Episode 80: Spring Cleaning your Organizing Business Part 3--Website, SEO + Google My Business
Most people think spring cleaning means getting all the screens cleaned up and dusting those long neglected shelves--but really, you can apply those same principles to your professional organizing business.
On day 3 of a 5 day series, we talk about Melissa's FAVORITE subject--your digital real estate! Your website, including SEO (search engine optimization) and Google My Business are CRITICAL team members in your business. Make sure that your spring cleaning plan includes these MVPs. We teach you how to look at your website with a critical eye and make sure it speaks to potential clients and you get their attention with the 10 seconds you have that they are making a decision.
If you are considering starting or growing a professional organizing business, we have a brand new for 2021, totally free workshop you can take that goes beyond this podcast--you can register here if you want to check it out!
Links for listeners:
The podcast on SEO details from our digital expert Caitlin Strempel of Rising Ranks Digital in Phoenix.
The Inspired Organizer® program for professional organizers.
Join our free Facebook group for podcast insiders to get notified about new episodes (plus get behind-the-scenes access and other goodies weekly)!
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
You're listening to the Pro Organizer Studio Podcast with Melissa Klug and Jen Obermeier. Thank you so much for joining in our mission is to broaden the horizons of savvy business women in the organizing industry by instilling confidence and inspiring authenticity. You'll gain new insight into strategies designed specifically for professional organizers.
So now let's get started.
Jen and Melissa spring clean website
Melissa Klug: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. It's Melissa, your cohost and you have made it to day three of our five day spring cleaning binge on pro organizer studio podcast. Today, we are talking about my favorite subject websites and your digital presence as a professional organizer, Jen and I start out chatting about it. And then I give you some concrete tips and tricks for your website.
So let's go.
Jen Obermeier: [00:00:24] You're listening to the pro organizer studio podcast with Melissa Kluk and Jen Obermeier. Thank you so much for joining in our mission is to broaden the horizons of savvy business women in the organizing industry by instilling confidence and inspiring authenticity. You'll gain new insight into strategies designed specifically for professional organizers.
So now let's get started.
Melissa Klug: [00:00:56] I will tell you the thing that I believe the most strongly I cannot tell you how much it is. It's something that I believe in, in terms of all organizers businesses is let's do a little bit of a health check on your website and your Google my business which are two things that work together, which is how people find you on
the great wide interweb. I really believe in doing a check of your website and saying is all my information current? I know this may sound like it's really, really obvious, but there are lots of people that might have out of date packages on their website, or they might have pictures that are kind of old or anything like that.
Something that doesn't really speak to the current events. So really looking over your website and Google my business and saying, is everything good? There? That's an awesome first step.
Jen Obermeier: [00:01:44] I really like it is that because that definitely speaks to, you know, anyone who's been in business for at least a little while.
And is already established to the point where they are having people find them. That's kind of like a, a little hidden source of income right there, where if you're losing people, because Hey, your contact form, actually isn't connected correctly to your email anymore and you're missing inquiries.
Like that's such an important thing to just go through. And like you said, audit, pretend like you're somebody visiting your business for the first time or have a friend come and do the whole process and then see what it looks like on your end. You know, as much as. We like to think like our website, so that employee that are working 24 seven for us, which they should be every once in a while, things do get out of whack for no apparent reason.
So I like what you're saying, like, just make sure all your tech is working, make sure that your links are correct, like on your Google, your business profile or anywhere else that like you're listed out there. I know everyone wants a while people do change their business name and we're like, that's cool.
That's fine. But maybe you haven't updated it with everybody that, you know, like that would be another really good thing too.
Melissa Klug: [00:02:45] Well, and your point is a really good one. I did one time, have a broken link on my website and I did lose an entire week and a half of inquiries at a time. I was pretty. And then I felt like a jerk because I had to email those people back and be like, listen, I just want to apologize. This is not professional. And I, that this is not how I like to come across to you. I'm so sorry. I had this broken link and ever since then, I have a double backup of. I have a Google doc where all of those inquiries go and I make sure to check that occasionally to make sure there's nothing in there that I've missed.
So just those little things are important. I will also tell you just from a spring cleaning standpoint, have a couple of very nice but very. Critical feedback. Friends, look at your website as a client and ask for their feedback and tell them you really genuinely want their feedback and ask them what they think.
