Digital Marketing: A Guide for Tree Care Companies

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Introduction & Instructions for Use Digital marketing is a vast topic, and while the opportunities are wonderfully endless, they can also be overwhelming. With countless website designs, social media sites, and marketing strategies to choose from, how do you know what is the best fit for your tree care business? Digital Marketing: A Guide for Tree Care Companies aims to help answer that question. This five part guide features select articles from TCIA’s members’ only publication Reporter News (published 2013 – 2014). Sections include:

Web Content Creation Social Media Strategies Getting Noticed Discounts, Promotions, and Events Research and Monitoring

Each section includes 3+ articles and marketing tips written specifically for tree care company owners. TCIA recommends using the Table of Contents (page 2) to easily navigate this PDF guide. Each section (and each article within the section) is linked from the Table of Contents, so you can click through to the articles of interest to you. You can also download this entire guide to print and peruse at your leisure. If you are unsure how to use this guide, please contact the TCIA Marketing team at marketing@tcia.org or (800) 733-2622.

Disclaimer: While the articles were accurate at the time of printing, the digital marketing landscape is constantly changing, and some information may be out of date. Contact marketing@tcia.org or (800) 733-2622 with questions, or if you need help with your digital marketing strategy.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I: Web Content Creation Create Landing Pages That Convert Four Things Every Tree Care Website Needs Blogging Tips for Small Business Owners

Part II: Social Media Strategies Four Common Social Media Myths Debunked Branching Out: Joining the Tree Care Community on Pinterest Yelp Tips for Tree Care Companies Three Reasons to Create a Google+ Profile Today Facebook Graph Search for Small Business Marketing Three Facebook Apps Your Tree Care Company Needs Right Now Make Your Tree Care Company Go Viral with "Page Post Ads"

Part III: Getting Noticed Getting Your Tree Care Company to Appear in Google Search Easy, Unorthodox Ways to Increase Your Web Traffic Native Advertising: The Newest Way to Earn Viral Media Capture New Leads with an Online "Remarketing" Strategy Attract New Customers with "Deal-of-the-Day" Websites

Part IV: Discounts, Promotions and Events Marketing in a Seasonal Slump Promoting Discounts on Social Media Think Outside the Booth: Event Marketing Tips

Part V: Research & Monitoring Using Google Alerts for Your Tree Care Business Managing Your Online Reputation: Tips & Tools Stake Your Claim with Local Search Marketing

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Part I: Web Content Creation

When it comes to successful digital marketing, content is king! Without original, fresh and informative content, your website will be buried in search engine results, causing you to lose valuable leads. With a little planning and diligence, you can create compelling content for your site and attract new prospects. These articles will show you how to write, optimize and promote your content online. Browse Web Content Creation Articles Create Landing Pages That Convert Four Things Every Tree Care Website Needs Blogging Tips for Small Business Owners

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Create Landing Pages That Convert (As seen in the October 2014 Reporter News)

Landing pages are indispensable tools in any online marketing strategy. They are extremely specific, engaging pages designed to persuade visitors to either fill out a web form, complete a transaction, or both. Prospects visit these pages after clicking on an ad, and arrive at the landing page expecting either to learn more information about a product or service, or to complete a transaction. For this reason, landing pages are also referred to as “lead capture pages.” But what does an effective landing page look like? Perfecting your landing page is vital to capturing leads – a stray detail or two can make or break a potential sale. There are endless ways to customize your landing pages, but they should always incorporate the following advice:

Word Choice Matters. According to marketing firm HubSpot, if you want someone to

submit information to a web form, use words such as “click here” and “go” instead of passive words such as “submit” or “download.” Swapping passive words for an authoritative, descriptive call to action can increase conversion rates by up to 30%.

Be Brief. When prospects click through to your landing page, they aren’t interested in reading

a novel. If you can’t get your point across within seconds, you risk turning off a valuable prospect – and losing their money! To avoid this, keep your forms fields to a minimum, your marketing text brief, and the call to action obvious. For example, prompt your visitors to “Get a Free Quote” by filling out a web form with their name, email, and phone number. You may be tempted to capture as much information as possible, but sometimes you have to give up collecting info in order to get the conversion.

Offer Value. As a tree care company, the purpose of your landing page will usually be to get

prospects to fill out a form in exchange for a free quote on their tree care project. Offering free, customized information is typically enticing enough, but consider adding in limited-time offers such as coupons to boost your conversions.

Get Specific. Creating a landing page catering to prospects using general search terms such

as “tree care service” is fine, especially if you’re dealing with prospects that don’t know exactly what they want. But if you want to increase conversion rates (that is, your actual sales), try creating a series of landing pages that focus on a specific aspect of your tree service, and connect these pages to equally specific web advertising campaigns. For example, a landing page dedicated

TCIA's ZIP Code Search Landing Page

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strictly to “tree pruning” will especially resonate with a person already looking for tree pruning help – more than a generalized “tree care service” landing page. Essentially, the more the landing page resembles the prospect’s original search query, the better your chances of converting them into a customer. Try creating landing pages for each service you offer!

Follow Up. A well-designed landing page can collect useful leads all day long, but that data

means nothing if you don’t follow up! Immediately call or e-mail your new prospect before the trail gets cold – or worse, before they take their business elsewhere.

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Four Things Every Tree Care Website Needs (As seen in the September 2014 Reporter News)

Most business website have a shared goal: To convert prospects into paying customers. Websites that are visually pleasing, user-friendly, and persuasive can achieve this goal. But as a tree care business owner, how can you make sure your website stands out? What are prospects looking for in a tree care website? What tools and approaches work best for the online community? If you want to set your tree care business apart, consider implementing the following:

1. Add a Quote Request Form How much does it cost to remove a tree in a homeowner’s backyard? What about pruning, or plant health care treatments? Most homeowners have no idea, which makes the Quote Request Form an invaluable tool for your website. The Quote Request Form should capture a prospect’s name, email, phone number, and tree care problem. (Check out TCIA’s ZIP Code Search tool at TCIA.org for an example!) This is an easy, low maintenance way for your tree care company to gather leads - while taking the guesswork out for the homeowner. By allowing your prospects to request a quote, you can demystify the entire process and make the customer feel at ease communicating with you about their tree care project. The Quote Request Form should be prominently advertised with accessible menu links on your website.

