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How to Add a Manager to Google My Business (Google Business Profile)

Managing your Google Business profile alone can be tough, but there’s no need to struggle alone when you can add users as managers!

With this article, we’ll outline the steps required to assign an account manager to your Google My Business account to help manage the listing.

Follow These Easy Steps On Your Business Dashboard To Learn How To Add Manager to Google My Business Accounts

1. Remember to sign in!

2. In your Google Business Profile (which you can find by Googling the name of your business if you don’t have the URL saved already), check out the three dots in the right-hand corner. This should open up a menu.

3. Select your Business Profile settings.

4. The People and Access heading will tell you that this is where you can go to add, edit, and remove profile managers.

5. Click on Add and add the associated email address.

6. Then, you’ll want to click Invite to do the deed. This sends your new managers an email notification. They can then accept it, and you’ll see their name(s) appear in a list when they’ve been successfully added.

That’s it!

Frequently Asked Questions

We’re always just an email away if you don’t see your question addressed below! We’ve tried to address everything that might come up, just in case — as well as a few things that will make sure you’re paying attention and hopefully bring a smile to your face.

Does my marketing company need to be given ownership of my account?

Although an account can have multiple owners, you don’t have to give out owner-level access to just anyone – and you definitely don’t have to transfer primary ownership of the account!

Only owners can add new users as managers, for instance, as well as remove users.

As the primary owner, you’ll have the authority to manage users, including other owners — which is generally not a power you’d want to give out, even to someone you trust.

Can I have multiple managers on my account?

Yes, you definitely can! You can add your marketing agency, your communications manager, your friend, your cousin, and your dog. You can add users all day, every day, as long as you like, and then some.

Can my dog really manage a Google My Business profile?

No, but if you have a dog in the first place, we’d love to see pictures! Plus, you never know – they can be awfully smart sometimes. I once had a border collie who–

Never mind.

What can managers do with my Google My Business listing?

Managers, once assigned, can edit business information – but not personal account information. We don’t suggest that you transfer ownership of your business profiles – just give out managerial access!

What if I have multiple locations?

You’ll have to add user roles to each business listing one at a time. Multiple users can be added in each position, as well.

I still have questions! Help me!

Don’t worry. Give us a call at (916) 545-2018. You can always browse the other articles in our blog for other pieces of digital marketing information!

These 13 Items Should Be On Your Small Business Website Checklist

Everyone needs to make a small business website checklist. In a world where first impressions are everything, small business owners need to put their best foot forward for potential customers or clients. Your digital footprint — any social media you put out there, as well as any website content — is going to make that impact.

At the end of the day, a few core variables will determine the success of your website’s performance on search engines, which will, in turn, impact the traffic you receive. So here’s your website launch checklist:

1. Simple, Effective Navigation

the Instinct Marketing header showcases an effective global menu

First up on your checklist is the way you structure your site, from its navigation and menus down to the flourishes you put on each page. Simple, effective navigation can sometimes feel like the hardest thing to get right when you’re designing a new website, but give it a shot!

Your menus should be intuitive, following logical channels to create a user-friendly experience.

2. Utilize Headings For Readability, Search Engines

It’s important that your website has strong header text for two reasons. It’s easier to see bold, title-cased letters when someone’s eyes skim down the page. Search engine algorithms also love these “H1” or “H2” or even “H3” text blurbs.

If you aren’t hiring a web designer to create your website, a content management system (or CMS) can help you create your web pages from pre-existing templates. Some of them even allow you to make edits to under-the-hood “meta descriptions” and other cryptic data that search engines will pick up on and display.

3. Maintain A Concise URL Structure

Make sure that each web page URL is easy to read. It’s good practice to take out small words like “a” and “the” to keep things from getting too cluttered. Additionally, make sure the URLs make sense! Your contact page shouldn’t be www.yoursite.com/talk-to-the-hand/, it should probably be www.yoursite.com/contact/ instead.

4. Use Your Logo and Specific Color Palette To Enhance Brand Recognition

A lot of people rely on visual cues to remember brands. Your small business website, therefore, should incorporate those memorable aspects of your brand identity. (Learning about complementary colors can be a very effective starting point!)

5. One Domain Name To Rule Them All

Next up on your website checklist is making sure your domain name is unique and memorable. You know, the stuff that follows the “www” and ends with a “.com” or similar extension. As with building out sensible URLs, your small business should look for a concise domain name.

6. About Us and Contact Us

An “About Us” page is essential for conveying your brand’s mission statement and valuable information that visitors may be looking for. This includes some of the basics, such as location and phone number, but isn’t limited to the cold, hard facts. Many people visit the “About Us” page for more information on the people behind a company since a little human touch can go a long way in most industries.

A contact page is equally essential. If a prospective lead can’t figure out how to get in touch with you, they’ll never convert into a customer.

When you have a contact page, you can include an email address — something professional, like info@yourcompanyhere.com — as well as your phone number. Some people even choose to use intake forms, where a customer can send you their information.

Be Aware!

Choosing to accept customer information does give you the responsibilities that come with data collection, so your website may require a Privacy Policy as well. If this policy isn’t baked into your final website, it could cause complications down the line.

7. Lights, Camera, Call to Action!

Your potential customers are always a single click away from making a purchase — or at least obtaining more information that will lead to one. A call to action, sometimes abbreviated as CTA, is all about getting your audience to tread the ideal path for their customer journey.

Whether it’s “click here for more information” or “call us today”, you’re inspiring prospective customers to act with a strong, concise verb.

