Stockport Fencing Ltd manufacture and install fencing around Stockport, South Manchester and Cheshire. We have built up an enviable reputation for quality of both our fencing products and fencing installation. Our fencing is widely seen in Stockport and South Manchester. Just look out for the small white fence tags displayed proudly at the top of our panels.
In recent years we have witnessed a number of companies attempting to capitalise on our success. This is largely due to the introduction of paid advertising online, known as adwords or pay per click advertising. Companies pay to appear at the top of the listing for the keywords Stockport and Fencing. These searches are grouped as either Stockport Fencing or Fencing Stockport. They may also include the words service or installation.
How This Works
When you enter a search into your chosen search engine, whether it be Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. you will immediately see a list of companies that want to be found for those search terms. These comprise;
- Organic Listings – Companies who have spent time developing and optimising their website to be search engine friendly. The search engine will crawl these sites regularly (looking at the content contained within) and rank them in order of quality and relevance.
- Sponsored Listings – Companies who spend their advertising budgets targeting certain keywords. They appear in the search results for those keywords, essentially using a bidding war. If you as a customer and click on one of those listings they will then pay the predetermined figure to the search engine in question. The company will set a budget and once this has been used up they will generally be nowhere to be found for that particular search term.
What This Means to You, The Customer
Type “Stockport Fencing” into your search engine you expect to see the website of Stockport Fencing Ltd as the first result in the list, right? Well this isn’t always the case. Search engines make their money from sponsored listings. Companies pay them every time someone clicks on a sponsored listing. As such they want you to click on these so they can charge the companies for directing you to their websites. These sponsored listings often appear at the top of the search results. It’s often completely unrelated to what, or who you were attempting to search for. As the words Stockport and fencing are generic search terms it is impossible to stop people from paying to appear at the top of the searches. Our only way of combating this is to pay more for the search terms as we will then be paying more than the other companies to appear at the top of the sponsored list.
How is This Displayed in the Search Results
The image below shows a search carried out on a mobile phone with the top company being listed as Stockport Fencing Service. I don’t want to single this company out as technically they are doing nothing wrong but you can see on the highlighted section the web address with the word Ad next to it. That means the company has paid for this advertising presumably with the key phrase Stockport Fencing Service.
That’s all well and good as that is the service they are offering. They are fencing companies operating in the Stockport area after all. If you then called them based on their advert and asked if that was Stockport Fencing then they should technically be upfront and explain that they are …(company name)… who offer a fencing service in the Stockport area. Once again I’m not saying this company do not do this. We have however, been made aware of certain companies who have then continued either intentionally or unintentionally misleading the customer into believing they are speaking to Stockport Fencing Ltd. We even have complaints directed at us for work carried out. Even though we have no record of ever being contacted by the individual and providing an estimate, let alone completing the work. Not only is this ethically wrong I would presume it is also against the law, however pursuing this is not in our interest.
Make Sure You Have Got Through to Stockport Fencing Ltd for Complete Peace of Mind
In conclusion please be vigilant in your search online. Don’t just assume that the company you have clicked on is the company you were searching for. Stockport Fencing Ltd always prepare a written estimate on company letter-headed paper for all our installation work when an estimator has visited. We don’t do this when completing a telephone order on a supply only basis and likewise will often attempt to price up jobs over the phone where panels are being installed into existing concrete posts. We will however put it in writing if required, at your request, so don’t be afraid to ask us if you would prefer this to be done. All our installation work and local deliveries are carried out in fully sign written vehicles so if you believe you have ordered from us and a vehicle displaying anything other than Stockport Fencing Ltd as its livery turns up then I’m afraid you have fallen victim to the process outlined above. Again, don’t take it that you will not get a good job or level of service from these companies, it’s just not Stockport Fencing Ltd.