2. Write and Publish Fresh, Relevant Content Write a series of homeowner-friendly tree care articles for your website to attract organic web traffic, demonstrate your expertise, and engage your prospects. This content can be published on your websites (many businesses establish a regular blog for this purpose), and should be cross-shared on social media platforms. Don’t forget to include high-quality photos; they’re a great tool for communicating complex tree care concepts to a layman audience. If you’re hesitant to commit to a regular posting schedule - don’t worry! You can always try your hand at writing a guest post blog post for TCIA.org - just contact us for details!

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3. Include Service Details Do you offer a wide range of tree care services? If so, consider creating a unique landing page for each service. By doing so, you provide logically segmented information for prospects to read at their leisure, and give the search engine crawlers more keywords to pick up and archive - leading to higher web traffic. Make sure to explain each service in layman’s terms, and add a call to action on each page.

A main FAQ page is another excellent way to organize common questions and answers about the services you provide, and share useful information about tree care in general.

4. Integrate All Digital Communications Your website is the backbone of your digital marketing strategy, and keeping it fresh and relevant will definitely earn your brand plenty of organic traffic. But what about prodding it along a little with a social media campaign? You can easily increase your brand’s reach by creating Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Yelp profiles, and cross-sharing your content on these mediums.

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Blogging Tips for Small Business Owners

(As seen in the July/August 2013 Reporter News) Many tree care companies are small businesses, and as such, don’t often have time to fully develop online marketing projects such as blogs. However, with proper planning and diligence, a blog can be a low-cost resource that can be used to drive web traffic, generate business leads, and demonstrate your expertise in the tree care industry. Here are a few ways a blog can benefit your small business:

Increases your visibility: A well-

maintained blog, especially one that is rich with popular keywords, can help your company’s website rise in the Google search rankings. Because Google values websites that update their content regularly, you’ll appear higher in search engine results the more you update your blog with relevant content.

Demonstrates credibility: A blog is an easy way to demonstrate to consumers

and industry leaders that you are a credible source of information. Finding a niche within your industry to blog about is even better; see what your competitors are doing, and if there is a consumer need or industry issue that hasn’t been addressed yet, blog about it.

Once you have determined the focus of your blog, you will have to devise a plan for maintaining it. Otherwise you run the risk of neglecting the project, which can cause you to fall beneath your competitors in Google search rankings. Tips for managing your blog:

Create an editorial calendar: It’s easy to let your blogging project fall by the

wayside unless you diligently record story ideas and set deadlines for posts.

Set up Google Alerts: Google Alerts (www.Google.com/Alerts) is a free tool that

monitors keywords for you, and sends you an automated e-mailed when new results are indexed in Google’s search engine. So, if you want to keep abreast of news items about “tree care industry,” simply tell the program you want to monitor that search query, and it will e-mail you once something new about it appears online. This is great for generating new story ideas with no effort, plus Google Alerts can be used to monitor your company, so you can see what others are saying about you online.

Share content on social media: The more your share your blog content, the

more Google will recognize the value you are providing, which will bump you up in the search engine results. Install social media share buttons on your blog and promote your posts regularly on networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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When writing copy, keep the following tips in mind:

No jargon! Your typical blog audience will not be able to comprehend industry-specific

terminology. The primary aim of blogging is to become more accessible to general consumers, so use simple words and explain advanced concepts thoroughly.

Keep it brief: A blog is not a place to post research papers or wordy editorials. The

shorter the piece, the more likely the reader is to finish it.

Use graphics: Break up the text occasionally with photos, videos, and other graphics

to draw the reader’s eye and keep them interested.

Offer solutions: Most potential customers are likely visiting your website because

they need work done on their trees, so keep that in mind when you are generating new ideas. Give advice, direct them to resources, and engage them without being overly advertorial.

Stay topical: Make blog posts about recent news items and figure out a way to tie it

to the tree care industry. This organically creates another set of keywords that can funnel brand-new traffic to your website.

Blog with TCIA! Don’t have a blog of your own yet? We are always looking for fresh content for our blog on TCIA.org, and we want to hear from you! If you think you have a great story idea about the tree care industry, please submit the following items:

Title – Keep it simple, catchy and informative.

Story – We will consider copy between 400 and 800 words. Please note that TCIA blog is not a forum to promote your company or work; we are looking for submissions that discuss industry issues in general.

Photos/Videos – If possible, please include relevant photos and videos. Headshots are welcome.

Links – This is where you can acknowledge yourself or your company. Please include links to your website, social media channels, relevant news items, research pages, etc., and we will include them in your post.

Please send all ideas and materials to TCIA Marketing at marketing@tcia.org for consideration.

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Part II: Social Media Strategies

Social media is a low-cost, fun way to directly engage your prospects and customers, and it is a necessary part of a digital marketing strategy. While you don’t need to sign up for every social media site in existence, it is important to identify the networks that will allow you to put your best foot forward. These articles will help you get started. Browse Social Media Strategies Articles Four Common Social Media Myths Debunked Branching Out: Joining the Tree Care Community on Pinterest Yelp Tips for Tree Care Companies Three Reasons to Create a Google+ Profile Today Facebook Graph Search for Small Business Marketing Three Facebook Apps Your Tree Care Company Needs Right Now Make Your Tree Care Company Go Viral with "Page Post Ads"

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Four Common Social Media Myths Debunked (As seen in the February 2015 Reporter News)

Social media is an incredibly popular marketing tool, and much has been written about how businesses can use it to enhance their branding. Even so, certain myths still persist. We debunk a few common misconceptions below:

Myth #1: You Have to Be on Every Social Network Once you decide to expand your brand to social media, it can be tempting to sign up for everything under the sun. But the truth is, you don’t need a presence on every network in order to be successful! Instead, focus on one or two platforms that seem like the best fit for your company (Facebook and Twitter are among the most popular) and monitor your performance over time. After a while, if you are satisfied with the results and feel prepared to take on new platforms, then go for it!

Myth #2: You Can’t Measure Return on Investment in Social Media At first blush, it’s hard to see how social media activity can be quantifiable. Sure, the extra chatter surrounding your brand can’t hurt, but where exactly is the added value? Fortunately, most social media tools have built in analytics that quantify brand awareness, engagement, fan demographics, and much more. This is especially useful for evaluating comparing different social media strategies, and figuring out what content resonates the most with your audience.

Myth #3 Social Media Takes Too Much Time The sheer volume of content on social media is overwhelming, and gives the impression that social media is a constant, hands-on project. But while successful social media campaigns do require thoughtful planning and maintenance, it doesn’t have to be an all-consuming endeavor. If you use Twitter, check out tools such as HootSuite, which allows you to schedule tweets ahead of time. Your newsfeed can be automatically updating while you’re out on the jobsite. Facebook also has a built in scheduling tool, perfect if you want to share content, but spread it out evenly over time.