Every page should feature a CTA if possible, preferably in a prominent location. The header is a very effective place, especially if your website utilizes a global header or one that’s shared by and applied to each and every page of your site.

8. Conversion-Focused Pages Are Key

use a call to action, such as "schedule a free consultation"

When you focus your marketing strategy on conversion-focused pages, you’re stating that you want to focus on conversions over anything else. Make sure you have solid calls to action on those pages, as well. Many of these pages are more bare-bones variants of other pages of your website — basically just a landing page.

9. Crowdsource The Good Stuff – Get Reviews!

Ask and ye shall receive. No website for businesses, big or small, is complete without a section for reviews or testimonials. Again, it’s looking for a human touch — this time, not to verify that you’re human, but to establish that other humans can give you those two thumbs up.

Our reviews are straightforward, listing our customers’ names and quick blurbs that state what they like about our services. We’ve pulled many of them directly from our Google My Business listing, which is a very effective method of collecting this information.

You can get reviews in any number of ways. For those of us with tech-savvy customers, consider a QR code on the back of your business card that leads to a review collection page. If you’re feeling really fancy, you can even use automation services to set up text messages with links to your Google or Yelp pages. Some people prefer to make a testimonials blog to store all of their reviews, but you can just as easily slot them into any section of any particular page.

10. Your Data Will Speak Volumes – Start Collecting It Immediately

Google Analytics and Google Search Console are powerful tools you can use to collect analytics about your small business website to learn about how audiences and users interact with your website.

Google Analytics will measure your website traffic, as well as information about the demographics accessing your web pages. You may have to add code to one or more pages to establish the flow of data, though a number of web hosts have plugins, or website add-ons, that will allow you to do this more efficiently.

Meanwhile, the Google Search Console focuses on the queries people type into search engines to find your website. By learning the subtle differences in search terms, you can go deeper with search engine optimization techniques to tailor your pages more specifically to effective keywords.

The sooner you establish a link between Google (or other search engines) and your own website pages, the more information you’ll have from the get-go!

Quick Tip #1:

Don’t forget to consider that your Facebook business page should automatically collect similar data! You can always cross-reference it with the information you get from Google to further enhance your understanding of your prospective customers.

11. Mobile Friendliness

the  Lawnman Landscape website demonstrates mobile responsiveness

We know you’re guilty of taking your phone everywhere: into bed, into the bathroom, wherever. It should therefore come as no surprise that it’s important to optimize a website for mobile devices and tablets. It’s extra important now that Google has started using mobile results rather than desktop results as a determining factor in search rankings!

Websites run differently on desktop computers than on mobile devices, and sometimes tablets will often have their own browsers and views. Your goal as a business owner should be to convert website visitors into leads no matter what device they’re using to access your site.

12. Blog About It

On your website checklist, make sure one of the first things you address is blog content. Your own small business website should be full of content — written by you, hopefully! — that teaches Google to recognize your website as an authority. By building up your “domain authority,” you’ll rank higher over other, less relevant sources.

Using internal links and external links to pieces of supporting content is another way to build authority. Search engines love the pathways we create between pieces of content, following one page to another, to another, to another.

Tip #2: Do Some Keyword Research

Trying to find a primary keyword for your blog post can occasionally lead you down some pretty intense rabbit holes, but ultimately you’ll learn a lot of interesting things about what people are searching for.

Some keywords are harder to rank for than others, but if you focus your marketing efforts on the right tools, they won’t steer you wrong. For instance, Google incorporates a keyword research tool with Adwords that you can access for free once you’ve created an account. Industry news also makes for excellent blog topics!

Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or anything in between, you should always have social media pages linked on your website. Dedicated pages with these outbound links are fine, or you can include them in your header or footer, with small images that link to each social media platform.

If you utilize any marketing channels that we haven’t mentioned, by all means, add them, too!

13. A Secure Site Is A Secure Home For Your Content

While setting up your small business website, make sure you have a current SSL certificate. It’s a digital certificate that identifies your website and, more importantly, establishes an encrypted connection between visitors’ browsers and the site server.

There’s a lot that goes into it, but if you’re curious, there’s a ton of in-depth information available. Small businesses don’t need to worry, though! Usually, the SSL certificate is included by the hosting provider, who will help keep it up to date.

That’s Your Small Business Website Checklist

Your business website checklist probably feels huge right about now, but don’t lose hope! You’ve made it to the end! Just remember: user experience is paramount. If you wouldn’t use your website – especially on a phone – then it probably needs additional changes or optimizations.

If you’re looking to start over from scratch, or if you haven’t started just yet, Instinct Marketing can design a user-friendly new website for any business owner.

We specialize in WordPress site design, e-commerce web design, as well as social media strategy, and we work with business owners nationwide and in our Northern California region. If you’re local, stop by Instinct Marketing HQ in Sacramento to talk web design!

Let us help grow your business with our proven digital marketing strategies. Call or contact us today!

What Makes A Good Website? 11 Essential Features in 2025

For small businesses, having a good website that helps them serve their customers and generate new leads and sales is essential. However, if you’re designing your website or you have a website that isn’t performing how you’d like it to, you may be wondering – what makes a good website?

Well, the truth is, there are a lot of different elements and features that come together to make up a good website. In this article, we’ll cover 11 essential features of what makes a good website, to help guide you on your web design journey. 

Ready? Let’s jump into the list. 

[toc]

1. A Clear Goal

A dart board with a bullseye hit.

Before you dive into the finer details of your site design, you should first decide on a clear goal. Without a clear goal, your site might have a cobbled-together feel, and this may make it less user-friendly and attractive to your customers. 

