My friend Rick is a Portland DJ.
He loves music and having fun and enjoys sharing that joy with people during special moments such as weddings, reunions, and bar/bat mitzvahs.
He’d like to generate more inbound leads from Google organic search, so I told him I’d take a look.
If you’re a DJ wanting to get more leads from Google and willing to put in some time and effort, you can follow these steps to give yourself a much better chance to outrank your competitors.
DJ Online Marketing Strategy
The steps are ranked in the order of importance that I would do them if I owned the business.
#1 – Move website to WordPress
Rick’s site is dated. Not his fault. He doesn’t know.
GoDaddy or BlueHost will help you, all you have to do is call them for help.
If Rick asks me, I’ll do it for him.
And frankly, I don’t think he needs to invest in a fancy theme. A simple twenty sixteen theme would be perfect and allow him easy access to add and optimize his own content.
If you don’t feel like moving to WordPress, fine, but I warned you 🙂
Move to step 2.
#2 – Claim Google Business Page
This probably should be #1 because if you don’t have a Google Business page, you give yourself ZERO chance to be found in local results when people search for “DJ Portland” or “Wedding DJ in Portland.”
Here’s how Rick can claim his page real quick:
- Click this search result on a desktop computer
- In the local Maps results, click More Places
- Scroll to the bottom of those Maps search results and click the blue box, “Can’t find what you are looking for? ADD A MISSING PLACE”
- When the “Add a place” box pops up, enter your business name, address, and category. In Rick’s case, the category would be DJ Service. You’ll see it when you start typing “DJ”
- Click “Claim this business” or Submit
Sometimes Google will text you a code or verify by phone, but usually they will just send you a postcard.
When you get the postcard, go to http://business.google.com and enter the code for your listing.
Now you can optimize your Google business listing by adding hours, service area, pictures, etc.
Google has added new features for small businesses to promote themselves, like Q&A and sharing recent posts. Take advantage of these are your page is live.
#3 – Optimize Home Page for Target Keyword
Without consulting with Rick, I assume he’d like his website to be found for Google searches such as: DJ Portland Oregon, DJ Service Portland, Wedding DJ Portland
Follow my on page SEO guide with these amendments:
- Include relevant keywords in text, words that would be used in a conversation about DJ services such as speakers, event, etc. Use Google Autocomplete and Google Related searches to get ideas.
- Clear call to action – what do you want people to do when they find your site? Call you? Complete a form? Put your contact info front and center. Make it easy for them to do business with you.
- Name, address, and phone number should be on the home page (this is important to establish consistency of citations with Google and helps you rank better locally.)
- Add any social media icons onto home page, preferably in footer – just gives people one more way to connect with you the way THEY want to
- I also like to Google my core keywords (those listed above) and see what Google Autocomplete and Related Searches are. This helps me get new content ideas for this page and other pages. For example, in the image below, I’ve circled some words/phrases that jump out.
Words such as “best, pdx, oregon, wedding, and cost” could all be included.
Don’t mention the other terms, they are competitors 🙂
#4 – Basic Link Building, Citations, Directories
When I search Google for DJ Portland Oregon, I see these directories listed on page 1.
- https://www.weddingwire.com/c/or-oregon/portland/wedding-djs/820-7-rca.html
- https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=djs&find_loc=Portland%2C+OR
- https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/wedding-djs-portland-or
- https://www.gigmasters.com/search/dj-portland-or
- https://www.thumbtack.com/or/portland/djs/
Try to get a listing in each of these for two reasons – 1, people use them to find DJs and 2, they are a good citation/link back to your website. Make sure to be consistent with name, address, phone number on every single listing.
There are also a couple other sites I’m not sure if they are actual companies or DJ brokering services:
- http://stumptowndjs.com/
- http://www.noteworthydjs.com/You’d need to check them out and see what’s what.
Of course, you could go deeper into page 2, but I’m prioritizing here and there are other things more important, in my opinion.
Like content!
#5 Content – Target Services You Provide
The first 4 steps are fundamental. I highly recommend doing each one.
These next steps are more advanced. I recommend doing them to continue to build and market your business.
Content is king on the internet. Make a list of each specific service you offer.
For Rick, it might look like this:
- wedding dj
- bar mitzvah dj
- speaker rental
Now, you might say, how is a wedding DJ different from a bar mitzvah DJ?
