The SpareFoot Blog

That’s “AAA Self Storage Names,” now put me in the Yellow Pages.

Once upon a time there was good reason to name your company something like, “1 AAAA Storage.”

This dawned on me when I was flipping though the Yellow Pages and saw names like, “A-1 Self Storage,” “A A Olympic Centinela Storage,” “A AA Dootson Mini Storage,” “A AAA Mini Storage,” “A All Storage,” “A Mobile Mini,” “AA Discount Storage,” “AAA Personal Storage Garages,” and “A-American Self Storage.”

Beating your competition used to be as easy as outdoing them with A’s, but that time, the age of the Yellow Pages, is coming to an end. Google, unlike the your old friend, isn’t going to put you at the top of their list just because your name is at the top of the alphabet.

But, to be at the top of Google, you don’t have to spend a fortune on marketing, advertising and branding to compete with the big guys. Let’s face it, with 2,200 facilities, Public Storage definitely has a leg up on that one. How many of their facilities have you driven by in your lifetime? Well, enough to create a pretty clear imprint on the average person.

So, why not adapt the strategic naming process to the times. What about calling your company “Cheapest Self Storage in [fill in city],” a popular Google search for storage. With a domain name like that, you have some real SEO value.

There are already a few companies who appear to have taken into account the “new” Internet savvy generation when naming their companies, such as, “Affordable Storage.” They have an A and, if they do things right, they are bound to rank high for “affordable storage” searches, a pretty relevant keyword to monopolize in the storage world.

“A Low Cost Self Storage” is on the right track as well. Although from an SEO standpoint they might have been better served by a name like, “Cheap Self Storage,” “cheap” doesn’t really send a message of quality and security. Especially given the number of self-storage robberies getting media attention, it could be a risky move.

Then there is, “A Safe Place.” They are definitely sending the right message in terms of a very safe storage facility, but on the other hand, when people search for self storage, they usually aren’t searching for “a safe place.” So, weigh the pros and cons.

Now that I have had fun with everyone else’s name, I’ll admit that SpareFoot.com wasn’t really thinking about SEO when we picked our name. However, another thing to consider when picking a name is the value of memorability. SpareFoot, a play on square foot, may have that going for them over a generic non-descript name like, “The Place for Self Storage.”

But, even more important, if I can leave you with one take-away point: Don’t make the same mistake these companies made because this is probably not a “Top 10 list” on which you want to find yourself.

Thoughts?

-Anna@SpareFoot.com

A few weeks ago, Matt Sobel left his life of movie-making in Los Angeles to spend a nice couple of weeks hanging out with his friends in Austin. Or, so he thought.

His storage-loving friends were excited to show him a good time in their new home, but little did Matt know, their idea of a good time was to bring him into the SpareFoot office everyday and drown him in all things self storage.

It wasn’t long before Matt was gasping for air, having had his fill of self storage for possibly life. So, we put him back to movie-making. He didn’t escape self storage altogether, but Matt and I had a good time filming this short video we played at the Inside Self Storage Expo earlier this month.

Thank you, Matt!

The Inside Self-Storage World Expo was an absolute blast! The SpareFoot team had great time in nation’s capital reacquainting with old friends and meeting new people in the storage industry.

Chuck, Claire, and Mario in front of the SpareFoot booth

I had the pleasure of attending many of the educational seminars that focused on the internet and marketing. It was helpful hearing about the many tools storage companies are using to increase their online presence. There are many options out there, so focus is key. Storage companies can greatly increase revenue by using the internet properly. However, with so many different tools, marketing managers need to figure out what resources deserve time.

I met with many owners who were concerned that they weren’t doing enough and wanted my opinion. Here’s the easy answer: You will never be doing enough. I have not met a single person who claims they have it figure all out. In fact, I caution any storage owner/manager who meets a firm who claims they are the ONLY solution.

If you just built a website for your facility, there are many quick and free resources that can increase your online visibility. Add each facility to the local business sections in google, yahoo, and other search engines. This will quickly help anyone searching for storage online find your facilities information (triple check the phone number!). You can also do the same thing in online business directories. Free online classified ads are also a fantastic tool you can leverage. Many classifieds have a storage section that allow you to easily post an ad about your facility. Be careful not to post your ad too many times or people may not see you as legitimate.

These are just the basics and there are many more advanced strategies out there. If you want me to post on a certain topic, let me know!