A carpet cleaner in northern California runs a pay-per-click search engine marketing campaign for a month. He receives 108 visits to his landing page.
Of these guests, 62 also visit other pages on his site, and more than a third of them click to his About Us and Testimonials pages. They want to know who he is and what others think about him.
A home cleaning service in Ohio gets 130 visits to its landing page. About 79 visitors navigate their way to other pages, including 30 trips to the About Us and Testimonials pages. Visitors want to know, "Who are you?" and "Why should I believe you?"
Complete 'strangers'
One of the most important things for cleaning marketers to remember when building a website is that you are a complete "stranger" to most visitors. They don't know you.
In fact, sophisticated consumers have caught on that even established, brand-name cleaners don't necessarily offer the same quality service from one community to another.
Even the most alluring offer you dangle in front of visitors isn't going to get your telephone to ring if they don't trust you.
And, if that killer offer does produce a call, you may have to invest valuable telephone time establishing your credibility.
Consequently, you may be thinking that it was actually a good thing that about 20 percent of that carpet cleaner's visitors moved on to his About Us and Testimonials pages. Right?
Not necessarily. While it's true that hiring a maid service may be a long-term marriage and warrant extra research on the part of a homeowner, carpet cleaning and emergency restoration services are more like one-night stands.
Establishing credibility
It's vital that you almost instantly establish credibility.
Asking visitors to click onto your About Us or Testimonials page may be all the extra effort it takes for a prospect to move on to the next cleaner's website.
Yes, people are that fickle and impatient, especially on the Internet. Their trigger finger is always hovering near that mouse button.
And consider this: While nationally about five to 10 percent of visitors to a website will follow up with a telephone call, I've seen some carpet cleaners consistently get 20 percent to even 40 percent and more click-to-call rates from one-page websites!
There are no About Us or Testimonials pages.
I have nothing against About Us or Testimonials pages. But the smartest cleaning marketers work to establish their credibility fast, right there on the landing page alongside their list of services, special offers and contact information.
They provide visitors with all the information they need to feel comfortable picking up the phone.
Here are some of the ingredients savvy cleaning marketers use to quickly cook up credibility on their landing page:
Testimonials
It's a no-brainer, but a lot of cleaners still don't include them.
Testimonials don't have to be longer than a few words, but they should include a customers' full name. "John E. Smith, Homeowner, Mesa, AZ" is stronger than just "J. Smith, AZ."
Some innovative carpet cleaners actually make video recordings of customer testimonials and put them on their website via a YouTube link. Low production quality and real people stuttering around can actually enhance true-to-life credibility.
If you're offering carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and tile cleaning, try to have a short testimonial for each.
A prospect needing his or her stone floor cleaned may not care how good a job you did with someone else's Oriental rug.
Getting testimonials is probably easier than you think. Send customers an after-the-job survey to see if they were satisfied with your work and if you can use their comments.
Logo bugs
A fast way to let your visitors know you're not a "fly-by-night" one-night stand is to include credibility bugs on the landing page.
Logos from industry associations, your local Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau are good choices.
You might even turn your number of years in business into a little banner. Give it visual impact.
Reasons why
The power of common sense should never be underestimated.
When you're making claims, ask yourself, "Why should they believe me?"
Assume you're talking to Mr. Spock from Star Trek, and provide the logic behind the assertion. This usually requires the addition of a few words or one more sentence.
Instead of "Carpet So Clean, It's Like a Breath of Fresh Air in Your Home," consider "Carpet So Clean, It's Like a Breathe of Fresh Air in Your Home. We use super-heated water that kills every little 'nasty' living in your carpeting!"
Assume that every statement you make can be seen as both a positive and a negative. Your reader will always be asking "Why?" and "How?"
If you offer to clean three rooms for $69, your prospect may assume the "How?" is that you skimp on service or the "Why?" is so you can get in the door and sell them more.
On the other hand, if you offer three rooms for $69 because "it's your slow season special" or "your new equipment lets you complete jobs twice as fast with the same quality," that may be more plausible.
Guarantees
Even more than just assuming the customer's risk, the real power of a guarantee is that it communicates your own confidence in your services.
If you believe that much in your quality, why shouldn't they?
You know all the usual guarantees: "You don't pay if you're not happy" or "If you're not thrilled, we'll do it over again."
As long as you assume the risk, most any guarantee will go a long way to help prospects feel more comfortable opening up their homes and wallets to you.
Trials or demonstration
What could be stronger than an offer to prove your claims?
This often translates into: "We'll clean one room for free, so you can see our quality for yourself!"
Name dropping
I recently visited a carpet cleaning website where they had a powerful page that listed some of their commercial clients along with actual photographs.
I saw a beautiful lobby of a well-known hotel, among other recognizable names.
Keep in mind that a manager is sticking his or her neck out by hiring you. It helps if he or she can tell the boss that you're the same person who cleans the Hilton down the street.
Consider this same technique with your residential customers — particularly upscale homeowners. People feel comfortable using services that are being used by others like them.
And remember, as you build your next website: "Don't be a stranger."
Gary R. Arndts is an Internet marketing specialist who works with cleaning and restoration firms nationwide. He offers comprehensive SEO and pay-per-click marketing packages on his website at www.FindYouFirst.com. In addition, he has introduced an innovative, low-cost SEO tool for do-it-yourselfers called TopCleaners. Cleaning and restoration firms can get a free listing at www.TopCleaners.us.
