In this series, we’re taking on remodeling contractors and how their business can be found online by previous and potential customers. If you’re a contractor this marketing model works, we know because we use it. If you are not a remodeling contractor don’t tune out, this advice applies to all companies who want to be found online.

Chauncey:  Yeah, let me throw this is in, that you know, we are coming at this with a little bit of research, and a basic understanding of the remodeling industry. You definitely have more experience, but my point is that the information that we’re sharing is a basic understanding and some research. It’s not an in-depth, it’s an in-depth strategy, but it applies to other industries, because if you have knowledge of your industry you can apply these things and take it in. So when we’re saying, “Okay, well a lead is worth this much,” and so on and so forth, you can say, “Well in my industry a lead is worth this much and so this means that to me.”

Joe: Morning, and welcome to the Being Found Show. The Being Found Show is your internet helpline. We’re here to make sure that local businesses are found by more buying customers. You can also watch a version of this show on our website, beingfound.com. We record video. We’re actually recording our screen right now so that anybody who wants to go to our website and watch the video, they can see the reports and tools that we look at.

I’ve got to tell you, this has been a tough show to get going with all the technology changes we’re making, Chauncey.

Chauncey: Yeah. It’s necessary. You’ve got to practice what you preach.

Joe: Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a good point. We do say, “Keep trying and adjusting.” I’d say we’ve done a lot of trying and adjusting here.

Chauncey: Well, and I also think that for our industry, podcasting, sharing our video, being out there is us being found.

Joe: Yeah, that’s true. We do have to use just about every channel available to us. Plus, who knows how our viewers or listeners might want to take in information. We want them to get it any way they can get it.

Chauncey: Yeah. I think we talk a lot about how the goal is to be available in the ways that your visitors and clients want to communicate with you. We need to take advantage of this path.

Joe: Yeah. That’s true. Something that’s going to be really interesting in this show is we’re going to dig into how remodeling contractors can be found. That seems really specific, doesn’t it?

Chauncey: Yeah, but each time we deal with a different industry and what you and I do, although they’re a little bit different, I think it’s the same, that we have to drastically switch gears and take on that industry while we’re figuring it out.

Joe: Yeah. In a way, if you’re listening to this show, we’re going to be taking them through the process we do a little bit, aren’t we? We’re going to be showing them the rules and the tools. If you’re a contractor or a remodeling contractor, you’re going to see some specific things. You’re going to see what customers are looking for. We’re going to talk to you about what you would do about that so that not only you’re found, but you’re found by people who want to buy.

You’re going to see how other websites are doing and what they’re doing right or wrong. I’m actually going to pull real websites up on the screen and talk about them and show you. We’ll introduce you to some cool tools. Soovle is one. Chauncey, Soovle is one that you and I have talked about recently quite a bit. What do you think of Suvil as a tool, real quickly, before we get into this?

Chauncey: I think as we’ve talked a lot about, there’s different intentions for the buyer or potential buyer. We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. Different intentions for the visitor, and Soovle really gives you a good starting point at understanding the questions that they might be asking for each of those intentions, like do they want to find out if they can do it themselves?

Joe: Yeah.

Chauncey: Let’s take remodeling. A lot of people would be, “Oh, I don’t want those guys who are going to do it themselves.” You’ve got to ask yourself, statistically, how many of those people are going to look into doing it themselves and then decide that they can’t?

Joe: That’s me. Statistically, I’m that guy every time.

Chauncey: I am, too, because I have another job. I have a job that I learned to do to do for other people, and when it comes to doing things that I don’t know how to do, I’ll look into if I can get it done easy, but if I can’t, I weigh out the time compared to my time. I would guess, just off the top of my head, that 80% of the people researching it probably decide, “I’m going to hire a remodeling contractor.”

Joe: Yeah, yeah. Okay. We’ll talk about that. We’ll talk about how can a remodeling contractor be found, and then how do you turn that person into a buying customer? I also want to introduce something. Chauncey and I have been talking about this, and I think he came up with a really good name for it. However, I don’t know if I stuck with his name, so Chauncey, don’t get mad at me if I get this name wrong.

Chauncey: All right.

Joe: What I want to introduce is what we call Why Doesn’t My Website Work Wednesday.

Chauncey: I don’t remember if that’s my name, but I like the name.

Joe: You do like the name?

Chauncey: I do. Yeah.

Joe: Okay. Essentially what we’re going to do is at our school, at Cloud Wise 00:05:06] Academy, my team is also working. They’re my web geeks who are doing work for our clients and some non-profits around town and things like that. I’ll give you more details in a little bit, but basically, on Wednesday and a specific date, we’re going to open our doors, and businesses can come by and for free … Absolutely free. No strings attached. Not trying to sell you anything … we’re going to sit down with you, and we’re going to look at your website and see why it’s working or why it’s not working. When I say working, I mean why isn’t it making you money or why isn’t it being found or why doesn’t it show up? Whatever that is. A little later-

Chauncey: Right. Or why isn’t it working? Why is it broken?

Joe: Yeah. Why is it broken?

Chauncey: Right.

Joe: Right. We’ll go over that. I’ll go over that a little bit later and give you some details. There was another thing that came up, Chauncey, this week that we’re going to talk about that I feel like even I’ve been a little too flippant about, and that’s mobile. I know mobile is a big deal, and I think all companies now think it’s important to have a website that’s mobile-friendly, but I think it’s talked about in a way that it’s just one of those things that should have but maybe you don’t need to have it. It’s one of those things, “It’s probably a little inconvenient for my customers that we don’t have it, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Chauncey: Right.

Joe: I’ve got to tell you. I’ve been looking at the statistics, and one of the things we have is we have access to a lot of clients’ Google AdWords, because we’re watching statistics. AdWords is that thing, those ads in Google search where someone paid to show up when someone typed in a keyword. Google has got a new tool or a new view that allows you to see … When people are clicking on any one of your ads, Google is telling you how many of those people were on a … For every single ad, they’ll tell you how many people were on a mobile device, a computer, or a laptop.

I’ve always looked at those in a macro way where I’m looking at a client’s data as a whole percentage of how many people, but when you really look in at an ad now, and you can see on Google how many people are on a desktop, mobile, or tablet, do you know, most of them that I look at are all mobile? Most of the ads-

Chauncey: Yeah. Well, it’s funny, because there used to be a time where … Not too far back. Just a couple of months back … where we would look at those, and we expected certain industries to have more mobile, but now it’s really kind of across the board. It doesn’t really seem to matter what industry they’re in. Most of those visits are mobile.

Joe: Yeah. That happened quick. Now, I’ve been watching it. I feel a little bit like Chicken Little telling when the sky is falling if you’re not mobile-ready. I think I just got complacent. I was like, “Okay. I’ve got to be mobile ready. We’ll get there,” but man, it changed quick. It finished changing quick, where I don’t know. If you’re not being found mobilely or people don’t like your site mobilely, I think we’re at the point where it’s actually hurting your income, like big time.

Chauncey: Oh. We’re way beyond that.

Joe: But big time.

Chauncey: We’re to the point where we can in a blanket term say, “No matter which industry you’re in, it’s hurting you.” Yeah.

Joe: For real. Yeah. Okay. These are things we’re going to talk about. We’re going to talk about what’s going on with contractors. We’ll tell you what to do. Bring up mobile. I’ve got some advice for you on how you can handle this. You are listening to the Being Found Show. We are your internet marketing helpline, and right after this break, we’ll be right back. Thank you.