Being found online is crucial to any small business. In this article, we’ll demystify the basics of local online marketing and discuss three important aspects of your online business persona. By using simple, user friendly technologies available on the internet, small business owners can effectively reach their target audience and generate more business in the new year. With a few clicks of a mouse, and a little bit of patience, you can dramatically increase the odds of your business being found online without having to pay for expensive leads or costly SEO campaigns.
Here are 3 tips to increase your online presence and visibility today!
- Be Found on Local Directories – Have you ever wondered where search engines get information about local businesses? Search engines visit and track websites that contain information about local business; specifically their business name, address, and phone number. The accuracy and consistency of your NAP is extremely important. If your information is inconsistent, you can lose trust and credibility which can result in poor search ranking. Submit your business listing to websites such as Dexknows, Citysearch, and YP.com to increase your chances of being found online.
- Identify Your Business – Categories are keywords that help describe the nature of your business. Search engines use category data to index your business and decide what search results your business will show up for. If you have no category assigned to your business, you will not appear in local search results. Mis-categorizing your business can be even more disastrous. Ensure your business is properly categorized on search engines and local directories for the best placement.
- Increase Your Online Reputation – By the time a customer has decided to read an online review about your business, they’ve already made the decision to work with you and are simply taking an extra step to cement their decision. Reviews are extremely influential to consumers and as many as 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations according to a recent study. Engage your customers and ask them to leave a review of your business online. The best places for consumers to leave reviews are Google +, Yelp, and Facebook.
By ensuring that your business information is accurate, consistent, correctly categorized, and backed up by positive reviews, you can take your online marketing to the next level and increase new business.
Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we fall short of being able to accomplish all that we’d like to do for our business. If you’re interested in increasing your online presence and visibility today but lack the time or skill to do so, call FreshLime today! Our expertise in local and online marketing can help take your business to the next level.
For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert onLinkedIn and Twitter.