Get Your Business Found in 2021

3 Easy Ways to Improve Search Performance for Your Small Business

The start of a new year is a great time to review your online presence and make some improvements. Here are 3 important, but easy ways to increase your chance of being found and chosen by your target audience. 

1.  Focus on Mobile

It's common knowledge that the majority of local search traffic comes from smartphones, but many local businesses have yet to shift their focus to the mobile version of their website. If mobile has been an afterthought for your business, now is the time to review and adjust. 

Visit your website on your smartphone, and look at it from the perspective of your potential customers with these questions:

Does the website load quickly?

If not, you may need to clean up unnecessary large files.

Is it well formatted for your smartphone? 

Check the site for ample spacing both vertically and horizontally to be sure your text and images have plenty of room to breathe, and check the sizing of text, photos and graphics.

Do you have easy site navigation and clear calls-to-action? 

Scroll through each page and confirm that the site provides a user-friendly pathway to the most important information, and that your phone number and contact forms are well placed and functioning correctly.   Read more about fine-tuning your mobile design here.

2.  Google My Business: Claim and Optimize

Take advantage of your ability to claim and manage your profile on Google My Business. Your Google listing is a powerful tool for visibility in local search, and levels the playing field in the competition for organic page ranking. 

Customize and Complete Your Profile

You can customize your business description, hours, services and include photos, special offers and scheduling links. Filling your profile as completely as possible helps you differentiate from your competition and improve your ranking for relevant searches. 

Post Regularly

Google My Business has become a full-fledged platform for your business, offering more than just a static listing. Posting updates and offers has shown to positively impact your ranking in local search. You can also use a live messaging app to communicate in real time with customers and prospects.

3.  Get Ratings and Reviews

Positive reviews build your credibility and help your potential clients feel better about choosing you over your competition.

Identify the most important review platform for your business.  

For most local businesses, Google is the single most impactful review website, but depending on your industry and marketing plan you may choose to prioritize Facebook, Yelp, or another platform.   Ideally you’ll have glowing reviews on many websites over time, but we recommend building up a volume of positive reviews on one platform over diluting them across several if you are at the beginning stages of building reviews. 

Ask Your Clients for a Rating 

Take a few minutes to reach out to your clients and ask for their feedback.  Then, make a point to work this into your process going forward. Make it as easy as possible for your clients by texting and/or emailing a link that takes them directly to the review page.  Asking for a “rating” sounds less daunting than a “testimonial”.

Respond and Repurpose Your Reviews

Remember to keep an eye on your incoming reviews and provide a timely response.  Responding to your reviews is a nice ‘thank you’ to your client, shows others that you're a communicative business owner, and, in the case of Google, your response has a positive impact on your ranking.  Repurpose your best reviews by placing them on a testimonials page of your website or share them as social media posts.

Questions? We can help.

If you need help with your website, Google listing or reviews we are here to help.  Or if you've covered these basics and want to discuss more advanced marketing options we'd love to talk - send a message or give us a call.