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Myth #4 Social Media Can’t Make Sales It’s true that simply signing up for a social media account won’t increase your sales. Like any other marketing tool, you have to develop a plan to engage your prospects and lead them in the right direction. To increase sales with social media, try creating posts that bring your fans directly to a landing page that prompts them to submit contact information, or request your services. Or, try offering digital coupons with tools such as Facebook Offers.

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Branching Out:

Joining the Tree Care Community on Pinterest (As seen in the February 2014 Reporter News)

You’ve promoted your tree care company on Facebook and Twitter, you regularly update your blog, and now you’re left wondering: How can I improve my social media marketing? If this sounds familiar, it may be time to consider a more unorthodox social media platform to your marketing mix. Pinterest is a content sharing platform that helps people collect and organize items of interest onto customized digital boards. The items on these boards are called “pins” and can be easily shared, or “re-pinned,” onto other user’s boards, which gives businesses the opportunity to share their branded pins with other users. Though Pinterest may seem like a counterintuitive marketing choice for tree care companies, there are a few that have already leveraged Pinterest to great success. The Davey Tree Expert Company, for example, has a very active account, and choses to pin an assortment of different content pieces on Pinterest. These pins include “interesting or beautiful photos of trees through all four seasons and tree tips from Davey arborists, to crafts and home décor inspired by trees or tree components,” according to Lindsay Ridinger, project manager for Davey’s Corporate Communications and Marketing department. “The variety of pins caters to several different categories of followers, which helps build awareness of the brand,” Ridinger added. “Offering unique ideas and attractive photos for followers to share via Pinterest increases followers’ abilities to interact with the brand.” Preservation Tree is also active on Pinterest. “We especially love Pinterest because it is a great way for us to share knowledge from our blog,” said Brenda Allen, Preservation Tree’s Executive Assistant and Communications Coordinator. “Education is paramount to the success of our business, and the more our clients know about tree healthcare, the more they understand the need for experts.” Preservation Tree also has a few tips for tree care companies looking to use Pinterest for the first time. “Have your crews in the field take great photos for you that can be used in blogs and subsequently pinned to your board,” Allen advised. “Keep your pins relevant to your area. For us

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in the Dallas, TX area we like to showcase the other organizations we work with like, Texas Discovery Gardens. We also pin images of native flora and fauna to North Texas. It is important to know what trees are native to Texas, this is a great way for clients to look and choose trees for plantings.” Here are a few more tips to help your tree care company get started on Pinterest:

Quick Tips: Be visible. Install the Pinterest app on your Facebook page. This will quickly introduce your

existing audience to your new social media platform. Already have a blog providing useful information for your customers? Install a “Pin It” button to encourage cross-platform promotion. Finally, if you’re uploading original material to Pinterest, include your company logo on the photo to increase brand awareness.

Be useful. Sure, that tree picture is pretty, but that doesn’t mean you should pin it! Be very

selective with the images that you add to your boards. Pins that provide useful, actionable information are very coveted and likely to get re-pinned by your followers.

Be relevant. As you’re learning about Pinterest, familiarize yourself with the main categories

users like to “pin” about. Tree care companies will probably do well pinning under popular, pre-set topics such as Gardening, Outdoors, Science & Nature, and even Home Décor.

Run contests. This is a great way to engage your fan base! Just remember to follow

Pinterest’s anti-spam rules, and to keep your contest fun and useful. If you have a lawyer available, ask them to take a look at your proposed contest to make sure it is compliant with state regulations and the Pinterest Terms of Service.

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Yelp Tips for Tree Care Companies (As seen in the June 2014 Reporter News)

If you run a tree care company, you can’t afford to ignore your Yelp listing. Why? Yelp is a popular website that allows visitors to write reviews of local businesses, especially service-oriented businesses such as tree care companies. Your potential customers are likely to research your Yelp profile before deciding to do business with you, so it’s imperative that you put your best foot forward on your Yelp profile. Of course, can’t control everything on Yelp, nor can you censor bad business reviews or low ratings. But, there are still quite a few things you can do to make the most of your Yelp listing. Here are a few quick tips:

Fill out your profile to completion. OK, this one should be a no-brainer, but you’d

be surprised how many businesses neglect this simple task! As a general rule, you should provide as much information as possible; the less your prospects have to work to find the information they’re looking for, the more likely they are to contact your business. Profile enhancements such as videos, photo slideshows, and call to action buttons are easy to incorporate, and are very eye-catching.

Read your competitors’ profiles. It’s always a good idea to know what the

competition is up to, and perusing their Yelp listings can help you shape your own Yelp strategy. Is your competition offering coupons? What are their customers saying? Are they buying ads on the site? Do they link to a professional website? Take a few minutes to answer these questions, then figure out how you can outperform your competition on Yelp.

Buy targeted, local advertising. Have a little extra cash? You may want to buy

ads directly on Yelp! Your brand can appear next to Yelp search results and/or adjacent to related business listings. A Yelp Account Manager can advise as to the best paid advertising strategy for your tree care business.

Create a Yelp Deal. You can create vouchers for your prospects to buy - directly from

your Yelp listing. This is a great way to set your listing apart from the competition and attract new customers to your tree care business. Tree care companies may also benefit from having

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a “Get a Quote” call to action button installed on their Yelp profile, as it makes it very easy for customers to take that first step!

Further Reading For more tips, visit http://officialblog.yelp.com and check out their FAQs, the Yelp Business Owner’s Guide, and other resources.

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Three Reasons to Create a Google+ Profile Today (As seen in the July/August 2014 Reporter News)

When it comes to social media platforms, Google+ is often regarded as the “red-headed stepchild” of the bunch, especially when compared to social media behemoths such as Facebook and Twitter. But serious brands cannot neglect Google+, obscure social platform though it may be. Why? Because Google+ is essentially Google’s social spine; Google is constantly updating its algorithm and adding social integrations that make Google+ an increasingly relevant platform. This is especially true for brands that are interested in improving their organic search performance, for example. With that in mind, here are three reasons why your tree care company needs a Google+ profile today:

1. Google+ is not that hard

It really isn’t, we promise. Even TCIA’s Google+ profile is low maintenance; all of our content is recycled, re-shared, and takes less than an hour of our time to maintain each week. There is no need to create fresh content for Google+ - unless you want to, of course!

2. Investing in Google+ will improve your SEO results Improving your search engine optimization (SEO) results means free, organic traffic for your tree care company’s website. Filling out a free Google+ page and sharing content on it can definitely give your brand a free boost, according to Social Media Today. Check out their article, “10 Ways Google+ Will Improve Your SEO” to learn more about how this works.

