Door Industry Journal - Summer 2014

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 86 THE door industry journal summer 2014 building hardware THE MLA’S WEBSITE PROVIDES KEY BENEFIT TO MEMBERS The MLA’s website, and in particular the find a locksmith function is going from strength to strength with record numbers of hits. To demonstrate this, the web stats show that In May 2013 the MLA website had a total of 9,468 Unique Visitors. November 2013 saw this rise to 20,497 Unique Visitors whereas at the time of writing, in the last 30 days we’ve had 36,196 Unique Visitors! Having implemented the new website a couple of years ago, focusing on making it easier for the end user to find an MLA licensed locksmith was the priority. We’ve added to this with engaging the services of an SEO and digital marketing expert 2 days per week to improve the site content and its search engine rankings and in particular to maximise the benefits to members and the investment has proved well worthwhile. Searches for members can be done in a number of ways including postcode, town, and area or even just simply zooming in to the relevant area on the map. The “find a locksmith page” has seen unique visits rise from 1,059 in May 2013 to 1,867 in November 2013 and in the last 30 days we’ve had 2,917 unique visitors! With members’ details being visible not only on their own dedicated page but also on the list below the map box and also on the map “pointers” there have never been more ways for members details to be visible. The success of the SEO work has once again shone through as members MLA pages are ranking consistently highly with on search engines, a lot of the time ranking higher than the members own page! Again the stats back this up with 1,059 unique visits to member’s pages in May 2013, 4,953 in November 2013 and 9,274 unique visitors in the last 30 days! The whole process of the end user contacting an MLA approved company member has recently been further enhanced by the integration of the Call Booker system. The solution means that customers searching for MLA licensed locksmiths within the trade directory can arrange the calls they want with minimum effort. The Approved Company members of MLA have a greater chance of work being offered and delivered to them in a method to suit. CallBooker Co-founder Michael Oxley commented: “We created this solution to aid all the groups involved in online search; the listing site, the businesses listed and the customers who use them can now all benefit. Working with a national trade organisation like Master Locksmiths Association is therefore a real pleasure, as they work hard for their members and are focussed on providing great solutions that continue to improve and enhance their offering.” The Callbooker solution integrated to online search providers means that customers can quickly select the number of calls they want, be kept clearly informed on who is going to contact them and provide feedback, without the hassle of missed calls or wasted time. The businesses listed can select the jobs they want and manage these without interrupting current workloads. With feedback built in for both customers and businesses this can enhance the profiles of great businesses and build further usage of the search site. Commenting on the integration for MLA, Director of Business Development, Steffan George stated: “We are always looking at ways to improve the services we offer our members and aid customers looking to use them, so were delighted to work with CallBooker in delivering this solution to our search site. The process has been simple and straightforward and we look forward to the benefits this will bring to all involved.”