a result, each completed job is converted into consolidated local SEO signals that include various kinds of schema markup along with image and text-based location context.

Schema Pins

Schema pins are pieces of unique map data, in schema form, generated by the DataPins app.

Just like with GPS photo tags, the basic principle is to create unique, location-oriented content for your website—or, as today’s post emphasizes, your Google My Business page.

The difference is that Schema Pins influence rankings.

With the DataPins app, you can take a picture of the worksite, enter the location information, and have unique image and map content published to the relevant sections of your Google My Business page.

Schema pins display the service’s location on the map. Unfortunately, some confusion remains regarding schema pins and their relationship to geotags (there is none).

However, misinformation is floating around on YouTube and other forums, contributing to this topic’s bewilderment.

Schema pins differ from “geo-tagging” by injecting schema markup for specific geo-coordinates, not within the image file but within a separate code block, as Google’s requested form of structured data.

Google Maps Embedding

Another alternative to geotagging images is embedding Google Maps onto website pages, including Contact Us, Home, or City pages.

Google makes it easy for users to embed a map onto their website by providing a unique HTML code that can be copied and pasted into a custom WordPress element.

When combined with proper on-page SEO practices, embedded Google Maps are shown to contribute to Google Maps SEO.

GPS Photo Tagging Study

In one study conducted over one month, GPS photo tagging had a negligible effect on search engine rankings.

The study targeted 16 different keywords and involved 18 unique posts, each with its own geotagged image.

The study concluded that six keywords dropped in rankings (2 were actually displaced to the 51st position or lower), nine didn’t change at all, and only three improved rankings (based on factors unrelated to the geotags).

Schema Pins Study

Schema Pins helped a local plumbing company reach an organic search discovery rate between 84% and 87%.

Schema Pins continually added fresh content to Molberg Plumbing LLC’s Google My Business page. After a year of use, Customer reviews for the company also tripled across multiple platforms.

While some still insist that GPS photo tags for Google My Business can help increase online exposure, the impact of Schema Pins is backed up by raw data rather than industry gossip.

How Schema Pins Impact Rankings

Schema pins influence search rankings by adding relevant content to a business website and increasing the frequency of customer reviews, both of which are confirmed ranking factors.

With the DataPins app, once a pin is added, a text with a link to a page where the customer can leave a review is automatically sent to them.

Studies show that this automated review request process is more effective than other methods for getting customer reviews.

Final Verdict: Can Geotagging Photos Impact Ranking?

Geotagging photos cannot impact Google Maps rankings. Upon upload, Google Business Profile strips the image’s location data, meaning any information added to the file is immediately removed.

Furthermore, Google Business Profile would not use the data for ranking purposes, even if it did remain attached to the image file (it doesn’t).

While this tactic is unanimously disproven, some people confuse it with other local SEO techniques that do impact rankings, such as inserting schema markups like geo and place onto a website.

The DataPins tool automates this process for you, consolidating your job information into SEO signals for Google ranking purposes.