How to Write a Quality Storage Site Facility Description

Sara Heins reports:

"'About Us' descriptions – they help customers know what the heck your facility offers while, at the same time, letting Google, Bing and Yahoo index your page. So that means there are two very important audiences you need to impress: potential tenants and search engines...Indexing is when search engines take note of certain words and phrases you have on your page; they then rank your site when someone searches. They're more likely to crawl your pages, and then index them, as you add more content; think of writing new, unique pages as a beacon, signaling Google to stop by and check out what you've been up to lately...Don't just copy and paste a generic description across the board – it doesn't help your renters to diversify your facilities and the search engines look down on it as well...You need to incorporate the words your target market is looking for, and the sooner you mention them in your description, the better...Try to include your city, [state and] other storage related words, like 'self storage' or 'storage facility' in your very first sentence, along with the name of your property...List your city's 'landmarks,' whatever they may be. A landmark doesn't have to be something as famous as Mt Rushmore, either. Just think about what's important to your community's businesses and residents. Are you in a small town located near the only Walmart in the area? Perfect! Include that in your first paragraph. Other distinctive markers could be parks, military bases, elementary schools, intersections or whatever businesses you're around...Who else could benefit from your storage facility's services? Think of all the surrounding areas that may have potential tenants, and make sure to mention those cities in your description as well. If you don't mention a nearby city in your description, you're not going to rank for it, and you've just lost those customers. Back to our ideal location – if you're looking to rank in Honolulu, be sure to include Waikiki and Kalihi-Palama as well...Providing directions to your facility is not only helpful to your potential customers, but it's [also] a great chance for… more original content! Google Maps doesn't always get it right, either, so in order to provide the most accurate and useful directions to tenants, it's always best to write your own. Include the best way to reach your location from as many ways as possible; the more the better...Of course reaching one of the top positions on the front page of Google is important, but if future customers reach your site and it's filled with spammy garbage, you can bet they're going to hit the back button on their browser and start looking at your competitors' sites instead. That being said, it's important to find the fine balance between search engine optimization and the sweet spot of lead conversion. How can you accomplish this?

• Don't go crazy on your keywords. Make sure you include them, but do so sparingly. The word 'self storage' should not be in every sentence.
• Double-check your spelling and grammar. The more errors you have, the less professional you'll look to your online audience.
• Remember that unique content I was talking about? Good. Just like snowflakes, no two storage facilities are alike, so their descriptions shouldn't be either. What sets your locations apart from their competitors? Apart from each other? Do you offer wine storage when no one else does? Are you located in a safer part of town? Think about your selling points when a customer asks you why they should choose you over their competitors, and use that as your inspiration.

...Hiring a professional to write your descriptions is always another option; many web marketing packages include content writing in the bundle. Content writers already know the ins and outs of SEO best practices, but chances are these people have never been to your storage facility. They probably haven't even been to the city it's in, or perhaps not even the state. If you're relying on a professional to write your facility descriptions for you, be sure to include specifics; you know your properties better than anyone else, so be sure to share why your facility really is the best in the area, what great features you have compared to your competitors, local landmarks, information about the managers and more."