Boosting Local SEO is a series that reviews local businesses and highlights areas of their content organization, copywriting and SEO optimization that could be improved as well as what they seem to be doing well.
I was recently doing research for a handyman small business and gathered a few observations on handyman businesses local to where I am which is Vancouver, BC.
Local Search Engine Optimization & Insights At A Glance
Searching handyman near me resulted in three sponsored posts, a link to Yelp and a link to the Vancouver Handyman.
This search results revealed valuable SEO insight at a glance.
A Page Title and URL That Works for Boosting Local SEO
Unlike a product or service that isn’t dependent on location, you obviously want your handyman to be near you. So this website’s home page title, About Us – Vancouver Handyman Services | 604-xxx-xxxx, and URL, vancouverhandyman.ca, is well-geared towards local SEO.
The phone number in the page title makes it prominent in the search engine results but the question is, would that real estate be better allocated to relevant keywords or long-tail keywords that could give the website an overall SEO boost.
Mediocre Google Business Directory Results
The business doesn’t appear on the first screen of the Google Business Directory. At the time of my search, it was buried under 1 sponsored posts and 6 other local businesses,
The businesses preceding The Vancouver Handyman have more ratings and a higher average rating and in addition, they have equal or more detailed services listed in their profile, all of which may tip the scales in their favour.
That said, I have made a small business rank #1 in their niche on Google Business while having significantly less reviews than their competitors.
To improve chances of a higher business ranking, more service information should be added, and if there are any promotions or news, the “updates’ part of Google Business should be added to keep the content fresh.
Straightforward Information People Want To Know
Conveniently, Google search results display related searches and people also ask information. For the handyman near me search, this is what appears:
Naturally, people who are searching for handyman near me are interested in how much it will cost them.
Vancouver Handyman gives straightforward information people want to know, such as which geographical areas he services, direct links to services offered, information about fees, hours of operation, contact information, even a link to videos on YouTube showing the results of his work.
When you hit Vancouver Handyman’s home page, chances are high you’ll find much of what you’re looking for.
Making Small, Easy Updates For Big Wins
Not all improvements need to be big changes to make a difference. Here are some small, easy updates that, collectively, will make for big wins.
Integrate Videos and Make More
You would never notice them, but this site has videos! And good ones, too. One video shows a bathtub shower conversion, another shows a ceiling texture repair. They are short clips that give a clear picture of the before and after states, as valuable as any good testimonial.
My recommendation is to embed one or more videos into the site where it’s relevant and add a description. And if possible, make more videos. But at the very, very least, take that microscopic Youtube icon and crank it up in size so it’s visible.
Add Testimonials
Speaking of testimonials, the site could use some. It’s not easy to solicit testimonials from even your happiest customers, but the Vancouver Handyman has some glowing reviews on Google. Copy those and pepper the site with them to give visitors confidence.
Page Meta Descriptions and H1, H2 Tags
About one-third of the pages don’t have meta descriptions and all pages have the same H1 and H2 tags. Nowadays Google puts less emphasis on tags like H1 but the site is missing out on opportunity to use some choice keywords that will help users pinpoint their search.
Highlight A Job Well Done
Buried under the Special Projects section is short description of a project refinishing a bar top in a Vancouver restaurant. If you follow the link, the restaurant is L’Abattoir in Gastown.
This is the photo, as shown on the website, of the finished bar top which looks like it was taken shortly after it was finished:
This is a photo of the bar top from the restaurant’s Instagram:
Overall, the work showcased on the site is buried on inside pages and would benefit from photos that really make the work shine. Bring highlights of the work on to the home page. In fact, the work is worthy of a separate page of case studies, especially for high profile work like the beautiful bar top at L’Abattoir. After all, if you scroll through their Instagram, it’s the centre piece for many of their photos and that is something to be proud of and to show off.
Content Organization and Hierarchy
The content organization and hierarchy, particularly on the home page of the Vancouver Handyman, is in need of reorganization, but that’s out of scope for this discussion.
Regardless of this, there are still many actionable steps that can be taken to vastly improve the SEO results of the Vancouver Handyman.
Summary
Local search engine optimization requires attention in specific areas. Without seeing the detailed site analytics, it’s difficult to know how the site is performing. Overall it seems to get the job done but there is tonnes of room for improvement regarding page level SEO, keyword research and integration into the content, and content that could be created and exist as evergreen content to do some long term, heavy lifting to bring in more potential customers.
Take a look at more SEO Optimization reviews.