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3. If you wait, your brand may be excluded from cutting-edge advertising opportunities The Google Search tool habitually favors well-maintained Google+ accounts - this should surprise no one. But only a select few of these Google+ profiles will be able to utilize a brand-new, interactive advertising tool: Google +Post ads. Google +Post ads allows qualifying Google+ pages and profiles to pay to promote live Google+ posts into the Google Display Advertising Network. Essentially, you’re just taking the content and engagement you’ve already built on your Google+ page, and paying to expand that engagement to new, targeted parts of the web. The catch? Your brand needs to have at least 1,000 Google+ followers to participate - a daunting figure typical only of brands with old and/or frequently updated Google+ profiles. All the more reason to start investing in your Google+ profile today - you don’t want to get excluded from the next big Google advertising opportunity!

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Facebook Graph Search for Small Business Marketing (As seen in the September 2013 Reporter News)

Facebook rolled out its new Graph Search feature in July 2013, prompting speculation: what will this mean for social media marketing and small businesses? If you haven’t heard, Facebook Graph Search is the semantic search engine that gives answers to “natural language queries.” This means that the engine gives weight to your query’s intended meaning, rather than the keywords like “tree care company.” This has exciting implications for the future of market research, the way we discover business leads and how we keep tabs on our competitors. Though it is still too soon to tell exactly how Graph Search will affect businesses on Facebook, here is what we know so far:

The Graph Search Algorithm Facebook Graph Search indexes content based on a unique algorithm. We don’t know many specifics about its inner workings yet, but the basics still apply: get a Facebook business page, establish a unique URL, fill out all business information completely/accurately, and cultivate loyal fans and engage them frequently. It’s actually quite intuitive; if you provide a top-notch fan experience on your Facebook page, Graph Search will index you favorably. This is great news for savvy, small businesses that don’t want to pay a premium for online advertising.

Understand EdgeRank Graph Search also interfaces with an existing Facebook algorithm that ranks objects in a user’s newsfeed based on affinity, weight and time decay. In laymen’s terms, the more your Facebook page produces content that is highly relevant to your fans, highly liked and shared, and very new, the more likely Facebook is to bump your content to a prominent spot in their newsfeed. Having this premium newsfeed spot means you have a good EdgeRank score, and a good EdgeRank score will also result in higher visibility in Graph Search results.

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To learn more and check your EdgeRank score, visit www.edgerankchecker.com. You can see which variables you need to improve on, and even download reports to see how your EdgeRank score compares to your competitors’.

Market Research Speaking of researching your competitors, Graph Search provides the unique opportunity to discover the demographics of a Facebook page’s fan base. Graph Search can give you a glimpse into the age, gender, and preferences of your competitor’s brand in general or in a specific region. For example, typing in:

“people who like [your competitor] in [your city]”

into the Graph Search bar will give you a full list of people who interact with your competitor’s brand and tell you what they like and dislike, where they work, etc. You can further refine your search to filter people based on gender, school, employer, marital status, other Facebook likes, and much more. As you can see, the combinations of search phrases you can use are practically endless, and the amount of data you can glean for your market research efforts is formidable, making Graph Search the perfect tool to tailor your marketing campaign for your audience.

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Three Facebook Apps Your Tree Care Company Needs Right Now

(As seen in the March 2014 Reporter News)

One of the most basic staples of a social media marketing plan is a Facebook business page. Most businesses use the platform as a way to cross-promote existing marketing material, or as a way to directly engage their customers and other members of their fan base. But simply talking to your fans, while very important, isn’t enough to succeed on this platform. Installing third-party applications directly onto your Facebook page can go a long way toward keeping visitors interested and engaged with your brand. There are hundreds of thousands of business-oriented Facebook applications to choose from, and not all of them are created equal. To help you get started, we’ve sifted through some of the best business applications out there, and have discovered three categories that should prove useful for any tree care company, regardless of size or target market.

Email Sign-up Form This is an extremely useful application for companies that rely upon email marketing to stay in touch with prospects and customers. Popular email marketing programs such as Constant Contact and MailChimp offer free applications, which can be used to install email signup forms directly onto your Facebook page. This streamlines the lead-capturing process, which can lead to more prospects, and more cash for your tree care company.

Contact Form While your “About Me” section should provide ample contact information, it certainly doesn’t hurt to provide customers with a quick, easy way to get in touch with you for a quote. By installing an application such as ContactMe on your Facebook page, you’ll instantly become accessible to leads looking for more information – plus, it’s easily integrated with other useful tools such as MailChimp and Constant Contact, which makes it very simple to consolidate your prospect data.

Coupons Tab A great way to engage your fans is to offer social media-exclusive coupons! Installing the Coupons Tab on your page makes this easy, and offers many opportunities for unique branding

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and customization. Plus, it’s just another way for you to lock down promising leads, collect vital contact information, and keep your current customers coming back for more.

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Go Viral with Facebook “Page Post Ads” (As seen in the October 2013 Reporter News)

By now, most companies have realized the value of Facebook. According to Social Media Today, a whopping 64 percent of marketers see lead generation through their social media advertising efforts, making it vital to stay up-to-date on related emerging technologies and applications. However, it can be difficult to decide which approach to use on Facebook. Many tree care companies already use Facebook Ads to promote their services, but as always, things change rapidly in the world of social media. Facebook currently offers 27 different types of ad options to choose from, and adds more options every year. The most recent addition, Page Post Ads, has been lauded by marketing professionals for its ability to integrate rich, creative content into the user’s News Feed. Page Post Ads bring the advertising experience directly to the center of the user’s newsfeed, making your message more prominent to your target market and integrating it seamlessly with regular newsfeed content. This feature not only gives your company top-of-mind-awareness in the homeowners’ minds; it also provides you with the latitude to customize images, allowing for more robust brand development. This is a dynamic new way to attract fans and create potentially viral content. Aside from being more attractive, there is also evidence to support the notion that Page Post Ads deliver better return on investment than the traditional right sidebar ads. Research conducted by the Facebook advertising platform Nanigans supports this conclusion, and found that:

Page Post Ads increase ROI by 197 percent when compared directly to the right sidebar The total ROI for Page Post Ads is 53 percent for link-based ads, and 24 percent for photo

ads

Page Post Ads have a 17.1 times higher click-through rate compared to sidebar ads Page Post Ads boast a 48 percent lower cost per click relative to sidebar ads Page Post Ads increased the rate of purchasing users by 61 percent compared to sidebar

ads

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The statistics speak for themselves, but it is vital to understand how to optimize this new tool and explore its full potential. Here are a few tips published by a social technology company, Ampush, which will help you distinguish your Page Post Ads from your competition:

Maintain your brand voice with creative that will resonate with your audience Use rich media such as images and video to maximize user engagement – discounts and

giveaways can also be very effective Make sure images contain no more than 20 percent text as per Facebook rules Be sure to include a strong call to action in your post

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Part III: Getting Noticed Go online, and you’ll instantly have endless brands clamoring for your attention. In a time when tech-savvy consumers are desensitized to the clutter, how can you hope to break through and get your tree care company noticed? These articles cover several strategies for enhancing your web presence, from improving your ranking in Google search to creating a deal on Groupon.

