These slides were presented during the SEMrush webinar "Content and SEO Strategy for Service-Based Businesses". To view the video or read the transcript, visit http://smr.sh/ScA

1. Content and SEO Strategy
for Service-Based
Businesses
@wonderwall7

2. Hello!
I am Kelsey Jones
Digital Marketing
Consultant
You can find me at
@wonderwall7
2

3. Covering the benefits & focus for:
● Best practices
● Local SEO
● CTAs
● Content Strategy
● Testimonials
3

4. 1.
Best Practices
For SEO and Content Strategy
@wonderwall7

5. Best Practices
Make sure you follow all
general SEO and content
best practices, including:
✘ No duplicate content:
use Copyscape to
check
✘ Sitemap
✘ Proper meta titles and
descriptions
5@wonderwall7

6. Best Practices
Make sure you follow all general SEO and content best
practices, including:
✘ Added to Google Search Console + Analytics & Bing
Webmaster Tools
✘ Preferably your own domain (instead of
petes.weebly.com)
✘ Have separate service pages instead of all on one
page
6@wonderwall7

7. Best Practices: Service
Pages
✘ Don’t put different
services all on one
central “Services”
page.
✘ Separate into
different pages to
help appear in more
specific search
results.
7@wonderwall7

8. 2.
Local SEO
Why it’s so important for service-based
businesses
@wonderwall7

9. People Rely on Reviews
84% of people trust online reviews
as much as their friends.
✘ Service-based biz should have
profiles on:
✗ Facebook
✗ Google My Business
✗ Yelp
✗ Bing Maps
✗ Industry portals, like
TripAdvisor and Angie’s List
9@wonderwall7

10. More Local SEO Basics
✘ Create different listings for each different
location
✘ If regional, set profiles to just the area
served
✘ However, still important for national or
global businesses for online presence
10@wonderwall7

11. More Local SEO Basics
✘ Bing & Apple Maps are important for voice
search because Amazon uses Bing for Alexa
✘ Add schema to pages, especially address
and hours information for structured data
and more robust SERPs
11@wonderwall7

12. 3.
Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
Benefits and Offers
@wonderwall7

13. Call-to-Actions
✘ Use a solutions-based approach, not
service-based
✘ People want to know how you’ll solve their
problem, not what you offer.
13@wonderwall7

14. Call-to-Actions
✘ Bad: Call us today for a free marketing
consultation.
✘ Good: Call us today to learn how our
packages will increase your sales leads by
30-40% in 90 days.
14@wonderwall7

15. Call-to-Actions
✘ Bad: We are available in the Chicago metro
24/7.
✘ Good: Our Chicago area certified plumbers
are usually available within 1-2 hours. Call us
now!
15@wonderwall7

16. Call-to-Actions
✘ A/B test button colors, wording, offer
✘ Experiment with offers:
✗ % vs $ off
✗ Seasonal
✗ Specific services when they are less
popular
16@wonderwall7

17. 4.
Content Strategy
Focus and Benefits
@wonderwall7

18. Content Offers
Almost all
service-based
businesses CAN
produce high-quality
content
18@wonderwall7

19. Content Ideas
✘ What would your customers
be interested in?
✗ Plumber/HVAC: save % on
water bill/utilities
✗ Manufacturing:
equipment guide or
industry safety
procedures
19@wonderwall7

20. 5.
Testimonials
Focus and Benefits
@wonderwall7

21. “Testimonials allow potential
customers to see themselves
as a customer of yours.
21@wonderwall7

22. Testimonials
✘ Don’t require or bribe
with incentives to leave
positive reviews.
✘ Ask to leave on their
favorite platform:
Facebook, Yelp, etc.
✘ Then you can pull and
put on your website as
a graphic or excerpt
(avoid duplicate
content)
22@wonderwall7

23. Testimonials
Ask customers for
exclusive reviews that
aren’t on social media
for unique content
23@wonderwall7

24. Testimonials
✘ Places to ask for reviews:
✗ Email signature
✗ Thank you pages
✗ Social media posts
✗ In person or over the phone
✗ Signage
24@wonderwall7

25. 25
Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at
@wonderwall7 &
kelsey@sixstories.com
@wonderwall7

26. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made
and released these awesome resources for
free:
✘ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
✘ Photographs by Unsplash
26@wonderwall7