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10 small steps to better search engine rankings for LOCAL businesses – Part 1

13th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Steps 1 to 5 of how to rank better in terms of being a local business (steps 6 to 10 to follow on….)

Let’s starts this two-part article with a rhetorical question –

would you like MORE customers?

(sits back, makes more tea and dunks another biscuit)

Of course you do. Anyone running their own business would like more customers because, after all, that is what makes a business. And makes it successful.

Lessons in hard work:

Running your own business is hard work
Running your website is hard work
Attracting new customers is hard work
Maintaining this attraction so customers come back, is hard work

Add in to this mix the need for your website and online presence to be constant, consistent and up to date and you can be forgiven for thinking it is simply all too much.

But you are not the only local business to be in this position. Every day seems a struggle to get everything done but, we carry on regardless because at the end of the day, we are our own boss, we make the decision and the risks are acceptable.

Keeping on top of search engine optimisation (SEO)

A bit like keep the plug hole in the sink unblocked, staying on top of SEO updates and the like, will prevent a backlog that, all of a sudden, needs a professional or a lot of YouTube-video-watching in order to rectify it. Keeping that plug hole running clear and free from blockages stops that expensive call out to a plumber.

Keeping on top of your SEO as a local business also sees you outshine your competitors online thus, we have created 10 small-ish steps to improving your search engine rankings so that local customers find your local business…

Step 1: research you keywords

HOW will people find your local business? If you are a florist in Watford then you need to say so; if you are a speciality butcher and delicatessen in Newport, South Wales, then you need to say so.

However, we need to be careful that the obvious isn’t hidden in plain sight so take a moment or two to think about how, and what language your customers will use to find you. Google search terms are becoming a little more detailed in how they interact too, hence if a place is often known by its initials such as ‘New York City’ as NYC, it is beginning to tie these two search terms together.

You would be amazed at the number of local businesses that do not list their locality or location.

Step 2: optimise your website and content

What can happen with this step is people go from the sublime to the ridiculous; in other words, from not much content, to overstuffing every page with every keyword that they think hits their business. This looks awkward to both your customer and search engines, so stop it (if you are doing it) and don’t do it (if you are thinking of doing it).

High quality content all over you website is a the way forward, along with other soft technical such as keywords in meta titles etc. along with the other background stuff.

Some experts suggest that a ‘frequently asked question’ page is also a good for both customers and search engines too thus, if it is time to upgrade or revamp your content, then why not consider and FAQ page?

Step 3: Google Local

You will no doubt have come across these rather handy location maps when you have been searching for a business, supplier, etc. and getting your business on Google Local is an external activity to your website, but will obviously link to it, but is a great way of people being able to find your local business.

Think how you use Google… only the other week we were in a place we didn’t know, fancied a nice pub lunch, typed it in to Google and hey presto!, we found a delightful pub by the canal. Ignoring the sub-zero temperatures and the gathering rain clouds, we had at least 10 minutes of sunshine by the water’s edge and quite a nice lunch… all helped by the fact the local pub was on Google Local, and so in the corner of the tablet screen, the map bobbed up and away we went. It wasn’t far off the beaten track but you would not have known it was there otherwise.

Step 4: Local business listing websites

There are many different types, and trying to make sure you are on them all can be a bit like herding cats BUT, that said, if you do manage to list your business or update some of the information that already exists, it sends ‘good signals’ to both your prospective customers and the various search engines.

We typed in some key search terms and came up with these…

Really Moving – type in your local area, and local removal firms pop up… if you are a removal firm, are you on here?

Trip Advisor – in many ways, Trip Advisor is infamous for negative reviews that some businesses say are uncalled for, unnecessary and downright lies but, many customers are still using this website. Take a moment to surf around and you will see that the vast majority of customers are leaving helpful reviews (not always positive!).

There are many more review, business listing and location type websites, some better than others but take some time to have a look what is local to you and, more importantly, what people are using… but don’t forget to keep an eye on them, and respond appropriately to both negative and positive reviews.