Browse Getting Noticed Articles Getting Your Tree Care Company to Appear in Google Search Easy, Unorthodox Ways to Increase Your Web Traffic Native Advertising: The Newest Way to Earn Viral Media Capture New Leads with an Online "Remarketing" Strategy Attract New Customers with "Deal-of-the-Day" Websites

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Getting Your Tree Care Company to Appear in Google Search

(As seen in the May 2014 Reporter News)

Google is constantly tweaking its search engine algorithm, which is the tool it uses to process

information on the web, rank content, and generate search results based on user queries. While

most algorithm tweaks pass unnoticed, a large update called “Hummingbird,” which was

introduced late last year (2013), may affect where you tree care company website appears in

Google search results.

Your website isn’t the only one affected; 90 percent of search results are being altered thanks to

Hummingbird, according to Social Media Today. As such, it’s worth taking a few minutes to learn

how Hummingbird will affect your tree care company’s online presence – and how you can tweak

your web content to earn a better spot in Google’s search results.

Want Hummingbird to give your website a prime spot in the Google search results? Make sure

you have the following items up to snuff:

High-quality Content

Like the old Google algorithms, Hummingbird loves seeing high-quality content! Under the old

system, Google ranked content based on keyword matching. In other words, the more relevant

keywords your website has, the better search result ranking. Unfortunately, this meant that many

writers started “keyword stuffing,” which meant they filled web pages with nonsense keywords

in an attempt to cheat the system.

Hummingbird, however, is smart enough to detect this behavior and punish websites that engage

in it. If your website is already producing excellent content on a regular basis – by updating your

company blog, for example – then this is good news for you! Keep generating fresh content, and

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while you shouldn’t forget about keywords entirely, you can now relax and write naturally without

losing out to sites that try to game the system.

Voice Search Compatibility

Voice Search is a Google product that allows users to use Google Search by issuing verbal

commands to a mobile phone or computer. Your target market is increasingly turning to mobile

search to find the products and services they need, so it’s worth the effort to ensure your website

is easily accessed from mobile devices.

The most important thing, of course, is to make sure your website is “mobile-friendly,” meaning

that it is easy to view and interact with on a mobile device. Once that is taken care of, it’s time

to revisit your web content to ensure that it is written in “natural voice.”

“Natural voice” refers to the fact that users who speak their queries aloud often phrase them

different from typed queries. For example, a user might type “tree care companies in New

Hampshire” while doing research on their computer, but might say, “where can I find a New

Hampshire tree removal service?” when speaking a command into a phone. This is a subtle

difference, but it can affect where you appear in the search results if you don’t account for it.

The best solution? Create a tree care FAQ for homeowners on your website! This is a great way

to capture traffic from “natural voice” queries, especially considering that many of these queries

are phrased as direct questions. Plus, you’re providing useful information for your prospects to

read, which gives them yet another reason to hire your company.

Social Media Engagement

With Hummingbird, Google now has the infrastructure to better process signals and conversations

that take place on social media, especially on Google+, according to Search Engine Land.

There is good reason to believe that the Hummingbird algorithm, or future Google algorithm

updates, will be able to extract clear signals of value from Google+. As such, now is the time to

boost your Google+ account, and make a point of regularly cross-promoting your content there.

As an added bonus, your Google+ account can be integrated with Google AdWords paid

advertising as a social extension, which gives your ad an interactive and aesthetic boost –

assuming you want to invest in paid advertising strategy.

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Easy, Unorthodox Ways to Increase Your Web Traffic

(As seen in the December 2013 Reporter News)

There are endless tactics you can employ to increase traffic to your website. Traditional approaches favor using a blend of search engine optimization and paid advertising techniques, usually married to high-quality content.

While this is a tried-and-true approach, there are still several lesser-known, low-cost strategies you can incorporate into your inbound marketing strategy. Here are a few simple tools and techniques that anyone can use to increase their web traffic – novices and experts alike:

Stumbleupon

Stumbleupon is a “discovery search engine” that finds web content for its users and makes recommendations based on what it learns about the users’ preferences.

Stumblers fill out a profile that indicates their areas of interest, and then proceed to “upvote” or “downvote” the pages that are presented by the algorithm. For example, if you indicate that “tree care” is a topic that interests you, then Stumbleupon presents web pages with that tag on your screen, and permits you to submit a rating.

In this way, the bad content in the Stumbleupon network is buried by the crushing power of peer reviews and quality content can potentially go viral.

How can you leverage Stumbleupon to your advantage? Start by visiting Stumbleupon.com and filling out a profile. Then, submit the webpage that you want people to discover! It’s as simple as that. Submitting fresh content is key to success, so take the time to generate quality material and index it on Stumbleupon routinely.

Technorati

In their own words, Technorati was “founded to help bloggers succeed by collecting, highlighting and distributing the global online conversation.” It was the very first blog search engine, and today serves as a popular directory that can get your content in front of the millions of consumers using the Technorati database.

To index your blog, visit Technorati.com, create an account, and fill out your profile to completion. You will be asked to submit a link to your blog feed, and to temporarily place a “verify” token in one of your blog posts.

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Once you have effectively claimed and categorized your blog, you are indexed in the Technorati directory – for free! Then, it’s just a matter of regularly updating your blog with fresh, useful content, and watching your Technorati Authority rise in your subject category over time.

Guest Blogging

Routinely updating your own blog is definitely an excellent way to get search engines to index your website favorably. But don’t discount the value of guest blogging for someone else!

If you know someone of import in your area of the blogosphere, try asking them if you can author a guest blog post for them. This is an easy way to get in front of a new audience, link back to your own website or social media pages (thereby improving your stats in Google), and improve your reputation in the tree care industry.

