Use this quick guide to SEO for cleaning companies to help you organically grow your website, establish your authority, and expand your reach.

Since most people research online before converting, it's important that your website is on the first page of Google.

For example, when visitors search for "house cleaning in [Your City]," you want your website to show up first. Otherwise, they might never click on you.

However, the only way to get your website to rank high in Google is by utilizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Sound a bit too technical for you? Well, I have some good news... and some great news.

The good: You can do most of your own SEO in-house.

The great: After reading this quick guide to SEO for cleaning companies, you can be an SEO expert.

When leads find your cleaning business on Google, they're actively searching for a solution to their problem. In other words, they're ready to buy, so let's make sure they find you!

In this quick guide to SEO for cleaning companies, we’ll break down what you can do to boost yourself through the ranks of Google results in three, easy-to-implement steps.

1. Simple Website Improvements With Huge Returns

Since SEO starts with the right keywords, this first step is arguably one of the most important things you'll do.

After all, when you optimize your cleaning website with the right keywords, you'll be able to rank higher in any search result.

Plus, the right keywords will help you get higher quality leads (instead of random leads who're just browsing).

Take a look at some of the main changes you can make to your website to instantly help you rank higher:

Choose a Specific and Simple Domain Name

When you choose a specific and simple domain name, your cleaning business will be more easily discoverable and memorable.

For example, if your cleaning business was in Dallas and was named Sunrise Cleaning, you’d want some thing like: sunrisecleaningdallas.com. However, you wouldn't want to choose something as vague as: sunrise.com.

If possible, include your location in your domain name. In turn, this will help connect your cleaning business to the area you serve.

By the way, this same strategy also applies to your cleaning business name. Make sure your business' name is specific and simple too!

As you choose a domain name, think about what your ideal cleaning clients are searching for in order to find residential or commercial cleaning services in your area.

Plus, you can use Google Keyword Planner to see the average monthly volume of searches a certain word or phrase is getting.

cleaning-business-SEO-keywords

For example, since Sunrise Maid Service Dallas is getting such a high volume of searches every month, it may be the best bet for a company in Dallas.

Keep in mind, when you add a keyword in the Keyword Planner, you can also ask Google to give you “More Like This." Pick this option to see if you’re missing something, or if word order is super important.

If you look above, I initially searched “Dallas maid service” and only got 320 queries per month. However, when I used Google’s “More Like This” option, it swapped around word order and found “maid service Dallas,” which has a much higher search volume.

Bottom Line: Choose a single keyword or phrase to focus on in your domain name. You’ll use it throughout your website so you want to target a specific, high yield phrase and get to the top of the results for it.

Choose the Right Page Title

Your page title also shows up in the tabs of your browser.

service-autopilot-seo-blog

A page title is what shows up on the tab when you look at a page. A lot of times, the default for a website’s homepage is: “Home | Sunrise Cleaning”. Don’t stick with this default.

Here’s the real reason it matters: The page name also shows up in Google results. Potential clients are searching for a cleaning company in your area, and they'll see a mix of results.

Your page titles are the first text that your potential clients will see from you. Use that text to start selling your cleaning business!

Take a look at what our blog looks like in Google results:

service-autopilot-seo-blog-2

You can see that we’re giving our name (Service Autopilot), what we’re doing (blogging about business advice), and who it’s for (service entrepreneurs).

“Home | Sunrise Cleaning” gives the potential client your name... and nothing else:

Here’s a better page title:

“Sunrise Cleaning | The Premier Maid Service in Dallas”

This tells the potential client:

  1. Who you are (Sunrise Cleaning)
  2. Where you are (Dallas)
  3. What you do (Premier Maid Service)

As a result, you'll stand out from the endless sea of your competitors and their sloppily constructed search results.

Always remember, kick default names to the curb, and use the first line (i.e. page title) potential clients see as a proper introduction.

Optimize Your Page Descriptions

Page descriptions also appear in Google results. You can find your page description below the page title and URL in the search results.

For the SA blog, it reads: “Best business practices, trade secrets, and interviews with some of the most successful Service Business Entrepreneurs. Read more on the SA Blog!”

