What are we talking about?? Today we are;
-- Breaking down for beginners how to bring your business into the Digital age,
-- what these free platforms are,
-- their functions and
--which ones can best help grow your business, digitally for no cost!
This is an internet/digital based marketing strategies quick tip guide for complete beginners looking to take their business to the digital age!
If your business is struggling to find a way into the digital age or find its "space" in the social media world, you are not alone. Today many companies are hiring teams of social media content producers, content managers and content creators. Even if you feel your business doesn't need a team of people to create your internet presence; there is still IMMENSE value in these simple to use, set up and free ways you can connect your business to others using the internet!
But I have a specialty business / small grocery or convenience store / in house services then all the more reason to secure your place on the internet so people can find you! Especially on Yelp! and Google Business.
Keep on reading to see why your business will fit in, or stand out so much it will gain you clientele.
Some businesses are able to shoot to success with a viral post or social media campaign. Some businesses are actually a result of social media success, think Youtube Stars like Ryan's World etc. they have made businesses selling merch/apperal and other items from their exposure on digital platforms. Either way you look at it the internet is good for marketing your business and expanding your reach, no matter what industry your business is in.
Also here's the best news, you don't have to be a social media expert to create meaningful and impactful drive to your business over social media or even the internet.
Heres some easy ways to take your business into the digital age and increase your web marketing with little to no cost. Also both of these platforms take very little time to create and make nice appealing pages to customers. AGAIN; No matter what type of business you have you should be sure to take advantage of these free / low cost ways to expand your reach on the internet.
Check out some of these stats that show no matter what your business is it's important to have an online presence using the methods mentioned below;
-88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours.
-61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site.
-72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within five miles.
-78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase.
-“Near me” or "close by" type searches grew by more than 900% over two years.
Using the free platforms of Google Business Page and Yelp Business Page your business can get in on these above statistics and draw more customers and awareness to your business without national ad campaigns as proven by the above stats.
The 2 Places your Business Needs to be Online!
There are several "data" base / "review" platforms that you want to ensure your business is able to be found on. No matter what industry you never know who may be using one of these services to try and find your business. For our first tip,
1. Register your business with Google Business and create a page for free
What is Google Business?
From the business owner perspective you are able to add information about your business including contact information, phone number, location and hours of operation. You are also able to create a page for your business that you can upload photos and additional info too. There is also ways to create promotions, store front and sell services.
How does having a Google Business Page help me?
From a user / consumer standpoint using google business for your business can help users / your next potential clients that are;
1. searching for your businesses' services not only find your business but also
2. find your contact information,
3. confirm if your business is open / hours of operation for holidays and daily
4. Location of your business
5. Business website
all by having a google business page.
Additionally users can comment and review your business giving your the accodlates your business deserves.
*Additionally due to the unfortunate fallout from the pandemic it is good to have an updated google business page with certain information regarding your business that Google Business allows you to show. *
For businesses that are just starting their journey on marketing their business on the web: updating or creating a google business page can be an essential first step to:
-gaining tractions,
- gaining views,
- and NEW customers via your Google Business page.
GOOGLE STATS:
-Google is the MOST visited website (as of 2022)
-Google DOMINATES the search engine world (the way people search and find your business) Google has a 91.9% market share of the search engine world
(to put that in perspective the next closest competitors are Bing with 2.88% and Yahoo with 1.51%)
-86% of customer use Google Maps to Find a business
-46% of these searches are looking for a local information or business in their search
-8.5 Billion searches are conducted daily
-84% of people use google to search x3 or more times a day
Additional Perks of Google Business Page
Additional perks also include;
- free AD money through google upon sign-up
- the analytics from the free version of the Google Business Page are simple to understand for beginners
- analytics also make it easy to see if your AD money is generating the proper traffic and engagement for what you are spending.
(This cost is also referred to a Customer Acquisition Cost. )
Start your google business page by clicking the link below (new window will open)
2. Create a Yelp page for your Business
What is YELP?
With trusted local business information, photos and review content, Yelp provides a one-stop local platform for consumers to discover, connect and transact with local businesses of all sizes. YELP also facilities the ordering of goods, services, foods etc from businesses.
How does having a Yelp Page help me?
Heres some facts taken from the Yelp Website; after reading these facts it's easy to see how Yelp can help your business grow and how the site itself is diverse in businesses and allows consumers to review business and buy from businesses in real time
Having a Yelp page will help drive
-Information about your business and most of it being positive
-Reputation for your business and the work / services / goods your provide
-Opportunities for winning review awards and receiving enhanced business exposure
-Credibility for businesses offering services like construction, home maintenance or other trusted services
-Consumer Acquisitions through multiple channels of having the page itself, positive reviews and people searching for your business through the Yelp Algorithms!
