Self Storage Marketing:
Get Found and Rent More Units
Now more than ever, if your self storage business is not getting found when someone searches “self storage near me,” you’re loosing business.
Self storage marketing is the only way to ensure your storage website is found during those crucial moments!
There are a lot of things to consider when working to improve your online presence but don’t worry, that’s what we’re here to work through with you!
Self storage marketing begins with your website
Your self storage website serves two very important functions:
- designed in a customer-focused way that makes visitors happy and results in more online rentals
- behind the scenes, it should be built in a way that makes search engines happy and gets your site found
That second bullet deserves a whole section of its own, which we’ll get to next.
For now, let’s focus on what it means to have a customer-focused self storage website design.
Customer-focused storage websites lead to more rentals
The functionality of the best self storage websites is directly correlated with how many visitors will rent a storage unit online.
Your website must be easy to navigate.
Features like identifying a user’s closest store location and having the most important information front and center are going to help make your site easier to navigate.
Your self storage website must also be mobile-frriendly.
Gone are the days when it was acceptable for a website to be responsive in case someone happened to visit their site on a phone or tablet.
More times than not, your customers are going to be searching for “storage units near me” when they’re on the go using their phones.
If your website is not designed specifically for mobile use, you’re missing out on potential revenue.
Now that you know some of the basics, let’s talk about how to get it done.
Self storage marketing agency or design the site on your own?
Well, considering we are a self storage marketing agency, it’s safe to assume where we stand on this question.
But, let’s talk through some pros and cons anyway.
If we’re honest, designing a self storage website entirely on your own would likely result in nothing but frustration on your end and the customer’s end if you ever get one up.
There are some middle-of-the-road options though! If you love the idea of a made-for-you website, there are self storage templates over at Storagely.io.
These are a fantastic way to quickly upgrade your online presence and dip your toe into the SEO waters.
If you’re looking for a more customized and in-depth experience with developing your self storage website, working with an agency is the way to go.
Here at Storage Inc, we are a team of website designers and developers, user experience pros, content writers, social media experts, and storage industry leaders. We work together with you to identify your business goals and develop a plan to execute.
The work here is never done, though! Working with Storage Inc also means working with a team of analysts who review the masses of data we collect so we can make informed decisions about what’s working and what’s not so you can see and ROI faster.
Now on to that second point..
Self storage SEO is more than your website
Yep. We said it.
Yes, a beautiful website with a user-experience focused design is extremely important.
But it doesn’t do any good if no one can find your website to begin with!
One of the biggest things we focus on for self storage marketing is search engine optimization (SEO). Specifically, localized SEO.
What does localized SEO mean, you ask?
It means that because the majority of your self storage customers live within close proximity to your storage locations, we focus on optimizing your website for keywords that people are specifically searching for in your area.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say you own a storage facility in Winston-Salem, NC. It is likely that people who live within Winston-Salem and the surrounding towns would be the most likely to rent a unit from your facility.
Because of this, our savvy team of self storage marketing experts would optimize the location page of that facility on your website for key terms such as “storage units winston-salem nc” or “storage facilities winston-salem nc.”
Those are examples of localized keywords and its easy to see why it would be important for your storage location to be found by someone searching those terms, right?
Unfortunately, self storage SEO isn’t as simple as optimizing a web page for some localized keywords.
Fortunately for you, we’re here to explain a little further starting with your self storage Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business, or GMB).
Your Google Business Profile: It must be a priority
As we’ve discussed, self storage facilities are by nature, a local business. Every storage facility should have a Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business) so potential customers can easily find the storage facility, learn about all of its storage-related services, see photos, read reviews, get questions answered, access contact information, and quickly jump to the website.
Furthermore, your website should be connected to each of your self storage facility’s Google Business Profile to make the potential customers’ experience even more streamlined.
Ditch the paid ads and aggregates
Self storage SEO is like owning a home.
Paid ads and aggregates are like renting an apartment.
What we mean is, when you pay for your website visitors through paid ads or pay for your rented units via aggregates, it isn’t a sustainable long-term self storage marketing solution.
Still not convinced? We’ve crunched some numbers to explain why.
Through years of collecting data, we’ve discovered that 82% of our client’s rented units originated from people who found them via organic search (aka, Google). Less than 5% of the rented units came from people who found them via paid search.
Read that again.
Of course, we don’t recommend dropping paid ads or aggregates today without first understanding how your online presence is performing organically.
We’ve made that easy for you to do.
Head over to get a free local search analysis and if the results aren’t what you were hoping for, we can help you out with that with more in-depth self storage marketing.
Features that generate leads on the best self storage websites
Congratulations! If you’re still reading, you’ve graduated to the next level of self storage marketing education where we’ll dig a little deeper into specific elements of self storage websites that generate online rentals.
Each of the features listed below will work together to bring you new customers by making it easy for them to provide their contact information and get their questions answered to make your site the best self storage website it can be.
We don’t mean this to sound rude, but most people don’t want to pick up the phone and call you. It’s not personal.
When potential customers can have all of their questions answered and all of their potential concerns eliminated simply by visiting your website, they’re going to choose you over the competitor every time.
Gated virtual tours
Not only do people not want to talk to people on the phone, but most people would prefer to actually SEE where they’re going before they arrive there (maybe that’s why Google created Google Street View). The best self storage websites do just that.
Visitors are more than happy to provide basic contact information to see a virtual tour of your facilities so they can feel comfortable about where they’re going to store their belongings.
Win for them because they don’t have to physically go to your location to determine this. Win for you because you’ve not collected the contact information of a very warm lead that you can continue to nurture through your well-crafted self storage marketing strategy.
Live chat
Potential tenants may not be interested in picking up their phone to call you, but if there is a chat feature available, they’ll be happy to start a conversation!
Live chat has proven to turn website visitors into customers simply by connecting with them in a format they’d prefer.
And, our live chat system allows potential customers to continue asking questions when they step away from their computer, via email.
Easy reservations
Sure, not everyone is ready to swipe their digital credit card to fully rent a unit when they’re doing their storage research. Some people would prefer to simply reserve a unit for a specific day then pay when that day comes.
Industry-leading online rental system
At the heart of these well-crafted best self storage websites lives Storagely’s exclusive rental system.
Storagely was created by both storage industry experts and digital marketing professionals who designed this system in a way that rents more storage units than leading competitors.
Customers will be able to filter available units, determine how much space they need using a size guide, make online payments, and more through this well-thought-out platform.