Family locksmith buisness

[shay27]

So i started running a SEO campaign for a locksmith business, i have been reading a lot of guide about ON page editing, the website is on wordpress and i have partial control over the pages, im not trying to compite in a very high keywords values, and only in local area, i got the website to the first 2 pages but since then it went down to the 3rd page on 2 of the main search keywords there is no news or updates i can really do on locksmith world at least not daily or weekly theres nothing to update, i have been keyword researcing and im changing words and researcing every once in a few days if the words change,using google tools.i got Moz crawl diagnostic results and im getting errors that i think doesnt exist, for example Too many on-page links on pages with no links at all,or title element too long when its not., most errors are Rel Canonical but i have no idea how to fix them on wordpress, also how many of you think meta description is worth writing? im getting possitive and negitive comments about it, last thing i want to say is, i got a 200$ monthly budget to SEO this website and would like to know where should i invest these 200$ every month to promote it to the first page,i am not looking for someone to do my work for me but for useful tips, i have thought about buying moz advance program for 100$ a month but not quiet sure if that what i even need.

this locksmith campaign is the only one im running because its my own family business..

the website address is fastlocksmithdc.com

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Shay,

Content creation is always a major creative challenge. Writers and marketers all have different ways of brainstorming good ideas. If you are doing the writing, your task will be to research your industry and geography and see if there is something you can create that doesn't already exist or hasn't already been done well. Your industry might be thought of as a 'boring' industry because it doesn't automatically lend itself to exciting content. This means you have to work a little harder to discover what you can created that will generate notice. We had an excellent article here last year about this. I recommend you read this:

http://moz.com/blog/the-guide-to-developing-a-content-strategy-for-boring-industries

If you do not feel you can accomplish the job of content development and writing on your own, I recommend you hire help. Here on Moz, you'll find our recommended companies list that can help you connect with a pro. See: http://moz.com/community/recommended

Regarding your Google+ Local listing, I'm not sure if you're asking me if there is something you should add to it. Your listing should be fully filled out in all fields and should adhere to the Google Places Quality Guidelines.

Citations are mentions anyplace on the web of your business name, address and phone number (NAP). These can include listings on directories like Yelp, Yahoo! Local and SuperPages, and they can also include things like third party blog posts or social media mentions. It sounds like you've already built a listing on Yelp. There are lots more places you can build citations, too. If this is a new concept for you, I recommend you go to GetListed.org and use their free tool to help you start building important citations. Once you have built the basic citations via GetListed.org, you can decide to continue building other citations with the help of a paid tool like Whitespark's Citation Finder Tool (see: https://www.whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/).

Regarding your point #5, it is not a recommended best practice to acquire links by posting in forums. In fact, this would typically be seen as a spammy practice and should be avoided. I recommend you read chapter 7 of our Beginners' Guide to SEO. Chapter 7 will teach you about good methods for earning links: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links

Hope this helps!

[shay27]

Hey Miriam,

I have been searching a lot about having a good content in my website but i really couldn't find anything i can write on a locksmith that would be considered a good content any articles or news, or maybe i got the idea wrong?

Also will be verifying the google+ local business page i opened today soon. until then im not quiet sure what else to add to the page or what else to do with it besides posting on the website

3.could you please explain me what citations means?

4)so far i have a few reviews on yelp, hopefully to get more.

5. that would be a hard task since there arent many forums that are active where i can get to post my link.

6)Facebook page (X), twitter(X) google+ (X)

so far i applyed all the tips that Remus offered, seems like there was a bounce back to the second page after going down to 3rd but it stopped there, i'll be keep reading hopefully im just missing something small that will help

[zoicaremus]

Cool. Now let's see some concrete stuff that might help.

One of the common mistakes when people start SEO is to crowd to many keywords on one page. Think about what Google Bot sees when he reads the main page. It asks:

What is this page about? It's a bit about many things - car locksmith, Safe car locksmithing, Fast Locksmith, it works in alexandria,virginia,washington DC,Arlington,VA. This is along with the current text on the homepage as seen by Google Bot right now:

---

24/7 Locksmith Service - Keyless entry | locked out | lost car keys

<cite>fastlocksmithdc.com/</cite>‎

Locksmith Service provides professional keyless entry, locked out and lost car keys services with complete customer satisfaction.

---

A bit to many things, you will get small credit for all keywords, and will probably rank for many keyword combinations on very low positon as a result.

Now, what do you think Google will rank first when an user searches for "safe locksmith services in Alexandria"?

