Client Showcase – Crawfordsprc Carpet Cleaning Company 2014-2019
Client Case Study – Crawfordsprc – Still working together in 2019
It was back in January 2014 when I was contacted by the company owners Andy and Karon whose website www.crawfordsprc.co.uk attracted only one business enquiry per year since the website was first built in 2009. Over 5 years Andy and Karon had paid for previous SEO work to be carried out with no increase in enquiries and spending thousands of pounds over time. After we spoke on the phone, I invited Andy and Karon over for coffee.
When you are a business owner, most people do not have time to dedicate to social media activities, and learning a new skill such as SEO could detract from running your day to day business. This is where I come in, to speak in clear terms which anyone can understand, to explain what Marketing bang you get for your buck. I clearly remember Karon looking me in the eye and asking “So what makes you so different from all the other people we have paid over the years?”
What Makes Me Different
As a sole trader I have the mindset of a small business. Speaking to other local businesses it’s clear that the Google boom in terms of investing in marketing and SEO is very fierce, and to achieve a Google page 1 ranking then a website audit must first be performed.
I forensically analyse every website with an in depth audit
What I found was confusing:
- The website resided at http://www.crawfordsprc.co.uk
- The website also resided at http://crawfordsprc.co.uk (no www)
- A 3rd identical website resided at http://www.crawfordsprc.com
- A 4th identical website resided at http://crawfordsprc.com (again, no www)
It’s very common practice for website owners to buy different domain names to protect their brand identity, however it’s damaging to have 4 identical websites all live at once. This is breach of Google’s Duplicate Content penalty and should have been resolved with a simple 301 redirect so all traffic points to one central domain name.
I adhere to Google’s webmaster compliance recommendations
So, whilst other cleaning companies in Weston-super-Mare had their websites setup in accordance with Google’s best practices, Crawfordsprc had been running for 5 years in breach of these. What’s more confusing to me is that this is a fundamental action that all web design companies and SEO agencies should have actioned with urgency, and was left ignored.
Verification in other search engines and link Google Analytics
This was the first task that I tackled, then I discovered the site wasn’t verified in Bing, and Google Analytics was not linked to Google Webmaster Tools. I really did need to start from the very basics that every new website should have in place.
Always use headers to attract the attention of search engines
The home page did not have any H1 or H2 headers, these are the newspaper equivalent of a newspaper headline and is a critical factor for all Search Engines to determine relevance of a website and rank in their Search Results Pages (or SERPs). Read my post here.
Rewrite your content using your geographical location and keywords
I rewrote the home page and landing pages for relevance, mentioning the local geographical areas and targeted ‘Carpet Cleaning’ and ‘Flood Damage Repair’ for Weston-super-Mare and Somerset as a whole. I then asked for a ‘Fetch As Google’ request in Webmaster Tools, carried out a few linkbuilding exercises and launched the company on Twitter and created videos on YouTube.
2014 – I booked CrawfordsPRC for a carpet clean so I could see the results for myself
I always say it’s easy for me to sell a product or a srvice that I believe in.
in 2014 I witnessed first hand the exemplary results their machinery and technique prove. When I first saw the Crawfords van pull up outside my house I ran up to say hello as Andy was unlocking the back doors – I was shocked! There are HUGE reels of pipes stored neatly in the back. I was concerned that I have a 3 storey house to clean – however that’s no problem at all. Andy assured me he cleans blocks of flats regularly and the pipes go on for hundreds of feet.
Within 10 minutes of an assessment by Andy (and a cold drink as the weather was hot) work started and the results were incredible and instant.
I was a bit excited as I have never had my ca
rpets cleaned before, but my excitement turned to shame as I saw how clean my carpets looked within the first few minutes.
Then I got excited all over again when I went to see the top floor landing and it was spotless.
Andy and Karon work hard physically with the weight of the machinery and pipes, working as a team to systematically deep clean every fibre of my 3 storey house carpet. It was incredible to witness, and completed in around 90 minutes.
The company is family owned and run, and was established way back in 2002. Please remember to mention you have seen this testimonial by Nina Payne should you call to enquire about cleaning services – You can contact Andy on (01934) 513862 or 24 hours on mobile 07815 814128.
SEO is a monthly commitment
A few months after regular work was carried out, the website crept up in Google slowly, but surely. 8 months on the website is not only on the first page of Google, but also in the top 3 results.
Google search for ‘carpet cleaning weston super mare’ September 15th, 2014
Carpet Cleaning Weston super Mare Google Organic
Google search for ‘flood damage repair somerset’ September 15th, 2014
Flood Damage Repair Somerset Google Organic
From July 2014 onwards Andy and Karon reported an increase in business enquiries – to demonstrate how you can see for yourself and also as part of my monthly reporting services here’s a snapshot from Google Analytics:
I am delighted to have my carpets transformed, and Crawfordsprc are very pleased happy to secure new business as their website is now performing very well in Google and other search engines.