Discuss with your web design team, SEO team, and your marketing managers what exactly you want your site to achieve. Will it be used to generate leads and make sales? Maybe it will be an information hub for your existing customers. 

Whatever your goal is, you should design your site with it in mind. Then you’ll be more likely to achieve your goals and see the results you’re looking for.

Tips for Establishing Your Website Goals 

  • Create a customer persona – Put yourself in the shoes of your target customers, and consider what they would use your website for. Are they in search of information, products, or contact details? You can use this customer persona to guide your website layout and design. 
  • Choose the main focus – You may want your website to be a one-stop-shop for your business with sales pages, information pages, and maybe even a blog. However, to guide your website design and make it more user-friendly, you should select which one of these is going to be the main focus of your web design. 

2. A User-Friendly Layout

Mobile phone web design diagram

You can hire the best site designers globally and have the most elaborate design elements and features, but if your site isn’t easy for your users to navigate, you’re going to struggle to achieve your goals. User-friendliness should form the basis of every website, and if your web designer is worth their salt, they’ll tell you this too.

The layout of your site should be intuitive, so even beginner web users can navigate it easily. It should also have easy-to-read text and professional and attractive color schemes. 

If you’re not working with a web designer and you’re building your website from scratch, we highly suggest using templates. Site building tools like Wix and Squarespace offer tons of user-friendly templates that can be customized to suit your business needs. 

Most site-building tools have easy-to-use drag and drop interfaces so that you can create new, user-friendly pages and sites in just a few clicks. 

By using templates, you can be sure that your site is optimized to make your user experience as efficient and simple as possible, which allows you to focus on other important elements such as written content and images. 

3. Effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Google search on a laptop

Unfortunately for businesses, creating a website and listing your business on Google My Business is no longer enough to make your site discoverable in [currentyear].

The internet is vast, and Google has an extremely complicated algorithm that determines whether or not your pages will rank for your desired search term. That’s why it’s essential to follow SEO best practices on your website to give your pages a better chance of ranking. 

When designing your site, you should ensure that all of your content is optimized around your target keywords and that you follow best practices like adding alt texts, meta tags, and more to give your pages the best chance of ranking high in the SERPs. 

In addition to this, your site needs to give off the right signals to Google’s algorithm, and this means acquiring links from other high-ranking sites, submitting sitemaps to Google, and a whole host of other tasks. 

The best thing you can do is get help from SEO experts when it comes to SEO. It will help save your business time and ensure that you don’t lose the money you spent on web design and site maintenance due to your pages not ranking. 

How to Nail SEO On Your Website

Use SEO tools SEO is not an easy beast to tame, but thankfully, there are some tools out there that can help you improve your content and make it more optimized for search engines. Try using tools like Yoast and Surfer SEO to check your content before it goes live on your site. 

Get professional help SEO is extremely important, and if you don’t get it right, your site pages could get lost in the search engines and fail to generate any leads or sales. However, SEO best practices are complicated and ever-changing. That’s why it’s a good idea to outsource your SEO to a company like Instinct Marketing, who are experts in improving SEO and are up to date with current SEO practices. 

4. CTA’s in Key Positions

CTA stands for calls to action, and this is how you can turn passing visitors into new leads and customers. Your site design should center around putting key CTA’s in prominent positions so that visitors always know how to move the next step of your sales funnel. 

Free Consultation form example

For example, if you run a landscaping business and want site visitors to get in touch for a quote, consider placing a CTA reading ‘get a quote in a prominent position on your website. 

Additionally, you should feature CTA’s on every page and within your content so that customers can always see a way to progress through your sales funnel.

Call to action button example

Tips For Adding CTA’s To Your Pages

  • Use Heatmapping tools – Heatmapping tools like HotJar will show you exactly what areas your visitors spend the most time looking at. This can help you determine where to place your CTA’s for maximum exposure. 
  • Place CTA’s on the left Studies have shown that the web page’s most viewed area is the left-hand side, above the fold. Therefore, it’s a good idea to put your CTA in this area.

5. Reviews and Testimonials

When new customers visit your site, they will be looking for signs of trustworthiness and credibility. One of the easiest ways to portray an air of credibility on your website is to feature reviews and testimonials from previous customers or clients. 

This is something that businesses large and small do. Here at Instinct, we also feature reviews and testimonials on our website. 

testimonial example of a client on our website

It’s a great way to show new and existing customers that you are trustworthy and transparent and that your business takes pride in offering a good customer experience. 

When it comes to placing your reviews and testimonials, you should pick a prominent position on your homepage. Still, it shouldn’t overshadow other important information, such as sales details or product descriptions. A good placement for testimonials is at the bottom of your homepage or somewhere in the middle to break up big blocks of information. 

How To Get Testimonials for Your Website

  • Take reviews from your Google listing If your business is listed on Google, you may already have some customer reviews. Select the best ones and feature them in the testimonials section of your website. 
  • Just ask! – If you’ve worked with a particularly high-profile business or client, and you think their testimonial would be a big seller on your website, reach out to them and ask. Be polite and humble, and most people will be happy to spare a few minutes to write on for you.

6. Good Branding

Starbucks coffee cup

Your website is often the first place new customers interact with your business, so it’s important to feature professional and consistent branding throughout your web designs. Think of your website as an introduction to what your business is and what it stands for. 

In addition to the obvious essentials like high-quality logos and slogans, your website and all its copy should also reflect your brand. For example, if your business is aimed at young people and you want to create a friendly and personable brand image, then the tone of your content should reflect this. 

