How Computer Repair Shops Can Promote Themselves Without Google Ads

Up until 2019, third-party computer repair shops could use Google Ads as their “go-to” method for reaching customers who are beyond the hyper-local reach of local SEO. However, in response to numerous incidents where hackers, scammers, and other bad actors were using search ads to target individuals and businesses, Google and Bing instituted policies specifically banning all third-party computer repair services from using their paid search ad networks.

For the reputable independent computer repair service providers out there, we’d like to offer up some effective alternatives to paid search ads that you can employ right away. Work these 5 tactics and you’ll be saving the day for your business and your new local clients. You’ve got this!

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Step 1 – Local SEO

There’s no doubt here that you need Local SEO to be found organically. It’s foundational and a no-brainer – even for you brainiac computer types. This applies if you have a physical store location where your customers bring their items to you to be fixed or are a service area business (SAB) that sends a tech out to homes and businesses. Your Google Business Profile is always the first place to start. It’s the absolute core component of your local SEO visibility. This optimized data can appear in several places across Google including the Knowledge Panel, Google Maps, and the Google Local Pack for brand and category searches. 

Lucky for you, we offer a super handy Google Business Profile Checklist to ensure that you are setting up your repair service profile correctly and thoroughly. We update this regularly and it’s free. Just like your Google Business Profile!

Step 2 – Optimize your Website

Make sure that your website is well organized and always offers current information.

Here are a few non-negotiable items that MUST be included in any computer service repair website:

  • Complete Service Information – Do you work on PC, Macs, or both? What repair services do you provide? Does your customer bring their items to your shop or do you go to your customers’ locations? Make sure that all important information is easy to find on your site pages. Include common questions customers ask along with your answers.
  • Organized Site Pages – Your site needs to be intuitive so that the average user with an 8th-grade education can easily find what they need within it. In addition to your Home and Contact Us pages, you will want to add individual pages for each of your unique Services, FAQs, Blogs, and other resources such as checklists or “how-to’s” that you may offer.

Pro Tip: Make sure that each of your pages has a prominent call to action to encourage your prospect to call, email, or submit a contact form to you. Tell your site’s visitors what actions you’d like them to take next.   

  • Accurate Location Information – Easy win here! Always keep your name, address, and phone number (NAP) information accurate and consistent along with the same in your Google Business Profile. Your customers won’t get lost looking for you and neither will the search engines.
  • Be Secure and Mobile Friendly – As a tech person you probably get this already. But it doesn’t hurt to reiterate this point. Make sure your site is secure and mobile-friendly. This is a priority, right up there with eating your veggies and keeping your Google Business Profile updated.

Pro Tip: If you have more than 1 repair shop location, include a location page for each shop with its click-to-call phone number and Google Maps embedded on the page.

Step 3 – Customer Reviews

Like any other business, your online reviews matter. The fact that 3rd party reviews are considered word-of-mouth and are respected almost as much as a personal referral these days makes them paramount. Considering your industry got banned from search ads because of bad apples, you need to demonstrate to the world that you aren’t one of those scammers out there. Customer reviews are how you do that.

If you aren’t sure where to start, we can walk you through the process of requesting, monitoring, and responding to online reviews. We also offer RocketReviews, an inexpensive, complete automated review and reputation management tool that makes the entire customer review request and management process simple. Plus, it auto-posts reviews and ratings to your website along with the right schema code markup to ensure the reviews you get will be credited as such by search engines. Customer reviews are important to your local SEO visibility too!

You’ve done great work for your customers! Now, get the credit. Accurate reviews are very helpful to both the people reading them and the search engines. Yet, many business owners don’t know how to take full advantage of them.

Step 4 – Social Media

Here’s another freebie! Rather than having ad spend, your Social Media channels cost you time and attention. However, it also provides another opportunity for 3rd party reviews and supports your brand authority to the search engines. Leverage your Facebook, Instagram, YouTube (which is owned by Google), and LinkedIn posts to position yourself as an expert. Simply create profiles for your business then post information, answer questions, and share your helpful tips with those checking out your offerings. You may make some new friends too!

Step 5 – Social Media Ads

Google and Bing are off-limits, but Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are all still available for you to use as paid advertising solutions if you wish to explore them!

Pro Tip: LinkedIn has a business-to-business (B2B) audience and is not the best source for a locally focused small business due to the higher ad expense.

The EXTRA Step

Here’s a rocket-powered opportunity that we offer – Proximity Booster!

Depending on your Proximity Booster plan, you can extend your hyper-local SEO range from a 6-mile radius up to a 12-mile radius from your location. This is one of your best SEO options to show up in local searches further, and faster, and – starting at $375/month – it is less than half the price of traditional local SEO services.

At SEO Rocket, we have multiple services designed to help small businesses like yours. 

If you want to ensure that your business information is accurate, consistent, and found by your customers when they need you, contact SEO Rocket today.

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Angela Shoffner McAfee

Angela Shoffner McAfee

Angela is the Co-Founder and Dir. of Business Development at SEO Rocket. It’s her mission to learn about your needs and connect your business with the digital marketing strategy that best fits your goals. She loves gardening, dogs, old houses, travel, and has entirely too many clothes for someone who works virtually.