If you’re thinking that it might be difficult to find a “thought leader” to guest blog for – think again! TCIA has a thriving blog and regularly publishes guest posts by our member tree care companies. If you have something you want to share with the world, just let us know, and we’ll give you the platform to publish your thoughts – and drive traffic to your site, of course! Contact marketing@tcia.org for more details.

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Native Advertising: The Newest Way to Earn Viral Media

(As seen in the January 2014 Reporter News)

You’ve set up a Facebook page, a Twitter account, regularly update your blog, and have established quite an online following for your tree care company. At this point, you’re probably wondering: “Is there anything we can do to take this to the next level?” Fortunately, there is – by investing in a concept known as native advertising,

Native advertising is an online advertising method in which brands attempt to integrate themselves directly into the user experience. Native ads match both the form and the function of the user experience in which it is placed, which makes them far less intrusive and much more likely to be read. You may have heard of native advertising’s historical equivalent, “product placement and integration,” where prominent brands are seamlessly integrated into film backgrounds and plotlines. Native advertising simply brings this concept to the web, where the brand experience can be more interactive.

Examples of native advertising include Page Post Ads on Facebook, Promoted Tweets on Twitter, guest blogging opportunities, and more notably, a popular platform known as BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed and Native Advertising

BuzzFeed is a website that rapidly curates online content to produce a snapshot of the viral web in real time. Or, as BuzzFeed prefers to put it, their website is “a place for you to discover, share and track everything awesome that is happening on the Internet as soon as it happens.” As such, it is the best place to start learning about the concept of native advertising and how it can be applied to your marketing campaign.

Most of the articles are simple, entertaining lists about topical events or niche interests. A quick visit to www.buzzfeed.com will show you everything you need to know about article formatting; you will find that numbered lists are extraordinarily popular, and that prominent topics such as pop culture and world news dominate the home page. The content is designed to be short, simple and easily shareable.

Most articles are user-submitted, but you can opt for a paid advertising to start your native advertising campaign. To begin this process, visit www.buzzfeed.com/advertise to speak with a staffer about your business, your marketing goals, and the sort of content you can produce if you decide to partner with them.

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Further Reading

Perhaps your tree care company is too small to justify a BuzzFeed partnership, but you’re still intrigued by the concept of native advertising and the principles behind it. A second option is to read up on the BuzzFeed native advertising case studies, found here: www.buzzfeed.com/download/casestudies.

Another option is to start a blog for your tree care company, and update it with posts that mimic BuzzFeed’s highly shareable style; write articles that are short, authentic, shareable, and useful to consumers. Or, make use of emerging native advertising technology, provided by companies such as Adsyoulike, AdsNative and Nativo to explore other native advertising options.

A quick Google search will reveal many articles devoted to the topic of native advertising, but if you have time, watch the interview “Venture Capital: Jon Steinberg, President of BuzzFeed” produced by the YouTube channel This Week in Startups for an inside look at what makes BuzzFeed so adept at producing and sharing the most viral content on the internet.

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Capture New Leads with an Online “Remarketing” Strategy (As seen in the April 2014 Reporter News)

Most marketers are familiar with the process of buying traditional web advertisements. This typically consists of crafting a message, purchasing space for it adjacent to relevant web traffic, and then monitoring and tweaking the ad’s performance as the campaign progresses. “Remarketing” introduces a new dimension to this process. In a general sense, remarketing is a form of online advertising in which customers are targeted based on their previous online activity. This means that you can aggressively market your brand to customers who have already visited your website, but who left before they decided to patronize your tree care company. How does this work? Remarketing is accomplished by planting “cookies” on your website, which are unique bits of data that track online behavior. These cookies attach themselves to your site’s visitors, and once they leave the site, ads with the corresponding cookie will be served to them across the web. You can even customize the cookies to serve specific ads based on the pages your customers visited while browsing your site. You can’t get more specific than that! Setting up a remarketing campaign can require a lot of work, but there are several reasons why it is worth your while. First, by targeting prospects who are already familiar with your brand, you are increasing the likelihood that they will buy something from you. This means you are using your advertising dollars more effectively to maintain “top-of-mind” awareness in your target audience. It also allows you to prod them further along in the buying cycle long after they leave your website, which means you don’t have to allocate precious manpower to chase down stray leads. A well-designed remarketing program will chase them down for you! Ready to get started? Remarketing campaigns are typically executed using Google AdWords and Analytics, as these programs have user-friendly remarketing tools and vast display network. A quick web search will bring up Google’s built-in tutorials on the topic. You can also use Facebook’s “Custom Audiences” tool for a more robust remarketing campaign.

Further Reading Remarketing is a broad topic, with many nuances that are beyond the scope of this article. Read the “Ultimate Guide to AdWords Remarketing” on www.ppchero.com to learn how to boost your AdWords campaign, or check out “Remarketing 101 – The Basics You Should Know” on www.verticalresponse.com for a more comprehensive overview of the topic.

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Attract New Customers with

“Deal-of-the-Day” Websites (As seen in the April 2015 Reporter News)

Looking for a simple, fast way to

generate new leads for your tree care

business? Try partnering with a “deal-

of-the-day” website! These sites will

promote your product or service at a

deep discount for a limited time, which

encourages new customers to quickly

purchase vouchers for your business.

For example, you can partner with the most popular “deal-of-the day” website, Groupon, to offer

an $80 voucher redeemable for $250 worth of tree trimming services, enticing customers who

otherwise wouldn’t give you a second glance.

There are many benefits to this unique, bold approach, but don’t forget to exercise caution as

well. We’ve listed a few pros and cons below:

PROs:

Group buying formula. Did the previous example sound like a steep, risky

discount? It can be, but many of these sites offer built-in protection by using the “group

buying formula.” This means your discount is only available if a minimum number of

buyers purchase the voucher, which protects your business by ensuring you can recoup

or at least mitigate the loss from the discount with sheer quantity.

Built-in market. You won’t spend time chasing down leads; Groupon, for example,

boasts 53.2 million active customers, and can help you identify which ones will be

interested in your business through email marketing campaigns and targeted ads.

CONs:

Can be costly. It’s true that the group buying formula offers some protection, but it

isn’t fool-proof! In reality, many companies actually lose money when they partner with

deal-of-the-day sites and offer ambitious discounts. However, depending on your goals,

this may not be a bad thing; if you want to increase brand awareness and acquire new

customers, you can treat this investment as a marketing expenditure.

Fickle customers. That being said, you will need to complement your deal-of-the-

day campaign with strong customer retention efforts. These customers are bargain

hunters, and many will move on to the next deal after they have bought yours unless you

provide exceptional service and follow-up regularly.

