Tree company owners have ever wondered how your company’s web efforts compare to the competition. Downs Digital Marketing has been tracking and studying the web presence of the Denver tree service market since 2010. We expanded our web presence analysis for locally owned and operating tree companies in Colorado Springs, Mountains, and Northern Colorado this year for a total of 126 companies tracked. (The update excludes large regional and national tree companies with operations outside Colorado.) Understanding other tree companies’ marketing efforts sheds light on what needs to be done to stay competitive and decide how to gain new customers online. The benchmark graphic of all 126 companies is at the bottom of the page of this article.
Why Is Organic Search Traffic Valuable?
Organic traffic is people using Google search to look for services and products for their homes and businesses. It is valuable because the traffic to company websites can turn into jobs that generate sales revenue. Downs Digital use ahrefs, a leading search engine optimization (SEO) tool, to rank tree companies by monthly organic traffic.
For example, let’s assume the following:
- Monthly organic search traffic: 1000
- Period: 12 months
- Web Traffic Conversion Rate: 5%
- Job Close: 25%
- Average Job Value: $1800
1000x.05x.25x$1800×12=$270,000
Using these assumptions, 1000 monthly search traffic equates to $270,000 in new customer sales revenue over 12 months.
Denver Market: The Denver tree service web market is highly competitive. In 2010, Arborscape dominated the market, but around 2016, Fielding Tree unseated them and became the leading tree company on the web in Denver. Ross Tree overtook Fielding two years ago and still obtains more organic traffic than its competitors today. The analysis focuses on the top ten tree companies ranked by organic search traffic. All ten have modern websites. Below are some of our findings:
- Seven of nine companies are active bloggers, generating 50,000 words of content since the beginning of the year. (For context, a typical novel is 90,000 words.)
- They posted an average of 10 blogs so far this year.
- The average blog length is 922 words, which is a lot of writing.
- All Denver tree companies, except one, are active on Facebook, with an average of 359 followers and 13 posts since the beginning of the year. (Fielding is an outlier with 240 Facebook posts this year.)
- All companies but one compete on Google My Business with an average of 148 reviews.
- 6 out of 9 Denver tree companies are A+ BBB Accredited Businesses
Colorado Springs and Mountain Markets: Colorado Springs and the Mountains are dominated by one company in each market. Google sometimes rewards first-to-market websites that take SEO seriously by rewarding them with organic traffic. Front Range Arborist in Colorado Springs has been in business for 30 years, while Lam in Evergreen has been in business for 46 years. The big difference between these companies and their competitors, with less organic search traffic, is their blogging efforts. Front Range Arborist and Lam Tree together generated over 27,000 words in blog content since the beginning of the year. The other companies must create more content about tree care in their locality and keep up their Facebook and Google My Business efforts to compete with Front Range and Lam.
What is Web Presence?
Web presence is anything and everything about a company on the World Wide Web. It includes all indexed content from its website, blogs, and social media profiles, or it can be what consumers say about them on social media and referral networks. Companies build their presence by using off-page SEO and marketing on the web. Web marketing has become the most cost-effective way to communicate with potential customers because it is ubiquitous, accessible, and vastly speeds up time to market. A website gives more information than a telephone directory ad, including graphics, detailed product and service descriptions, blogs, and pricing. Webmasters can add new information instantly, avoiding waiting for a printer to update company collateral. As an advertising medium, the Internet is faster and more flexible than printed media. Some companies have the wherewithal to market across all platforms, such as TV, radio, print, direct mail, and the web. Businesses with limited budgets can still compete effectively for new customers by embracing web marketing to build their web presence.
Is Web Presence Needed?
A business owner should consider the last time they bought something for their home or a gift for a family member when deciding whether their company needs to improve its web presence. They most likely went to Google and typed in a query to find where to purchase the item they sought. Next, they go to Google My Business or Yelp to see reviews from strangers about the local provider or ask for referrals from all their friends on Facebook. After their due diligence, they pick up the phone, go online, or drive to purchase the item. The web greatly empowers customers to make informed buying decisions. A company easily found on the web with great reviews reinforces consumers’ comfort level before they become customers. Owners and executives need to ask themselves how they can make it easy for potential customers to find their business online and keep them coming back.
