Gratuitous sorcery and incantations from actual Wizards.

There’s no better way to describe the relationship between Google’s algorithm and modern SEO other than, “two peas in a pod.” It’s Google’s algorithm that controls the behavior of search engines and influences search engine optimization (SEO) practices. On the other hand, SEO is a marketer’s best hope to ensnare Google’s complex system in hopes of ranking in searches, both paid and unpaid. Like Tom and Jerry on a wild chase, the Google algorithm and SEO are inseparable. As a business owner who yearns to rank up in search engine results pages or SERPs — SEO service is your best bet. Your SEO strategy is destined to fail, however, if you don’t align your game plan to Google’s robust search criteria. Countless online resources aim to lend some clarity to this topic, but rather than something concrete, most available information is speculation and conjecture. In this article, we’ll dissect Google’s search algorithm, disect how it works, and how to align your content for optimal results.

What is Google’s SEO algorithm?

To understand Google’s algorithm, we must first explore what “algorithm” means: An algorithm is no more than a set of rules that are followed to solve a problem. In the context of modern SEO, the problems are every person’s search query and the solutions are the webpages that appear in your SERPs. And it is Google’s SEO algorithm that decides which content ranks in search results. Google’s algorithm is a sophisticated system that Google uses to retrieve information from its search index so it can deliver the best possible results for a query. Using various ranking factors like meaning, relevance, content quality, usability, and context, Google finalizes which results make it to the first page and which ones remain on page 2,459 (nobody cares beyond page 3). So before we uncover Google’s algorithm further, it’s helpful to understand the general concept of how the Google ranking process works. These are split into three steps:

1. Crawling

Google uses computer programs called web crawlers, spiders, or bots that scour the face of the internet searching for new or updated webpages. You won’t rank in search results unless your webpage gets crawled and then indexed. Tip: The more links a page has to it, the more visible the page becomes for Google. That’s why multiple SEO campaigns bank on link-building techniques.

2. Indexing

Google then analyzes the URL and the content of every crawled page to decipher what the page is about. To do this, Google looks closely at the texts, media, and data available on the page and then stores all the information in a database called Google Index like a library, but instead of books, they’re webpages. Tip: To maximize your webpage’s indexing potential, configuring your technical SEO is a must. That means making sure your sitemap, headers, and tags are in order.

3. Serving

Serving is the third and final stage, otherwise known as the ranking stage, that decides which of the pages are the most relevant and useful against a particular search query. So, how does Google algorithm EXACTLY work? Well, the short answer is no one really knows, unless you belong to Google’s inner circle. And knowing the algorithm means having a lifehack to stay ahead of the curve. The thing about Google’s algorithms is that they’re fleeting and ever-evolving. Most of the updates are ever so slight that they even go unnoticed. In Google’s defense, keeping its ranking algorithm a trade secret is a valid sentiment for 2 reasons:

• First, it protects the company’s value
• Second, it protects users from exploitative marketers who wish to manipulate SERPs to their favor

Violating the second is counterintuitive to Google’s mission statement: _to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. However, every once in a while, Google decides to let the public know especially when updates are too significant to disrupt currently practiced SEO principles. Typically, Google informs beforehand so webmasters can employ modern SEO practices to make the necessary adjustments. Here are they:

Major Google Algorithm Update Names

• Fred

A dreadful day for most affiliate sites that relied heavily on disruptive ads and thin content. Although Google didn’t spell out Fred that much, everyone knows it has something to do with E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). Webpages that lacked EAT suffered from the Fred update.

• Intrusive Interstitials Update

Pop-ups are one of the most popular tools used by marketers for conversion. However, Google’s 2018 update focus on devaluing webpages that used intrusive interstitials (pop-ups, modals, and overlays). As a rule of thumb, any website that uses spammy, disruptive, or bothersome ads are penalized.

• Mobilegeddon

At the turn of the decade when Google searches became more prominent on phones than PCs, Google rolled out their “mobilegeddon” update — and it was pretty straightforward. Either your webpages are mobile-friendly or not, there were no gray areas. The purpose was to improve the user experience among mobile users.

• RankBrain

This rollout perhaps is what truly revolutionized Google search engines. By using machine learning, Google became capable of teaching itself using data inputs to provide the most relevant results to SERPs queries. In other words, Google transitioned from “reading” search characters to “interpreting” the entity they represented.

• Panda

Panda was Google’s backhand slap to countless content farms that constantly produced tons of low-quality content. Since this update, Google’s algorithm values prolific and consistent content uploads over sheer volume. Panda heavily targeted websites with poor, non-useful, non-trustworthy content.

• Penguin

Penguin was the extension of Google’s fight against low-quality content, but this time around, with backlinks. Since link volume weighed much in ranking, blackhat SEO practitioners used manipulative and spammy links to outperform higher-quality sites. Penguin ensured that Google rewards only the natural, authoritative, and relevant links pointing to a webpage.

• Hummingbird

The Hummingbird was a rewrite of Google’s core algorithm that focused on making SERPs precise to the search query and intent using natural language search. Instead of Google doing a word-for-word match for queries, they doubled down on Google removing certain words to understand the intent behind the query better.

• Pigeon

The Pigeon algorithm update aimed to strengthen local businesses that have a strong organic presence by rewarding their search visibility. In other words, Google let you find exactly what you're looking for based on your location.

• Payday Loan

Some search queries in Google are more spam-prone than others, including gambling, drugs, pornography, and of course payday loans sites. Many marketers take advantage of high-volume and CPC keywords to manipulate traffic into their site and increase SERP ranking — purging these was the Payday Loan update’s aim.

• EMD (Exact Match Domain)

The EMD update’s goal was to devalue websites that use exact-match domains or domains that use keyword phrases searched in Google. Most marketers at the time focused on building “exact-match” websites comprised of thin content but still manages to rank in Google, which the EMD update then culled.

• Page Layout Algorithm

Google has always valued user experience along with top-notch content. And while other updates focus heavily on content, the Page Layout algorithm focused on optimizing every website’s UI to give visitors the best possible UX. That meant sites with static and pervasive ads above the fold or along the sides needed a revamp.

Modern SEO practices that abide by Google’s major updates meant that your site is on the right track from the search engine’s perspective. Conversely, violating any of these major ranking adjustments would render all SEO campaign strategies moot. But if you want the best modern SEO approaches to scale your home service enterprise, you’ll need time-tested expert solutions — Wizard of Ads™ can help you with that. Book a call to learn more!

Last 5 Updates from Google

With everything that’s been said above, keeping in step with Google updates, no matter how minor, is necessary for all webmasters and SEO specialists. Algorithm alterations, data refreshes, and filters are the common culprits to blame when websites drop in SERP ranking or SEO visibility. To help you plan out your modern SEO practices, here are 5 of the latest updates that Google announced over the last 9 months:

1. May 2022 Core Update - Google Search Improvement

The May 2022 core update began on May 2022 and was completed on the 9th of June. This core update exhibited more prominent volatility in SERP rankings than the previous core update last November. Information from data providers like SEMrush and RankRanger revealed more drastic changes in the retail industry. Moreover, there are signs that Google bogged down AI-generated sites, and spikes were observed in high-quality human-written content, regardless of niche.

2. March 2022 - Product Algorithm Update

Google announced on March 23, 2022, a product review ranking update that aims to update segregate high-quality review webpages from those that aren’t. The update urged review sites to publish helpful and in-depth product reviews that also practice neutrality (benefits, drawbacks, improvements from previous versions). Moreover, product reviews should be made from an actual user experience that includes information beyond the spec sheet. So, if you’re an HVAC company that publishes product comparisons, you should make sure to provide in-depth analyses based on expert opinions and actual usage. Not only will you rank better, but also increase site visibility (which attract the green M&Ms).

