Optimizing your website for the best keywords is one of the most important building blocks of your online marketing strategy.
But how we see or describe our business can be very different from how our customers see us. And knowing how our customers see us and search for us online spells the difference between lackluster performance and booming success in our online marketing efforts.
Let’s take one example. “Manufactured homes” used to be called “mobile homes.” The industry has gone to a great deal of effort over the past several years to upgrade it’s image by re-branding with the better descriptive term “manufactured homes” or “manufactured housing.”
But the effort expended hasn’t produced the desired result because the majority of customers still uses the term “mobile home.” And they use that term for single- and multi-section homes, new and old, in a community or on ten acres. I’m sure most retailers and community managers are well aware of this.
A keyword analysis using the Google Keyword Tool reveals that searches in the U.S. on the keyword “mobile homes” out numbers searches for either “manufactured homes” or “modular homes” by a margin of more than 2 to 1.
| Term | U.S. Monthly Searches | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufactured Homes | 550,000 | |
| Modular Homes | 450,000 | |
| Mobile Homes | 1,220,000 |
Obviously, ignoring the “mobile homes” keyword could have a large negative effect on the number of potential customers who find you via a search on Google.
In terms of keyword usage, Google users are not much different than users of Bing, Yahoo or any other search engine. So you can expect results to be very similar across the board.
So, how do we continue to seek to upgrade the industry’s image while tapping into the huge numbers for whom “mobile home” is the preferred terminology?
That depends on whether you a manufacturer, retailer, supplier or community owner.
But no matter who you are, the numbers outlined above indicate that we have a ways to go in customers minds to replace the “mobile home” image with the “manufactured home” one.
There’s an old quote that says you can’t break an old habit – you need to replace it with a new habit.
Manufacturers need to keep plugging away at changing the perception. Trade associations need to help, perhaps by running local education programs aimed at consumers with the object of substituting a new habit for the old.
Retailers, suppliers and community managers need to address this issue from the viewpoint of their customers. They need to use the more desired term when communicating with customers, but recognize that to draw the widest range of prospects, some homage must be paid to the term “mobile home.”
This is where “online marketing” shines above all other forms. Your website, email marketing, etc. can be primarily optimized for “manufactured homes” while pages are created specifically for buyers who search using the term “mobile home.” You can even have separate email lists for those who locate you using either term.
After all, who wants to throw away over a million lead opportunities every month?
Once again, this brings us back to MHMSM Solutions, which has the expertise to set this up for you. Taking advantage of every opportunity is how we will thrive as the market improves.