The Customer Journey
Web presence is more than getting discovered fast on the web. It refers to a business’s online visibility and availability for people throughout their customer journey. People like to buy products and services from companies they like and trust. Visitors build relationships with a company by returning to its website and using internal web pages or blogs to find more information about what they need to solve daily problems or issues. Companies can build their web presence using some or all of the activities listed below.
- Website
A strong web presence starts with a business-level website. The website must be attractive to the eye and have the right balance between text and graphics. It must be easy to navigate, and visitors can determine the business’s value proposition within seconds of arriving on the home page. It contains helpful information that builds relationships with visitors, enticing them to return. The website must be mobile-friendly. Businesses whose websites are not mobile-friendly will lose out on organic traffic. Companies should use best-in-class SEO methodologies to get found online.
Analysis: Of the 17 tree companies analyzed above, 13 use WordPress. The others use Squarespace, Weebly, GoDaddy, and custom code. WordPress’s most significant advantage is its plugins offer best-in-class SEO methodologies to build organic search traffic. - Social Media
Businesses create a community around their brand by posting interesting content, engaging followers, and responding to comments. These one-on-one relationships keep people coming back rather than drifting to the competition. A company should pick social media platforms its customers use. For example, a business-to-business (B2B) brand should be on LinkedIn, while Facebook and Instagram are better suited for business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. Followers share interesting information posted by companies that introduce their brands to new audiences and potential customers.
Analysis: All 17 tree companies analyzed above are active on Facebook, building sizable communities around their brand. - SEO
Companies use SEO to improve their ranking on essential search phrases describing their offerings so potential customers can find them online. SEO consists of three legs – technical, on-page, and off-page efforts. Technical SEO focuses on website structure, speed, mobile-friendliness, and schema markup. On-page SEO or relevance optimizes individual web pages to rank higher, earning more traffic in search engine results. Off-page SEO is activities that take place off the website to drive traffic, making it more popular.
Analysis: In competitive markets like Denver tree service, off-page accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the SEO effort and cost. The two tables above reflect their off-page efforts. Click here for more information about our approach to SEO. - Online Reviews
Online reviews on Google My Business, Yelp, LinkedIn, and other referral networks generate social proof and credibility for a business. A web-savvy company encourages its customers to post reviews. They respond to negative comments, proving to onlookers that they care for their brand and are willing to do the work to make things right. All the companies above are actively building reviews on Google My Business.
Analysis: All companies mentioned above compete on Google My Business with an average of 128 reviews. Some actively advertise on Yelp. - Web Content
The analysis above shows that businesses consistently delivering high-quality content for their websites, blogs, and social media platforms usually compete well in their markets. Their content meets customers’ needs and is sometimes shared on social media, building a community and brand.
Analysis: The 17 companies listed above generated over 73,000 words since the beginning of the year, which is a lot of writing. - Digital Advertising
Companies use geographic and demographic targeting to direct their advertising to specific consumers who may be interested in their products or services. It can also invite them back, encourage them to complete their purchase, or keep a company top-of-mind as they contemplate their next purchase decision.
- Email Marketing
Email campaigns build brand awareness, keep customers engaged, and establish credibility in the digital space. Companies with large customer email lists can create a competitive advantage against newer companies with smaller customer email lists. These emails keep a company top-of-mind with homeowners or businesses contemplating their next purchase decision.
How To Create a Web Presence?
Establishing a web presence using multiple platforms can be much work. Also, expecting immediate results is unrealistic because the web does not work that way. However, a company that sets out clear web presence goals can do so systematically over time using a mix of the marketing activities listed above that best fits their needs and budget. Once a business starts taking actions off its to-do list, its owners or executives will feel better about their progress as the phone rings and the inbox fills.
Companies needing help with their blogging effort or wanting to find more new customers on the web should call Downs Digital at 303-748-5851 or click here to fill out a request service form. The owner has a degree in biology and spent summers on a tree farm in New Hampshire. We know trees and are at your service.
Colorado locally owned and operated tree companies if you do not see your companies URL in the list below, Downs Digital is glad to add it. Please email us at jdowns@downsdigitalmarketing.com and we will add it to the analysis.