3. February 2022 - Page Experience Update

As mentioned before, Google puts heavy emphasis on optimizing your website’s user experience and interface for the benefit of users. And this page experience update treads along the same path as Google urges webmasters to make the necessary changes on their sites. Here are the metrics for the February 2022 update:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — measures page load speed
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — measures how much a webpage experiences unexpected layout shifts that affect visual stability
• First Input Display (FID) — measures the time your browser takes to process an interaction from a user
• HTTPS Security — users expect a private and secure online experience that protects the data between a user's computer and the website
• Absence of Intrusive Interstitials — no intrusive, pervasive, annoying ads

4. December 2021 - Product Review Update

Many think it was ill-timed for Google to roll out a product review update, especially during the busiest and most profitable time of the year for product review sites. The December update focused on introducing two new modern SEO practices when publishing product review content:

• First: Webpages must provide evidence that they used the product in question, in the form of visuals, audio, or links demonstrating actual use
• Second: Webpages must offer multiple buying options that offer readers the chance to buy from their “merchant of choice”

5. November 27, 2021 - Broad Core Update

Google calls the November 2021 “broad” to signify that it doesn’t particularly target any niches, but aims to optimize Google’s overall system. Many respected marketers agreed that the core update wasn’t as disruptive as feared, however, some noticed that Google seem to be indexing lesser content. Amidst the recent updates, Google’s guidance remains firm across the board: To practice a holistic improvement on your overall website by providing the best possible content and not only focusing on singular aspects. With the Google algorithms out of the way, businesses, webmasters, and anyone that aims to rank their webpages on search engines should focus on aligning their modern SEO strategies to Google’s requirements.

The Four Pillars of Modern SEO

Think of the 4 pillars as scaffolding that makes up a holistic SEO experience to ensure top-level traffic is driven into your webpages. Here they are:

1. Technical SEO

The first pillar begins with technical SEO. Why? Because there is no other ‘SEO’ unless you ensure that your webpages’ links and information have been crawled, collected, and indexed by Google’s spiders. And there are two ways to give Google’s spiders instructions on whether to crawl your website or not:

• Robot.txt files tell spiders which pages they shouldn’t crawl. This is normally done to keep crawlers from indexing thin, duplicate, and private content.
• XML sitemap is the polar opposite of robot.txt as they list all the webpages that you do want to be crawled, indexed, and shown in SERPs.

On top of crawling and indexing, technical SEO is about improving other technical aspects of a website. So you may want to follow this technical SEO checklist to help improve your business’ organic rankings:

• Install an SSL certificate to signal Google that your website is secure and safe for users
• Optimize a mobile-friendly version of your website
• Improve your site’s loading speed
• Remove any duplicate content
• Add structured data markup on your website to add rich snippets to your meta descriptions (when applicable)
• Register your website on Google Search Console

2. Quality Content

If you take a peek at Google’s reminders whenever they roll out a new update, one thing’s ever-present: Improve your content. At the end of the day, quality content is king. Optimization tactics are meant to augment the already top-notch quality content published on your webpages. Nevertheless, there are 5 factors you should consider when talking about content and modern SEO:

• Quality

Unique and well-written content that adds value to your readers.

• Keywords

Infuse your content with keywords that you want to gain exposure for in SERPs. Make use of main keywords, related keywords, and [natural language processing](https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/natural-language-processing-NLP#:~:text=Natural language processing (NLP) is, in the field of linguistics.) to build the context.

• Freshness

Google loves up-to-date content. Make sure you keep your content fresh and frequently updated. This is especially relevant in your blog section.

• Type of content

Content is more than just the text found on the page. You may want to integrate other consumable content like images, videos, and visually appealing elements. If you’re a home service business, we urge you to include images of your services and products.

• Relevance

Whenever you’re producing content, make sure they align with your audience’s potential search intent. The more cohesive your publications are to their query, the better you will rank in Google SERPs.

3. On-Page Optimization

Optimizing content for users is one thing, but improving your on-page elements for search engines (and also users) is another. Here are the common on-page optimization practices you should take into account:

• Page titles, meta titles, and meta descriptions

Search engines like Google use these pieces of information to develop snippets regarding your content, and they are helpful to also improve click-through rates in SERPs.

• Heading tags

Properly labeling your headers with the appropriate heading tag helps break up content into readable chunks, improving the average time on the page. Plus, headings tags help Google identify headings from main texts.

• Alternative text

Alt text gives search engines a written description of an image within your content, helping them derive meaning.

• Internal links

These links allow Google and website visitors to easily access other pages on your website. The hyperlink must convey the context and meaning of the internal link. These also pass rank juice from the current webpage to the hyperlink’s destination.

4. Off-Page Optimization

As the name suggests, off-page SEO is the opposite of on-page. This aspect denotes the authoritativeness, relevance, usefulness, and trustworthiness of your website on the internet, with respect to how other websites echo back to you. There are three ways to secure a strong off-page SEO:

• Backlinks

The more external webpages linking back to you, the more Google notices your website making rounds online. Additionally, the more authoritative a website that links back to yours, the higher authority score your website gets.

For example, an HVAC business that gets a link back from popular domains like Carrier Global will make Google trust your website more.

• Local search profiles

This is applicable if you have a physical business, which is likely for home service business owners. Establish a Google Maps listing by registering through Google Business Profile.

Pro Tip: Encourage your happy clients to rate your business in Google Map listings to increase the authority and SEO power of your business.

• Social media influence

A backlink from Facebook to your website doesn’t give the same trust and authority as outlined above, while LinkedIn and Twitter rank in search engines. Nevertheless, social media profiles like are valuable sources of traffic to your website.

Modern SEO vs Google Algorithm Updates

The world of SEO is ever-changing, and is sure to evolve countless more times as Google continues to “improve” its search algorithm. Just remember, Google is in it to win it, regardless of the true costs to your business. The goal of modern SEO is to eliminate any refuted practices as demonstrated by Google’s core and periodic updates and to employ good, acceptable, and effective SEO practices in online campaigns to ensure positive SERPs ranking potential from Google.

More Google Updates Are On Their Way

With Google’s history, there are more major updates coming our way in the next few months. It’s a great idea to start optimizing your business’ webpages according to the most significant core updates in the last decade and the 5 latest updates from the time of this article posting date. Modern SEO combined with adherence to Google’s algorithm, you can ensure a significant increase in sales, more generated leads, and a secured brand image. If you need help optimizing your home service business to outperform your competitors, the Wizard of Ads™ has got you covered. Book a call now and let’s make your business into a household name!

As a marketing strategist and business owner, one of your vital tools is the Google Map Pack. With Google Maps, you can easily find potential customers in any location and track their movements. However, to truly maximize the potential of this powerful tool, you need to understand how to use the various features of the Google Map Pack. The first thing to understand about the Google Map Pack is that local businesses, not chains, are given priority. That's because Google wants to show its users the most relevant and practical Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for their specific location. Therefore, if you're a local business, you must make sure that your listing is as complete and accurate as possible. One way to do this is to claim your business listing on Google My Business. That will allow you to add important information about your business, such as your hours of operation, contact information, and pictures.

Claiming your listing also enables you to respond to customer reviews, which can be extremely helpful in managing your online reputation. As a marketing strategist, one of the best ways to ensure that your clients' businesses appear in the Google Map Pack is to help them optimize their listings for local SEO. That can be done by including relevant keywords in their business name, category, and description. Optimizing their listing will help ensure that their business appears in the Map Pack when potential customers Google search for the products or services they offer. If you want to get more out of your Google My Business listing, consider investing in Google Ads. By running a Local Service Ads campaign, you can target potential customers with a search intent for businesses like yours in your local area or local communities. Local intent keywords are essential to success in Google My Business and local SEO. If you're not sure which rank_ing keywords to target, consider using a keyword research tool like Google Ads Keyword Planner. In this article, we'll look at some of the essential elements of the Google Map Pack that every business owner should know.

