Search Engine Optimization (i.e. SEO) is a marketing strategy for how you can get more people to your site from Google (and other search engines like Bing and Youtube).
It is all about showing up for the right keywords, so more people hear about you, visit your website and become customers.
SEO is one of the most popular marketing strategies for escape rooms.
For starters, it is free. Anyone can do this if you are willing to put in the time to learn and execute it.
And two, the work you put in compounds. SEO is similar to compound interest in this regard. The work you do now will lead to increased results in the future. This is why it is so important to establish a solid SEO foundation early on.
In this post, we’ll share both basic and advanced strategies and tips you can use to get more traffic (and sales) from search traffic.
SEO 101: Implement these tips to set your business up for success
Whether you are starting your first escape room or been in business for several years, these are tips that every business can benefit from.
Optimize your site titles and meta descriptions
This is a quick win that is easy to overlook. On every key page of your website, you should have a clear title and a short summary (i.e. meta description).
For example, your homepage title and meta description should include the following at the minimum:
- Your company name
- Mention you are an escape room
- The city you are located in
Claim your Google My Business Page
One of the easiest things you can do is claim your free, Google business profile – i.e Google My Business Page). Then, fill it out with your company name, description, address, and some photos.
Pro Tip: It can be helpful to get a few customers to review your business on your Google My Business listing. This works similar to reviews on other platforms like TripAdvisor and Yelp.
In addition, when someone searches for your business, your listing will show up in Google search results as well as on Google Maps.
Link your company’s social media accounts to your website
This is a general marketing best practice, as it makes it easier for people to find you wherever they are.
One of the best places to put this is in your footer, like in the example above.
Make sure your website is secure and loads quickly
Did you know that 53% of mobile site visitors will leave a site if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds?
If you spend time optimizing your site to get on the first page of Google, you want to make sure that your site loads fast and is easy to navigate on laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
When you are on the site day in and day out, it is easy to develop blind spots. So, it can be helpful to have a friend, colleague, or better yet someone who doesn’t know anything about your business to go through your website. This can help you uncover where people are dropping off.
For example, one of the biggest dropoff points can be the checkout process for mobile users. One thing you can do is set up Apple Pay and Google Pay to reduce friction and lead to higher conversion rates.
Pro Tip: You can use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights to see your site’s load times as well as get suggestions for how to speed up your site.
SEO Advanced Strategies: Tips to increase your search traffic
Once you have the basics covered, there is no shortage of advanced strategies to boost your search rankings. In this section, we’ll cover a few strategies.
Focus on ranking for search keywords with demonstrated buying intent over volume
Say you run a large escape room in Phoenix. Would you rather rank for “the best corporate team building activities in Phoenix” or “20 escape rooms that opened this year?”
If you picked the first keyword, you’d be right. This keyword – even though it isn’t specifically about escape rooms- is loaded with high buying/search intent. If you have a landing page or a detailed blog post on your site talking about your corporate team building programs, there is a high likelihood that people who found that page from Google will have an interest in booking their next team building activity with your escape room.
On the other hand, the second keyword likely will generate more search traffic and volume, but it will convert at a much lower level. People searching for this keyword could be anyone from people looking for new escape rooms to someone who is looking to start their own escape room business. There’s almost no buying intent with this keyword.
Pro Tip: There are a lot of free and paid keyword research tools out there to help you find the right keywords to target. For free options, you can use tools like UberSuggest and Answer The Public. For paid options, you can’t go wrong with powerful SEO software such as Ahrefs or SEMRush.
Set up Reserve with Google
Reserve with Google allows customers to make realtime bookings with your business without ever leaving Google. This means they can book with you specifically through search, Google Maps, and Google Assistant.
The best part – all you need to get started is your Google My Business Page.
Pro Tip: If you are a Xola Customer, you can learn more about how to set this up on your site here.
Get backlinks from credible sites
One of the ranking factors that Google uses is backlinks – i.e. sites that link back to content on your site. The more links back to pages on your site from other credible sources, the more legitimate your site looks in the eyes of Google.
There are hundreds of strategies and tactics you can use to get more backlinks — some more legitimate than other methods. If you are interested in learning more about this, check out this definitive guide.
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In sum, these are some strategies you can use to get more visitors (and sales) from Google.
If you are looking for additional tips to market your escape room, download our free escape room marketing guide.
