How to promote your dance studio | Methods that actually work...
This is a continuation of an online marketing series, so that you can learn how to promote your dance studio!
In the last blog post "Dance studio marketing plan" we talked about the 2 marketing activities responsible for bringing the best results, in the fastest time, and with the lowest amount of time invested.
How to promote your dance studio using search engine optimization (SEO), and Facebook advertisement.
If you haven’t seen our "Simple Dance Studio Marketing Plan" article, I highly recommend that you read it before diving into this one, as we will go over some foundations, that we will build on top of in this blog post! Click HERE to read it!
In this article you will learn the difference between “search results” and “Google my business” local listings, and why it’s important that you set up both of them correctly, so that your potential customer can easily find you on Google, and other search engines.
I’m going to simplify SEO for you, so that you only focus on the things that work, to give you the best results in the shortest amount of time.
And the best thing about SEO is that if you set it up correctly, you’ll only have to do it once…
You will be able to maintain your high ranking with little effort, and you will have "passive marketing" bringing you new students every month because of it!
So this is one of the BEST investments that you can make when it comes to growing your dance studio, and constantly have a stream of new students finding out about your studio.
The first question is: "How can I promote my dance studio, and get it to show up on the first page of Google?!"
In order to answer that question, you need to understand the basics of how Google works, when it comes to a local business (which is what you are as a dance studio).
KEYWORDS
The way Google works is that it will show different results, depending on what people type in the search box when they are looking for things.
For example, if I type in “dance lessons in Miami”, I get different results than if were to type “dance studio in Miami” or “dance classes in Miami”.
The same thing happens if I change the location keyword. If I type in “dance lessons in south florida” I get different results than if I type in “dance lessons in Miami” (even though Miami is in South Florida).
Although the person typing in those keywords on Google might be looking for the same thing, Google will show different results depending on the KEYWORDS that person typed into the search box.
What this means for you is that you have to do keyword research.
You need to find out what people are typing in on google when they are trying to find dance classes, and make a list of all those keywords because we’re going to be using them A LOT!
Want us to help you research what keywords are important for your studio? Book a free strategy call, and we’ll be happy to help!
Want to learn how to do keyword research yourself?
A tool that can help you find keywords is called “Keywords everywhere”.
When you have “Keywords everywhere” turned on your google chrome browser, anytime you make a google search, you’ll be able to see what other keywords people are typing in related to your search…
Here’s a picture to show you what I mean:
LOCATION
Thanks to geo tracking, when someone types in “dance studio near me” in the search bar, Google knows the exact location of that person searching. Therefore, it will rank higher business listings that are closest to that person!
“GOOGLE MY BUSINESS” local listing vs. “SEARCH RESULTS”
The last thing that you need to know is that when someone is searching for a local business on Google, there are 2 different ways that Google displays its results:
The first one is called “Google my business” local listing, and the second one is “search results.”
What is the difference? When you type on Google “dance studios near me” the first results that you see on the top of the page are listings that have the buttons for website, messaging, phone number, and reviews. Those are "Google my business” local listings.
But, when you scroll down and see all the links to the different websites, those are called "search results”.
The “Google my business” local listings and “search results” are not the same as each of them have different methods for ranking and raising to the top.
However, they ARE related, and it’s really important that you work on both for best results.
In this article we're going to be covering how to set up your "Google my business” local listing so that Google favors your listing and brings it all the way to the top, above all your competitors.
On the other hand, if you want to learn more about how to make your dance studio's website rank higher google “search results”, then click on the article link:
'How To Promote Dance Classes Using SEO - Part 2"
How To Promote Your Dance Studio: Setting Up Your Google My Business Local Listing
In order to create a google my business listing you need to have a google email account.
By the way, if you already have a "google my business” listing, make sure you still follow along. I'm about to show you how to optimize it, so that your listing quickly raises to the top!
I'm also going to show you a couple of hacks that will shorten the time it takes for you to get results.
Setting up your listing
Alright, let’s go slowly, step by step, so that you can easily follow along.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and I’ll be happy to help!
So, let’s jump right into it:
Type in “google my business” in google, or go to google.com/business
You need to have a gmail account to be able to do this!***
Click on "Manage now"...
Type in the name of your business (how it appears on your website, and everywhere else online). Then click next.
Under “business category” type in dance school
When it ask if you want to add a location, say YES...
Fill out your studio address (ensure you type it exactly how it appears on your website).
“Do you serve customers outside of this area?”
Choose “No”
Fill out your studio’s phone number.
Type in your website address.
“Want recommendations?”
Choose “NO”
Press Finish
Where it says “choose to verify”
Hit the “more options”...
Then click on “Later” on the “Verify Later” option.
Click on “add custom services” and type in the key phrases that people will be typing when looking for dance lessons near you. For example: “Ballet lessons toddlers Miami” or “Hip Hop classes Teens Fort Lauderdale” if that’s what people type to find you. Also, make sure you include the city name that you’re located in.
Add a few more “custom services” by clicking the “+” icon
Select your business “hours”
Now, go to “Add a business description”, and be sure to include keywords of the classes people are searching for on google, as well as the city name where your studio is located.
What you type doesn’t have to make perfect sense, but make sure you do include keywords!