Google Local Pack AKA Google Map Pack

The Google Local Pack is a collection of three businesses that appear in a box at the top of the search results page when someone searches for a local business. The Map Pack is different from other types of SERP features– it's not triggered by specific keywords. Instead, it's determined by Google algorithms, which accounts for factors like the searcher's location, the type of query, and the relevance of the businesses to the query. Here are some essential things to know about the Google Local Pack:

• The Local Pack only appears for certain kinds of queries: Generally, the Local Pack only appears for queries that are likely to be seeking local businesses, like "HVAC business near me" or "plumber in Seattle."
• Businesses appearing in the Local Pack are determined by Google's algorithm: The businesses that appear in the Local Pack are not determined by any sort of payment to Google. Instead, they are determined based on several factors designed to surface the most relevant and convenient results for the searcher. Some of these factors include the business's location, relevance to the query, and visible reviews.
• The Local Pack businesses display in order of relevance: The businesses in the Local Pack display according to many factors, but relevance is one of the most important. The more relevant a business is to the query, the higher it will appear in the results.
• The number of reviews a business has impacts its ranking: One factor influencing a business's ranking in the Local Pack is its number of reviews. Google uses reviews as one signal of a business's quality, so businesses with more reviews tend to rank higher than those with fewer reviews.
• Including keywords in your business name is one of the ways to get a higher ranking: Another factor that can influence your keywords rankings in the Local Pack is whether or not your business name includes keywords relevant to the query. If your business name uses relevant keywords, it's more likely to appear in the Local Pack results for queries that provide those keywords.

You can check your rank in Google Maps by opening up Google Maps and searching for your business name. Your business's ranking will appear in the search results alongside the number of reviews it has. You can also check your google rank in the Local Pack results by doing a Google search for keywords relevant to your business. When your business ranks in the Local Pack, it appears above the organic search results.

Local Search Essentials

Here are a few significant online consumer purchasing and local search marketing statistics concerning Google's Map Pack:

• 78 percent of offline purchases originate from local mobile searches.
• 86 percent of Google Maps users use it to locate a company.
• 61 percent of mobile-search users are likelier to contact local companies with mobile-friendly websites.
• 88 percent of consumers trust online evaluations as much as they would a personal suggestion from a friend.
• 18 percent of local smartphone searches result in a sale within 24 hours.
• Mobile searches utilizing "near me" and "today/tonight" have increased by 900 percent. For example, "HVAC near me" and "AC repair near me tonight."
• Over 55 percent of consumers run a search before scheduling an appointment in the majority of home services verticals.

Essentially, this is the bottomline: If you don't have your business listed on Google Maps, you're missing out on valuable traffic and potential customers. As a business owner and marketing strategist, awareness of the basics gets your business listed on Google Maps. Do you need help? Wizard of Ads® partner with the best online guys, like Google Maps Specialists, who can help you get your business listed and improve your chances of appearing in the coveted Map Pack. Book a call.

Unpacking the Map

The Google Map Pack is the name given to the group of three local businesses that appear on the first page of a Google search in response to certain queries. For example, if you search for "landscaping near me," you'll see a map with three landscaping businesses listed beneath it, along with their star rating, address, and phone number. This grouping is also sometimes called the Local 3-Pack or Snack Pack, as it's designed to give users a "snackable" amount of information about nearby businesses that match their query. The Map Pack only appears for certain types of searches, namely those related to local businesses and services. So, if you're searching for something that doesn't fall into that category– say, the origins of wombats – you won't see a Map Pack. Google's algorithm determines the businesses appearing in the Map Pack, which looks at several factors to decide which businesses are the most relevant and helpful for a given search. These factors include things like business location, relevance, and whether or not the business has been verified by Google. It's essential to understand how the Map Pack works and how you can optimize your website to appear in it. That way, you can ensure your business is getting in front of prospects searching for products or services that you offer.

Map Pack and its Features

The old Map Pack features include:

• Location
• Business name
• Phone number
• Rating (based on customer reviews)
• Categories (type of business)

But now, the new Map Pack features include the old features and:

• Price range (for restaurants only)
• Hours of operation
• Photos
• Website link

As you can see, the new Map Pack features provide searchers with more information about a business than the old Map Pack. It's valuable for business owners because it allows them to include more information about their business on their website. Some tips for business owners who want to take advantage of the new Map Pack features:

• Include your business name, phone number, and categories on your website.
• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as searchers will likely be looking up your business on their smartphones.
• Encourage customers to leave reviews on your Google Business listing to improve your rating.
• Include photos of your business on your website and Google Business listing.
• Add prices to your restaurant's menu, if applicable.
• Include your hours of operation on your website and Google Business listing.
• Add a link to your website on your Google Business listing.
• Ensure your website's NAP (name, address, phone number) information is accurate and up-to-date.

If you're not already doing so, now is the time to optimize your website for the new Google Map Pack features. By doing so, you'll be certain that your business is visible to potential customers and take advantage of the increased traffic that the new features will likely bring.

Ranking Factors

Also, think about the ranking factors that will determine whether or not your business appears in the Map Pack. Here are some of the vital factors to keep in mind in terms of on- and off-page SEO: On-page SEO: Optimize your website for the keywords you want to rank for. That includes having relevant and keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions and ensuring that your website's NAP information (name, address, and phone number) is accurate and up-to-date. Off-page SEO: In addition to on-page optimization, you'll also need to focus on building high-quality backlinks to your website. You can do this through guest blogging, directory submissions, and other link-building strategies.

Google Business Profile SEO

You'll also want to optimize your Google Maps listing to be top rank in the Google Map Pack, and that includes your Google Business Profile. A few of the factors that you'll need to keep in mind about your Google Business Profile for SEO purposes include:

• GBP (Google Business Profile) Optimization: Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important ranking factors for the Map Pack. Complete all the fields and include relevant keywords in your business description. You should also add photos and videos to your profile to make it more engaging.
• Google Reviews: Getting positive reviews from customers can help you rank higher in the Map Pack. Ask your satisfied customers to leave a review on your Google Business Profile.
• GBP Updates: Keep your business profile up-to-date by regularly making changes and additions. That signals to Google that you are an active business, which can help your Map Pack ranking.
• Behavioral Signals: Google looks at various behavioral signals to determine the ranking of a business in the Map Pack. That includes click-through rate (CTR), time on site, and bounce rate.

Google Maps Off-Page SEO

You'll also want to know Google Maps off-page SEO techniques to improve your ranking. Here are a few things you can do:

• Citations: Citations are mentions of your business on other websites. The more high-quality citations you have, the better. You can use a tool like Moz Local to help you find and manage your citations.
• Website SEO: Optimize your website for relevant keywords. That will help your website rank higher in general search results, leading to more clicks and traffic to your site.
• Backlinks: Get high-quality backlinks from other websites. It helps Google see your site as more authoritative, leading to a higher ranking in the Map Pack.
• Social Signals: Increase your social media activity and engagement. It helps Google see that your business is active and popular, leading to a higher ranking in the Map Pack.

