Creating an Integrated Web and Social Solution: A Case Study

The following is reprinted from the October 2012 issue of New Business Minnesota. For a full copy of the articles, download this PDF or click the image to the right.

Creating an Integrated Web and Social Media Solution to Replace a Company’s Weak Web Design

Randy Smith, owner of Randy’s Electric, knew his company’s website needed work. And he wasn’t the only one. Every day he would get calls from designers telling him he should fire his “web guy.” He was getting more bad calls than good ones and knew it was time to make a change. 

Fortunately, Randy was in a Business Network International (BNI) group with Dave Meyer, president of BizzyWeb, a leading web and social media developer in the Twin Cities. After one of Dave’s web and social media presentations, the two sat down to talk about his problem. 

Randy’s web site was a mess and not getting any better. His old web guy was always working on something. It was a few hundred dollars a month for updating and doing Google adwords. In return, Randy had to point out misspelled words and other mistakes and he couldn’t find his company on a Google search until page four. 

“It was clear to me the guy was trying, but didn’t know his stuff,” Randy says. “Just talking to Dave for a few minutes it became clear he was the expert I needed. I made the change.” 

Randy wanted a logical process that would drive more leads to his business by integrating his web site with Facebook, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other social media. 

Going through the web site with a critical eye, Dave says it was easy to see why Randy was so frustrated. 

“He had a website he couldn’t update, it didn’t look great and didn’t get him the business results he was looking for,” says Dave. 

The web site had been created in a tool that made updating difficult and wasn’t SEO friendly. Randy didn’t have access to it. He was paying a regular monthly fee to have it managed and nothing was happening because there was no plan. 

Before Dave had his BizzyWeb team start designing, he worked with Randy on a strategic planning process, which laid out marketing goals, what prospects the site was trying to attract, the quality of the leads that were going to be generated and how to best present his unique business model. 

Randy’s Electric is focused on providing quality, reliable electrical services for homeowners. His unique selling proposition is a customer- service-intense experience where the job gets done right the first time and in one trip.  They do standard electrical repairs for homeowners such as installing a ceiling fan, updating outlets, adding wall switches, fixing flickering lights, etc. 

Randy has electricians who are also heavily trained in customer service and safety. “Most contractors are concerned with permits and code,” Randy says. “We are concerned with the safety of those who are sleeping in the house.” 

Dave started by identifying what Randy’s Electric does better than anyone else and what that means to their best clients. Then BizzyWeb identified the tools to use to reach that audience at the moment they were making the decision to use Randy’s service. 

“We look at strategy first and solution second,” says Dave. “We identified exactly what Randy wanted to do rather than spend time chasing the next shiny object.” 

The first task, rather urgently, was to solve a Facebook crisis. Randy had mistakenly set up a personal profile for his company and he was “friending” people – a violation of Facebook rules. BizzyWeb created a company page and transitioned most of the contacts to the new page.

“I thought I was supposed to be friending everybody,” says Randy. “I just didn’t know. I’m an electrician.” Within a few weeks, Facebook shut down the profile, but luckily most of the contacts were saved with a proper Facebook presence created by BizzyWeb.

Randy’s target audience is not price shoppers or tire kickers who want a free consultation. They are people who want it done right the first time, appreciate value and peace of mind, and who don’t mind hiring professionals to take care of problems.

That information was used to create keywords that are woven into the context of every page to drive search results and put Randy’s Electric in the top result or at least on the first page.

The next phase was to create a web site that automatically updated Randy’s Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and blog so that whenever he updated his web site, his messages were seamlessly integrated with his social media accounts.

The key to effective social media is keeping content fresh. Dave says busy business owners don’t have time to make blog posts, which is why he created his Buzz Builders Program. BizzyWeb has trained journalists on staff who interview Randy once a week and generate blog posts that are unique to him.

“To be effective, it has to come from the owner’s voice,” says Dave. “The key thing we do is provide content our customer’s ideal clients are searching for, when they need it, and where they hang out online.

BizzyWeb writes Randy’s advice on topics such as how to know if an outlet needs replacing, how to protect your family by updating smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, what the right Energy Start approved appliances are and how to protect your house with surge protectors.

The next phase was revamping how Randy used Google ads. “We wanted to reduce his costs while getting in 30 to 40 percent more leads,” says Dave.

Randy’s Google campaigns hadn’t been driving results. In fact, they were wasting money: He was paying for clicks on his name, and useless search results. He was showing up under “electric motor repair” and other services he doesn’t offer.

Besides paying for wasted clicks, Randy was getting phone calls for services he doesn’t provide. By using negative keywords, Dave made sure the Google clicks he received were meaningful.

“I don’t know what he did, but it rocks the world. I show up really strong,” says Randy.

Now Randy’s Electric’s site is continually updated, fully optimized for search engines and social media. “We built it to be gorgeous and interactive. It’s purpose-built to get the results they need,” says Dave. “There is always a call to action to drive interaction, encourage community and build trust with his prospects and encourage them to do business with him.”

Says Randy: “My website is the best electrical web site I’ve ever seen. I love working with Dave. He can explain it so you understand it. He spells out in a written agreement what he will do and what we can expect. And he lives up to it.”

Most importantly, Randy is getting results. “That’s my favorite part of working with Dave. I get trackable results, not warm feelings. Before, I didn’t have access to the information and it was all vague. Now I have a weekly Google Analytics report and see how it’s going. Phone calls are up. And it’s the right kind of phone calls.”

Dave Meyer, president and owner of BizzyWeb, creates WordPress-powered, SEO-optimized websites that cross-publish to social media with a single click, saving businesses time and money. Dave frequently speaks on social media topics, and was the 2012 chair of the Gold Quill Awards program for the International Association of Business Communicators. He can be reached at (612) 424-9990 or sales@bizzyweb.com, facebook.com/bizzyweb, or twitter.com/bizzyweb.

Randy Smith is president of Randy’s Electric, which combines quality residential electrical service with a high level of customer service to so customers save time and frustration by doing the job right in one trip. He can be reached at (763) 560-5600 or randy@randyselectric.com, Facebook.com/randyselectric.