When you’re searching for things on Google, Bing or Yahoo, which search results do you click?

Chances are, you probably choose the links that are near the top of the search results page. And you’re not alone – in fact more than 50% of search engine clicks go to the #1 position.

Do me a favor and type in “Funeral homes in [your city and state]” on Google. Is your funeral home the first result on the page? Were you even on the first page of search results?

Unfortunately, if your site does not rank at the top of Google, it is your competition (not you!) that is gaining new customers.

Now you’re probably thinking “what the heck does SEO mean?” 

Which brings me to my next point… 

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is the process of getting your website to rank well on Google and the other search engines.

Think of search engines as librarians who have to sort millions of pieces of content or “books” into the right categories of their “library.”

A website that isn’t search engine optimized is like a beautifully written book with no title or author. How will the librarian categorize your book if they don’t’ know where to put it?

By implementing SEO, you can make it easy for the search engines or “librarians” to find your website and place it in relevant search results.

When families are searching for funeral homes online, they’ll often search for terms like “funeral homes in XX area” or “personalized services” or “cremation prices”. You can use SEO to make your website rank on search engines for those terms, driving more potential families to your website.

Why SEO is important

If you’re like most funeral homes, you’ve experienced rising cremation rates and declining revenues. In response to this decline, many firms are pouring tens-of-thousands of dollars into traditional media and advertising, expecting it to attract new families.

Unfortunately, the families of today don’t respond well to traditional advertising (also known as “interruption marketing”), and the majority of money spent on traditional advertising is wasted.

Instead of continuing to pour your money into ineffective channels, why not increase your online presence through search engine optimization?

With approximately 3 billion daily searches on Google alone, it is easy to understand why SEO must be included in every marketing plan.

A properly implemented SEO strategy can: Increase website traffic, which means potentially attracting more families!
– Bring more qualified leads to your website, resulting in higher online conversion rates.
– Gives your website credibility – the higher your website ranks, the more credibly it appears.

2 things you can do without knowing anything about SEO

1. Add fresh content to your website often

When your funeral home produces fresh content, search engines love it! Content is what fuels search engines, and if your funeral home isn’t regularly publishing content such as blogs, obituaries, press releases and community event announcements, your site will be a ghost town.

Try publishing more than just obituary announcements through your site, and you’ll be surprised by the huge jump in website traffic you’ll probably experience!

2. Go social!

For funeralOne, social media is responsible for driving more than 50% of our website traffic. By creating a Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn page, you’ll not only generate valuable traffic to your site… you’ll engage your community as well! You can also use social media sites to promote the fresh content you regularly create, resulting in tons of new potential families for your funeral home!

Does your funeral home have a SEO strategy? Is your funeral home ranking on search engines? Share your thoughts!

Guest Blogger

funeralOne

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