Update Essential – The “Vicinity Update”

The vicinity update is an important Google Maps update that rolled out in early 2019. This update changed the way Google ranks businesses in the Map Pack. It’s now essential for businesses to be within proximity to the searcher to rank high. It significantly impacts local business and local SEO. How? Well, let's say you own a business trying to rank in the Map Pack for a specific location, but your business is not in that vicinity. You’re not going to rank as high as businesses that are. To beat this, many businesses are using virtual offices or locations to appear closer to searchers than they actually are. Google says: “Proximity of the business address to the user is still a very strong signal, but what’s changed is we no longer require businesses to be physically located within the city center to rank highly.” That means if you want your business to rank highly in the Map Pack, it’s pertinent to have a physical location close to your target market. If you don’t have a physical location, you can use a virtual office or address to appear closer to searchers.

Google 3-Pack

Your business should rank in the Google Map Pack as part of your digital marketing strategy. That's because:

• The Map Pack prominently displays at the top of SERPs: For example, let's say you're a Plumber. If someone in your target market searches "Plumber near me," your business could appear in the Map Pack displayed above the fold. That means searchers don't have to scroll down to see it, making it more likely that searchers will notice and click on your listing.
• It's an excellent way to improve your CTR: Your Plumbing company's listing in the Map Pack appears above the fold and includes your business name, address, and phone number (NAP). That makes it easy for searchers to find your contact information and click to call or visit your website.
• It can help you attract local customers: The Map Pack is designed to show searchers the businesses closest to them. So, if someone searches for "Plumbing repair near me," your business could appear in the results even if you're not the most well-known Plumber company in town.

What is the Google 3-Pack?

As mentioned earlier, the Google 3-pack is the name given to the map results that appear on the first page of a Google search. When a searcher enters a query that triggers local results, Google displays a map with three local businesses that match the searcher’s query. The businesses display in order of prominence, which accounts for factors like reviews and overall web presence. The businesses that appear in the 3-pack get preferential treatment with CTR and organic reach. In fact, studies have shown that appearing in the 3-pack can result in a significant increase in CTR. Google 3-pack specifically has 44 to 61 percent of the total clicks of local searches in Google. It's clear if your residential home service company wants to attract local customers, you need to be certain it's appearing in the Google Maps 3-pack. Does your residential home service business need help? Wizard of Ads®™ has the tools to take your business to the next level. We are marketing strategists who know how to up your SEO game and get you in front of more customers. Book a call.

Many would agree that anything that can help understand our audience and how they interact with our content is worth investigating. Heat maps are one of those tools that have been around for a while. But are they really worth the time and effort? Let’s take a look at what heat maps are, how they work, and whether or not they're actually worth using. So if you've been on the fence about using heat maps for your marketing campaigns, you'll want to stick around for this article.

What is a Heat Map?

A heat map is a digital marketing tool that visually represents data related to website visitors' interactions. The heat map allows marketers to see which areas of the page are getting the most attention. Also to make informed decisions about where to place their ads and calls-to-action. Heat maps can be used to track both mouse clicks and cursor movements. This provides a detailed picture of how users interact with a page. This information can be used to improve the user experience, as well as to generate more leads and conversions. In short, heat maps are an useful tool for any business owner looking to get the most out of their website. For more insight or help with your digital marketing, book a call with Wizard of Ads®!

Heat Map History and Evolution

Heatmaps have been around for quite some time, but their use in marketing and advertising is a relatively recent development. The first heat map was created in the early 1800s by French Physiologist, Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille. Used to visualize blood flow patterns. It wasn't until the late 20th century that heat maps began appearing in the field of marketing and advertising. One of the earliest examples is a heat map of New York City that was created by ad agency Young & Rubicam in 1993. The map was used to visualize where people were most likely to see billboards and other forms of out-of-home advertising. Heat maps have now become an common virtual tool. They are used to track user engagement on websites and apps, as well as to understand how people interact with digital products and services. Heatmaps help with understanding customer behavior. It’s quite possible that they’ll become more prevalent in the world of digital marketing and advertising.

Heat Maps Wide Range of Application

• Websites and Ads

Heat maps are a digital marketing tool that uses heat to visually represent data. The hotter the spot, the more intense the data. Marketers use heat maps to track and understand user behavior on their website or ad. Understanding what users are clicking on and how they interact with the site or ad can help marketers. Especially with making better decisions about where to place their content. As well as how to improve the user experience. Heat maps can be used to track mouse movements, clicks, scroll depth, and other interactions. They track eye movement and heat signatures in order to understand what catches a user's attention.

• Geography

Heat maps are a type of data visualization that shows how a physical quantity varies over a particular area. The most common use for heat maps is to show how temperature varies across a geographical region. However, they can also be used to visualize other types of data, such as humidity, rainfall, or population density. Heat maps are created by superimposing a transparent color-coded map onto a regular map. The colors indicate the level of the physical quantity being mapped. With warmer colors indicating higher values and cooler colors indicating lower values. Heat maps are an effective way to visualize spatial data. And they can be used to identify patterns and trends that would be difficult to spot using other methods.

• Stock Market

Heat maps are data visualizations that use color to represent different values. In the stock market, heat maps are used to visualize data related to stock prices. For example, a heat map may be used to show how the prices of different stocks have changed over time. Heat maps can be used to show both historical data and real-time data. Heat maps are a popular tool among traders. As they can provide a quick and easy way to see which stocks are performing well and which ones are not. Heat maps can also be customized to show specific data sets, such as the price of a stock at different times of the day or week.

• Sports

Heat maps are incredible tools that give coaches and analysts a boatload of information about player and team performance. A heat map is essentially a color-coded representation of data. With different colors corresponding to different values. In the case of sports, heat maps can be used to track things like player movement, ball possession, and shooting accuracy. This information can be extremely helpful in identifying areas of weakness and developing strategies for improvement. Heat maps are also used extensively in video analysis. They provide a clear visual representation of what is happening on the field or court. While heat maps are most commonly associated with football and soccer, they can be used in any sport where there is data to be analyzed. So whether you're a coach trying to get an edge on the competition or a fan who just wants to better understand the game, heat maps are definitely worth taking a look at.

Heat Maps in Websites and Advertisements

Have you ever wondered how websites and advertisements know where to put their buttons and ads? It's not magic - they're using heat maps! Heat maps are a visual representation of where people are clicking on or interacting with a digital screen. By understanding how users interact with your website or advertisement, you can make important decisions about placement and design. Keep reading to learn all about the various types of heat maps in technology advertising.

4 Types of Heat Maps Used In Websites and Ads

1. Click tracking

Heat maps are used in click tracking to see where technology advertising people are clicking on a website so they can see what is popular. By adding a heat map, they can track how many times a certain area was clicked on. This information is valuable to show what is working and what needs to be changed. Heat maps can also be used to track clicks on specific links, buttons, or images. This can help determine what catches a person's attention and what doesn't. Heat maps are a useful tool for any business that wants to track their website's performance.

2. Scrolls

Heat maps have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way of tracking people's interactions with technology. By recording how people move their cursor or scroll through a page, heat maps can provide valuable insights into user behavior. This information can then be used to improve the design of websites and apps. Heat maps can also be used to track advertising effectiveness. Seeing how people interact with ads, businesses can learn which ads are most likely to be seen and clicked on. As a result, heat maps have become a tool for modern businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition.

3. Mouse Tracking

Heat maps are a popular tool for mouse tracking, and they can be used in a variety of ways. One common use is to track the heat signature of a user's hand as they move across a touch screen. This information can be used to determine the most efficient way to arrange elements on a page or screen. Heat maps can also be used to track mouse movement on a website. This information can be used to understand how users interact with a site and to optimize the user experience. This information can be used to generate interest in the product and to improve its design.

4. Eye Tracking

Heat maps are used in eye tracking to heat things up! No, seriously - heat maps are a type of data visualization that uses color to represent different values. In the context of eye tracking, heat maps are often used to show where people are looking on a screen. This information can be used for a variety of purposes, from understanding user behavior to optimizing technology advertising. Heat maps are created by aggregating data from multiple eye tracking studies. The data is then visualized using a range of colors. With warmer colors representing areas of higher interest. So next time you see a heat map, don't be too surprised if you find yourself drawn to it. After all, that's exactly what it's designed to do!

