Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Whether you want it or not, your store has a digital “twin” living online and providing a first impression to existing and potential customers online. Not only is your digital twin interacting with customers, it’s what artificial intelligence (AI) is using to determine whether or not your online presence is trustworthy and worth sharing in search results.
When you search for anything on Google, the top results are now AI-curated. These AI-generated summaries are known as AI overviews (AIO) and provide immediate answers by synthesizing information from multiple websites.
Rather than leaving what your digital footprint is telling customers to chance, you have the ability to mold it and provide the first impression you want your operation to give. Discover best practices for influencing how AI views your digital content and controlling what current and potential customers are gleaning from your digital presence.
Brick-and-Mortar Meets Digital
Every day you enter your store, you’re looking—or should be looking—at it from a customer’s point of view. That same critical eye should be on your digital storefront, which starts with a strong Google Business Profile, says Jaz Seehra, business development manager for Ignite Digital, a digital marketing company that specializes in a comprehensive suite of services, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media management and website development. Ignite Digital also creates free-to-use tools for individuals curious about digital marketing, including a Google Ads grader, a website audit tool and more.
“Your Google Business Profile is the new Yellow Pages,” Seehra says. “It must be perfectly optimized with your correct services, hours, photos and a constant stream of fresh reviews. It’s often AI’s first and most trusted source of basic information.”
The first step to optimize your Google Business profile is claiming it by searching for your business on Google and then clicking on “Claim this business.” Second, check that your Google Business Profile is complete and accurate with your business’ name, full store address and any service areas, phone number and website address. Your profile should also include a primary category and any relevant secondary categories.
Another way to enhance your Google Business Profile even further includes adding products that you sell in your store including quality photos, prices and descriptions for each product. Adding products will help your store rank in product-specific searches, such as “paint near me.” Collecting customer reviews and adding high-quality photos of your store, employees and events to your profile also improves your visibility online.
Once your Google Business Profile is polished, it is critical to check that any information you share on the internet is consistent. Your operation’s name, address and phone should be the same—and correct—on any online directory, including Yelp, HomeAdvisor or any local business website, like a chamber of commerce listing.
“Inconsistencies create doubt and erode trust,” Seehra says.
For decades, a key value proposition of the independent home improvement retailer has been the connection to local. That value proposition is still alive and well, and an area retailers need to embrace in the digital realm as well.
Seehra suggests creating specific service pages for every neighborhood and suburb you serve, embedding maps of local neighborhoods and including local landmarks in your content to prove your deep community ties.
“Your website can’t be generic, it needs to be infused with local signals,” Seehra says.
Content That Counts
When evaluating what content to share during a search, Google will reward content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, Seehra says.
“For independent local hardware and paint stores, this means going beyond just listing the services that you offer. It’s about strategically building and signaling credibility with your content,” Seehra says. “This is exactly what the AI is trained to find. AI wants to cite sources that are genuinely helpful, comprehensive and written by experts. That’s your authority blueprint.”
When it comes to showing experience and expertise, home improvement retailers should look to include content that shows experts solving real-world challenges. Detailed guides and how-to posts go a long way to show your operation has the know-how customers need and want.
The Sutherland Hardware and Mercantile website includes a drop-down menu called “Resources” that includes several pages of content that demonstrate the operation’s expertise in the industry. Sutherland’s operates 49 stores in 13 states, and the operation’s Resources pages include a Customer Project Photo Gallery highlighting projects that customers completed with the help of Sutherland and its professionals, an Emergency Preparedness Page with tips on staying safe in various severe weather and a Project Tips and Guides page full of best practices for everything from appliances and cabinets to electrical and lighting to flooring. The Resources section also includes a comprehensive frequently asked questions page, Supplier Web Directory with a list of web sites operated by Sutherland suppliers and the Sutherlands Blog, covering DIY, crafts, how-to and more.
Albany Hardware, located in Albany, Indiana, features a website with an extensive blog that offers how-to tips for customers to upgrade, refresh and maintain all parts of their homes.
“We all need a little advice when it comes to home repairs and maintenance, so our blog provides that service to our customers,” says Albany Hardware owner Lance Eagle.
To demonstrate authoritativeness, your website should include mentions of your business in the local news, highlight partnerships with local businesses and share those ways you connect with your community.
E&H Ace Hardware, which operates 31 locations throughout Ohio, includes a community page on its website with information on the ways the operation supports local fundraising efforts and local events each store is hosting or participating in.
The Aubuchon Company takes a different approach with its web presence, with two different websites, one focused on the online presence of the company’s 130 retail stores (hardwarestore.com) and one that serves as an informational website to support store acquisition and hiring (aubuchon.company). While it’s not directed toward retail customers, the informational website’s inclusion of news highlights recent store acquisitions and signals to potential sellers that Aubuchon is actively expanding, says Mike Mattson, marketing director for The Aubuchon Company.
“The News section has built significant confidence among store owners seeking an exit strategy that preserves their brand’s legacy,” Mattson says. “While these stories help establish Aubuchon as an industry leader, I believe our LinkedIn presence, which leverages updates from the company site, is even more effective in that regard.”
Showing trustworthiness is the easiest way to get Google’s attention and is as simple as providing clear pricing, easy-to-find contact info and abundant positive reviews on your website, Seehra says.
Along with a full page dedicated to testimonials, Akroyd Hardware’s website also features customer testimonials on the front page. The testimonies and reviews of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, store are frequently rotated out to provide fresh content for the AI bots to find.
The Hardware Store at Asbury Park in Asbury Park, New Jersey, operates a website that includes testimonies on the front page and also highlights on that main page how other customers can provide their reviews with a link to the store’s Google Business Profile.
“AIO and Google don’t care how much money you’re willing to spend, they just care how authoritative you are and how organic your content is,” Seehra says. “So if you’re able to allocate your budget and focus your SEO efforts on improving your authority and your organic reach, you have the ability to actually dominate where the big-box chains can’t, because they’ll just keep pumping money into the ads. This is your secret weapon as a smaller and midsized business.”