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Part IV: Discounts, Promotions & Event Marketing Is business a bit slow? Using special, limited-time discounts or promotions can be an effective way to generate interest in your brand, and may even help you retain existing customers. Discounts and promotions are especially powerful when used in conjunction with event marketing. If you’re heading to TCI EXPO, these articles also provide excellent tips for helping your booth stand out on the trade show floor.

Browse Discounts, Promotions & Event Marketing Articles Marketing in a Seasonal Slump Promoting Discounts on Social Media Think Outside the Booth: Event Marketing Tips

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Marketing in a Seasonal Slump (As seen in the December 2014 Reporter News)

As winter deepens, your clients may be tempted to leave their dormant, leafless trees to their own devices. This habit can impair your tree care business – unless you have a proactive, seasonal marketing plan in place. Try these marketing strategies to boost your tree care company’s revenues during the winter slump:

Educate Your Clients Homeowners and property managers may underestimate the benefits of winter tree care. For example, winter is a great time to evaluate your customer’s trees for stability since deciduous trees will have lost their leaves. A tree care provider can easily see the tree structure/architecture, and will be able to preempt any hazards. The average client may not realize this, so it’s your job to educate them! Create marketing materials that sell winter tree care as necessary maintenance. This will especially resonate with property managers, particularly if you offer them limited-time discounts for scheduling their winter tree work in advance.

Rearrange Your Work Schedule Try reorganizing your work schedule ahead of time by saving “optional” tree work for the winter months. Take advice from Steve Chisholm of TCIA member Aspen Tree Expert Company, Inc., who gave an interview in Tree Services Magazine: “We try to delay municipal and commercial services until the off-season. Municipalities have learned to budget for work at that time and know they’ll get better rates.” This strategy is useful if you usually have a heavy workload during your regular season. Scheduling winter work ahead of time also brings peace of mind, and frees you up to focus on other aspects of your business instead of scrambling for new leads.

Revisit Your Marketing Plan Winter is a good time to experiment with different marketing channels, messages and promotions. Devoting extra attention to your website, social media networks and branding is a worthwhile investment that will pay dividends once business picks up again. Even networking and speaking engagements can raise your company’s profile. Use your extra time wisely!

Add New Services Depending on where you do business, it may a good idea to branch out and offer “less-than-traditional” services. For example, some tree care companies offer snow clearing services, or sell

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firewood. Take note of what equipment you already have on hand, and think of new ways to put it to work.

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Promoting Discounts on Social Media (As seen in the January 2015 Reporter News)

What do you do when sales are lagging? Offering discounts for your tree care services is a simple, effective way to get out of the sales slump. It’s no secret that successful discounts can increase sales volume, attract new prospects, and offer value for your loyal customers. But to ensure success, update your coupon campaigns for the digital age – by promoting them via social media.

Yelp Deals If your tree care company has a Yelp profile (and it should!), then you can offer Yelp-exclusive deals to attract new customers. Yelp Deals are prepaid vouchers that offer customers a significant discount for your services – for example, a $25 voucher for services valued at $50. It’s an easy way to set yourself apart from other tree care companies, and though Yelp does take a small percentage of these voucher profits, there are no set-up costs.

Facebook Offers If you have at least 50 Facebook fans, you can use the Facebook Offers tool to increase your sales and audience engagement! Check out TCIA’s Facebook page for examples – each month we post an Offer advertising discounts on our products. Setting a time limit on the Offer also encourages your fans to buy in, plus it gives you the chance to try out another discounting strategy if this one doesn’t pan out.

Social Shopping Sites Using social shopping sites such as Groupon requires a little more work, but depending on your tree care company size and the services you offer, it may be a worthwhile investment. Groupon and its imitators allow businesses to offer vouchers to local customers, very similar to the Yelp Deal tool. However, Groupon also offers a large built-in audience, free tools for

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measuring campaign results, extra advertising, and customer demographic data. Like Yelp Deals, there are no setup costs for Groupon.

Your Website and Email List Don’t forget the basics! Even if your discounts are spread out across various social media sites, they still deserve a mention on your website. Make your social media accounts a prominent part of your site, blog about the discount, send exclusive offers to your email list, or simply advertise it on a static page. Whatever you do, make sure to get the word out!

Going Forward Remember, it’s not enough to rely on promotions and discounts! Promotions can generate a lot of business at once, but earning the repeat business of your new customers will take work. With careful planning and communication, however, promotions can be used as part of a long-term marketing strategy for attracting and keeping loyal customers.

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Think Outside the Booth: Event Marketing Tips (As seen in the November 2014 Reporter News)

Does your tree care company regularly

exhibit at local home or garden shows?

If so, check out these tips to learn how

to make your booth stand out at your

next event!

Prepare

How big is your booth? Where is it

located on the trade show floor? Does

the event host offer marketing and

promotional tools for exhibitors? All of

these questions, and more, should be

answered before you go to your next

convention.

Try creating a simple event marketing plan, just for the event. This plan should address, in detail,

your overall goals for the conference, which may include branding, product sales, lead generation,

or earned media. Write down exactly how you plan to fulfill these goals, and measure your

accomplishments after the show. This will help you stay on track, and your notes may prove a

useful reference for your next event.

Get Digital Don’t wait until the day of the show to promote your booth! Talk it up on your websites, newsletters, emails and social media, and make sure to communicate exactly why attendees should stop by your booth. Consider touting giveaways or raffles to draw more booth traffic. While promoting, don’t limit yourself to your current digital audience – try guest blogging about

your booth on other websites. For example, TCI EXPO exhibitors can write blog posts for TCIA.org

about what makes their booth unique, or to showcase new products. Other organizations may

offer similar opportunities.

During the event, consider using signage (digital or print) or interactive touch screens like an iPad

to increase foot traffic and participation. And don’t forget to stay active on social media! For

example, if your company uses Twitter, check to see if the event has a designated hashtag.

Including this hashtag in your tweets is a great way to attract attention from tech savvy

convention attendees.

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Offer Prizes and Giveaways

Branded swag such a free pens, key chains, coasters et cetera is a popular staple of event

marketing. But why not increase the hype with a raffle or giveaway? Your visitors will love the

freebie, plus this is an effective way to collect contact information from potential customers.

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Part V: Market Research & Monitoring Your customers want the best tree care service they can find. Before they hire, they likely spend significant time researching local companies, reading online reviews and weighing their options. To earn their business, you have to learn how to put your best (digital) foot forward at all times. The ideal way to protect your reputation is to provide quality service, of course, but it’s always a good idea to see what others are saying about you online. These articles will help you manage the online chatter around your brand, and provide tips and tools for staying on top of the conversation.