What Does a Heat Map Tell You?

A heat map is a color-coded visual representation of data, which can be used to understand how visitors ingest your website. By tracking cursor movements and clicks, heat maps can reveal which areas of a page are being clicked on the most, and which are being ignored. This information can be useful for understanding how effective technology advertising and website design are in driving user engagement. If heat map data shows that users are not clicking on certain elements of a website. This could indicate that these elements are ineffective or poorly designed. Heat maps can also be used to track user engagement with email campaigns, social media posts, and other marketing materials. Understanding how users interact with these materials, businesses can make more informed decisions. Decisions about where to allocate their resources. In short, heat maps provide valuable insights into how technology advertising and websites are being used. They can help businesses to improve their effectiveness in driving user engagement.

Heat Maps Limitations

Advertisers and website owners have long been drawn to heat maps as a way to track user engagement. By tracking where users click, scroll, and hover, heat maps provide valuable insight into user behavior. However, heat maps also have several limitations, These should be considered before using them to inform decisions about technology advertising and website design. First, heat maps are often limited to showing only aggregate data. Making it difficult to track individual user behavior. Second, heat maps can be biased by the location of elements on the page or screen. Finally, heat maps only provide a snapshot of user behavior at a single moment in time, making it difficult to track how users interact with a site over time. Despite these limitations, heat maps can still be a useful tool for understanding user behavior. When used in conjunction with other data sources, they can help paint a more complete picture. A beautiful picture of how users interact with technology advertising and websites.

Are Heat Maps Worth It for Business Owners?

Heat maps are becoming increasingly popular with businesses. Heat maps allow businesses to see where their customers are connecting with their website. Heat maps can be used to track customer engagement, and to understand what parts of the website are most popular. Heat maps can also be used to identify areas of the website that need improvement. While heat maps are still a new technology, they have already been used by some of the largest companies in the world, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Heat maps are an important tool for businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition. To understand their customers better, heat maps are definitely worth it for business owners!If you’re looking to heat things up in your digital marketing, book a call with Wizard of Ads®!

Imagine a ship built strong and sturdy out of lines of code and keywords. The ship is out there, somewhere beyond the broadband horizon, leading businesses to a treasure trove of leads and everlasting traffic to their websites. Its name is local SEO. The vessel is notoriously difficult to track down and even more difficult to bring into a dock. But if you can manage it and hop aboard, you’re all but guaranteed to succeed. Every business with a physical location needs to understand local SEO. With a few key words typed into Google, a map showcasing the top businesses in the searcher’s area spring forward. It goes without saying that any business interested in growing wants to appear on the top of the map section. If your knowledge of local SEO isn’t as refined as you’d like, this guide is the one for you. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to land that ship. We’ll start this local SEO guide in the most logical place, its origins.

A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization and Its Evolution

Traveling back in time to the first days of the internet, it was pretty sparse. There were few websites to visit, so navigating the internet was simple and straightforward. It was similar to visiting a small local store. There isn’t much to see. However, fast forward a few years, and the internet expanded, a lot. Soon enough, it became massive. It had grown to such an extent that it was nearly impossible to navigate as you once would. It was no longer the lovely, innocent mainstreet shops. Now, it’s a mega mall with more stuff than anyone can conceive. Thankfully, search engines came along. They allow users to find the website they are looking for with less difficulty. The way that the search engines worked was simple. You type a certain phrase into the search bar, and the engine shows you websites that include that phrase. Even Google used that same approach. However, like any good business, Google had a trick up its sleeve. Google became the first search engine to use links between websites as a sign of which websites were trustworthy. Similar to how we as people trust a stranger more when they have a connection to someone we know. As of today, Google has ramped up even more. They now use hundreds of factors, which all carry different levels of importance to rank your website in search results. Like all things having to do with the internet, search engines and their ranking systems are complex. If you need help understanding it beyond the surface level, book a call with Wizard of Ads™.

The Difference Between SEO and Local SEO

Most people’s first question is, how is local SEO different from traditional SEO? Meanwhile, others fail to realize that there’s any difference between the two at all. Both SEO and local SEO focus on improving your rank in search engine results, so that more people will be able to find, contact, and convert into an appointment and subsequently, a sale. With that said, there are differences that you should definitely understand before you go moseying along. The first is that traditional SEO hones in on improving your website’s visibility on a national or worldwide scale. It aims to get your brand seen from coast to coast, no matter the physical location of your business. It’s perfectly happy introducing your brand to someone in New York, even if you’re in L. A. On the other hand, local SEO, as you may have guessed, allows you to hone in on your local search area. It reaches locals in your city in an effort to capture their attention. While you’re grasping for a smaller audience with local SEO, you’re in front of more of the right people. 46 percent of all Google searches have local intent, and 80 percent of local searches on mobile devices convert into viable leads. That’s a massive opportunity for your business. However, even if they’re different in their overall aim, traditional SEO and local SEO use the same strategies. Aside from a few special ones, local SEO uses to connect you with your audience, including Google Local Service Ads (LSA). You're not to blame if you aren’t familiar with Local Service Ads. They are fairly new on the Google scene. But you can learn more here.

Ranking Factors

Do you recall the hundreds of ranking factors that are each valued differently? Well, it’s time that we revisit those and come to understand them on a deeper level. Don’t panic! You don’t need to understand all 200, only those with the highest value. At their core, ranking factors are the criteria that Google uses when evaluating websites to determine the best order of results. Understanding those factors is necessary for effective SEO. That goes for all marketers, creators, and everyday SEO professionals. If you don’t understand them and you’re trying to make effective results in those fields, good luck. Unfortunately, you’ll need it because they aren’t the only important thing, but they are essential to elevating your domain rank. An elite user experience leads to more conversions. Below, we’re going to cover the most important factors.

Major Categories of Google’s Ranking Factors:

The following categories and factors within are the ones proven to yield the strongest impact on search results. They’re sort of similar to those weighted questions on those exams we all dreaded. This time your grade isn’t on the line. Your business is. So continue reading below and study up.

1. Domain Factors

Domain factors are all the ranking factors that connect your domain (website) to search engine results. If there were levels to these factors, these would be level one. The domain factors that Google will pay attention to include:

• First keywords in your domain
• Domain registration length
• Penalized WHOIS owner (Google designates owners of spam websites as Penalized WHOIS owners.)
• Public WHOIS instead of private WHOIS
• Keyword in subdomains
• The history of the domain
• The age of your domain
• Keywords in your domain

2. Page-Level Factors

Page-level factors are fairly straightforward. There are factors on each page that you can optimize. Essentially, all the pages on your website. Those factors include:

• The appearance of the keyword in the H1 tag
• The frequency of keywords used in the content
• Keyword at the beginning of the meta title
• The length of the content
• Word count
• Presence of a linked table of contents
• Density of keywords
• The presence of the keyword in the title tag
• Keywords in the meta description

3. Site-Level Factors

Site-level factors go beyond the surface level of the page, and instead, they look at the entire website. Basically, a bird's eye view of the website. Site-level factors include:

• The presence of a sitemap
• Long-term downtime
• Location of the server
• Appropriate contact information
• Content on site that brings value or insight
• TrustRank (how closely linked your website is to another trusted website. This is that factor that Google launched early on that we mentioned.)
• Website updates determine a freshness factor
• The architecture of the website
• The presence of a contact us page