Also, it’s a good idea to dedicate one page of your website to your brand story. This way, new customers can learn more about who you are, what your brand does, and what values you hold in high regard. Consumers are very interested in businesses’ values and ethical considerations in the current climate, so it’s a good idea to ensure that your brand message shines through on your site.

7. Easy to Find Contact Information

For small businesses, your website will often act as the first point of contact for potential customers. If you don’t have advanced elements that allow your customers to live chat or make purchases on your site, you should make sure that it’s super easy for them to find ways to get in touch. 

Depending on your business model, you may want to feature a contact form and your phone number on the homepage of your site.

contact us buttons on website header example

 Another good option is to include contact details in the header of your site so that users can see it no matter which page they land on. Most businesses will also have a dedicated contact page linked to from both the navigation bar and the footer of the site. This is a good idea, as it gives your visitors a range of different options to find your contact information. 

8. Mobile Responsiveness 

Judi's Cleaners Sacramento, CA company website redesign example that is mobile responsive.
One of our Sacramento, CA, website design clients.

In [currentyear], around half of all websites visited came from mobile devices. What does that mean to you? Well, that means as much as 50% of your site visitors could be using a mobile device to access your site. Therefore, it’s extremely important to ensure that your site is mobile responsive and easy for users to navigate on devices of any shape and size. 

9. Good Load Speeds 

According to statistics, 83% of web users expect websites to load in less than 3 seconds. On top of that, if your site takes between 3 and 5 seconds to load, your bounce rate could increase by as much as 90%. 

With these figures in mind, it’s safe to say that load speed is a big deal. Not only does it affect how your users interact with your site, but it can also have an impact on SEO and could affect where your pages rank in the SERPs.

To improve your user experience and your sales and conversion rates, you should try to do what you can to reduce load speeds to a minimum. Below are some easy ways to do this. 

Ways to Improve Website Load Speeds 

  • Compress images – If the images on your website are too large, this can affect how fast your site loads. Use an image compression tool such as Smush or TinyJPG to reduce the file sizes to a minimum. 
  • Tidy up your code – Try minifying your website’s CSS, Javascript, and HTML code to increase page load speeds. You can use tools like Autooptimize to do this or get help from a web designer. 
  • Change hosting provider – Some hosting providers offer performance-optimized packages that heavily focus on page load speeds. If you’re experiencing issues with load speeds, consider switching to a new provider. 

10. Professional Color Schemes and Fonts 

rainbow colors splat on canvas

Choosing professional fonts and color schemes is extremely important when designing your website. You want to consider two things; your business brand colors and color psychology when it comes to colors. 

It’s a little more complicated than simply choosing your favorite color. You need to consider what effect the colors you choose will have on your site visitors and what sort of message they portray. For example, some colors, such as blue, evoke trust, reliability, and dependability. 

Similarly, green evokes balance and a feeling of nature and can also be linked to money and wealth. Try to select cohesive color schemes according to what best encapsulates your business type and website goals. 

Also, when it comes to selecting fonts, don’t just choose the first one you see. Fonts should always be easy to read and match your site’s overall aesthetic. It’s also a good idea to pick 1-2 fonts and use them consistently throughout your website. Using many different fonts can make your site look ill-designed and unprofessional. It may also have an impact on usability. 

Pro Tip For Choosing Fonts and Color Schemes 

  • Use a color scheme generator – Read up a little about color psychology and select a base color that might work for your website. Then use a color palette generator such as Coolors.co to generate a cohesive set of colors that you can use across your site. 
  • Use a font pair generator – Try a pairing tool such as Fontjoy to select two professional fonts that will work together well on your site. Then stick with them throughout your designs and avoid using any other contrasting fonts. 

11. Good Security 

cyber security lock

Cybercrime is a very real threat, and internet users are becoming increasingly concerned with keeping their data safe and secure when browsing the web. 

Therefore, it’s super important to make sure that your site is secure and that this is clear to your visitors. The first thing you need to do is make sure you have an SSL certificate. Having this will keep your site safe and mean that the safety padlock will be displayed next to your URL when visitors enter your site. 

However, an SSL certificate is a bare minimum when it comes to security, so you should look into performing regular scans and backups on your site to keep you and your users safe from cyber threats. You can use tools and plugins like Securi and Jetpack to enhance your site’s security protocols in just a few clicks.

Still Not Sure Exactly What Elements Make A Good Website?

As you can see, creating a good website that ticks all the boxes for both your customers and Google’s algorithm isn’t always easy. However, the tips in this article should help you to make some improvements. 

However, if you’re a newbie in the world of web design and SEO, then getting to grips with what makes a good website and making the necessary changes to your site may feel overwhelming. But don’t worry – we can do the hard work for you. 

Here at Instinct Marketing, we’re experts in optimizing websites for small businesses, and we can help you turn your site into a lead generation and sales machine. We can help your pages get more clicks and rank higher in the SERPs.

Marketing for Landscapers: 7 Strategies & Tips for Success

Looking for new and innovative ways to market your landscaping business? We’ve got you covered. 

Marketing for landscapers isn’t as easy as it used to be. Handing out flyers in local hotspots and listing your business in local directories is no longer enough.

In this digital age, it’s essential to create a strong online presence and have a solid digital marketing strategy if you want to attract and retain new customers.

The good news is there are plenty of ways to market your landscaping company online. This article will share seven of the most effective landscaping marketing strategies that will help you generate a ton of leads and boost your sales in [currentyear]. Ready? Let’s get started!

[toc]

1.  Nail Your Website Design

Computer on desk

No matter how small your landscape business is, you need a website. Your website is your top-performing salesperson and your most valuable marketing asset. 