I don’t know. But Rick will.
My rule of thumb is this – if you can write about 500 words that on each of those two services and they are unique enough, do it.
In fact, I would recommend it because it can only help – as long as you keep them unique.
Your competitors won’t be doing.
You should do it because if someone searches Google specifically for one of those two services and you have a page targeting it, you give yourself a great chance of outranking competitor websites who have not targeted that term.
Here are some ways I would differentiate the content of the 2 pages (wedding vs. bar mitzvah).
Apply the questions below for your wedding page, then follow the same template by substituting bar mitzvah for wedding.
- How many weddings have you done?
- What specific questions to people ask you about weddings? List them out and briefly answer each one.
- Wedding case studies, list any weddings you have DJ’d, and include any special circumstances
- Common challenges a wedding DJ faces and how you overcome them
- Places where you have DJ’d weddings
- Funny stories or anecdotes
- Testimonials from wedding DJ clients (anonymous or not)
- Include and pics or videos on the page
- Be sure to include WHY you are the best wedding DJ and how you are different than your competitors
#6 Content – Venues
Make a list of the most popular venues you’ve worked at.
Include any place you’ve worked more than once.
Now, you might be thinking, why is this important?
Because some people will have chosen their venue and they might search Google for a DJ for that specific venue.
Especially if it is a popular wedding ceremony venue that is well known.
Your content template should address some of the following:
- Include the name of the venue and any other names it is known by
- Include its address and any nearby landmarks
- Why is it so popular (history)?
- If you’ve worked this venue, share how many times and relate any details about it
- What makes this venue good/bad for DJing?
- What service is it typically used for, reunions, parties, wedding receptions, etc?
- What special tips can you share that might help people in (a) choosing you as their DJ (b) deciding if this is the right venue for them. For example, maybe this is an outdoor venue only, so if you are concerned about rain or cold, you might want to reconsider, or move your date to the summer when weather is less of a concern. Be helpful. Share your experience.
- Include a picture of the venue you have rights to (could be one you took or one you were given permission to share)
- Share any info you might have regarding booking the venue or any personal contacts you may have
- Again, why are you the best DJ for this venue
You can aim for 300-500 words or more if you can.
Search phrases like this probably have little traffic, but if someone Googles it, you can bet they will find you because you’re the only one putting effort into targeting the phrase.
#7 – Blog
I’d only begin blogging after completing steps all the previous steps.
Your blog will consist of longer answers to frequently asked questions you get about DJ services.
Your blog can also include topics such as How should i select a wedding DJ?
What your blog should NOT be is:
- Short posts – aim for at least 300-1,000 words for each blog post. If you can’t write 300 words, it’s probably not meaty enough to matter.
- News – don’t report news or make announcements. They might help you get a little traffic, but you are far better focusing on evergreen content that will have a 12+ month shelf life. News that won’t have value in a week is not going to help you generate substantial leads.
#8 – Video
If you’re so inclined, make a video in support of every single piece of content you write up.
You can include the video on the page and transcribe it.
I recommend keeping videos short, less than 3 minutes and you don’t have to make them high-end.
I help my chiropractor client make videos like this one that help him get found in Google and provide content for his blog.
Videos give you one more chance of being found.
And after all, Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine and videos let people see who you are!
#9 – Advanced Link Building
Continued link building is like investing in a 401k.
The more you keep adding to it, the stronger it gets.
There are many ways to get links for free, they just take time:
- Continue searching for directories by searching for “DJ service” or “Wedding DJ service” and submit your business to them. Remember, stay consistent with name, address, phone number.
- Find niche directories by searching Google for “portland small business directory” or “wedding services directory” – you’ve already seen how weddingwire and theknot specialize in this niche and are important links.
- Do self-completing interviews. I operate a few sites and know several others who will publish your content if you do your own write up. Here’s one example of a site I operate (inspirery.com) and I know many others. Rick, let me know if you want a list. Most are free, just takes time to write them up. You better believe your competitors are not doing this!
These are just a few ideas. Link building goes on and on and on, but the more you do, the stronger your site will be and the better it will rank.
Conclusion
If you’re a DJ doing SEO and online marketing, I hope you found this helpful.
Let me know if you have questions!