Our clients wear many hats: business owners, designers, marketers, you name it. As a business owner, you’re responsible for promoting your landscaping business while keeping track of your company’s day-to-day operations. Even if you’re busy getting your hands dirty in the field, you still need to reevaluate your marketing strategy from time to time.
A strong marketing strategy is the key to client acquisition, but most landscapers fail to consider the importance of content marketing for promoting their business. In many cases, your website is the first point of contact that prospects have with your company. You can only make a first impression once, so what you say—and how you say it—can have a huge impact on your conversions.
Informative, engaging, valuable content helps you drive search engine traffic (Google loves great content). Then, it keeps potential customers on your website and gives them the confidence to contact you.
Even if you’ve never written a blog post before, here’s everything you need to know to start driving organic traffic to your website with great content.
Nothing captivates potential leads more than a great website. We’ve all seen “bad websites,” with poor-quality graphics, bad font choices, and boring, outdated content. But we’ve all seen “good websites” too. A great website not only makes customers want to learn more about a company—it also hints at how professional that company is compared to the competition.
Of course, the first piece of the puzzle is getting potential leads to actually visit your website. This is where content marketing becomes a non-negotiable component of your digital marketing strategy.
Customers within your service area are going to have landscaping questions that don’t necessitate hiring a landscaping company. However, the answers they search for online could guide them to your company’s website. By providing informative answers to your leads’ questions, you’ll highlight your landscaping business as an authority on that topic.
“Question-and-answer driven content is a great place for landscapers to start as they look to build a depth of content on their website,” says Lisa Kellogg, content writer at Company 119. “Hone in on your team’s unique expertise and look for ways to provide relevant, helpful answers to your customers’ most popular and frequently asked questions.”
For instance, if a customer is planning to trim their hedges, they might search “how to trim hedges” on Google. If your company has a thorough, keyword-optimized blog post explaining the best techniques for trimming hedges, that customer is more likely to come back to your website for more landscaping expertise later on.
Sure, they probably won’t convert then and there, but their first engagement with your brand will form a great first impression. As that customer consumes more of your content, they’re going to become even more impressed with your brand. They might even tell their friends, family members, and coworkers about your business. Then, when they’re ready to hire a landscaping company in the future, your company will be at the top of their mind.
Essentially, your blog posts—and the other types of content on your website—act as marketing channels for future customers. At the same time, they present your company as an expert in the landscaping industry.
Since your web content will stay online indefinitely, it’ll serve as a marketing channel for years after publishing—all you need to do is refresh it once in a while to keep it relevant. The best part? It doesn’t take any precious marketing dollars away from your budget.
If you’re not investing time into producing original content for your landscaping website, it’s time to get started. Successful content marketing requires strong analytical skills to identify current market trends and understand your target audience. In turn, you’ll be able to deliver valuable content that converts website visitors into customers.
Valuable content helps you rank higher on Google, reach new leads, and build a loyal customer base. Here’s what you need to know to master the art of content creation.
Content marketing is an art form, and every piece you publish should meet high-quality standards. This way, you’ll be able to set achievable goals for your content. If you’re looking to expand your web presence or raise brand awareness, for example, you might set a goal to create shareable content.
Every piece of content—whether it’s an instructional video, infographic, or blog post—should be easily digestible for everyone. In addition, to highlight your expertise, each piece should showcase your expert knowledge of landscaping. Customers trust authoritative sources, and your content needs to make a strong impression that establishes your business as a reliable source of information.
“Try to identify the types of resources or how-to guides that you can provide for your customers that they won’t find elsewhere,” says Kellogg. “Think about the problems or challenges that they might encounter specific to the weather, climate, and growing seasons where they live, and provide tangible solutions through well-written, well-researched content.”
At the end of the day, quality content builds a loyal audience, helping you meet your goals, generate more web traffic, and ultimately convert more leads.
The best content for landscapers will include search engine optimization, or SEO, that drives your website to the top of Google’s search results. When your company shows up on the first page of Google’s search results, you’ll benefit from online exposure, which helps you connect with more potential leads.
When it comes to SEO, think about what your customers are searching for and tailor your content accordingly. Some great keywords to sprinkle around your content include:
While it’s important to create keyword-optimized content to fuel your search engine rankings, it’s much more important to write content for your clients. Don’t sound robotic, monotonous, or load your content with keywords to the point that it’s unreadable. Instead, keep it clear, precise, and write with your clients in mind.
