As someone who works with clients in this industry, I have always wondered why there is so much spammy content and such an acute shortage of good content, or content marketing in the moving and packing industry.
The industry is very competitive, no doubt, with movers and packers jostling with one another to get the attention of the customer. The clients are savvy enough to believe that digital is the medium to be in.
The agencies vie with one another here for SEO, Content Marketing, and PPC projects related to the moving industry.
But despite all the frenetic digital marketing activity, the content imagination is somewhat short.
I reckon this is because of an immediate emphasis on results.
There is pressure on both clients and agencies to produce immediate results and as part of fulfilling this urgent commitment, there are a lot of shortcuts that are taken.
It is also a function of the type of agency that you hire. If these are not content magicians, or if you appoint those who struggle with content, then you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. After all, SEO today is all about sticky content, not spammy ones.
The fact is that good content is hard to come by, is expensive, and requires some imagination to be truly leveraged. You need a publishing mindset, you need to be innovative with what you do with content, and then there’s a lot of heavy trudging before you get links and customer attention to links.
Agencies, driven by ROI themselves, often shy away from the hard work this requires. traditional SEO companies which relied on software techniques to build the business are plainly incapable of handling good content.
So the remedy is to take shortcuts.
The easy way out is to use article spinners and AI propelled writing software.
That explains why so much unreadable content, or even nonsensically written content, that abounds on the web in this segment.
The problem is that spun content is just a short-term measure and in the long run, it will hurt the brand. Sooner, rather than later this content, will be discovered for what it is, and de-indexed. It’s not readable, reader-friendly content.
So how do you create great content for an industry that’s bursting with poor content? There is no other way but to hunker down and work your imagination around content.
There are enough examples of great content on websites in the moving and packing industry and all who work here can and should draw inspiration from these.
Here are 5 sites where you can see great content. Get inspired.
1. Moving.com
Moving has very helpful information for movers. It uses this information in several ways.
- Several different types of content can be seen on the website under Tools and Guides.
- Pass value to the customer
- Rank for long-tail keywords
- Elegantly combine dynamic data into a unique pattern for US Cities
- Sell its Mover Services
This page is targeting a keyword “Movers in Minneapolis” and has a structure as below. It’s a brilliantly architected sell that fully utilises the different types of information on the website and integrates all this in one place with keywords.
- Get an online quote
- Most recent moves to Minneapolis from the Realtor.com database
- A selection of the top movers in Minneapolis from the Moving.com database
- A bit of content about Minneapolis covering Overview, History, Economy, Tourism, Colleges and Interesting facts
- More Movers from Minneapolis thrown from the Moving.com database
- 5 tabbed panels showing the great neighborhoods of Minneapolis
- 3 Article Tips on Moving thrown up from Blog
- Side Panel that shows tips on organizing your move that includes storage, packing calculator, auto transport, moving cost, and moving planner.
2. Unpakt
Unpakt is an aggregated service where many movers come together on a single platform and compete with one another for the customer based on price, ratings, reviews, and profiles.
Unpakt overseas the move and handles customer support, marketing. The Unpakt Blog addresses both the customers and sometimes the movers.
The blogs are an opportunity to seed keywords, give out information of value, and rank organically in the search results.
The CTA or form is prominent on the sidebar and is available when you scroll.
What Unpakt does is to beautifully use keywords and questions that customers search for in their blog headlines and topics.
3. Writer Relocations
Writer Relocations has content in several interesting forms. Destination Guides, Moving Tips, Service FAQs, Blogs, Locations, and eBook Downloads.
Each follows its won style and layout.
The intricate mix of these produces the right kind of leads for the brand. The eBooks are easily the best in the business.
4. FlatRate
Flatrate has broken its Content of Value for customers into 4 neat areas - Blog, Moving Tips, How-to, and FAQs. Their sell is one of the best in this industry.
I noticed that they change their forms frequently which makes me suspect that they test it often.
5. Glovve.com
Glovve is the newest entrant of the lot. In many ways, it’s the Unpakt of India, in that it aggregates movers, algorithmically gives out instant quotes to the customer, allows you to pay and track online, and more.
In terms of the content of value to the customer, it has FAQs, Moving Tips Blog, and a City Resources section that’s written to be of help to the moving customer.
Uses thought-through content, and SEO-optimised,given the nature of content in this industry.