A page with the following title, description and focused content:

Safe Locksmith Service in Alexandria - Open 24/7

www.asd.com

We provide 24–hour locksmith service across Alexandria. We get there fast and we solve the problem in a safe and professional manner.

or your page with not so much focus on this particular problem?

---

So, the idea is to get a big subject/purpose for each page. Then write a compelling title, good description, and content about that subject. Then, find the second big subject/purpose, write a title, description and content, and so on... Put it on the second most important page of the website. For example:

Homepage

Safe Locksmith Service -  Open 24/7. The main keyword for this page are "safe locksmith service". You can add a few secondary keywords like fast, secure and so on, but without changing the big picture (you don). You can also add more location, not necessarily one. Just write them in the description or in the content of the page.

2nd page -> Locked out of your car (focus on this) - you already got this part

3rd page -> Locked out of your house (focus on this)

This are just some examples, not necessarily the best, you should choose which are the best.

Remember that enumeration means dilution, and your focus is lost. Right now you have 4 things on your homepage: "Locksmith Service - Keyless entry | locked out | lost car keys".

So, what's the most important keyword for your homepage? Then we'll think about a few variations (maybe with fast, secure, or locations). Then we will create an amazing title for that page, then a very good description, and content! Then we'll move to next. And just after that we will worry about linking and other stuff.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Shay,

Locksmiths like yourself are up against a harder field then many other types of businesses. This is because the locksmith category has historically been one of the hardest hit by spam. This means that it is especially difficult for honest businesses to move up in the local search engine results because there is just so much spam there.

That being said, the strategy for you is similar to that of any other local business, namely:

1. Publishing the highest quality possible website with excellent text content

2. Having a verified Google+ Local page for the business that is free of violations

3. Building citations for the business on as many relevant local business directories as possible

4. Earning reviews on a variety of profiles

5. Traditional SEO metrics, such as the acquisition of high quality links

6. Participation in Social Media, if possible

Google's Local algorithm is made up of hundreds of different factors. The recent Local Search Ranking Factors 2013 does the best possible job of identifying which factors are deemed to be of most importance. I recommend that you study this survey and begin to identify areas in which you can improve. Discovering where you have already done things right and where you have room to grow is what will help you create a marketing strategy.

All this being said, you will have to be extra patient because of the situation I've described above (spam in the locksmith vertical). Sometimes, the spam is so deep that even the best efforts can result in only very small gains for the business and this is certainly frustrating. It may be that legitimate locksmiths will have to brainstorm ideas beyond the typical Local Search Marketing strategy to get their names in front of consumers. Some type of social, video or offline outreach may be necessary in addition to the above kinds of work.

[shay27]

Hey Remus,

1.these are the keywords im using:car locksmith, Safe, Locksmith,a locksmith,Service,Fast Locksmith,Fast,locksmiths,alexandria,virginia,washington DC,Arlington,VA

all these keywords are in the SEO tab in wordpress of my main page.

as you see i used both location and keywords that by adwords were relevant to the business and ranked high in search amounts, also i made sure all these keywords has some connection on the text of the page itself

[shay27]

hey oleg,

thank you for your answer, i have taken off the blank pages and they wont be published.

about the business pages, when searching locksmith alexandria in google, i do have the business marked on the map with details and phone number service range and so. is that what you mean by business page?

about the address, the address is in the contact page, but i have also added it on the footer of the main page.

im using google keyword planner to search for keywords locally, and im getting for some reason all kind of key words that are nothing but local, for example i selected the tragating area to my area but by searching for keywords related to locksmith im getting results like "locksmith las vegas" and such. im not sure what am i doing wrong, or if there is a better tool for that.

[zoicaremus]

Hello Shay,

First don't worry, what you want to do is not very complicated. The Moz community will surely be able to help. Just relax and try to ask each specific question one by one, people will start giving you answers.

Like Oleg said, one of the most important problems for you is localization.

You said you got to the first 2 pages, then dropped to 2nd.

1. For what keyword combination?

2. What are the most relevant keywords for your services?  You should include location.

And then we'll go to next problems.

[OlegKorneitchouk]

First big problem - You have a bunch of pages that look like this - http://fastlocksmithdc.com/automotive/car-keys-made/ford/

Not only are they duplicate pages of the other car URLs, but the pages are also blank. This really thins out any links built to your site by having a lot of worthless pages.

Secondly, lock smithing is a local search and should be attempted to rank for using Google Plus for Business pages. You don't have your address anywhere on the site (I recommend adding it to the footer).

Your best use of $200 would be to optimize your homepage/site to rank for keywords locally, setup/optimize a Google Plus page and then build $200 worth of local citations.