4. Backlink Factors

Backlink factors look at the websites linking you to determine where to place or rank your page. Typically speaking, the higher quality websites linking to your website, the higher you’ll rank. That is assuming you have high-quality content to match. Backlink factors include:

• The trust factor of the linked page
• The number of referring domains
• The age of the linked domain
• Anchor text of backlinks
• ALT tag of image links on the website
• The number of connections from separate c-class IPs
• The number of referring pages
• Number of links from .edu and .gov domains
• The trust factor of the linked page

5. User Interaction

If there’s one thing we know about Google, it’s that they love a website with an elite user experience. Even in the update announcements, they show how important it is. To demonstrate how serious they are, they use several factors to measure user interaction. Then rank your page accordingly. User interaction factors include:

• The organic click-through rate for the exact keyword
• The organic click-through rates for every ranking keyword
• Repeat visitors
• Blocked websites
• Dwell time (dwell time is the measure of time that a user spends viewing a document after clicking a link.)
• How users interact on your website
• Overall direct traffic
• Bounce rate (the number of people who visit your page and leave without viewing other pages on your website)

6. Special Google Algorithm Rules

A handful of Google Algorithm rules do not link to your page or domain. Believe it or not. They involve factors that look at personalizing search results for the user or better search results in general. Here are some of those rules that you should know about:

• Diversity in the SERP
• Freshness in the SERP
• The browsing history of the user
• Search history of the user
• Adult content or curse words (websites with that content are not present in safe search results.)

7. Brand Signals

Many heavily valued factors are linked directly to your brand. Those factors include:

• Branded searches
• Your brand and keyword searches
• Branded anchor text
• Brand’s official LinkedIn
• Your brand’s Twitter with followers
• Facebook page, ideally with a lot of likes

8. On-Site Webspam Factors

Let’s get one thing straight. Spam doesn’t rank on search engines. If your website even looks the slightest bit spammy, you could be hurting your search engine results. Here are some factors that Google uses to track your spammy traits:

• Links to sketchy websites
• A lot of redirects
• Popups that are difficult to close
• Over-optimizing the site
• Hidden redirects
• Flagged server IP address
• Low-quality content (honestly, who likes that?)
• Distracting/spammy appearing ads

9. Off-Site Webspam Factors

Off-site webspam factors take a deep look at all of the websites connected to yours. Specifically, looking at what they do. The off-site webspam factors include:

• Low-quality backlinks
• A high percentage of links from unrelated websites
• Automatic links inclosed in widgets
• An unnatural and sudden increase in backlinks
• A hacked site
• Links from sites with the same server IP
• Low-quality directory links

Get Started with Local SEO

Okay, we’ve covered the history of search engines, the difference between traditional and local SEO, and many, many ranking factors. With all of that serving as the foundation of your knowledge, you’re undoubtedly ready to get started. So it’s time we get to the highlight of our epic little guide here. Here are your step-by-step instructions on how to get started with local SEO. Let’s jump right in.

Claim your Google Business Profile

Formerly known as Google My Business or GMB, Google Business Profile is hailed as fantastic among business owners. Why? Here’s a quick rundown of Google Business Profile. Keep in mind that we’re only going over the basics here. Google Business Profile is a totally free directory listing tool offered by Google. It allows businesses to create and manage their online presence across all of Google’s platforms, including search results, maps, and more. Using a GBP, you can quickly build your online presence, not as an influencer but as a business. For instance, you can upload images and videos, create post updates, respond to customer reviews, and even optimize your website for visibility in search engines. There’s truly no better way to win a search engine’s game than using one of their tools, right?

Local Directories and Listings

A local business directory lists vital information about your business. That information can include your hours, location, contact information, pictures, and other relevant information, like reviews and important links. These directories and listings can be local, such as one for HVAC companies in [BLANK] part of New York. However, they can also be global, such as Google Business, which is the single largest one available. These directories and listings can also be free to join, so you have no excuse not to be on them.

Test for Mobile-friendliness

The user experience is incredibly important to Google. It’s equally important to your potential customers. And with 80 percent of mobile searches converting into leads, it’s in your best interest to ensure your website looks and operates well. You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool to check your website. You test through code or URL. Give it a try.

Utilize Local SEO-relevant keywords

The first step to utilizing those keywords is finding them. And to do that, you need to understand which search queries most of your audience uses to find you. For that, you use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner. It gives you insight into how often people search for certain words and how those searches have changed over time. There’s also [Semrush](https://www.semrush.com/lp/keyword-research-b-1/en/?kw=google keyword planner&cmp=US_SRCH_Keyword_Magic_Tool_EN&label=keyword_magic_tool&Network=g&Device=c&utm_content=485546553093&kwid=kwd-59330883096&cmpid=11126975927&agpid=112799974527&BU=Core&extid=124582948312&adpos=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzLCVBhD3ARIsAPKYTcSbjDt0sK0j0dCr-z_ychBu6aj08qoofY1wWKkH1OSSptj5ay-dl14aApPSEALw_wcB), which works nearly the same.

Get more Google My Business reviews

Google reviews provide essential information to people viewing your Google Business Profile and help your business stand out. To get more reviews, Google recommends verifying your account so that you appear on maps, searches, and other services. But they also recommend that you remind customers to leave reviews and reply to reviews as they come in.

Use Local Schema Markup tags

Schema markup is basically a code you can use to markup elements for your website. When you markup those elements, you help search engines understand them better. Thus, making them rank higher. It also improves your digital brand presence, which is always more than helpful. Here’s [a good resource](https://neilpatel.com/blog/get-started-using-schema/#:~:text=How to Use Schema Markup for SEO) that can tell you exactly how to use Schema markup to your advantage. There it is… our epic guide. That covers the majority of what there is to offer on local SEO. To wrap up, let’s go over what you need to do now that you’ve come this far. First, reread this starting from Get Started with Local SEO. However, as you read it this time, click every link we’ve inserted. That way, you can fully absorb all the information you truly need to understand. If you can do that, you’ll have a much easier time setting up your Google Business Profile and every other step after that. When you’re ready for more help on your SEO journey, something that goes beyond all of the guides out there, book a call with Wizard of Ads™.

Did you know your landing page requires a recipe to succeed. A high-converting landing page is like a magical recipe with just the right ingredients. Too much flour and the message is dry across your customer’s tongue. Not enough flavor and your customers aren’t enticed to convert. Following the recipe for the perfect website landing page with precision helps boost conversions. Gone are the days of hiring douchebag “Funnel Bros”. You can shed the fear of missing out on leads. All it takes is the right recipe. So what are the ingredients…exactly? What is it that make sales conversion rates soar? What keeps your customers coming back for more? Is it the design? The copy? The offer? Actually, it’s all of those things — and more. Creating an offer your customers can’t refuse requires accuracy and attention to detail. Make an entree even Gordon Ramsay would approve of. Take a seat at the dinner table and appeal to what matters most to buyers. Showing your customers you care and aim to make their lives easier is the only way to succeed. Remember: authenticity wins every single time. Your landing page should be an extension of your brand image with every ingredient necessary for success.

Before Creating a Landing Page

Before you start putting the pieces together, it’s essential to remember that every landing page has the same key elements. You may be itching to break the mold and differentiate yourself from the competition. The problem? If you don’t include the necessary ingredients, you’ll burn the kitchen to the ground. And your business right along with it. Don’t substitute flour for sprinkles. Add to the key ingredients instead of replacing them. As a business owner, you must understand who you’re serving. How and who you deliver your offer to will determine whether you sink or swim. There are five questions to ask yourself before building your leads page:

1. What is your goal?

The goal is to convince visitors to take action regarding your offer. If you want more bookings, every piece of copy should point the customers to that goal.

2. Who are the competitors?

Your competition is any other home service business that offers services similar to yours.

