So, you have started a new career in the locksmith industry, and not wanting to be labelled as an amateur in this unregulated industry you have chosen to go down the correct career path, and taken the official in-depth OFQUAL regulated locksmith diploma course rather than one of those worthless 3 day courses peddled by the likes of the MLA and now you want to advertise your skills and start building up a reputation as a professional, skilled and trustworthy locksmith.
Do you launch your own local locksmith website, advertise through social media or sign up with a Nationwide Locksmith Company?
Nationwide Locksmith Companies and why they should be avoided.
For those of you who don’t know what national locksmith website or nationwide locksmith company is here’s more info.
These nationwide locksmith companies are not locksmith companies at all, they employ no locksmiths and have no skills in the industry, they are simply call centres running search engine campaigns who act as an intermediary between the customers and a local locksmith and this is why someone locked out of their home or business in Bolton, Gtr Manchester can ring a nationwide locksmith company based in Devon for example and still get sent a local Bolton locksmith.
You shouldn’t confuse Smart Locksmiths with a nationwide locksmith call centre, Smart Locksmiths is a website that lists the details of local, professional trustworthy locksmiths from all over the UK which can be contacted directly, we are not a go between and no amateur, rogue locksmith can hide behind our name/website
Local locksmiths will sign up with these national call centres for a monthly fee and sometimes the call centres will even want a cut or a flat fee from each job which makes using this service more expensive than actually calling out a local locksmith direct as the locksmith needs to cover his/her fees sometime charging as much as 10 times to going rate.
This higher price is bad enough but these call centres tend to attract mainly amateurs, rogues and conmen due to the fact that the locksmith retains anonymity and can do a bad job and overcharge without any comeback
These call centres may seem like a good idea especially for newly trained locksmiths looking to get some extra work but professional, trained locksmiths avoid them like the plague choosing to set up their own website and build up their own reviews and customer feedback.
The Best Way The Marketing Your Own Local Locksmith Website
Marketing your own local locksmith website so that it appears on the top of Google does not cost as much as some people think if you choose the correct marketing company, but regrettably just like the locksmith industry, the internet marketing industry (another unregulated industry) is full of rogues, conmen and scammers eager to part small businesses from their money.
Also…Don’t fall the MLA scam… The MLA use their official sounding name (Master Locksmith Association) to trick locksmiths into signing up to get work off them, when in fact they are a private company with no official ties the locksmith industry, in fact they did not even meet the criteria needed to run the new official OFQUAL locksmith diplomas yet continue to misinform people they they are some sort of official governing body
These lies got them in hot water recently after the BBC fell for their bull hook line and sinker and repeated these lies on their Watchdog program, as of yet we are not sure what will happen to the MLA but we’ll update this article if we here anything… Bottom line, avoid this company
Any marketing company wanting you to sign a minimum term contract should be avoided as this usually means they are no good at their job, or worse, have no intention of succeeding and want to make sure they get 6 or 12 months fees off you before you leave. Sure each month they’ll tell you that you are on the cusp of success when in reality they have probably not even tried to rank you choosing instead to just take on more clients ready for when you leave, it’s a common business model especially in large cites where you’ll find an abundance of so called professional internet marketing companies located in fancy city centre offices
Any professional marketing company will get results for local SEO within a month or so and you’ll continue to see results and climbs month on month so you will happily stay with them without being forced too.
Top Rank Services, a full service digital agency based in Leigh, Gtr Manchester comes highly recommended by a number of local locksmiths and has ranked many local locksmiths at the top of Google. Top Rank’s case studies boasts success for a number of local locksmiths including MAB Locksmith Alfreton, LT Locksmiths Lancaster, Easykeys Locksmiths Stoke on Trent, Advanced Locksmith Bolton, Master Key Locksmiths, Wigan and Ayrshire Locksmiths, Ayr, Ayshire who ALL rank at the top of Google for their respective areas
Those locksmiths who want to go it alone and try to rank their own website should avoid so called SEO experts on YouTube because these self proclaimed SEO and marketing experts are simply Youtubers wanting to drive traffic to their channel so they can monitise their videos, run ads and make a living from it, if they are so great at SEO, why don’t they open an SEO agency? they’ll be inundated with work once word of their skill spreads.
These opportunists have chosen an industry where people and businesses are desperate for results and will try anything, in the same way diet pills and exercise equipment sells to a demographic desperate to lose weight.
Can anyone learn Organic SEO?
Yes… Anyone can learn SEO and marketing but not by watching a few YouTube videos and not in a few hours. The truth is that following the advice of these YouTube channels will more than likely have the opposite effect and cause your locksmiths website to fall down the rankings or get dropped from Google altogether.
Can Social Media Bring In Business?
Social media is an excellent tool for bringing in local business and new clients but it must be done right to set you apart from the many rogue locksmiths who use this medium to get work.
Make sure you create a local business page, do NOT simple post as yourself, it’s very amateurish.
You’ll still need your own local locksmith website to prove you are a real business as the amateur will simply post as themselves with no links to websites etc and will list a pre paid mobile number. You want to have a physical address, an email, mobile number and landline number if possible.
Make sure all of your contact details are on your website and that they match your details on your Facebook local business page.
To get work join local groups and small business groups and build up a reputation by interacting with people, posts and recommending others should someone be looking for a certain service, tradesman , do this and when locksmith work is requested they might return the favour.