PC Computer Repairmen & Women -Adwords’ Shunned Can Find Solace Here
Google Adwords upends the table, here’s how to react…
Google Adwords will no longer accept ads for computer repair, virus and related services. This has affected everyone from the Geek Squad on down.
If this also happened to you there are two quick points to be made.
First the Good News: Cash in the pocket. What ever you were paying for Google Adwords is now available for new opportunities.
Second, there is a smart way to focus some of that new found cash.
What’s Changed on Screen?
Absent ads, the Google 3 Pack is getting top billing and you want to be there if you are not already. And by being there I mean being there for the top 10-20 keywords relevant to your services in as many nearby zip codes/cities/neighborhoods as possible. Google has gotten hyper local and this has good and bad points. The key to know is that it is powerful way to get new customers from close to you.
Who Am I
My name is Earl Netwal, I call myself the micro business specialist and have been doing internet marketing consulting in Minneapolis for almost 20 years. I first got started with ebay during its first years of existence. Currently, I work with a number of businesses including a couple of computer related firms. One of the two had all his Adwords ads disapproved last week.
If you are in the same boat, I suggest you invest at least half of the saved adwords spend and direct it toward gaining, sustaining or improving your Google My Business page and its visibility. That is where you will most likely get new leads from via Google.
Just because they won’t take your money, doesn’t mean you cannot benefit from the exposure they offer…for free.
My strategy has two elements, once a basic Google My Business Page is properly set up and optimized.
The first is round robin of pre-scheduled Google Posts averaging every 3 days or 12 times a month.
The second part is a silo’d sequence of press releases on a once or twice a month basis.
The combination of regular activity, and regular back-linking from press release distribution points will provide Google with proof of not only activity but importantly, when done correctly market area.
It will take time, but we want Google to understand the actual market we serve. New posts that feature common questions and answers combined with a geographical strategy designed to claim your shops turf will enhance your visibility on Google Maps and the 3 pack.
You will be competing with everyone else locally. For the most part it will take most a while to figure out that they need old fashioned SEO once again. And especially they need google My Business Page SEO support.
For a while there may be a first mover advantage, especially for those who already appear for some searches. An active strategy can help you leap frog you over some of your slower moving local competitors. Remember that the Geek Squad has also lost its very high buck ad words campaigns. You can now out compete them if you dare take immediate action.
This is not new, although it is different.
Apparently, Google felt the pc repair niche was overrun with scallywags milking unsuspecting consumers, thus lessening the public’s confidence in Google as a search resource.
Google previously clamped down in Garage Door Repair and the Locksmith niches.
I have two locksmith clients. They needed ultimately to prove they were real people with real locksmith businesses. It took one well over six months to get through Google’s “not telling you anything” opaque screens and regain his high 3 pack visibility. (PS he currently has over 300 legit Google Reviews and a 4.9 overall star rating)
Google is using a different approach this time – shutting off a significant revenue stream, basically without warning. What ever will follow will likely be months away, and the clear winner for now are those in the Google 3 pack. They are getting top billing for free.
You can do everything you need to do yourself, or you can allow me to set up and run the system for you.
That helps it know to show us on the top of the page when someone in that market area searches for one of our “keywords” or services.
Call me at 612-408-9924 and leave a message -please give me your website and other pertinent info and a good time to contact you. I will take a quick look at your site before contacting you to better discuss how to proceed. Please allow me a day or two to respond.