It’s the place where you’ll be driving all the traffic you generate through your digital marketing efforts, so step one is to make sure you get it right.

An effective landscaping website will do three things:

  • Provide key information about your services to potential customers in your local service area when they search for your business online
  • Generate traffic and provide you with a constant flow of qualified leads
  • Convert website visitors into paying customers or get them into your sales funnel.

Too many small business owners treat their website as an afterthought and don’t give it the time or attention it deserves. 

As a result, landscapers often end up with websites that look amateur, don’t convert website visitors to customers, and fail to rank in the search engine results pages for important search terms.

If you want to get as many landscaping customers as possible, your website shouldn’t just be a virtual brochure—it should be a lead-generation machine.

It should have several pages with information about your services, pricing, and contact details, and it should make it easy for visitors to take action with clearly sign-posted opt-in forms or contact forms and compelling CTAs (call-to-actions)

How To Get Started With Designing a Landscaping Business Website

There’s a lot that goes into designing a website. You need to think carefully about complex technical factors like UX (user experience) and SEO (search engine optimization).

As a busy landscaping business owner, you probably don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of all this yourself. Therefore, it’s usually a better idea to leave it to the professionals. 

Here at Instinct Marketing, we’re experts in web design and have a proven track record of building conversion-focused websites that drive results for landscaping businesses. You can schedule a free consultation today to find out more.

If you choose to go at it alone, step number one is to choose a good web hosting provider and CMS or website builder (we’d recommend WordPress). From there, you can start adding pages and filling them out with content.

Remember: the goal is to convert as many website visitors into customers as possible, so make sure your landing pages are laser-targeted to sell your services or encourage visitors to join your mailing list so that you can keep communicating with them.

2. Promote Your Business on Social Media

Instagram social media platform on a phone

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your website and promote your landscape business is through social media.

Over half the global population uses social media, and the average user spends 145 minutes on their favorite platforms every day. If you’re not already tapping into this huge audience of potential customers, you should be.

How To Get Started With Social Media Marketing

Start by making sure you have a business profile set up on all the leading social networks (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

Stay active by setting yourself a posting schedule. For example, you might opt to post to each platform once or twice per week. A social media calendar tool can help you to map out and schedule posts in advance.

To get more eyeballs on your promotional posts, you might consider running a paid social media ad campaign (more on this later) or launching a contest/giveaway to incentivize users to share engage with your posts or share them with friends and family.

It’s also a great idea to join local groups, particularly Facebook. Search for your local area and join as many community groups as you can. Check the rules and if they allow advertising, share posts promoting your landscaping services there regularly. 

3. Launch a Paid Advertising Campaign

Google Ads search results example

Paid advertising can be a very effective landscape marketing strategy. You might want to try various types of paid ads, but we’d recommend starting with Facebook Ads or Google Ads.

With Facebook Ads, you create your ad post, set a budget, and choose who you want to show it to by setting up your targeting options. You can get granular with this and target users based on location, age, interests, and other data.

This specific targeting is really useful for landscapers as you can set up your campaigns so that your ad only gets shown to people in your area that precisely match your ideal buyer persona.

You’ll pay per click or thousand impressions your ad receives, so being very selective with your targeting options ensures the best possible return on investment (ROI)

With Google Ads, you bid for a keyword that landscaping customers might search for (for example, “landscapers in [your area]”).

When a user searches for that keyword, if you win the ad placement, Google ranks your website page at the top of the search results. Every time someone clicks it, you pay. We call this model PPC (pay-per-click) advertising.

How To Get Started With PPC Ads 

Start small and set a minimal budget for your paid ad campaigns ($10-$20). Track the results, and if you find that your ad clicks are generating a good return on investment, you can scale it up and increase your ad spend.

But again, planning an effective paid ad campaign that generates a good ROI can be challenging and is best left to a professional PPC advertising company like Instinct Marketing. Get in touch today for a free PPC analysis.

4. Focus On Local SEO

search bar with a lightbulb

Paid ads provide rapid results and are great for short-term marketing goals, but nothing provides a better return on investment than SEO over the long term.

SEO is a marketing strategy that focuses on improving your website’s visibility in the organic (unpaid) search results. In other words, the goal of SEO is to make sure your website shows up when your target customers search sites like Google for related search terms.

Local SEO is a sub-branch of SEO that focuses specifically on achieving better visibility in local search results. 

For landscapers, that means having your business show up in the Map Pack or on the first page whenever someone in your area searches for a keyword like “landscaping services near me” or “best landscaper in [ area]”.

How To Get Started With Local SEO

Mastering local SEO means optimizing your business around local search ranking factors. There are tons of ranking factors that affect how likely you are to show up in the search results, but some of the most important are:

  • Your Google My Business profile
  • NAP (name, address, phone number) citations
  • Positive reviews
  • Backlinks
  • On-page optimization

There’s a lot to learn about these factors and how to optimize for them. Many landscapers choose to outsource local SEO to third-party SEO marketing companies.

5. Utilize Email Marketing to Nurture Leads

Mail app icon on iphone

Customers go on a journey before they make a purchase. Most of the people that click through to your landscape business website will probably be in the research phase of that journey—they’re considering paying for a landscaping service but aren’t ready to commit just yet.

One way to land more sales is to capture the contact information of these types of prospects so you can continue to communicate with them and ‘nurture’ them until they’re ready to buy. That’s where your email marketing strategy comes in.