Because sometimes an outside person, like the same way that I go in someone's house and give them a suggestion that they say, Oh my gosh, I can't believe it didn't think about that. Just have someone else look at your website and check it out for you.
Jen Obermeier: [00:03:54] I know we definitely, especially if you have just more recently launched your business and you're still kind of like, okay, why, you know, I'm getting views, like, are people, can people understand the way that I work?
Like it's, especially if you did your own, it's hard to see that from their point of view, because you're like, this makes perfect sense. But then from their point of view, maybe the page doesn't flow quite right. And they don't know what to do next. And that, that can definitely be something that having an outside pair of eyes will help you, you know, sort of spring clean and clean up really quickly.
Making sure that it's fully explained that you're not having people scroll to the bottom of the page and be like, okay, now what? And they, you know, having them sort of go yeah. In that logical order. So I really liked that suggestion about the website.
Melissa Klug: [00:04:33] In that clip with Jen and I talking about websites, I said, it's really like my biggest thing to talk about. And I'm not joking. I love, love, love, love talking to people and coaching people about websites and SEO and Google my business. I wanted to start with that clip, but then take a deeper dive into how to spring clean your website and your web presence for your professional organizing business.
I. Always ask people when they come to me for coaching and they say, well, I really need to get more clients. I don't have enough clients or I've just started my business. What do I need to do? I always always ask them about their web presence. So Jen had a great line in our clip there where she said, your website is your employee.
That's working 24 hours a day. And that is really true. I can tell you from my own business and from the pro organizer studio business, you never know when someone's going to hit your website. And guess what? Lots of people have insomnia. They're thinking about all sorts of things. They might hit your website at three in the morning.
And what you want them to do is have a really good experience.
I want to talk to you about some concrete things that I want you to take a look at on your website and make sure that you have these things covered. And some of these things are going to seem like there may be a little obvious, but you'd be surprised.
I look at hundreds of websites every year and you would be surprised how often we have people make these mistakes and they are so easy to fix. So I want you to go to your website, open it up right now. And I want you to tell me, are these things very, very obvious on your website?
The first thing is, is your language clear? And I don't mean, are you swearing on your website because you probably shouldn't be doing that either. But what I mean about your language being clear is sometimes we love to be. Really highbrow are really clever with the words that we're using. And we like to say things about a professional organizing experience.
That make it sound like an elevated experience, which it is an elevated experience. There's no doubt about it, but we also want people to be able to find you. And if someone is Googling and your website does not say I help people declutter and organize their homes, if it says something more.
Obscure or more highbrow. Like I help you live an incredibly intentional life with only intentional things. Someone may not understand that you actually provide professional organizing services. What I want you to do is I want you to look at the homepage of your website and say, if someone is going to stay on my site for 10 seconds, which by the way, if you go look at your analytics, a lot of times you have 10 seconds or less to hook someone's attention into your website.
If someone is coming and looking for professional organizer, can they tell immediately on my website that they know what they're getting with me? I follow and love Donald Miller. And Donald Miller is an author and a marketer and all sorts of things. And he has a book called StoryBrand, which I really, really believe in.
And if you haven't read it, it's a great way to talk about how to talk about your business. But Donald Miller's big thing about websites is so many websites and this is an industry is all over. And I'm sure that you have run into this too. They're not clear about what the business is. And if you have a website that you're using all sorts of, kind of clouded language, about the service that you offer, make sure that you're able to connect with a potential client and that they know absolutely you are going to help them declutter and organize their homes. And then if you want to add some of that really more fancy language about what it is you provide in the service, you provide them in the experience you provide them.
That is great to be on there too, but just make sure that you have the basics on there. Another book that I really believe in book yourself solid.
I am actually a book yourself, solid certified coach. In that group. We also talk a lot about make sure your website says what you do. One of Jen's and my business coaches has this phrase that I think about a lot. She said, you have to talk about what you do in second grade language. And so anyone who comes to her for business coaching, if they're trying to be really, really clever about saying what they do, she's like, that's not second grade language.
Those words are too big. You're explaining things that are too hard. She always says second grade language. And I think about that a lot. So. Think about when you're explaining what you do, could everyone understand the service that you're providing and what you do for your clients. Check that out. This is a great place to ask your friends. Remember we told you to go get some critical friends and ask about your website. This is a great place to go to them and be like, look, do you understand what I do?
