Website service pages can easily be neglected in favour of other business objectives, but the reality is that these pages can help hugely with attracting and converting prospective customers.
Your services page is where you get to describe exactly what you do and how you do it, how it solves problems and benefits customers.
Those who are seeking information about your service will navigate to this page while they are thinking about whether they will choose you.
If your page is vague or poorly populated, they will simply bounce and look for another company.
You may think your job is done once you have performed keyword research, mapped your page to the right search intent and ensured you have prioritised the right keywords. However, there is more you can do to optimise your page for conversions.
If you want to get your services page in the best position possible, there are a number of hacks you can utilise to improve your conversion rates. Here are our top 6 SEO tricks.
1. Create results-oriented copy
Describing your service in the right way is of paramount importance. You must outline what you do in a comprehensive enough way that your page won’t register as having thin content – but it is also unwise to write so much that your readers are put off.
Ensure you create an engaging overview of what you are offering. What does the customer get after they make a purchase? Describe what the service entails, and the steps which are taken from the point of purchase to the finished product.
Think about how you can position your service as results oriented. What problem does it solve for the customer? You want to make it clear what the return on investment is for those who part with their money to hire you.
For example, you may offer web design services, but the results are an improved user experience, higher conversion rates and a greater appeal for your audience.
You also want to discuss the target audience. Outline who will benefit the most from your service and outline their pain points. Ideally, your reader will be able to identify themselves in your copy and make the connection that their problems will be solved with your service.
2. Position yourself as uniquely qualified
Every business will hopefully have an idea of what their USP – or Unique Selling Proposition– is. You can build on this information to ensure your service page is a core place for you to describe your experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Google has set up guidelines for their Search Quality Raters to evaluate the quality of search results. Known as EEAT, they essentially require content to adhere to these principles if it’s going to be given a good ranking in the SERPs.
You want to position yourself as uniquely qualified to offer the service. The service page is a great place to provide background information about your experience and link to any qualifications or proof to back this up.
You can also insert internal links to blog content you may have written on your site, which will help to support your expertise in the subject area.
3. Add testimonials or reviews
Services pages can also be a great place to house customer reviews and testimonials, whether you upload them directly or install a third-party plugin such as Trustpilot to your CMS.
This feature will help to verify your trustworthiness and solidify your site in Google’s eyes as a quality source for searches who are seeking your service.
Reviews are the best way to engage potential customers, as they provide proof of the value you are describing in your services copy.
To make this part of your page as engaging as possible, ensure you use varying multimedia types. Some testimonials will be brief and text-only, while other customers may be happy to include a photo of themselves or even to create a short video where they tell prospective customers why you are a good choice.
4. Show yourself in action
There are many sites out there which use templates featuring stock imagery on their core pages. However, a generic photo of someone holding a business meeting or presenting to a board will not be enough to paint a picture of what it is that you do.
If you want to provide authentic content for your prospective customers, high-quality images are part of the equation – and this is a factor Google recognises, too.
In order for content to be classed as high-quality by the search engine, one of the features it has to include is original imagery and video footage which is designed to enhance the copy.
So what does this mean in practice? Take the time to get photos and video of yourself and your colleagues in action. Ensure your services page – and other pages on your site, for that matter – includes imagery of real people from your company working on the services you offer during a typical day.
You can use this multimedia content to further demonstrate how your service works, giving more information to your prospective customer. You will build up trust with your audience if you have, for example, a video clip where you show people around your workplace and demonstrate how your service is performed.
5. Ensure your copy is optimised for readability
There are a number of readability metrics you should pay attention to when crafting your copy. For example, you can boost engagement with the page by ensuring your reader can scan the content quickly. One way you can do this is by breaking it up into bullet points or lists. You can communicate information quickly and effectively, encouraging site visitors to continue reading.
Your use of language is also important – unless your target audience is already well-versed in the niche your service caters to, avoid using industry-specific jargon. Cutting modifiers – or adjectives and adverbs – will also help with creating copy that gets right to the point, helping fast-paced digital readers understand your content more quickly.
It’s also worth running your content through reading score tools to ensure the average reading age of your audience is being catered to. For example, the average reading age in the UK is 9 according to Government statistics, so ensuring your copy matches a Flesch reading score corresponding with this age will improve your chances of keeping people on your services page.
6. Pay attention to your technical SEO
Content isn’t the only important metric for services pages. You also want to make sure your page doesn’t have any technical issues which could easily be resolved. For example, you want the page to load quickly, be optimised for mobile and laid out for a good page experience.
These metrics are important for any web page, but they are arguably more vital for a services page as you want this page to encourage conversions.
If you’re tempted to neglect checking your core web vitals, consider statistics in Google’s Search Console blog which show that users are 24% less likely to abandon page load when sites meet this threshold – and improving the individual vitals has been proven to improve conversion rate, page views, session durations and domain rankings.
Need help with your copy?
If your services page has been neglected and is in need of some TLC, we are on hand to help with your content SEO – so get in touch and find out how we can help.
Alternatively, book one of our Free Acquisitions Workshops to receive in-depth advice on your SEO’s current performance, and receive a tailored action plan and free resources to set it apart from the rest. Slots are filling up, so book today to avoid disappointment.
