An internal link is a hyperlink in an online document, web page or blog post that, when clicked, takes the visitor to another section of that same document, page or post, or to an entirely different document, web page or blog post within the same domain.
Here are four reasons why effective use of internal links in your roofing company's website and blog is absolutely critical for search engine optimization:
- Internal linking tells search engines that you think the document, web page or blog post you are linking to contains valuable content. Basically, if you aren't endorsing your own content, why should anyone else think it's important?
- Internal linking enhances the visitor's experience. Leading potential customers to other related content within your website or blog will give them more of the valuable information they need to decide whether or not they should contact your company for roofing jobs.
- Internal linking reduces your bounce rates. When someone views a web page or blog post, giving them additional related pages to link to will reduce the amount of times they visit just one page and then leave your site. Low bounce rates help your web pages and blog posts rank higher with search engines.
- Internal linking improves indexing. Helping search engines easily travel from one web page or blog post to the next enables indexing to happen faster than normal. Indexing web pages and online documents is a huge part of what allows search engines to display results for a search query so quickly. The better and faster they can index your website or blog, the higher your individual pages and posts will rank when people search for roofing services in your area.
I recommend incorporating internal links into new web pages and blog posts to similar content throughout your website and blog as you create them. And as soon as you publish a page or post, your next step should be to go create at least two internal links coming in to that new web page or blog post from other existing pages or posts (where it makes sense).
Can you have too many internal links? Well, too much of anything is bad. Having no internal links is obviously not good, and having too many isn't good either, so you need to strike a balance.
I recommend using 1 to 5 internal links for every 500 words you type. For example, if you have a 1,500 word blog post you should have between 3 and 15 links.
I don't normally recommend linking more than one word or word groupings to the exact same destination page, post or document, but sometimes it is helpful if what you are linking to has multiple extremely relevant keywords.
If you have any questions about internal linking or search engine optimization, or would like help with creating content for your roofing company's website or blog, please feel free to contact RoofPal any time.
This episode of the RoofPal Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Dataforma. With their best-in-class web-based business management services, Dataforma can help you to run a more profitable roofing business. For more information, please call (866) 764-9992 or visit them online at www.Dataforma.com.
Here are five things to keep in mind when writing posts for your roofing company's blog:
1. Know who you are you writing for
Don't try to make a blog post appealing to everyone. Each blog post you write should be targeting a very specific demographic, such as "commercial facilities managers who may be looking for alternatives to re-roofing", or "homeowners who don't know what to do after a hail storm", etc. Try selecting 10 of your existing customers that most represent your target audience, then write blog posts with them in mind.
2. Write about what your customers care about
Your blog posts should be focused on answering questions that you believe your existing or potential roofing customers have, or solving problems they may be experiencing. For more on this, please also see my blog post titled 'Is your roofing website optimized for the wrong things?'. Start by writing down 20 common problems your customers have with their roofs and write about those (service work, new construction, re-roofing, etc.).
3. Write like a real person
Your blog posts should be your perspective on a particular topic, and in your voice. People don't connect with mass amounts of information - they connect with you, the author of the blog. Have a personality. Make an occassional joke. Don't be afraid to be yourself.
4. Allow and encourage interaction
Offer your blog post readers an easy way to contact you, enable them to comment on your blog post and encourage them to do so. Also make sure there is a way they can share your blog posts with their connections on social media.
5.Don't hoard information
Don't be afraid of your competitors stealing your ideas. Provide your honest insights on roofing issues and how to resolve them. Let your customers understand your thought process in recommending solutions for them using real-world examples.
Blogging is an investment
Don't be fooled - blogging is hard, time-consuming work but if you think of it as a long-term investment and are patient for the results to come it will really pay off. I recommend posting 1 or 2 blog posts per week. Trust me, there is no shortage of things to talk about if you really think about your customers' problems, how you met them, the last 20 jobs you did, etc.
If you have any questions about blogging for your roofing company, please feel free to email me at RoofPal@gmail.com. And if you have a blog already, please feel free to leave a link to it in the comments below.
I found this great infographic on what is actually important for search engine optimization (SEO) and how important each factor is, and wanted to share it with my friends in the roofing industry (contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors).
What is most important to getting your roofing website or blog to the top of Google search? Here is a list (in no particular order):
Content quality. All pages of your website need to be well written, and there must be a substantial amount of high quality original information.
Content research. You should do fairly extensive research on which keywords are the most used to search for the content you are sharing.
HTML titles. Make sure your HTML title tags contain keywords that are relevant to the content on the page.
Architecture crawl. Make sure search engines can easily "crawl", or scan for current information, all the pages on your website or blog.
Link quality. Make sure the links on your website or blog go to trusted, high-quality websites.
Link text. Don't use link to another page on your website or blog using the words "click here" (or something similar), highlight a good keyword or phrase that makes sense for the destination page and make that word or phrase become the linked text.
Trust/authority. Your website or blog will become a trusted authority as a result of lots of inbound links, many shares on social media, and other similar factors.
Physical proximity. The closer geographically you are to someone, the better.
Additionally, here are the second-tier items that will help get your roofing website or blog to the top of Google search:
Words and phrases. On each page, make sure you are using the words and phrases that you want it to be found for when someone does a Google search.
Engaging content. Use your website or blog's analytics to see not only how many page visits you get, but how long people spend looking at the page. Are they opening it and then clicking back or closing the window quickly after, or are they reading the whole page?
Fresh content. Are you producing new content and is it relevent to the "hot" search topics of your industry?
HTML description. Make sure your meta description tags accurately describe what the page is about.
Social reputation. Are people who are respected on social media sharing links to your website or blog?
History. The more someone visits your website or blog, and especially if they have "Liked" something on Facebook or shared on social media in any way, the higher other pages on your website or blog will begin to show up for them on search.
Last but not least, here are some additional items to consider that do have some impact on how your roofing website or blog will be found on Google search:
HTML headers. Make sure headlines and sub-headers use proper header tags with relevant keywords.
Page speed. The faster your page loads, the better.
URL format. The shorter a URL is, the better. Also, make sure the URL contains meaningful keywords to the topics of the webpage or blog post.
Number of links. The more external links that point to your website or blog, the better.
Social shares. The more people who share links to your webpage or blog post on social media, the better.
History. The longer your website or blog has existed, the better.
Social connections. The more those you are connected to on social media Like, comment on, re-Tweet, etc. posts containing links to your website or blog, the better.
Please also note the pink and orange sections at the bottom of the chart that discuss violations and blocking. These are some things you definitely do not want to be doing, as it will decrease your positioning in Google search.
If you have any questions about this blog post, please email me at Chris@RoofPal.com.
