Search engines make it a priority to list new and relevant pages. Maintaining a blog is an easy way to make sure your website is being updated consistently. And, for every blog you add, it’s another potential page that can show up in Google’s search results. Just be sure you are creating valuable content with intent, not just writing blogs for the sake of checking a box.
The information customers are searching for can change over time, particularly since the firearms industry is known to ebb and flow with the election cycle and other current events. Check-in with your staff and customers regularly and update the content of your website continuously to ensure the information provided is relevant and timely.
Dealers should also look for ways to improve the user experience by making it easy to book a training class or lane on the range in advance. By adding an events calendar, detailed class descriptions and a “book now” feature to their website, GAT Marketing helps Ann Arbor Arms in Michigan host over 400 events each year.
Similar to blogs, maintaining an updated events calendar gives Google and other search engines a reason to regularly index your site, which can impact your rankings in search-engine results.
Demystifying SEO
Importance Of Continual Website Updates
Did you know nearly 40% of small businesses still don’t have a website going into 2021?1
As surprising as this may be, what’s arguably worse are those companies that have outdated websites.
You spent countless hours and hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars on a brand-new website to showcase your gun store or range, but then what? New in-store customers and online orders were supposed to start pouring in, right?
Wrong.
Without a digital marketing strategy in place that includes search engine optimization, your website is going to cost more money than it will make you.
What Is SEO And Why Does It Matter?
Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem like a played-out marketing buzzword, but it’s very much still relevant considering 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine.2
In fact, over the past 12 months, there has been an average of 280,000 web searches per month for the term “gun stores near me.”
But what exactly is SEO and why is it so important? SEO is the process of optimizing online content so a search engine likes to show it as a top result for searches of a certain keyword.
When it comes to SEO, there’s you, the search engine and the searcher.
Let’s break it down even further: When it comes to SEO, there’s you, the search engine and the searcher. If you have a page on your website about concealed carry training, you want the search engine (which in 90% of all cases is Google) to show it as a top result to anyone who searches for the phrase “concealed carry training near me.”
SEO is the magic you have to work on in order to make Google very likely to include your website as one of the top results whenever someone searches for a keyword or phrase.
Sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of myths about SEO that make it difficult for small-business owners to manage themselves. Plus, like most things involving digital marketing, the best practices are constantly changing, making them hard to keep up with for those who wear multiple hats.
Common Myths & Missteps
One of the most common myths surrounding SEO is it’s all about keywords, but the days of stuffing your website with as many keywords (and as many times) as possible are long gone.
Many factors play into SEO, including the design of your website, its speed, the user experience, mobile-responsiveness and the quality of your content.
Again, the largest myth is the work stops once you launch a website. In reality, your website is the starting line. An effective SEO strategy requires consistent effort over time to help increase your rankings, traffic and conversions. Point blank, it’s a full-time job.
“The biggest missteps we see when dealers approach us, first and foremost, stem from an overall lack of digital savvy,” said Charles Anderson, CEO of GAT Marketing — a digital marketing agency that specializes in working with firearms dealers and gun ranges. “Other common pitfalls are they typically don’t have a dedicated marketing person and they aren’t realistic about their budget.”
These factors often result in dealers being misled by fast and cheap solutions that notoriously over promise and under deliver, like turnkey e-commerce solutions.
“What a lot of dealers don’t realize is many turnkey solutions like third-party hosted e-commerce sites actually take traffic away from your website,” added Anderson. “The product images, descriptions, etc., aren’t actually located on your website, but instead hosted through a third-party provider so all of that valuable content and time spent browsing is doing nothing for you.”
Whether you have an e-commerce store or not, investing in your online presence isn’t optional — it’s necessary.
If possible, you want to build an e-commerce area directly into your website so from the time a user lands on the site to the time they complete a purchase, they never leave your website. Increasing the time spent on your site is a key factor in improving your search-engine rankings and increasing customer conversions.
However, Anderson said many small- to mid-sized dealers don’t have the budget necessary to build, effectively manage and market a true e-commerce website.
“Their marketing budget could generate a better ROI if it were used for local SEO efforts instead,” he noted.
Think all of this sounds expensive and out of reach for your business? Take a hard look at your budget and decide if you have the resources to manage digital marketing entirely in-house or if it is better to outsource. Those are your options. Whether you have an e-commerce store or not, investing in your online presence isn’t optional — it’s necessary.
Oftentimes, you can outsource for the same cost as what you would spend to hire a single marketing person in-house. Instead of a single generalist, hiring an experienced marketing agency gives you access to an entire team of specialists who will act as an extension of your business.
Tactics You Can Implement Now
One of the primary factors affecting how your website ranks on search engines is how well your website provides the information users are searching for. An area any dealer could improve upon is content.
Get together with your sales staff and identify the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) by customers and incorporate this information into your website.
Howell’s Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Gray, Maine, has a dedicated FAQ page on its website so important information is compiled in a single location — thus making it even easier for users to find what they are looking for. If customers are asking these questions in person, there are likely even more prospective customers who are searching for the same answers online.
Frequently asked questions are also a great starting point if you’re trying to come up with ideas for blog topics, social media posts or video ideas. Expand on the answers and repurpose them for your different platforms.
If customers are asking these questions in person, there are likely even more prospective customers who are searching for the same answers online.
Key Takeaway
More people than ever in your area are searching online for the products and services you provide. The bottom line: A website that doesn’t exist can’t be found. And remember, your website isn’t just a project you complete and forget — it’s a living, breathing tool that should grow and change as your business evolves.
A website works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It’s your company’s most powerful marketing tool. So ask yourself, when’s the last time it was updated?
Footnotes
1: prn.to/3ipUbId
2: webfx.com/internet-marketing/seo-statistics.html