Content marketing is a long-term play. When you post new content on your website, search engines crawl and index that content. When you publish new, relevant content regularly, you’re showing search engines that you have valuable information for people searching online about landscaping services.
To publish consistent content, create an upload schedule. The more frequently you publish content, the more search engines are going to view your company as an authority in the landscaping business. With that said, though, you don’t want to overwhelm customers with endless content.
Along with publishing new content, you can also refresh existing content with new statistics, information, and industry trends. In turn, updated content will help you achieve higher search engine rankings.
“One benefit for landscaping companies is that much of their content is evergreen, meaning it will never lose its relevance,” says Kellogg. “Rather than trying to churn out new content at a pace that is not sustainable, remember to use evergreen content to your advantage by finding new ways to update it and share it throughout the year.”
Unfortunately, when brainstorming new ideas for content, a lot of landscaping businesses miss the mark. You might choose topics that you find interesting—but that’s probably not going to drive the right traffic. Instead, you’ll need to create content with your customers in mind.
Most of our clients have had success with “landscape coaching,” or giving advice to clients on their properties without physically completing the job themselves. Your web content will serve a similar function but on a more universal scale. Primex Garden Center in Greater Philadelphia featured a customer-driven FAQ section in their new website design where their customers can submit a question for advice about their home landscaping or a specific gardening issue. This gives customers a direct line of communication with Primex Garden Center experts and allows the answer to be published as a resource for others—building a depth of highly relevant and useful content on their website in the process.
To get started, use past projects or clients for inspiration. What questions did they ask? What do they want to know before hiring a landscaper? You can turn any of these questions into an informative article for your landscaping blog. Plus, you can market your company within the article by referencing your services, linking to those landing pages, and topping off your web content with a compelling call-to-action.
Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing. Plus, businesses that use content marketing enjoy six times more conversions than businesses that don’t.
With so many content marketing tactics and different types of content, which do you choose for your landscaping business? From creative landscaping ideas to how-to videos, here are the best types of content for your landscaping website.
If you don’t have a blog yet, this is your sign to start one. Your blog guides your prospects to find solutions to their questions. Homeowners are busy people, and they’re looking for a reliable landscaping business that’s an expert in the problem they’re facing.
The main purpose of blogging is to inform your clients with useful, valuable content. Today, most customers are going to check out your blog and website—and your competitors’—before they even call you. So, acknowledge your prospects’ pain points by educating them and helping them set goals for their property. Your end goal is to keep prospects on your website, show them why your company is better than the competition, and guide them down the sales funnel.
To boost more conversions, avoid using a lot of industry-specific jargon. Sure, you might want to teach customers about maintaining their lawn during the summer or installing PVC fencing—but stick to general terms. And, of course, always end your blog posts with a compelling CTA.
Our clients tell us that video content makes all the difference in their content marketing strategy. Video isn’t an “up-and-coming” content strategy anymore—it’s here to stay, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to communicate your brand story, explain your services, and build relationships with prospects.
Videos give customers an inside look into your landscaping business—and they give your company a major advantage over the competition. For perspective, embedding video content into your landing pages can boost your conversion rate by 80%.
Your videos might explain the services you offer, provide helpful tutorials, or answer common customer questions. Especially in the home services industry, “how-to” instructional videos are popular among potential leads. You might create a “how-to” video on pruning hydrangeas, properly mulching a garden bed, or starting a home garden. As an example, Petitti Garden Centers in Northeast Ohio has more than 40 years of horticulture experience. When they designed their new website, they wanted to showcase that experience and their plant experts’ knowledge and ability to answer virtually any gardening or landscaping question. How-to content remains a major piece of their content marketing strategy.
Although it might seem counterintuitive, DIY videos instill a sense of trust in your business, highlighting your credibility as a landscaper. Then, when customers need help with a more extensive project, you’ll be there when they need you. Your end goal is to help customers feel more confident in their decision to hire your company.
Your message is only as good as your ability to share it. And when it comes to sharing, infographics are key. When you post infographics on your website, embed them in your blogs, or use them to fuel your landing pages, you’re providing a highly shareable, easily digestible piece of content for your prospects.