How To Get Started With Email Marketing

Add a lead capture form to your website landing pages so that visitors can subscribe to your mailing list. You might consider using a lead magnet to attract more opt-ins. For example, you might offer downloadable resources like a free landscaping guide in exchange for a visitor’s contact details.

Once you have a mailing list, you can set up automated email sequences that guide your leads down your funnel toward making a purchase decision. 

For example, a day after a prospect first visits your website; you might send them an email with some follow-up information about your services. Then a few days after that, send them an exclusive discount offer to encourage them to take action.

6. Network With Local Businesses

Person handing another person their business card

Take the time to build a relationship with other local businesses in your area. These connections can later pay dividends and become a powerful source of leads.

For example, something as simple as having a friendly relationship with the local barman or shop owner might mean they recommend you whenever one of their customers mentions they need landscaping services.

How To Network With Local Businesses

Speak to your local Chamber of Commerce or ask your network of friends and family to introduce you to any local realtors they know.

After you’ve built a relationship with them, provide them with professional materials to share, like your business card or lawn care flyers. It might even be worth offering a special discount to any clients they refer.

7. Earn Word-Of-Mouth Referrals

3 people smiling and laughing

Arguably the most important marketing channel for landscapers is word of mouth. Happy customers can act as your brand ambassadors and take care of your advertising for you.

If a client is delighted with the service you provide, they’re more likely to recommend you to their friends and family. That’s why it’s important to go above and beyond every time to make sure your customers are satisfied.

How To Boost Word-Of-Mouth Referrals

Aside from providing top-quality service, there are a few other tips and tricks you can use to boost word-of-mouth referrals.

For example, you could consider setting up a referral program in which you offer repeat customers a discount when they refer their friends.

You could even ask your current clients to write a Google review or share a Facebook post recommending your landscape business.

Are You Ready to Improve Your Marketing for Your Landscape Company?

There you have it—seven lawn care marketing ideas that can help you to get more landscaping customers!

If you’re new to the world of digital marketing, following the strategies mapped out in this article may feel like a challenge. But don’t worry, we can help! 

Here at Instinct Marketing, we specialize in helping our clients to market their businesses effectively online. We can help you to get more website clicks, rank higher in the search engine results pages, and, most importantly, land more sales.

Get in touch today if you’re ready to improve your online brand and get ahead of the competition. After learning more about your business and its needs, we’ll provide a free estimate and advice on the next steps. 

How Long Does It Take to Build a Website?

Have you recently hired an agency to build a website for your small business? Or maybe you’re in the final negotiations with an agency about your new website. In any case, you’re likely wondering, “How long does it take to build a website? Should my website be done by now? Is it hard to create a website, and that’s why it’s taking so long?”

In this article, we’ll explore the average time to build a good website and help you understand how long it takes to develop a website.

The Average Timeline For Creating a Website

how to build a website

Unfortunately, web designers and developers aren’t genies. The fastest way to build a website would ideally be to make it go live with a snap of a finger. However, knowing how to develop a website well takes time, energy, and resources. 

We understand the restlessness — you want your website up and running as soon as possible. The sooner it goes live, the quicker you can attract potential customers and connect with current ones.

However, the process of how websites are made isn’t a simple one. If you’re looking for the fastest way to build a website, that might mean rushing the process and potentially creating a less-than-stellar result.

So, when you order website development services, you should know that you won’t receive the final product within a matter of hours. Instead, you should expect to wait several weeks based on a standard timeline that most design teams use.

Here’s what you can expect for each step of the process.

Step 1: Determining Your Needs & Creating a Plan (Up to 2 Weeks)

Before hiring a website designer and developer to start your project, it will take time to determine your needs. What do you want your website to look like? What elements should it have?

If you don’t prepare this information beforehand, your developer will spend a lot of time determining what you want for your new project. This won’t be a productive use of your developer’s time, especially because it’s a step you could’ve taken on your own. And, if your developer charges by the hour, your out-of-pocket costs could quickly accumulate.

However, this step doesn’t mean that your developer can’t provide you with valuable insights. For example, they can tell you if your intended design will negatively affect the user experience or if a specific feature doesn’t make sense for your site. 

Of course, you should always hear your developer out, as they’re familiar with how to develop a website. But ultimately, you and your team will need time to decide on the project’s final outcome.

So, be prepared to provide sample websites with designs that you like to expedite the process. This way, your developer can get an idea of what you want for your company’s site.

Be prepared for a lot of back-and-forth in this planning stage. You’ll have to communicate with anyone on your team who’s involved in the design process and convey your vision to the developer. In a best-case scenario, it’ll take one week to convey all this information. But you should plan for two weeks for precise communication.

Step 2: Starting Your Website’s Design (Up to 3 Weeks)

how long does it take to build a website
Thin line flat design of website under construction, web page building process, site form layout, and menu buttons interface development. Modern vector illustration concept, isolated on white background.

With all the preliminary planning out of the way, your developer will initiate design mockups for your site. Mockups are like sketches that show what your site will look like based on the requirements you provide. You can examine these mockups and approve or deny them. You can also ask your developer to make changes to them.

This stage is the best stage for making adjustments. Because the actual development process hasn’t started yet, major changes won’t set the project back too far. 

Ideally, you should request full mockups for each page, consisting of filler text and images. At this point, the content itself doesn’t really matter. You’ll want to see all the elements that each page will contain and how they will appear on desktop and mobile devices.

This stage should take anywhere between one and three weeks, depending on how active you remain as a participant in the design process.

Step 3: Completing the Main Development Phase (Up to 2 Months)

This stage is arguably the most active of the whole process. It’s when your developer takes all the information you’ve provided and turns it into a functional, attractive website. The final product should resemble all the mockups you approved.