IMPORTANT: don’t just type a paragraph of keywords like this: “hip hop, dance studio, ballet, dance lessons, dance classes, dance lessons for kids, dance lessons for toddlers”
Add AS MANY photos as possible!
“Your business profile is almost ready…”
Press continue
Click the pencil icon right new to “dance school” and add more categories…
Add 1 - 2 more “categories” (if you can find some that are related). For example: salsa classes, hip hop dance classes, ballet school...
Go back to add more photos - Follow the prompts: Add pictures of of your logo, add a cover photo, add a few videos (at least 1-2 videos), add pictures of your studio, of your dance lessons, of your staff…
Go to “services tab”
Now click on each individual “service”
Add a description that has the keywords you included in your “custom service” names. For example: “We’re the top dance studio for kids in Miami, and we focus on ballet classes for toddlers…”
Make sure to add a few more “custom services” to the new categories (if you added new categories).
Repeat the same steps above for those custom services as well.
Repeat the step above of adding a description for the rest of the “custom services” you added. Don’t copy and paste the same description for all of them! Change it up, so it looks real.
Press the info tab, and add your opening date…
Scroll up to "posts" and add a “post” - Click on “offer”… Add a photo. Add keywords to your title. Push the end date way into the future, so you don’t have to constantly update the post.
You're ready!
Click on verify now. At this point Google will send you a postcard to your studio address to verify that you actually own the studio. This usually takes a couple of days to get to you.
In conclusion, this is how you set up your "google my business' local listing.
This will allow you to rank first in the Google results. Once you are at the top, you will start to consistently bringing in new students weekly!
Now, keep in mind that it takes time for Google to "refresh" their listings. Therefore, it might take a while before you start seeing results.
How To Promote Your Dance Studio | How To Guarantee That You Show Up First On First Page
When it comes to making sure that your listing shows up on top, there is something that you have to do:
You need to get reviews.
You need to get your clients to leave reviews on your listing. When someone looks up your Google listing, they will be able to leave a review on your listing about their experience.
It is important that you ask your current students to go to your “Google my business” listing to leave reviews about their experience.
This will not only let Google know that you are a trustworthy, legitimate business, but Google will use the keywords and key phrases that people type in on their reviews, to rank you higher (for those keywords).
That means that the more keywords and variations people use in the reviews, the better your chances are for people to find your studio. This is because Google ranks you high on those keywords as well!
Also, make sure that people include the city where your studio is located on their reviews so that when people do a Google search for a studio in your city, or type in “dance classes near me”.... You will be able to show up first.
A FEW HACKS...
Hack #1: Give yourself reviews
***This hack, I’m about to give you is Google’s gray area, so try it at your own risk!
When I first created a google my “Google my business” listing, I used 3 different gmail accounts that I owned to leave a review on my own listing.
***Be careful with this… Don’t create a ton of accounts to leave yourself a review! Even though I’ve never heard of anything bad happening, (I’m not exactly sure what could happen...) I can imagine that if they find out, you might get your “Google my business” listing taken down, or demoted.
Hack #2: Ask your friends & family for reviews...
I also asked my friends and family to leave me Google reviews on my listing… (Again be careful with this…)
Make sure that if you’re going to try these techniques… You only do a few of those reviews per day. This is because some companies buy fake reviews… and Google does not like that!
One of the ways they might get discovered is because they will get 20 random reviews in one day. This is not very realistic. That sends a red flag to Google, so stay away from getting a lot of reviews per day. On the other hand, if you are going to try this tactic...
Do 1-3 reviews per day. And of course, make sure you include relevant keywords as well as your studio’s city location.
Hack #3: Get a review link
Another cool thing that you can do is get a "Google My Business” review link. When people click on it, it takes them straight to your review form.
Once you have the link, you can text it to your students and ask them to give you a review… (Make sure to tell them to include keywords).
It can be really helpful, if you give them a template that they can fill out.
For example:
"My name is ____ and my 7 YEARS OLD KID have been attending this DANCE SCHOOL in YOUR CITY for 7 years... and I have had a _______ experience....
The capitalized words are keywords…
Having a template like the one above ensures that students are leaving you a review that’s going to help you rank higher in the search results.
***Make sure that every review is different. Don’t just copy and paste the same template for everyone!
LET US HELP YOU set up your “Google my business listing” and get reviews from all your students, in a legitimate way!
Now that you’ve read this article, you can see how important setting up your “Google my business” listing is, as well as getting reviews with keywords that help you rank higher on Google...
If you don't have the time or patience to learn and do this yourself, let us do it for you.
Because this is a service that we provide, we can help you build, and optimize your local listing. Above all, we'll help you get awesome reviews for your business, so that you can just focus on running your studio.
Click the link below to schedule a free strategy call.
Don't know where to start?
Schedule your FREE Strategy Call!
CONCLUSION
"Google my business" is an extremely important, and powerful tool for getting your studio found on the internet!
Take time to implement what you learned here on this blog post today to promote your dance studio. I guarantee that it will pay dividends for a really long time!
Once you have implemented this, you can move forward and focus on your website so that you also rank high on the “search results”.
Finally, let’s go to the next article, for PART 2 of this article, where we will show you how to do this, step-by-step!
In this article, you will discover the key content and things that your website must have, in order to rank high on Google's “search results.”
See you there!
Hervin