3. Who is the target audience?

Your target audience is the group of customers you want to serve. If you send your offer to the wrong people, you’ll end up stifling conversions and sales.

4. How did they arrive at my landing page?

Tracking which of your marketing channels produces the most results will allow you to optimize your strategy.

5. How do the conversions work?

A conversion is when the customer completes the desired action. The content and design of the page will impact the average conversion rate. Optimizing the marketing strategy for your home service business doesn’t have to be a losing game. Book a call with Wizard of Ads® today!

The Anatomy of a Landing Page

So what does a high-converting landing page look like? Below are the eight essential landing page elements that create the perfect recipe for success.

1: A Clear Unique Selling Position (USP)

A USP is a brief statement that tells potential customers what makes your business different from others in your industry. There are only so many home services you can offer. What makes your offers the obvious choice? What do you offer that other businesses don’t? Your USP should be prominently displayed so that visitors immediately know what to expect from your business. Including a USP can help with conversions and give potential customers a reason to choose your business over others.

2: An Eye-Catching Headline and Strong Supporting Copy

A strong headline is one of the most crucial features of your landing page. The goal is to catch and keep the customer's attention throughout the page. Paint the picture of what challenges your customer is currently facing. Maybe their AC unit is protesting as the hellish summer months roll in. Or the pipes to their throne room have closed up shop—and they’re a family of five. Addressing your customer’s pain points and how they manifest on a daily basis shows you know what they’re going through. Highlight how your offer is the solution they need and describe how their future could look.

3: Key Features, Benefits, and Advantages

Benefits and features are essential elements of a landing page because they provide value to potential customers. A feature is the function of the service you offer, and the benefit is the impact of that feature on the customer. The advantage is the actual felt need based on pain and pleasure points. Highlighting what your customer will get from your service creates a strong sense of why they should buy from you. When it comes to creating compelling benefits and features, focus on what your customers care about most. What are their pain points (think money, stress, time)?What are their pleasure points (think ROI, peace of mind, time savings)? How can your product or service help them achieve those things? Focusing on the customer's actual felt needs will help you isolate and articulate benefits and features that resonate most with them. As a result, they’ll want to learn more about what you have to offer.

4: Engaging and Personalized Content

Here’s the harsh truth. If you don’t make an effort to create engaging content, you don’t deserve the “good customers”. This all ties back to truly understanding the actual felt needs of your target audience. When you understand what actually matters to them most, you will serve them at the highest level? Therefore, what elements could you include on your landing page to draw their attention and retain their interest? Customer acquisition is never free. Whether you’re paying for advertising or investing your time, all of it has a cost. The smarter you work at connecting with your audience, the more conversions you’ll gain. Roll up your sleeves and remember: the only thing in magic pills is elbow grease.

5: Stunning Relevant Visuals (Images/Videos)

Another essential element of the perfect landing page is stunning visuals. This could be in the form of images, videos, or even infographics. Visuals capture your audience’s attention and give them a taste of what you have to offer. Powerful visuals communicate your message more effectively than text alone. When it comes to google conversion, studies show that including visuals can increase your conversion rate by up to 80%. People are more likely to remember information presented in a visually appealing way. Include pictures that accentuate the story you’re telling. Make sure your background image is congruent with the narrative.

6: Social Proof (Testimonials/Reviews)

People always want to know what other customers think about your service before taking the plunge. For example, including verifiable 5-star reviews and testimonials builds trust with your prospective customers. In contrast, a landing page without the social proof that verify your services may fail to optimize conversions.

7: Urgency

One way to secure high conversions is by incorporating urgency. Customers are more likely to follow through if faced with a time or supply limit. Offering a discount for your most popular service is the most obvious option, but limiting spot availability due to time constraints holds a much higher level of integrity. The key is to ensure you are not making unsubstantiated claims. As long as your use of urgency is strategic, you’ll see increased conversion rates in no time.

8: Your Goal - Hyperspecific Call-to-Action (CTA)

Your CTA is the soul of your landing page. It drives conversions and tells your visitors what to do next. A CTA can be as simple as a button that says "Buy Now" or "Sign Up". But it can also be more complex, like a form that asks for your name and email address. The CTA should be placed prominently on the page and visually stand out. Clear and concise, it should tell users exactly what they need to do next to fulfill their need. This element alone is the gateway to improving landing page conversion rates. Without a CTA, there’s nothing to measure. Customers need to be guided throughout the content and become inspired enough to take action.

A Great Landing Page Is…

A great landing page relies on its contents but also on its accessibility. The goal is to make the experience as effortless as possible. Your website conversion rate depends on it.

Fast

Fast-loading landing pages help with conversion by providing a better user experience. Users are likely to stay on your page if it loads quickly, increasing chances for a conversion. You can help ensure a fast-loading page by compressing images, using a content delivery network, and minifying code.

Shareable and clickable buttons

Shareable and clickable buttons provide customers with an easy way to take action. For example, your CTA button needs to lead to the action you want them to take. The goal is to make it as simple as possible for your customer. The fewer steps they have to take, the better.

Mobile-friendly

Most consumers in today’s market search the web on their phones. Without mobile optimization, you'll lose out on customers. A mobile-friendly landing page can help you:

• Rank higher in search results.
• Improve your click-through rate.
• Boost your conversion rate.

One mobile-friendly landing page example is for Apple’s iPhone. The mobile optimization includes large images and clear CTAs easy to tap on a small screen. Even the slightest adjustments help improve the mobile experience.

Uses emotion-evoking colors

Your brand colors should make your customers feel. Ensure continuity by sticking with your brand colors. Create cohesion across your images and colors relevant to your offer. The vibrant red of the Coca-Cola logo evokes excitement and passion. The forest green hue of the Starbucks logo symbolizes affluence and freshness. What emotion do you want to elevate in your customers when they think of you?

Contains “Thank You” Page

Creating a well-designed and thoughtfully written thank you page is a powerful way to show your appreciation. This will help you humanize your brand and foster a connection with your customers. A thank you page is also a tool to promote your website, blog, or social media channels. Include links back to your site to increase traffic and potential customers.

Tested

It’s always best practice to test your page before publishing it. Make sure the text lines up correctly. Click the buttons to check the CTA link and ensure it leads to the right place. Be sure to adjust the mobile view in the landing page builder. Test this version as well to confirm the changes you made reflect accurately. If the text is too small or something is missing, you can fix it before clicking publish.

Trackable

Last but not least, a great landing page is trackable. Analytics will tell you what customers do on it and what’s working (so you can fix what isn’t). Tracking data can help you:

• Understand how people are finding your site.
• See which marketing campaigns are working.
• Test different versions of your page to see what converts best.
• Make data-driven decisions about your site.

Every piece of data you receive is critical to your marketing strategy. It will enable you to optimize your landing page until you’re getting the results you want.

Turn Your Prospects into Buyers

The most important thing to remember is that your landing page must be relevant and useful to your target audience. Make sure that you're providing them with relevant content and a valuable offer. Include clear calls to action to guide your customers. With engaging, targeted content, you can create an effective landing page that will turn browsers into buyers. Ready to grow your business and boost conversions? Book a call with Wizard of Ads® today!

Gone are the days when people looked through phone books to find a Plumber. These days, people use ‘The Googles’ for anything and everything, including finding home service providers. In order to be found online, you need to have a website, paid advertising, and a healthy digital presence. But even if you have those things, you still need to let people know what kind of characters they are working with and why you are the provider of choice. This is where home service ads come in. Have you come upon the task of writing home service ads? Or approving the ads written by others? Then you should know hard it is to write a great ad.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo Da Vinci

Not just any ad will do. There are two essential elements that make up a successful home service ad. Keep reading to learn what they are! But first... We should probably talk about the elephant in the room. Ya know, the invisible ads that don’t actually live for more than 7 days, tops (because, you know…science).

