Cleaning equipment companies face a unique challenge when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO). For starters, these businesses are often local, which means they must navigate the specific requirements of local SEO. This approach differs from traditional SEO in several significant ways:
- A focus on local keywords (such as phrases like ‘near me’)
- The necessity of an optimised Google Business Profile
- Getting listed in relevant local directories
- Targeting local news outlets for backlinks
Additionally, many cleaning equipment companies operate as B2B (business-to-business) entities, meaning their customers are primarily other businesses. This adds another layer of complexity, as the principles of B2B SEO also come into play, including:
- A lengthy sales cycle that requires nurturing through content
- Appealing to decision-makers at companies rather than general consumers
- Heavy reliance on LinkedIn for interaction with prospects and content sharing (LinkedIn is the #1 B2B marketing channel)
When you combine these factors, you arrive at B2B local SEO—a mouthful, indeed! However, mastering B2B local SEO is crucial for cleaning equipment companies looking to thrive in today’s competitive market.
Many cleaning equipment companies struggle to find the time and resources to focus on SEO while managing their products, parts, services, and rentals. This is where SEO agencies like Clout come into play, helping them enhance their visibility on search engines.
The Client: A Trusted Floor Scrubber Dealer in California
Our case study revolves around a highly experienced cleaning equipment dealer in California, specialising in floor scrubbers. They also offer pressure washers, utility vehicles, and street sweepers, among other products. With over 40 years in the business and thriving locations in California, Nevada, and Arizona, this company has established a solid reputation.
However, the client faced a significant issue: while they were doing well through other sales channels, their online presence was stagnant. Their website failed to attract much traffic since it was launched. Most importantly, they weren’t ranking well for local keywords related to their business, which meant potential customers searching for those terms were finding their competitors instead.
Recognising that they were missing out on valuable opportunities, the client sought to improve their SEO. Since they were already familiar with Clout’s success in enhancing the SEO for their parent company, they reached out for a free consultation.
After discussing their challenges, we determined that the best solution was to enrol them in a Clout X campaign—our fully managed SEO service. Unlike standalone services for link-building and content creation, Clout X offers a comprehensive solution with a dedicated campaign manager who tailors the best combination of our SEO products to meet the client’s goals.
The client had three primary objectives:
- Increase traffic to their website, particularly to their product pages
- Enhance their site’s authority to outpace competitors
- Rank for relevant local keywords to drive business through their website
With the agreement in place, we began with a thorough SEO audit.
The SEO Audit: Identifying Quick Wins
Every Clout X client undergoes a comprehensive SEO audit at the start of their campaign. This process serves two main purposes:
- Identify and resolve any pressing SEO issues
- Look for quick-win opportunities
Numerous on-page and technical factors can hinder a website’s performance on search engines, such as:
- Targeting irrelevant keywords
- Missing metadata (title tags and meta descriptions)
- Duplicate content (two identical pages competing for the same keyword)
- Broken links
- Thin content (pages containing fewer than 700 words)
- Noindex tags blocking important pages
Once we resolved any technical issues, we turned our attention to identifying quick-win opportunities.
So, what exactly are quick-win opportunities? They are keywords that the website already ranks for, but not in the top three positions. Since the top result receives the majority of clicks (followed by the second and third), keywords outside the top three don’t generate much traffic. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to boost keywords ranked between positions four and thirty into the top three with some optimisation.
In this client’s case, they had numerous quick-win opportunities with keywords related to cleaning equipment in the areas they serve. We optimised their pages by building backlinks, strategically placing keywords, and enhancing the word count of thin content with valuable insights.
The Strategy: Building Backlinks to Key Pages
After analysing the client’s domain authority, we pinpointed their primary issue: they were being outranked by competitors due to insufficient high-quality backlinks. Backlinks (links from external sites pointing back to yours) are crucial for Google’s trust in a website, and only those it trusts make it to the top three rankings.
The goal was to create backlinks pointing to our client’s site from reputable sources in the cleaning equipment industry, and we were quite successful in this endeavour.
Our strategies included:
- Link insertions: We identified existing web pages where mentioning our client’s cleaning equipment products would add value. Through effective outreach, we secured numerous valuable brand mentions from trusted domains.
- Guest posting: In addition to link insertions, we reached out to site owners in the local cleaning equipment industry to write guest posts. Our writers crafted high-quality, engaging articles with high-resolution images to A) secure backlinks and B) generate referral traffic.
The Results: Ranking for 1.6k Keywords and a 327% Traffic Increase
Thanks to the quick-win opportunities we targeted, the traffic started to increase dramatically. The results were astounding!
The client experienced a significant spike in traffic, growing from near invisibility to a robust online presence almost overnight.
They now rank for over 1,600 relevant keywords, generating an impressive $574 worth of traffic consistently.
If you’re looking to achieve similar results for your cleaning equipment company, consider reaching out to Clout for expert assistance. The journey to boosting your online visibility and attracting more customers is just a step away!
