DEVELOPER’S GUIDE
“Promoting Your Brand” Never Rests BY HENRY DELOZIER, GLOBAL GOLF ADVISORS
When someone refers your company as a great resource for a club renovation or new construction, what do possible customers know about your company? Or, more to the point, are you managing your brand?
3. Write for customers (readers) rather than for SEO. Tell people about your companies’ interesting projects and capabilities. Cite awards and accomplishments. Make it easy for readers to understand who you are and what you stand for;
Golf course builders tend to be modest and humble in their conduct and, as a result, are too often unknown. Most rely on long-established tactics for searching out new business like scouring business networks for new requests for information or tapping into golf course designers who can make referrals.
4. Publish great and fresh content. Think about what the board of directors at a club or the procurement officer at a community need to know. Educate these target customers regarding process and how the cost of construction is developed. The more transparent your pricing method is, the easier it is for them to begin to trust you; and
Wake up! There are highly productive steps that every builder can take to improve the company’s market reach. You can get a great start on 2018 with some forward planning and brand management.
5. Improve the speed of your website. Google considers a website that requires more than five seconds to be too slow. Invest in bandwidth and technological capability that makes your firm a first-choice.
Fortify Your Online Presence
Educate and Inform
Some say the second page of Google – or the search engine of your preference – is “no man’s land” because few potential buyers search beyond the first page that comes up in a search.
Most parties searching for a golf course contractor fall into two categories: (1) golf course designers and fellow professionals – superintendents, club managers, golf professionals and trade media - who already know about you and how to find you; and (2) club members or small business owners who know little about golf course construction or renovation.
Search engine optimization (“SEO”) is a logical step for most builders accustomed to systematic and process-driven work. To improve SEO for your company, implement the following steps suggested by Google: 1. Create and maintain an engaging and current website. A quick search of five leading GCBAA builders shows that some companies investing in their website while others are stale. Your website is your virtual storefront…wash the windows, turn on the open-for-business sign, and invite possible customers to know more about your company; 2. Understand the key words that will attract more traffic to your website. For example, “golf course renovation” and “golf course construction companies” are obvious. Use the key words that maximize traffic to your website in your communications -whether advertising, website content, white papers, articles and social media. Using the same key words regularly improves your online presence;
1. Provide insightful communications – like newsletters, white papers and photographic arrays – to teach the key points of emphasis regardless of which group. Show how your firm is collaborative and creative. Demonstrate how easy your team is to work with; 2. Provide pricing examples with explanations about unit cost pricing and industry norms for calculating unit requirements. Show prospective clients that you will be transparent and open with them. Use screenshots to show your worksheets and the types of documents that your firm provides clients; 3. Use photography that shows before and after images to help make prospective clients enthusiastic about the purposeful and successful work your firm is doing and has done. Remember that building a golf course seems to be a dream job to laymen; and
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