-Referral Marketing campaigns for your business through the reviews of others
How? Check out the below stats from Yelp showing how consumers leave postive impacts on businesses with Yelp Pages. This positive rating can help get your business ranked higher in search engines as well as win awards within the Yelp Platform itself.
YELP STATS
-Yelp has over 244m reviews of 12/31/21
-Out of these 244m reviews 71% of them are positive recommendations about businesses / experiences from customers of businesses
-More then 60% of these ratings are 4-5 star ratings for businesses
-Yelp is made up of 61% of business offering services and the other 39% of business represent retail, restaurant, & other ; this proves a yelp page is perfect for any business
Additional Perks of Yelp
These perks are similar to google with getting free AD money, Yelp is more customizable with how you spend your AD money and also gives a good guide to how money is much is needed per day for ads to generate the activity you are desiring. The analytics break down design is easy to understand as well
Create your Yelp Page now for free!
Google Business and YELP!
Making the Most of These Platforms
Here are some simple tips to get the most out of these platforms;
-Include detailed business information and ensure this is updated to reflect accuracy
-Even if you offer many services narrow your scope but expand upon your services on your page. EX: An auto shop that does oil changes, breaks, and body repair. Classify your page in the automotive group and on your business page hi light all of these services
- if possible provide photos of what the before and after product looks like to show customers your businesses competency
-Invite previous and regular customers to review your page on google and yelp, once you have your respective pages set up, it is as easy as putting up a QR code from Google or Yelp for people to leave positive reviews, another great incentive to push positive reviews is to give a small discount or freebie to anyone who leaves a positive and authentic review of your business
-As mentioned above be sure to thank anyone who comes on your page and compliments your business, on the other hand if a bad review comes in, ask the customer writing the review to contact you privately and express the desire to resolve the issue. Being active on your reviews from customers makes them feel heard and shows other people reading the reviews that you care to reach out to whoever writes your page a review, good or bad. It shows good business ethic to do this even if it is not a glowing review.
-Keep current phone, email and website info.
-Keep current hours of operation and update holiday hours accordingly; there's nothing more annoying then a customer trying to search for a business on a holiday only to go there and find they are closed, be aware of these and make appropriate notice on your business pages for holiday and other daily closures or temporary closures.
SUMMARY
-Digital Marketing can start with two simple tools for your business; Google Business and Yelp
-These services are free and easy to set up
-These services also offer paid for ADs to help get you started on your journey of digital marketing
-These services allow you to share photos, hours of operations, contact, website info, ownership info, COVID info, store fronts and more to acquire customers; 97% of people learn more about a local business online then anywhere else
-These services offer easy to understand break downs known as analytics including pages views, to how your ad money is being spent to acquire customers / # of direct clicks to your website from the page, customer contact abilities and business promotions and other information
-These platforms allow others to review and recommend you business to others using photos and written reviews, with YELP over 71% of 244m reviews are POSITIVE. Looking at this stat basically shows your business will gain positive traction by joining the YELP community and encouraging your satisfied customers / regular customers to review on both Yelp and Google Platforms
-60% of Yelp reviews award businesses 4-5 stars
-Google dominates the search engine market with over 91% market share, users conducting over 8 million searches per day, 86% of google maps searches looking for local businesses, 46% of ALL google searches are looking for local services or business 88% of mobile searches convert to contact or purchase from the business.
-No matter what your business is;
local searches are occurring 72% of the time within a 5 mile radius
78% of location based mobile searches resulted in offline purchases
Near By / Close to me searches grew by 900% in two years
86% of consumers use google maps to find a business
97% of people learn more about a local business online then anywhere else!
Don't let your business be counted out of these high %'s of potential consumers that can now find your business by implementing Yelp and Google business.
-Enroll your business for free to engage with high % of potential consumers who will now be able to find and connect with your business
-Respond to any reviews on your page; positive or negative ; for positive reviews, thank the customer and tell them you look forward to working with / providing them a service or good again in the future. For negative reviews, DO NOT IGNORE THESE, do not engage in a fight with the negative reviewer, respond with a kind comment to privately message your business to resolve the matter in the negative review and express your willingness to hear this customer and their concerns. This shows good business ethic to anyone reading when the business actively comments on the reviews of their page, especially good or bad.
Additional Stat Sources from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/local-seo-stats
DISCLAIMER; none of these are paid sponsorships or endorsements, these are tips written from the sole perspective experience from someone who started their business from the ground up using these above strategies, this is informational advice and does not guarantee success or promote or endorse any platform mentioned in the above article outside of from experience/ or for informational purposes of this article.
***Additionally we do not earn ANYTHING from clicking our links to the resources we mentioned and advice upon. This blog does not intend to profit from anyone but to inform all for free. All links provided are direct to the web platforms themselves with no referral or relationship to this blog post.
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