Intuitively knowing that in-built search engine marketing was a good idea for his new website, local fishing guide Chris Brennan was happy to take some branding advice from Tangata Media’s Rachel Canning. Working with Korio web developer Kim Manunui, Chris now has a brand spanking new SquareSpace website that has a brand name the same as his email address, social media accounts and his Google Business Profile.

First step was to address the machine gun approach to his brand. Previously Chris had tried to cover all bases by using different trading names across his digital assets. Many of my clients share this rationale of using industry specific key words for their online presence. However successful online marketing in a region like Taupo should focus on establishing one strong brand to highlight the point of difference. Chris offers a personalised day out on the river and after some discussion he agreed to focus on the brand Chris Brennan Fly Fishing.

It makes sense that Google’s search engine will prioritise people who use other Google products so next step was to fix up his Google Business Profile. This is the map that shows up at the top of the page after a searcher has entered some keywords plus the location ‘Taupo’. It’s a great tool that searchers trust and click on. Number of reviews is critical to the ranking and Chris got a second unsolicited review not long after his website went live, bumping him up to number five on the searches. Not bad, considering the fourth place getter has 25 reviews. Getting reviews for your Google Business Profile will require an active input from Chris and like many people he says he feels awkward asking his customers for a review. On the other hand, he said if he were asked by another business and he was their happy customer then he would be glad to provide a review. 

The last step to clawing his business up the Google search rankings is to generate new content on a frequent basis. Running two social media channels is quite hard work but Chris is committed to keeping them both going. A good part of the education process offered by Tangata Media is to talk about topics for social media posts. The main thing to remember is that it doesn’t always have to be about catching a fish, potential clients are interested in other things to do with the experience and social media is a good place to showcase other things that will draw people in. Posting to Facebook directly from his website so that clicking users are drawn back to his website is a game changer, and this is something Chris, with a little help from his wife Emma, is aiming to do in the future. 

My input into this project also included optimising each page for search engines and identifying keywords for Chris’s business. On an on-going basis Chris and Emma are going to try and do this themselves, now that they know how. 

Find out about Lakeman Brewing Co’s approach to digital marketing of their craft beer produced in Taupō. 

Get in touch with Rachel Canning from Tangata Media to move your Taupō business up the Google search rankings rachel@tangatamedia.co.nz Ph 021 677 398