And if their answer is no, I do not ask three or four friends and ask them to be honest and then figure out how do I make that language a little bit more clear. I will tell you something about myself. I don't really love the word declutter. Something about that word. Doesn't resonate with me, but I have done focus groups with potential clients, and that is a word that they have all said really, really resonates with them.
So you can actually do something where you go out and you talk to people who haven't used your services, but might be interested in just ask them some questions. It's not a sales situation. It's not pressure, but Hey, what words do you think of when you think about organizing, organizing? Isn't a word that some people think of necessarily.
Ask yourself, those questions to.
The second thing about your website, what is your service location? A lot of websites don't tell you I am a professional organizer or I declutter and organize your home in Boston, Massachusetts, or in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area or in Columbus Ohio. Being really clear about the geography that you service, first of all, it's going to help your SEO. And second of all, it's going to help people know immediately like, Oh, she services my area. That's great. It's going to help those clients connect with you a lot more easily.
A lot of times when I look at websites, it's very difficult to find out whether this person services your area. And that is something that you can put right on your front page and be like, I am happy to service the greater Denver metropolitan area for organizing.
Are you featured on your website, clients hire you the person, clients want to connect with you the potential service provider, their partner, they are inviting someone into their most personal spaces, their home. They're inviting you into their main spaces, their living room, their kitchen. They're also inviting you into their bedroom, into their closet, into their secret junk room in the basement that they've never let anyone see. They are inviting you the organizer into their home, and they want to know that they're going to connect with you and you would be surprised how easy it is to make that connection with someone through the computer screen.
Making sure that you are a prominent feature on your website. And that client knows, man, that looks like someone I could connect with, make sure that your personality shines through. So if you're really, really funny, make sure that shines through, if you were just a really kind and loving person, make sure that shines through.
If you are a no-nonsense stick to it, we're going to get this done kind of gal. Make sure that shines through whoever you authentically are. Try to find a way to make that happen on your website. I totally understand that there are a lot of people who don't love having their picture taken, or they feel self conscious that they're like putting their image all over their website.
But I promise you, you can do it in a way that makes you feel good, but also make sure that a client knows they're connecting with you and are going to hire you.
All right. A call to action. A call to action means I have an easy way for a client that is interested in me. They have spent the 10 seconds on my site.
They have immediately said, yeah, that's someone I want to do business with having a call to action where the client knows, what do I do next? Yes. I'm interested in organizing services. How do I get in touch with Carrie?
How do I schedule a consultation, whatever your processes for your business, make it easy for the client to find you. One of the biggest things that I see on websites is people make it really hard to get in touch with them. So they either don't have their information anywhere listed on the site. That's very easy to find, or they make you go through a really long form.
In order to get in touch with you. So they make you fill out 10 required questions. When you say no, I just, I just want to get in touch with you really, really quickly. I don't really need to fill out a huge form. Totally understand that you have processes, but make it easy .
We work with disorganized people and disorganized people if they have made a decision that they want to move forward. Don't make it hard for them to get in touch with you. So make sure that you have an easy way to contact you. Make sure you have, if you want to do a form, that's great. Give that as an option, but make it easy for them to understand what is the next step?
Is it scheduling a consultation? Is it sending me an email? Do we go right. To scheduling a session, whatever your process is, make it simple and make it that call to act.
We have a podcast episode. Jen did it with Caitlin stumble, who is an SEO expert that we use at pro organizer studio.
I will link it in the show notes, but it's all about SEO search engine optimization. This is another. Absolutely critical thing for you to do on your website. And a lot of people get really like sweaty and anxious when they hear about SEO, because they're like, I don't understand it.
I'm not a web person and you do not have to be a web person to understand how to do SEO. Caitlin's podcasts will help you with awesome, awesome ideas. But another thing about SEO is just making sure that, you know, the basics, even if you do the basics that is better than doing nothing at all. The process of SEO is just that beautiful combination of when a potential client knows that they need organizing services and they go to Google and they say professional organizing Denver, Colorado.
And that magical moment when they are met with your website, because your website says, I am Susan, I am a professional organizer in Denver, Colorado, and I am excited to meet you. SEO is really important. And it's something that I want you to take a look, take a deep dive into Caitlin's podcast and go back and listen to what she has to say, because that will help you as well.
One of the things that Katelyn said in her podcast that I really loved is all of these things we're talking about. So website SEO, I'm going to talk about Google my business in a minute. All of these things work together, but they also sometimes take some time. Her example is you go to the gym one time and then, and you expect like to be totally in shape and ready to go.
