Per Mar

Project Details

Per Mar Security Web Launch

Per Mar Security is a leading commercial and residential security provider in the Midwest… but their website was old and generally a mess. It poorly reflected their strong community ties and probably left customers searching for a company that looked like they operated in the current decade.

After conducting some necessary prework (creating buyer personas, evaluating competitors, learning services), I set out, reworking Per Mar’s entire online brand identity with new, more relevant, more educational copy throughout their site.

The Wireframing Process

Let’s face it, copy doesn’t appear out of the thin air. Nor does a cohesive UX.

Someone has to plan it. Someone has to write it.

Me. I’m that someone.

You can see the content wireframe I created below. Compare that to the finished product - the copy and layout match.

Let’s Talk SEO

Per Mar Security also relied on me to improve their website’s SEO.

The Ranking Game

I like to think of SEO as the Olympics of Content. A lot of people want to cut corners (ChatGPT, anyone?), which inevitably amounts to falling off the proverbial balance beam. No approach? No strategy? Sorry, no medal for you.

When it came to optimizing content for search, Per Mar’s website was like a marathon. You don’t just roll out of bed and hit a 26-mile run. It’s critical to build your endurance through practice and preparation, two factors that take a lot of effort.

Great Customer Expectations

The key is to great SEO is 1) anticipating your audience 2) unravelling the intent behind their questions, and 3) writing content that is specific and narrow enough that you can effectively tell Google “hey, this stuff I just wrote, yeah, it’s highly valuable for people searching for an answer to this particular question.”

I had the pleasure of writing a lot of web content for Bay Alarm, a security provider on the west coast, and I helped net the brand over 50,000 additional organic clicks in the year after heading up their content strategy.

That experience helped in my role with Per Mar. I was already familiar with the types of products and services they offered - but I had to do more.

That’s why I worked with the client to identify their highest converting customers. What are their most common pain points? Why do they need a security system? Do you generate more sales with commercial or residential buyers? What questions are people always asking when you’re on the phone or in the field?

Armed with new knowledge, I developed buyer personas, which put me in the best position to write copy that solves pain points and answers specific questions. Per Mar Security was now on its way to being a valued resource, both in the eyes of Google and for potential customers finding their content online.

Big shoutout to Homeowner Hal and Coffee Shop Kyle for sticking with me through it all.

Structure & Navigation

If you run a marathon, but the route isn’t clearly marked, you’ll eventually lose your way.

Unstructured web content has the same effect on search engines. You know, like Google, where you type in a search and results are loaded faster than the blink of an eye.

Why would Google spend extra time trying to figure out your site nav when it can just ignore you altogether?

Here’s an example: a page about Security Cameras. No problem. Let’s just do permarsecurity.com/security-cameras. Good enough, right? But say the actual content on the page is all about security cameras for the commercial industry. And this page, in particular, contains content that speaks to security cameras for cannabis companies.

Suddenly, our basic /security-cameras doesn’t really match the content on the page. Uh oh. Goodbye, sweet, sweet rankings.

The link should end /commercial/cannabis-security-cameras. You generally shoot way up the search rankings when you are transparent with search engines. Don’t send mixed signals. The link should indicate what content is on the page and vice-versa.

The same goes for on-page navigation. Take a look at the main navigation menu I created for Per Mar Security.

Site visitors know exactly what they’re getting here. It’s all very straighforward and literal. All of this put together makes for a nice, tidy UX and strong SEO.

Results

The Per Mar Security web launch really let me flex some creative muscle. I was the point person for content strategy, copywriting, and UX design. I even developed some of the landing pages using WordPress. I put everything I know about content development into this project. I’m proud that it shows.