The page description is your second line of information for people thinking about clicking into your site. It communicates in more detail what you've already said in your page title, which hopefully earns the click.

Plus, you don’t have to be code-savvy to fix or update your page descriptions.

For example, if you’re managing your site through WordPress, you can add the Yoast SEO plug-in to make editing your page titles and descriptions much simpler. Plus, Yoast is a free plug-in tool.

Here’s what Yoast’s Snippet Editor looks like:

service-autopilot-seo-blog-3

You type your title and description, then Yoast shows you what it will look like in Google. What you see is what you get!

When you use a plug-in like this, the process for changing the copy on your page descriptions is super simple. Also, if you use Yoast, it'll even give you suggestions for utilizing SEO on each page of your site.

Implement the Top Strategies for SEO for Cleaning Companies into Each Page of Your Website

Every page of your cleaning website matters for SEO because every page affects every other page’s visibility.

First off, every page of your website should include your NAP (name, address, and phone number). When you include your NAP at the bottom of every page, you're telling your leads and clients how to contact you.

Next, you need to list your services and include keywords on every page. However, this doesn't mean you'll provide a literal list of cleaning services on every page. Instead, include your main keyword (e.g. "Maid Service Dallas) on every page.

Then, on at least one page, you should have a list of every service you offer. In turn, whenever leads search for one of your services, for example "carpet cleaning Dallas," they'll discover you if it's a service you offer.

Finally, you need to include local information. Take it a step beyond including your area of service and list the sections of town (e.g. neighborhoods or suburbs serviced), local sports teams, and maybe even a park or other unique landmarks near your office.

You can easily include your local information by including it in your "About Us" page or employee bio pages.

[elementor-template id="17624"]

2. Cross-Linking to Other Sites for Improved Google Rankings

Once you’ve implemented the SEO strategies we just talked about, you’re ready to begin cross-linking to other reputable websites.

By cross-linking to other websites, you'll be able to improve your credibility with potential customers, assuming you’re linking to something that’s:

However, you don’t want to engage in “link stuffing” (someone unnaturally stuffs links into every word of the page). Google picks up on link stuffing, which can actually hurt your website rankings.

Take a look at some good examples of link building you can use on your cleaning business’ website:

The King of All Links (and How to Get Them)

Far more important than who you know... is who knows you.

For example, if I’m outside the White House, and I tell them I know the President, they say, “Everyone knows the President, Cody. Go away.”

However, if the President walks outside and says, “Hey Cody, c’mon in, let’s talk.” Everyone is suddenly impressed with me.

In the same way, links on your website are you saying, “I know the President.” However, links to your website from a good website are the President saying, “I know you.”

These are the Kings of All Links, and you want them... A LOT.

Local news, print, and television are great ways to get outside links. When something big is happening and you're an expert, get in touch with the local station/paper, and get them interested in talking to you.

For instance, cleaners in Houston and areas affected by the 2017 hurricane who know how to treat mold (or save a family heirloom that got wet) could do a story with a local station about those tips.

You’ve seen people on the local news (especially on the morning news) give “life pro tips.” You can become the station’s go-to expert on that topic. Then, they’ll call when they need someone with your skillset.

Plus, any story you do with a news outlet will have an online companion, especially if it’s a newspaper. Ask for a link to your website in the story. Even if no one clicks that link to check out your site (though, unlikely), it still gets you a link from a big, important, local website.

Google’s “crawlers” will notice this shiny new link, and they’ll reward you with a bump to your website’s rank.

Additionally (and unrelated to SEO), appearing in local media makes you the de facto expert on cleaning in your area. In turn, people will recognize your cleaning company just from the appearances.

As a result, when you become more recognizable, it provides authority and credibility with potential clients, which sells your cleaning services automatically.

Much easier than appearing on television or in the paper, link to your website in your newsletter and in all emails to clients.

Plus, your newsletter can periodically remind people to check out your household cleaning tips page. You can even include a link to your homepage in your email signature.