To get a good idea of  “how long does it take to develop a website,” you should know that it can take anywhere between one and two months. The developer must:

  • Write your website’s code
  • Build the front- and back-end components
  • Create a wireframe
  • Acquire a domain name
  • Complete many other tasks

And consider this: the average hours to build a website may not apply if your developer encounters delays or you want to make changes in the middle of the development process. Most experienced agencies will provide you with a high estimate for “how long does it take to create a website.” This strategic decision helps them manage their client’s expectations and gives them some wiggle room to work through any issues they encounter.

Step 4: Completing the Final Review (Up to 2 Weeks)

The final step in the “how are websites made” routine is completing a comprehensive review. It needs to undergo a round of revisions, and you and your developer should analyze how every part of the site looks and works together. It should align with the initial plans that you created during the brainstorming phase. 

Rarely does a site not need corrections, so it’s not a hassle to factor the review process into the average time to build a website. It can take anywhere between one to weeks, depending on the revisions that your build requires.

Factors That Can Affect the Time To Build a Website

Is it hard to create a website? Not necessarily, but many clients will experience a different timeline to completion. The above steps and time frames we’ve provided are excellent for reference, but they’re not set in stone. The timeline for your website might look very different depending on the following factors:

Number of Stakeholders

How many people are contributing ideas for your new website build? If it’s just you, you’ll likely have a more streamlined process. You won’t have to get approval from other creative minds. But if you and several others are responsible for the website’s final version, you may experience hiccups along the way. Disagreements can create delays in the design and development process.

While having more than one person on the project isn’t a bad idea, you should establish creative control beforehand. Who will have the final say on specific elements? Creating these boundaries beforehand can minimize resistance and ensure your website build is completed timely.

Number of Pages

How many pages do you want your website to have? As a small business, you really don’t need a whole lot compared to an e-commerce corporation. However, you’ll still have to talk with your developer to determine how many you can have based on your budget and preferences. The number of pages that go live on your site won’t be the same as your competitor, so don’t spend time trying to compare. Consider your company’s unique offerings and business approach to determine how many pages your online realm needs.

Depending on the type of website you have, a visitor may not view more than two pages during a single session. So, you don’t have to overwhelm your website with unnecessary pages that no one will ever see. This process is a waste of your budget and your developer’s time.

With that being said, you shouldn’t neglect the essential website pages — we’re talking about the following pages:

  • Testimonial
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Services
  • About

The average time to build a website will increase significantly for a larger website than for a smaller one. Each page has to undergo specific processes, including: 

  • Mobile optimization
  • Graphic implementation
  • Quality assurance
  • SEO tagging

So, you must exhibit patience if you want to create a website with several dozen pages.

Unique Page Designs

Even though you must account for size, the number of pages doesn’t always matter. For instance, a 15-page website may take longer to develop than a 40-page one. How could this be?

It’s essential to consider the total number of unique designs for all the pages that go up on your site. For example, most websites have a homepage with a unique design, and all the inner pages will typically have the same design. 

But if you want to get more creative and implement unique page designs across the entire build, you’ll notice that the average time to build a website will increase. This is because each page design involves a complex process, so it’ll take more time to complete the final product. This complexity can delay the launch of your site, but some clients find the process to be well worth it.

Functionality

How fancy do you want your website’s functionality to be? Some clients prefer a stationary site that visitors can browse with few distractions. But depending on the niche you’re in, you may want to enhance your site’s functionality. Even if you aren’t familiar with how long does it take to code a website, you can hire a professional to work on your site’s functionality. You can have your developer add filtering options so that visitors can sort through portfolio items or project categories.

Another change your developer can make is to add movement and animations on the screen using JavaScript or HTML5. These coding developments will take some time, even for a developer who understands how long does it take to code a website.

Content

One of the biggest roadblocks to the timing of a website launch is the content. Your site’s content can consist of anything from blog posts and case studies to service pages and team member biographies. 

In most cases, the client will provide the content that they want to launch. The client may acquire this content from a content writing company or solicit services from the website building team. In other cases, the client may provide content that was written in-house. Many companies experience success writing their own content as long as they hone specific elements like their style, frequency, and word count.

Regardless of which route you take, you should create a definitive plan for assembling all the content. Ensure you assign someone to the task of organizing and preparing the content. This way, you won’t have your developer waiting for someone to deliver the content so that they can upload it to the final version of your website.

What If You Need to Build a Website Quickly?

After reading through this guide, you may have become frustrated by the timeline. Owning a website offers many benefits for your business, including the chance to:

If any of these benefits sound appealing to you (and they should!), you won’t want to wait around for weeks. One of the fastest ways to develop a website is to use a free online builder like Weebly or Wix. These tools have limited features, but they’re great for getting your company online. Our websites are made with the WordPress platform and are all custom-made.

The website you create with a builder can stand in as a placeholder while you wait for your more professional project’s completion. However, keep in mind that you shouldn’t rely on a self-made website for the long term. If you’re not familiar with how to code a website, you risk creating a lackluster product that won’t contribute positively to your company’s image.

If you want the real thing from the get-go, try hiring a developer that will commit all their time to your project. Some developers will take on multiple projects at once, extending the timeline for each website build they’re responsible for.

Realistically, you should know that most developers measure the average time it takes to build a website in weeks, not days or hours. 

The Importance of Adaptability: Waiting for Your New Website to Launch

Waiting for your new website can feel like an excruciating process. If you follow the timeline outlined above, it could take up to 15 weeks for the project to finish. However, when you understand “how long does it take to develop a website,” you can better manage your expectations. 