Invisible Ads

You know the ones. They list every service you offer in minute detail and they read like a laundry list of features, hours of operation, location, and huh. What? What was I saying? Oh right. The ads that tell people how long you’ve been open, the friendly and knowledgeable staff who all have passed a background check (except for Bruno. We don’t talk about Bruno, though, no no no). These ads are often created by a committee of people who think more is better. They want to make sure the reader knows everything about the company and how and what they do, never why they do it. But here's the thing... Nobody cares. I mean, literally nobody. The only thing any given person cares about is making the pain go away, and a return to peace…order…calm…normalcy, if and when that pain ever were to arise, which, in their minds, will likely not. So boring them with this ASMR patter is simply white noise. Wizard of Ads® understands that funny little gatekeeper in the brain known as Broca’s Area. We know how to kick down the door, bust past that little tyrant, protecting the brain from the mundane. If you don’t have a clue what Broca’s Area is or how to persuade your way into the imagination, the only thing you have to do next is book a call, cause your nonsensical adspeak isn’t getting you anywhere. You're probably wondering how we do it. We won't write feature-heavy ads because we know they don't work. Instead, we focus on creating ad copy that is new, interesting, and different, so that your incredibly entertaining message takes up residence in the echoic retention of the brain. Trust me, I’m a nerd.

Clichés are Déjà Vu

Look, you’re not writing the script for Groundhog Day. Clichés are cliché for a reason. They are too familiar.

#1 best! Friendly and Experienced! Better prices! 40 years in business! World-famous!

**STOP IT!!!**We've all seen ads like this before, and we tune them out instantly. Why? Because they are unsubstantiated claims that literally anyone can (and often do) say. Not only do they blend into the background, they make you look like a bit of a knob. If you want your ad to be memorable, you have to say something worth remembering. Since only a fraction of 7% of your marketplace needs your thing at any time (that hasn’t been spoken for), you’re going to need advertising that entertains people far before they ever need your thing. This opens you up to 68% of your marketplace and gives you the time to build an earworm inside their heads with an evolving message that they WANT to recall. Cause it’s funny. Or interesting. Or downright different. And when your thing makes them look more funny, interesting, and different, you win. Listen to this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J47Rbo2BQmhGtIRL6MJPWnWCVKVvr0jB/view?usp=sharing Now that's entertaining! And it's something that sets this plumbing company apart from ALL the others.

If you want an ad that people will remember, you need to say something worth remembering. -Ryan Chute

2 Essential Elements for Successful Residential Home Service Ads

When it comes to creating successful residential home services ads, there are two key elements you need to keep in mind: Impact and Frequency.

IMPACT

Impact means that your ad needs to be new, different, and interesting. The best way to do this is to say things that nobody else would say, speak to the real felt needs (money, energy, and time) and entertain the trousers off them until they need your thing.

• Targeting Strategy: The truth is that you can target a prospective buyer in 2 ways. You can target them by dialing into demographics, geographics, and psychographics, cutting out all the other potential listeners or viewers. Alternatively, you can target with copy, saying things that will naturally be shared by both the ‘right people’ and ‘wrong people’. Bought right, you will spend a fraction of the cost with copy targeting.

FREQUENCY

Frequency of the right message is key when it comes to effective, long-term advertising. You need to make sure your ad is heard by as many people as possible, and the only way to do that is to repeat it at a very specific frequency for it to seep back from the electrical memory into the chemical memory. The more people who hear your ad (reach) at the correct frequency, the more people who will sell you real estate in their heart and mind for that faithful day that they need your thing.

• Sleep: Sleep is the ultimate eraser. The average person is exposed to over 25,000 sensory inputs a day, and most of them are forgotten within seconds. If you have something really worth remembering, and the receiver has made an effort to retain the information, the longest your message can ride it out is 7 days. This is any and all information with low impact that is residing in the electrical part of the brain. Essentially, this is the working RAM of your brain, where you typically can retain up to 7 things at any given time. That's why it's important to make your high-impact ads follow a very specific frequency. With a great message and sufficient frequency, you can make your way into the chemical area of the brain when you’re brand is put into long-term storage. The high the impact, the easier it is to recall. The higher the frequency, the more likely it is to retain.

Beware the lawyer who takes himself as a client. There are many many more ways to get taken advantage of in a media buy than there are to get it right. Do not be fooled into believing that you will get the right frequency, at the right time, with the right crossover traffic of listeners, at the right price, with the right advertising copy, from your media buyer. They simply have no idea how to build the right frequency, let alone the right creative, to get you the results you deserve. Always leave your media buy and creative to the experts, like us. Call for a no-obligation conversation to see what I’m talking about.

UNRESOLVED: The Silent Assassin of Advertising

Bad advertising is about you and your company. Great advertising is about your customer and their life. But how do you go about telling your story in these little episodes you are putting on the air? Ads that poop out a bunch of uninspired information about your business or try desperately to entice the audience to answer your Call-To-Action (even though they don’t need your thing right now) are stupid. There, I said it. You’re wasting your money. It is heartbreaking. But this time it’s different! This time you have something interesting to say. This time you have a story about your customer that you want to tell. But what is the best way to tell it? Try this:

• Problem: Your hero (the customer) has an insurmountable challenge. A villainous foe that is eating up their money, causing them stress, or devouring their time (keep it to one thing).
• Transition: Oh No! What shall they do? I know…
• Resolution: At your company, you solve this one terrible thing, use this potion, elixir, weapon, process, or service, and live happily ever after.

If you don’t tell the story of the problem, you’re not saying anything interesting. If your message is all resolution, you’re not eliciting an emotional response trigger for the felt need. THE PAIN! These ads feel incongruent and limp. These ads are not worth remembering. You in no way can tell them something new, interesting, or different if everything is ONLY coming up Millhouse. The assassin? You tell a great story but don’t leave room for the resolution. Your ad feels…unfinished. Unresolved. Ads shouldn’t have cliffhangers. The more your ad resolves things in a satisfactory way, the more you resonate with your audience.

Are You Starting to See Why Successful Branded Advertising is So Rare?

Are you?If not, let's take a step back and examine what we've learned so far. First, we know that to be successful, an ad must be impactful. It needs to stand out from the rest and capture people's attention, certainly, but most importantly, it needs to lead to an eventual appointment with your company, not your industry. Second, we know that the ad must be delicious to the marketplace. When you entertain the socks off of people, EVERYONE will be chattering about you. The more buzz you create with a highly repeatable and referenced ad, the deeper your embed into the chemical long-term memory of your marketplace. And finally, we know that your ads have to run at a very specific frequency. If your ad doesn’t get HEARD at least 3 times a week, every week, 52 weeks a year, for the rest of their lives, they forget about you. When we buy media, we use software that calculates the optimal mix for your frequency and reach based on all channels. The last media buy presented over 5.2 billion possible combinations to choose from. Our 40-year veteran expertly traverses these options to create media buys that you would think required a certain amount of divine intervention. So there you have it. All you have to do to run a successful branded advertising campaign is say something incredibly interesting, select the right frequency from literally billions of options, and reach as many people as your budget will afford. Simple, right. #geeshThere always comes a time when you will need some help in designing the right marketing strategy for your business. If you’re interested in a true partner in crime. A ride or die. A real wingman in all things marketing, give Wizard of Ads® a call. We partner with business owners who are looking for accelerated growth and deliver a world-class buying experience. We are not a supplier. We are not a vendor. And we see ourselves as the Anti-Agency for a number of fascinating reasons that serve our clients exceptionally well. If that sound like your jam, book a call.