While these links won't be as valuable as getting your site on a more reputable site (like the local news), it'll still increase traffic to your site, which will help your Google ranking.

Bottom Line: In order to determine the searches you're relevant to, Google looks at who you link to and who links to you. As a result, you need to stay in your wheelhouse: local businesses and cleaning topics. Focus on those two kinds of links, and you’ll increase your Google rankings in no time.

3. Round Out Your Digital Presence for the Best Effect

You can do everything we’ve discussed above but if you miss this, you’ll completely miss the boat.

Your website can only get you so far. There are other places where your cleaning business needs to be online in order to succeed.

Chief among them is Facebook. If you don’t have a business page on Facebook, you need to create one as soon as possible.

Not only are Facebook Ads for cleaning businesses super easy, but it’s also an incredibly fast way to gain new clients. Plus, it gives you another place to ask for 5-star reviews for your cleaning business - which is useful, since most leads look at several reviews before converting.

Remember, reviews help convince people to buy AND Google factors the number and quality of reviews into your cleaning business’ page rank.

Be the "top authority" in the cleaning industry today!

Get your FREE social media bundle

List Your Cleaning Business in Important Directories

Business directories are like digital phone books (if phone books were self-replicating and created dozens of smaller, more specific phone books).

In turn, you want to claim your cleaning business on Google and at least one of the other options listed below.

The only one on the list that people directly visit is Google. However, the others are used by Google and similar services to populate their listings on other sites like Yellow Pages, Foursquare, Yelp, and etc.

  1. Google My Business (free)
  2. Neustar Localeze (paid)
  3. Data Axle (formerly Infogroup) (free with a paid premium option)
  4. Factual (free)

Keep your listings up-to-date with any phone number or business hours changes. This ensure that the information that potential clients (or existing ones!) access is correct - no matter where they find it.

Grow Your Cleaning Business... Faster (and with Less Stress)

Instant invoicing

Better scheduling

Manage your clients and employees all in one system

Start Software Tour

Grow Your Website Using This Quick Guide to SEO for Cleaning Companies

When you follow this three-part strategy to SEO for cleaning companies, you greatly increase your visibility in search results.

In other words, more “ready to buy” clients will see you FIRST.

The best part is that most of the advice in this post is free to follow! The main investment is your time, on which you’ll have a significant return.

Don’t spend another day on Page 5 of the Google search results for cleaning companies in your area.

Now, get out there and put your knowledge of the best practices of SEO for cleaning companies to good use!

Related: How to Build the Best Cleaning Website for Your Business

Originally published March 29, 2019 7:00 AM, updated Aug 3, 2021 12:07 PM

One of the best ways to increase your profits without winning more clients is by mastering the art of knowing hoot upsell your lawn and landscape services.

As you probably already know, it’s easier to retain an existing customer than to win a new one.

Plus, it’s less expensive too. Studies on acquisition and retention have shown it is 5 to 25x more expensive to gain a new customer than it is to retain one.

But…

Retaining customers doesn’t help you grow. It helps you stay put, right? How do you grow your landscaping business if you’re so focused on your existing customers?

The answer? Upsell your lawn and landscape services.

This article will show you:

Selling additional services to your current customers is a cost-effective (and efficient!) way to grow your business.

Be Vocal About Your Lawn Care and Landscape Services

Landscape companies assume that their existing clients are aware of all the services they offer... but that’s almost never the case.

One Ohio-based design/build landscape company told us that his business had become so well-known for hardscaping work in their area that clients had no idea they also offered maintenance.

In fact, customers had even gone as far as hiring other landscape maintenance companies to service their properties. Recognizing the need to be more vocal, this company has changed its narrative.

Now, when they install a hardscape, they’re always sure to say, “We can maintain your lawn for you, too.” It’s become part of their ongoing dialogue with customers.

They never part with a customer before sharing with them all of the different services they can offer going forward.

The fact is, you can’t assume that your customers are pursuing your website to see what other services you offer.

If you’ve built up a reputation for being good at a particular service — as this Ohio-based company had — then your customers may have no clue that you offer additional services.

