Understanding SEO & How to Rank on Google | SSALA Webinar

Understanding SEO & How to Rank on Google

Everyone wants their business to be easy to find online.

But how does that work? These days, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) means a lot more than just your website. Every SEO goal should be about new customers finding your storage facility and renting a unit. Some of the questions that we answered in this session are:

What does SEO for storage mean?
What terms do storage customers search for?
How do storage shoppers use Google?

Featured Speakers: Tommy Nguyen & Alex Keller

Aired: July 18, 2023
Duration: 48:47

Overview

If you don't have time to watch the whole session, here are some of our favorite parts:

At 6:45, Tommy and Alex define what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is
7:45, they discuss what exactly it means to be search engine optimized
Starting at 9:55, our experts dig into why SEO matters (because 40-50% of renters search the internet)
At 12:45, Tommy and Alex covers SEO terms along with some more acronyms
17:30, they highlight Google's SEO Fundamentals
Around 18:15, Tommy and Alex show how your Google Business Profile actually helps your SEO
At 20:15, they cover important elements of your Google Business Profile
22:00, our experts dig into why some facilities rank higher than others on Google
Starting at 25:00, they define what "near me" searches really mean
Around 29:00, Tommy and Alex talk about ranking and how its decided
33:00, Tommy and Alex discuss the importance of ranking locally 1-5 miles in any direction of your facility
At 34:50, they talk about why some local listings appear before others
Starting around 39:00, our experts cover the importance of quality of content and interactions
41:20, they start reviewing real-life examples of Google Business Profiles
At 42:30, they highlight steps you can take to improve your Google Business Profile and rank better on Google
45:10, Tommy and Alex discuss 4 easy steps to improve your Google Business Profile and SEO

Learn more about SSALA

The Louisiana Self Storage Association was formed in 2007 to respond to the needs of self storage owners and operators throughout the state. Their mission is to strengthen the self storage industry in Louisiana, promoting professional standards and quality and presenting a unified voice on issues affecting the industry in the state and in its communities. Visit their website to learn more and for information on joining and additional educational resources.

Learn more and join SSALA

Carol Mixon-Krendl

SkilCheck

Website: https://www.skilcheck.com/
Email: carol@skilcheck.com

Hailey Teal

Jenkins Organization

Website: https://www.jenkinsorg.com/
Email: hailey@jenkinsorg.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman

“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney

"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman

"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman

“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney

"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman

"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman

Highlights

Foundational marketing strategies to have in place - whether leasing up or stabilized:

Website
Set up listings (Yelp, Google My Business, Apple Maps)
Social Media
Establish Local Partnerships

Lease up marketing strategies:

Lead Generating Strategies (like digital ads)
Aggregators (Sparefoot, Storagefront, etc.)
Awareness Campaigns (like billboards, flyers, and sponsorships)

Your average customer value
Find the average stay length of all tenants. Next take your economic occupancy and divide by how many units you have. That will tell you what the average customer pays.

Multiply the average length of stay by what the average customer pays, and that's the average value of a customer.

For example, if a customer stays for 12 months and pays $100 per month, then their value is $1,200.

Your average lead value

Figure out your closing rate (or conversion rate) i.e. how many leads do you turn into tenants? Multiply that by your average customer lifetime value to figure out what your leads are worth.

Pro Tip: see which lead sources are converting the best. It may be that certain sources have a higher conversion rate, so those leads are worth more to you than a source that barely converts.

Typical Lease-up timeline

According to our panelists, it's typical to see a 3-4% increase each month, putting your facility at 36% after the first year, and 72% after the second.

Alternately, you can look at your lease up goals through the lens of your units, aiming for 20 units rented per month.

For Nick and StorageMax, they pro forma their economic occupancy at 85% with their sweet spot at 92%.