By Shea Eckert
Digital marketing has become more prominent in the business world, especially for small businesses. Many business owners heavily rely on digital marketing to help promote their company, because their budgets are limited and only allow for nominal marketing expenditures. Your online presence can create brand awareness and drive sales if managed correctly.
Due to evolving technology, digital marketing is constantly changing, but here are a few critical takeaways of items you want to manage in your digital footprint.
- Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is a tool available to businesses to promote and boost the appearance of a website on search engines, leading to more website traffic. SEO can help your website rank higher on search engines, giving your site a better chance of being noticed. SEO can be very cost-efficient for businesses looking to spend a lower price range on digital marketing. At the very minimum, you want to make sure your website is optimized correctly on the back end and has plenty of relevant keywords within the site copy.
- Online Directories
We now live in a mobile-first world. Being listed in Online Directories is more critical than ever.
With iPhones and Android devices, it has never been simpler for consumers to find the product or service they need. Searches that include ‘near me’ are at an all-time high, and when consumers search for this local information, quite a few will land on an online business directory.
If you are not familiar with this term, think about business directories as the online version of a Yellow Pages listing; we just lost everyone under the age of thirty with that reference! These directories come in many forms, but some of the most obvious you might recognize are Google Business Listing, All Maps directories like MapQuest and Google Maps, Yahoo Business Listing and so forth.
Artificial intelligence directories are also important, for instance, “Alexa, what is the nearest tire shop?”
Listings typically contain information such as name, address, and phone number, but some include website URLs, photos, videos, and more enhanced content. It is key to be listed in as many of these as possible, with exactly matching information. It’s also important to maintain these regularly (we suggest monthly), as algorithms sometimes override your info.
- Reputation Management
Make sure your Facebook reviews are on, your Google Business listing is intact so that reviews may be left and your business’ Yelp listing is claimed if you have not. These are just three examples of popular online review sites. There may also be sites important to your industry that you will want to be on as well, such as Zillow for Real Estate, or Angie’s List for home repair services. Search engines monitor reviews as follows:
- How many reviews the business has
- The overall rating score
- If the business responds to reviews
- How quickly the business responds to reviews
The above are just three key items, that small business owners can manage to help improve their online presence and website visitors. Need a hand? Contact us at tlcmarketingconsultants.com today.