Plus, make telling your clients about your services a part of your ongoing customer conversations. Don’t leave it up to the customer to find out on their own what you have to offer:

Find ways to share this information.

Get 7 of our best performing flyers (tested over 8+ years), put into print-ready templates.

Get Your FREE Templates Today

Make Exclusive Offers to Clients When They Upsell or Cross-Sell

Exclusive offers are a great way to entice customers to commit to additional services. Also, it makes them feel special and appreciated that it's an exclusive offer. This is a win-win scenario for both you and the client.

For instance, if you’re a lawn and landscape business, and you’re already on site (and have already invested the drive time to get there), then it makes sense to try to get multiple services out of one visit.

So, you might tell your customers that it would only be “X dollars more” to add on a mosquito control service while you’re already at their home.

However, this upselling and cross-selling strategy doesn’t only work for lawn care.

If you’ve installed a patio for a customer, you might offer them a “friends and family” discount to sign up for ongoing maintenance work from you. You’ve already established a relationship, which makes them more likely to say yes.

Discounting a future service keeps your existing customers happy, which is good for two key reasons:

  1. It may lead to them purchasing other services from you down the road such as enhancement work or additional hardscaping.
  2. It makes them more likely to recommend your services to others.

Giving exclusive offers on your services to existing clients at the front-end could very well lead to more work on the back-end.

Seek Out Upsell Opportunities

When landscape business owners wait for the client to come to them with needs, they’re letting opportunities slip by.

Upselling is all about being proactive. Train your crews to constantly be looking for those opportunities to offer additional services.

For instance, if a crew is on the property for their regular mowing work and they notice a tree that could really use some pruning... make sure they know to speak up. They should tell the crew leader or even someone back at the office about this upsell opportunity.

Your crews are on your properties on a regular basis and have the best chance of finding those upsell opportunities. Encourage them to do so.

If you want them to be invested in seeking them out, you might even consider incentivizing them for finding work.

If they suggest an upsell and it pans out, reward them in some way. That will encourage them to continue to look for them.

And don’t think that you’re doing the customer a disservice by finding a lot of needs on their property. The opposite is true.

Most customers will see value in the fact that you’re keeping an active eye on their property and pointing out problems that can be fixed. They’ll appreciate the effort and care you’re putting into their home. That builds greater value into your services.

Of course, you’ll quickly get the sense of whether a customer is one who appreciates upsells or not.

If you feel that you are over-selling, and it’s hurting your relationship with the customer, then you’ll also need to know when to back off.

Position Your Business as the Lawn Care and Landscaping “Expert”

Now that you have some good strategies in place to upsell your clients on additional services... you need to get them to agree to those services.

It’s not enough to just say, “We offer this service.”

You also need to show why you’re the expert in that service — and why they should hire you. This will definitely be easier with an existing client than it would be with a brand-new one.

After all, they already know you and have established a relationship. They have come to trust you.

But they still want to know that you are an expert in this additional service that you’re selling.

So, show them.

Blog articles and before/after photos are ideal for this. They allow you to say, “I think your property could really benefit from some flower beds. Let me show you an example of some we just did.”

You’re not just suggesting the upsell, but you’re positioning yourself as the expert who should be doing it.

The last thing that you want is to suggest a service the customer may not have known they needed — but then watch them hire someone else to do it.

Grow Your Lawn Care Business... Faster 
(and with Less Stress)​

Instant invoicing

Better scheduling

Manage your clients and employees all in one system

Start Software Tour

Start Upselling Your Lawn and Landscape Services Now

By putting these strategies into play, you should be able to successfully grow your business with your existing customers.

Organic growth is ideal because it’s cost-effective and easy... but you still have to put forth the effort.

Stay in touch with your customers and treat them right. It'll go a long way toward building a long-lasting relationship.

Now, when an upsell opportunity presents itself, you have all the tools and knowledge you need to convince your clients to say, “Yes!”

Related: 7 Lawn Care Services You Can Easily Upsell

Originally March 29, 2019 7:00 AM, updated Feb 9,2021 12:01 AM