Browse Market Research & Monitoring Articles Using Google Alerts for Your Tree Care Business Managing Your Online Reputation: Tips & Tools Stake Your Claim with Local Search Marketing

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Using Google Alerts for Your Tree Care Business (As seen in the March 2013 Reporter News)

Want to know what people are saying about your tree care company on the web? Get yourself set up with Google Alerts!

Google Alerts are emails sent to your Inbox when Google finds new results - such as web pages, newspaper articles, or blogs - that match your search term (i.e. – Tree Care Industry Association).

Keep tabs on what your customers say about you. Stay up to date on the tree care industry. Learn what’s happening in your town. Use Google Alerts to monitor anything on the web!

Here's how to sign up:

Visit google.com/alerts Complete the requested field:

o Search Query: Type in the term you want to receive email alerts about. For example, Tree Care Industry Association or TCIA. Other search query tips are noted below:

1. Use quotes around a group of words if you are looking for them together. Example: “Tree Care Industry Association” – Without the quotes, you’ll receive random alerts that include all the words.

2. If you get a lot of results from a site that you aren't interested in, you can exclude results from that site. For example, if you don't want results from twitter.com, add [ -site:twitter.com ] to your query. Example: [ "TCIA" -site:twitter.com ].

3. You can sign up for as many alerts as you like; the forms just need to be entered separately. And remember – you’ll receive an email for each alert.

Result Type: Choose which types of results you want to receive. Since information can be found virtually anywhere nowadays. TCIA recommends choosing “everything.”

How Often: Decide how often you want to receive email alerts. Email Address: Choose where you would like to receive the alerts.

Also – You can visit google.com/alerts at any time to manage your alerts. Change your search

query, result type, how often you receive emails, etc.

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Managing Your Online Reputation: Tips & Tools (As seen in the November 2013 Reporter News)

Reputation is everything for tree care

companies. With the advent of online

review sites and social media

networks, the way we approach and

handle Online Reputation Management

(ORM) has changed drastically.

Some reputation management tactics,

especially the pre-emptive ones, are

obvious; your staff should be well-

versed in customer relations, your

business friendly and accessible, your

press releases positive and your

website informative yet honest.

Accolades from the Better Business

Bureau, your local Chamber of Commerce and TCIA will also boost your credibility with customers.

Many tree care companies have already taken these steps to ensure that they are perceived

positively by their clients. However, no matter how much effort you put into putting your best

foot forward, it’s still a good idea to monitor the chatter around your brand so you can adjust

your image, or provide feedback, as needed.

Reputation Management Resources

Yelp is one of the first websites potential customers visit when they’re looking for a

second opinion. While you can’t banish bad reviews, filling out your Yelp profile and

engaging the Yelp community helps blunt the opinions of nay-sayers. Try encouraging

past clients to leave their reviews on your Yelp page. If there are negative reviews,

leave a helpful, classy response. Also make sure to take a look at helpful Yelp tools such

as “Meet the Manager” and “Create a Yelp Deal” - this will give your tree care company

a more robust online personality. Check out the “Yelp Blog for Business Owners” for

more tips!

Angie’s List offers ratings and reviews in more than 720 categories of local service

providers – including tree care companies! Essentially, it’s a more niche version of Yelp

and is aimed specifically at ranking local contractors, which are analyzed by an audience

of 2 million households. Start by creating a free business account to broadcast your

service, which will then be ranked based on ratings and reviews from other Angie’s List

members. You can also buy ads, get an Angie’s List Web Badge, post deals, get reminder

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Review Forms and Stickers, and much, much more!

Google Alerts is a free service that can monitor online chatter about your brand in

real-time! All you have to go is visit Google.com/Alerts and tell the program to send

you an email alert when someone mentions your company online (see previous article for

more details). This will help you spot potential customer relations issues ahead of time –

and give you the opportunity to respond in a timely, courteous manner.

Finally, Reputation Defender is just one of many organizations that provides web monitoring, review, bad content suppression and privacy protection services for a small fee. According to their research, 74 percent of potential customers will change their mind based on a bad review, 89 percent of users trust online reviews and 92 percent of users read internet reviews – making this program a very worthwhile investment! If you really want to get into delve into web metrics for this project and don’t mind paying a little extra (starting at $15 a month), then this service (Brand.com and Reputation Advocate are also very popular) may be just what your tree care business needs.

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Stake Your Claim with Local Search Marketing (As seen in the March 2015 Reporter News)

Small tree care companies that serve very niche locales should consider investing in local search marketing, which is a cost-effective strategy focused on creating and optimizing local business listings online. These listings - which typically include your business name, address, phone number, and other details - increase your chances of being found by local customers, who are increasingly turning to the internet to research goods and services. But which websites will get your listing the most visibility? And what does an optimized listing look like? Research. Look around first. There are many websites (Google, Yelp) that may already have

your listing; to claim it, all you have to do is complete the free verification process. Once the profile is yours, fill in as much information as possible. The more details you include, the higher your visibility. Branch Out. There are thousands of websites and directories where you can publish free

business listings, and it is in your best interest to find and use as many as possible. Google Places, for example, is extremely valuable as it indexes your business on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google+ Local. And don’t forget other popular sites, such as: Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Yahoo! Local, and many more. Optimize. Local search marketing may emphasize quantity, but not at the expense of quality!

To improve your chances of getting favorably indexed (which means search engines are aware of your content), fill out all profiles to completion, if possible. Selecting multiple, correct categories is especially important, as is providing consistent information across platforms. Don’t forget to include photos and videos; while they may not affect rankings, extra media does entice your potential customers to read your listing and click through to your website. Get Started! Visit Moz.com/Local to find a helpful guide for improving your local listings.

This tool offers a free snapshot of how your listings are performing across the web, and identifies incomplete, inconsistent or duplicate listings for your brand. Moz also publishes in-depth local search marketing articles for further reading.

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Conclusion We hope you enjoyed this digital marketing guide, and will continue to reference it as you experiment with new ways to market your tree care company. Don’t forget – there are plenty other TCIA Marketing resources that can help you tree care company grow! From in-depth presentations to ad budgeting guides, we have you covered. Log on to TCIA.org, and visit TCIA.org/Resources to browse TCIA Marketing resources (nested under Business resources). Still have questions? Feel free to drop the TCIA Marketing department a line at marketing@tcia.org. We’re always here to help!