Think about it: With an endless sea of social media content and constant streams of marketing messages, people are overloaded with information. As a result, cutting through the noise and getting your message across is going to require more than plain text.
A relevant, useful infographic will drive traffic to your website because people will share that infographic and link to it. In fact, countless SEO experts recommend investing in infographics to boost search engine rankings and drive organic web traffic. If you’re planning to hire a designer to create infographics for your business, don’t forget to add your logo for extra brand awareness.
What’s the best way to ensure the success of infographics? Provide links to easily share the infographic on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. Don’t forget to share them on your social media pages, either. This way, your content is going to reach every corner of the internet.
Above all else, your web content should clearly explain your landscaping services. For example, if you specialize in lawn irrigation services, create dedicated pages for sprinkler installation, sprinkler repair, and any other services you offer. Your landing pages should include prices and other details that set your company apart from the rest.
To boost your search engine rankings, you can also create pages to target specific geographic regions that your business services. This will increase your chances of attracting leads from these areas.
On top of that, including powerful calls-to-action throughout your landing pages (and the rest of your content) can increase the effectiveness of your content marketing campaign. Your call-to-action should be a natural extension of your landing page.
Remember: Customers are visiting your landing pages in the first place because they want your business to solve a problem for them. Your CTA should show customers how converting will bring them one step closer to solving their problem. So, instead of asking customers to “Submit a Form,” create a more meaningful call-to-action, like “Request a Quote.” This way, when a user converts, they’ll get something of value that gets them closer to solving their problem.
While some customers are searching for landscaping services purely for practical services—keeping their lawn maintained or following HOA guidelines—aesthetics are always going to be part of the equation.
Homeowners work hard on their lawns and gardens because landscaping makes their properties look amazing. On the same note, they’re willing to invest in landscaping services because of the aesthetic benefits for their homes. So, it’s always a good idea to add pictures of past projects to capitalize on customers’ design aspirations.
For example, if you specialize in home gardens, publish a portfolio full of gorgeous pictures from past gardening projects. For bonus points, pair these pictures with client testimonials. After all, if you really want to convince prospects that you can solve their problem, it’s best to let your previous clients do the talking. This way, you’ll showcase your value and set yourself apart from the competition.
Your content proves that your landscape business is the best in town, but now it’s time to step up your marketing strategy with great web design. Too many landscapers fail to invest in web design because they don’t think it’s important—and this is exactly where your website is going to outshine the competition. After all, if your website looks like all your competitors’ websites, how are you going to stand out from the crowd?
Your prospects are searching the internet, waiting to come across the right landscaping business. And when they see a professional, clean, organized web design, it inspires instant trust. If you’re hoping to land new customers, you can impress them right off the bat with a beautiful, functional, easy-to-navigate web design.
Paired with great content, a well-designed website will give you a major advance over the competition, especially those landscapers who use cookie-cutter templates for their websites. Creating a site that showcases your brand—and sets your business apart from the competitors—will drive in new business.
To “win” at content marketing, you’ll need to take on a variety of tasks—from formulating and implementing a strategy to actually creating the content. You’ll also need to manage and monitor your strategy regularly to make sure it’s working.
Paying close attention to your analytics can help you engage existing customers and potential leads with content marketing. In other words, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions or tweak your strategy in response to content performance. From bounce rates to referrals, metrics make it easier to meet your goals and convert more leads.
Of course, analyzing all of your metrics can be pretty time-consuming, so you’ll need to prioritize some specific metrics. Your measurement activities should reveal which content strategies work—and which you need to shine and polish for better results. If you’re new to the world of analytics, check out Hubspot’s guide to content marketing analytics to start perfecting your strategy.
Understanding the basic concepts of content marketing can help landscapers develop a powerful, strategic digital marketing strategy. However, the online marketing landscape (pun intended) is constantly evolving—and there’s a constant need to tweak your strategy to respond to the changing needs of your target audience.
At the end of the day, if you’re willing to put the time, effort, and research into creating engaging content, your business will thank you. And if you’re too busy running your business, you can always partner with a marketing team that understands the needs of your landscaping company. As we’ve worked with many landscaping businesses, we have a strong understanding of the challenges that you face in determining what types of content belong on your site—and how to find the time to create them. Our team is here to help you at any step of that process.
