Breakroom Operators: Let’s Improve Your Organic Search Results
Jen / March 31, 2022
Organic search is a top way for buyers to discover a breakroom operator’s products and services. It also allows them to understand who you are as a business, where you operate, and what current customers are saying about you. Your company’s organic search results cannot be improved through paid advertising. Instead, achieving top ranking on search engines is the result of knowing how breakroom buyers shop online and how to influence your SEO.
Keep reading to learn the tactics breakroom operators can implement to improve their organic search ranking and get their business, products, and services noticed online.
What is Organic Search?
When a buyer enters a keyword or query into a search engine, the results they see are a combination of paid and organic search results. After advertisements, organic search results are ranked in priority order. If your website is fully optimized with industry-related keywords and content, it helps your SEO and allows your business to achieve higher rankings, gain organic traffic, and generate leads. Breakroom operators with high organic search rankings have a better likelihood of buyers of breakroom services finding their website.
Compared to paid advertisements, organic search rankings cannot be bought. They are determined by the quality and quantity of your company’s online marketing content.
But what types of content benefit your SEO and what can you do to improve your company’s organic search rankings?
A smart website
Your website is the #1 tool to represent your company’s services online, generate leads, and close sales. Your website should host a wealth of content to support and promote all aspects of your breakroom services, including pantry service, micro-markets, vending, and office coffee. But your website’s design and its content not only affect the user experience, it also impacts your organic search rankings. That is why it is important for breakroom operators to create an SEO-focused website that ‘speaks the same language’ your buyers do. A website with content that is rich in industry-related keywords and phrases specific to the refreshment services industry will make it easier for search engines to match your website with buyers searching for breakroom services.
Informative blog articles
Blogs are a great way to elaborate on topics of interest as well as highlight current breakroom trends. Plus, blogs boost SEO by positioning your website as a source for relevant answers to prospective buyers’ questions. Blog posts that use a variety of keywords and on-page SEO tactics are recognized as more relevant and can give your business more opportunities to rank higher in search engines. Another benefit? Blogs help your business gain industry authority and trust with breakroom customers.
Social Media Content
Posting regular content to your social media platforms helps your company stay top of mind with existing customers and potential buyers of breakroom services. In addition, having a social media presence helps increase your online visibility and supports SEO efforts to drive traffic to your website. Create posts with inbound links to your website and encourage those that engage with your content to click through. This will increase your site’s popularity and credibility for organic search. Posts that tag relevant fellow businesses or clients will increase their exposure – and so will the likes they receive. The more eyes on your content the better. You may even notice your social media profiles showing up near the top of online searches as well.
Online Business Listings
Finally, online business listings are important for SEO because they provide valuable information at a quick glance. Not only do they increase your visibility in local search, but they also increase your chances of ranking higher than competitors. Your business listing also provides a place for existing customers to review your breakroom business and drive more traffic to your website.
Managing your online content to maximize SEO will help ensure your company ranks high in organic search and new leads discover your website. Prospective buyers are looking online for breakroom solutions every day. When your website is optimized, potential customers have an easier time finding the breakroom refreshment products and services you offer and reaching out to you first.
If you’re a breakroom operator looking to improve your online presence and SEO, contact VendCentral. We are 100% focused on the refreshment services industry and develop results-oriented online marketing strategies for breakroom operators.
Use Testimonials to Help Seal the Deal
Jen / March 16, 2022
Client testimonials are a mighty way to influence buyers of breakroom services – and operators who incorporate them into their digital marketing strategy are using a proven tactic to drive sales. Here we explore why testimonials work, how to obtain them, and where to incorporate them in your digital marketing strategy.
Why testimonials work
Buyers in every industry use the internet to search for new products and services and the refreshment services industry is no different. A great company website can impress and inform but client testimonials go one step further in establishing trust and converting leads to customers. In fact, 85% of buyers find testimonials as valuable as a personal recommendation from a friend or colleague.
Client testimonials can also have a positive impact on SEO. When testimonials are specific, they often contain “search worthy” keywords. And, if properly promoted, they can boost your website’s ranking in organic search results. Better rankings drive more traffic to your site. Testimonials that include specific recommendations are also a great way to increase the awareness of particular products or services. This can lead to upgrades with your existing customers too.
Obtaining testimonials
A great testimonial is often the result of great timing, so always keep the idea of collecting a testimonial top of mind. Guide your customers toward providing the information you seek by asking them questions. Did your customer recently switch to single-cup coffee equipment? Ask them how their employees are enjoying the convenience. Did they recently upgrade to pantry service? Invite them to tell you about their employees’ positive reaction to free snacks and beverages. Also ask them to share how your company handled communication, logistics, and service issues along the way.
Make it easy – The key to obtaining testimonials is to make it easy for your customers to contribute. Email long-term customers to ask for a few words on your company’s behalf – and give them a prompt or a few simple questions to answer. If your customers are willing to provide you with a testimonial but are short on time, offer to co-write one with them or prepare one for them. Remember, if you are writing a testimonial on your customer’s behalf, be sure to get their approval before using it.
If you are reaching out to a relatively new customer, a quick call to check in on how things are going might be a better option. If they respond favorably them, follow up with a request to quote them in an upcoming testimonial. They will be pleased to know you value their comments.
Consider video – Video testimonials are growing in popularity, so consider getting a few of your own. According to LinkedIn, 79% of consumers say they have watched a video testimonial to learn more about a company, product, or service. Video testimonials don’t have to be rehearsed. Many buyers love their authenticity. So, if you are on-site installing a new micro-market or hosting a fresh food or coffee tasting, seize the moment! Speak with your client directly and obtain a video testimonial on the spot.
Regardless of how you obtain your testimonials, tailor them to be as detailed as possible. In addition to the SEO benefits, buyers find detailed testimonials more unique, relevant, and tangible.
Marketing testimonials
Once you have obtained a variety of testimonials, it’s time to put them to work!
Showcase them on your website – If your company has acquired a lot of testimonials, it deserves a testimonial page on your website. But, if you are still gathering them, don’t wait to show them off. Testimonials are a perfect addition to a company’s home page or about page. Sprinkling relevant testimonials on pages dedicated to specific breakroom products or services can provide key information right where buyers are seeking it too.
Post on Social Media – A steady stream of positive customer feedback posted on social media has many benefits. Fresh new content that validates your breakroom services is always a win. Including backlinks will drive traffic to specific pages on your website that pertain to your client’s testimonial too. Also, don’t forget to tag your clients who provide the testimonial. Your post will be seen by all of your clients’ connections and your company will gain valuable exposure to prospects who value your client’s opinions.
Share as a Google Review – Ask your customers to post their testimonial (or a portion of it) as a Google Review and offer to show them how. A positive Google Review will further enhance your company’s credibility and boost its ranking on Google search.
Client testimonials are an important component of your digital marketing strategy and can go a long way in influencing buyers of breakroom services. Unbiased input from customers in similar circumstances can certainly enhance lead generation and validate a buyer’s decision to become a customer. But, don’t underestimate how the process of collecting testimonials can enhance your relationships with existing customers too. The experience shows them you value their honest feedback and care about their input. The information your clients share can praise what you are doing right, identify employees who are going above and beyond or offer chances for breakroom upgrades. However, it can also reveal opportunities for improvement. Acting on your clients’ feedback, positive or negative, will help ensure you retain them for years to come.
VendCentral helps operators and manufacturers in the refreshment services industry with digital marketing strategies, website development, written content and creative design. Contact us for a free consultation.