As the process commences, remember to stay adaptable — your developers may encounter issues that require creative solutions. But the process will be well worth it – you’ll have a functional, visually appealing website you can use to reel in new customers and keep current ones in the know!

How to Get Free Leads for My Business

Generating leads is essential for businesses of all sizes. While you can pay for someone else to find business sale leads for you, you can also avoid this extra expense altogether while enjoying the benefits that an online leads generator offers.

Ready to find out “how to get free leads for my business”? Then you’ve come to the right place. We’re sharing our top strategies for how to get sales leads for free. You can try all of these ideas for either free B2C or B2B leads, all without paying for an online lead generator. 

It Starts with a Website

If you want to learn how to get free leads online, you must understand that your online presence plays an essential role. You can generate as many leads as you like, but if you don’t have a website to direct them to, you’ll reach a dead-end and lose your potential customers.

The first step of this process is always launching a website that you can create yourself using website-building platforms. You can also pay for web design services to get the best version of your website up and running as soon as possible. 

Your website is a reflection of your business, so make sure your free leads are greeted by organized web pages and multiple CTA opportunities.

How To Bring Traffic to That Website For a Small Business 

Now that you have a website, you’re wondering, “how do I direct free leads to it?” That’s where local SEO comes in. These are tactics you use to boost your rankings on Google and encourage potential customers to visit your brand’s website, not a competitor’s. 

For example, if you own a hair salon, you may only receive customers who have walked past your salon before or heard about your business through word-of-mouth. But there is always someone a mile away who is unaware of your business. 

Use local SEO to boost your ranking on Google and entice them to visit your shop instead. They’ll see your business high on the search results and be more likely to schedule a visit after checking out your site.

Keep Them On Your Website 

You have some traffic from your local SEO work. Now it’s time to convert your free leads. Keeping them on your website is the only way to get business sales leads to explore and invest time in your brand. The sooner they click away, the less likely they will convert.

We recommend you use opt-in forms or pop-up windows to engage your website traffic. Use these opportunities to advertise a special deal or promote free digital content, like an eBook, video, or valuable advice if they subscribe to your mailing list.

Start a Blog That Makes Sense 

Starting a blog is beneficial for many reasons. It not only shares information about your services with business sales leads but also improves your local SEO. 

When you use your blog correctly, you can optimize your search results by using the best keywords and posting high-quality content regularly. When people see that you consistently offer highly valuable information about your niche, they’ll view you as an authority source and trust your perspective. As a result, you can expect a greater chance that they’ll check out the rest of your site and see what else you offer.

And Then There Is Google My Business

Chances are, you have probably searched for businesses online before. When you do, you’ll see key information about the business on the side of the search page. It typically includes a link to the website, phone number, business hours, and more. 

This tool is Google My Business, and you can directly optimize this tool to connect with customers and easily share essential information about your business. This tool also helps you easily update important information, like changed business hours, and build citations on local directories. 

The Unwritten Ways 

Start a Referral Program

People love to share their good experiences. The free leads will pour in when you incentivize your customers to share their positive feedback about your business! Start a referral program that rewards customers who recommend your business to friends and family. 

In fact, you can even become eligible for the Instinct Marketing referral program when you become a VIP client of ours. Just let us know, so we can get you started! 

Ask for the Review

A great website is one way to give a good impression, but there is more to building your brand’s reputation online. Reviews signal to your small business leads that you are trustworthy, which is key to knowing how to get sales leads for free. 

You can ask for leads informally or even build, asking for a review of the purchasing process. You may even incentivize customers to give good reviews by offering future discount specials.  

Keep Your Website Simple

A block of endless text to scroll through is not the best way to approach how to get free leads for your business. Users will be overwhelmed trying to read and click through to find the key information they want. After all, you may only have 15 seconds to convert business sales leads anyway.

We always recommend a simple site with key information, inviting graphics, and clear contact information. This way, your small business leads spend less time reading and more time actually contacting your business. 

Host a Webinar

Consider displaying your expertise in your niche and launch webinar videos.  It is also a low-cost way for how to get free leads for your business. You may also consider posting your own YouTube videos, which educate viewers on informational topics and show off your business headquarters. 

Just like blogs, webinars, and video content help you appear to be the authority and establish trust with leads. However, this is a unique opportunity to show off your personality. Customers love to form connections with brands and business owners, so make this process easier for them by stepping in front of the camera.

Use Your Social Media

Wondering, “what’s the simplest way to get free leads for my business?” The answer lies in a tool you use every day: your phone. 

Social media is a way to connect with your current customers and free leads. Free leads can quickly “follow” your page and see why your business is the best option for them! Apps like Instagram make it easy to link to landing pages designed to draw customers in and guide them to checkout. 

If you’re looking for inspiration, we recommend you follow the Instinct Marketing Instagram page for ideas on how to best utilize your social media pages.

It’s free to use social media, so don’t waste the opportunity!

Utilize Your Analytics

Once you’ve done all of these tactics for how to get free leads online, there’s only one thing left to do. You have to make sure your free leads tactics are working. 

When you track analytics such as visitor demographics, how long they stay on your site and on which pages, and conversion rates, you can better understand where to improve. 

Good Luck!

We hope that these tips are helpful for you in understanding how to get sales leads for free. These are great places to start for any small business looking for free B2B leads or B2C leads. And you shouldn’t ever have to resort to paying for an online lead generator. 

If you’re still struggling with how to get free leads online, contact our team at Instinct Marketing. Our team has experience generating business sales leads that become loyal customers.