How Local Companies Can Improve Visibility

One of the biggest challenges small businesses face isn’t creating a great product or service—it’s getting the word out to the local community. Sales and profits will drive business growth, but that can’t happen until people find you. While a great brick-and-mortar location helps, the best way to be found is through the internet. 

Maintaining a great website, engaging in social media, and monitoring your local listings online are all important strategies you can start incorporating into your business model. Investing in marketing efforts to increase your small business’s visibility in your community will pay off in the long run. Let’s take a closer look at effective ways to improve your business visibility.

1. Build a Professional Website

Your business’s website is your storefront and home online. It introduces potential customers not only to your offerings, but to your values, mission, and branding. To improve your business visibility, build a professional website. 

These days, there are plenty of ways to create a free or inexpensive website that looks professionally designed. Put effort and, if you can spare it, a little money into a quality website. Make sure it includes updated information about your business, including hours (if applicable) and contact information.

2. Update and Optimize Your Website

Once you’ve got your website up and running, your next task is to make it findable by potential customers. When people in your community search for the solutions your business offers, you want to show up high in their search results. You can drive your website higher up in the listings by using SEO techniques, including regularly updating your website with quality content using relevant keywords. 

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media is a must for any small business looking to improve local visibility. Create a Facebook or Instagram account and start posting. Try to be strategic with your posts—share content you created for your website, share business news, events, and updates, give an inside look into your business, and promote sales or discount codes. Buy a few ads on social media—this can be an effective and affordable way to increase your business visibility.

4. Publish Your Information on Internet Directories

Build your online presence by posting your updated and current business information on the internet’s most popular directories and platforms, including Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google, MapQuest, and more. Make sure your information is updated—you don’t want potential customers showing up an hour after closing because your Google Business listing wasn’t updated to show that you close earlier on Fridays. 

FreshLime can help connect you with directories and listings across the internet, and ensure that the information is accurate, comprehensive, and updated—and synced across all your listings.

5. Protect Your Business Listings

Protect your business listings from unauthorized changes or edits. FreshLime offers Listing Lock, which is like a security system for your business listings online. Information begins to decay after 7 days of posting—but we can prevent that from happening and block outside suggestions and edits.

Try a Demo

Ready to see how FreshLime can help you increase the visibility of your business by safeguarding and synching your online listings? Take a look at our demo today.

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!