It takes time to build up. Right. You have to go to the gym a lot. So making sure that you are doing the steps that you need to do on all of these things , but also being patient and knowing, especially if you've just started your business. You are not going to start your business and launch your website.
And the next day be listed as the top person in the search for professional organizers, Seattle, Washington. It takes some time for Google to, to learn about you and to index you, but doing that work and putting in that time takes it makes a serious, serious impact on your business.
Okay. This is another one of my favorite topics.
Google my business. Raise your hand if you know what Google my businesses. Okay. I think we have some hands that are not up Google. My business is the most powerful, free tool that exists anywhere for small businesses, Google my business is totally, totally free and really easy to do. I want you to go to business.google.com if you have not set up Google my business, you are going to set up Google my business, and then you are going to use it like a superstar. Here's what Google my business does. So have you ever gone to Google maps and you have typed in ice cream shop near me. I have never Googled ice cream shop near me. Just kidding. I do it all the time. So when you go and you ask Google maps where the nearest location is, that is what Google my business is. And yes, even if a client does not come to your business, location, your home, you can still be listed on Google my business and have clients be able to find you this way.
The way I always describe it as Google. My business wakes up your website and wakes up your search results. When you post on Google, my business, Google knows. Hey, this is an active business. It is currently open.
This person is accepting clients. And guess what, what do they do? Oh, they're a professional organizer. They're a closet organizer. There's a kitchen organizer. Oh, okay. Sally, over here has asked for a kitchen organizer in Pawnee, Indiana, parks and rec fans out there. All right. That's why I chose Pawnee, Google my business is going to connect those people with you. And it's going to work in concert with your website to make sure those people can find you.
If you are interested in more information on Google my business, you can email me. At hello@proorganizerstudio.com. I will happily email you back with a tutorial of how to do Google my business.
That is my gift to you. If you have listened to this far, and you're willing to take that step, I will happily give you a Google, my business tutorial, sign up for Google, my business, and then utilize Google my business. So a lot of people think that you go and you register your business and boom, you're done.
You're actually not done. Google. My business has a great platform for adding photos and adding micro blog posts. Now people hear the word blog and they're like, Oh my gosh, I don't have 10 hours this week to write a blog. Nope, I'm talking micro blog. I'm talking. If you post it on Instagram, you can copy and paste it into Google my business into a post.
People who post regularly on Google my business and I'm talking like two or three times a week. And again, I'm talking like two minutes. It's going to take you to do this. I'm not joking. If you post on Google my business two to three times a week and reliably add photos and make sure that your listing is up to date, it is going to help you get eyeballs on your website for people that are searching.
Please, if you do nothing else that I've ever said, please go set up Google my business, if you haven't. And if you have Google my business, but you haven't done a post, if you even don't know what I'm talking about. When I say post, please go and start posting start adding photos.
If you cannot tell, I am extremely, only passionate about this subject. It is one of my biggest things that I love to coach people on is getting your digital business life in order. So all of your digital properties, wherever you show up on the internet, I love working with people to get those in order.
it is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business. I promise.
This is something that I tell clients an hour spent working on your website or Google my business or SEO is worth 25 social media posts. I actually think that's probably on the low end of the estimate. Spending that time on your website is so, so, so important. Okay. Email me hello@proorganizerstudio.com and just say, Melissa, tell me more about Google my business.
I am going to send you a tutorial on how to do it and get you going. All right. Is everybody ready to get their digital life in order?
Tomorrow on day four, a spring cleaning, we are going to talk about everybody's favorite subject, social media. Come join us.
Thank you so much for listening into the pro organizer studio podcast. If you'd like to get our roadmap for success as a pro organizer, head straight to www.poroadmap.com.
If you are looking for business inspiration, we have a brand new free workshop that is called The 4-Part Plan for Landing Your Dream Clients in 2021. Jen Obermeier leads you through that workshop. Sign up for that poroadmap.com. If you are interested in our Inspired Organizer® program, you can find us at www.inspiredorganizer.com and don't forget, we have a whole library of podcasts here, our YouTube channel, and you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Pro Organizer Studio.
Still not sure about starting your own Pro Organizing business? Cick here to read about the 5 things you need to know BEFORE starting your organizing business.
Feeling ready to start? Great! Check out this post on how to start your business stress-free!