Step 5: Consistency

One issue (among others…) that seems to crop up for local businesses online seems to be a lack of consistency when it comes to business listings etc. When people talk about brand, this is the kind of thing they mean.

You have a business name, a logo and a tag line – e.g. Locally – strategic thinking, creative web design – boom! Job done… keep using it.

Don’t decide to change it when you list it on Yell.com (Locally – really good web design and stuff), or on a local business directory (Locally – really good at all things website and stuff).

All these ‘descriptions’ need to be the same, over and over again… this might be ‘boring’. On that Friday afternoon when you were “doing the admin”, it might have seemed fun to add or embellish your business description… but it does impact on how all the search engines look at you.

These changes and differences in descriptions and tag lines could be damaging on your online search results.

Before you head on over to part 2, why not take some time to go through these 5 steps with you local, online business?

How marketing to the modern man is changing…

19th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Admit it, when you think of marketing and customers, you automatically think of women. And to a certain extent, we can forgive you for that. In most cases, women tend to make the purchasing decision, especially when linked to certain kinds of products and services.

However, marketing to the modern man means that you are taking a step into the unknown as knowing the purchasing behaviour men, and understanding why and what they are shopping for is important. Add into this mix the power of social media and you will find that there are some myths developing.

For example, do you assume that men don’t search for bargains? It seems that this assumption is wrong. Men are looking for a good price for a quality product but approach purchasing in a different way to women.

Trawling the statistics

We have taken a look at some data and statistics so that you have a better idea of what it is men are looking for, when it comes to shopping and making purchasing decisions that is…

Firstly, we found that men aged between 25 and 40 years of age (usually fathers too, according to the data) are influenced by the results of major search engines, reliable information from a Microsoft survey. This survey goes on to suggest that a mix of both search engine optimised material, along with targeted pay-per-click adverts are the most effective ways of getting your business notices by men (if they are, in fact, your target consumer).

Secondly, men use the power of social media networks when they are researching products, a statistic that came out of a sizable survey of 1,000 plus social media users in a New York City based survey. From this survey, experts concluded that like women, men like the idea of a product having a story to it; rather than just ‘advertising’ your product, tell your makes consumers why buying from your business is better than buying from your competitors – BUT, keep it positive and focussed on your business, rather than slating the opposition (no one likes the sore loser/victim stance!).

Get the data – get the right eye balls looking at your products and services

Like all marketing, you really do need to know who will be making the purchasing decision when it comes to your kind of product or service. If you are in a market that depends on male consumers, then you will need to bear a whole help of statistics and data in mind…

50% of men, aged 25 to 40 are influenced by both digital adverts and banners – bear this in mind when you look at both your online and offline marketing activities
68% of male smartphone users are more likely to make a purchase from mobile ads – 10% more than female smartphone users
44% of men, aged between 25 and 40, use social media and are influenced by it when it comes to making purchasing decision
44% of men will tell friends of a positive experience of buying online
90% of women will consult with their male ‘other half’ in the event of making what are known as ‘big ticket’ items – again, an interesting statistic depending on what you sell
54% of men will use social media networks when researching products or services they want to buy
58% of men will consult with 4 or more sources of information before they purchase an item
41% of ‘affluent’ males will make the majority of their purchases through sites such as Amazon
43% of men found shopping online a relaxing and enjoyable experience

Marketing to the modern man – the 3 factors to bear in mind

Statistics and data are all well and good but, applying this information in reality can be a little more daunting a prospect. Marketing to male consumers has always been slightly off-centre and more than a little odd; if ever there was a ‘group’ within the wider consumer market that was generalised within the marketing world, it has been men. But, times are changing…

Ditch the clichés

Seeing every man over the age of 25 as a slightly off-beat, sock –and-sandals dad is not going to do you any favours. Finally, this rather awkward appearance of men as consumers is starting to fade and, experts believe this is in part, thanks to the ability of men to now take paternity leave and the like, being more central to family life and parenting that ever before. Being a proactive parent, and deciding to leave the office early to read the bed time story is now more acceptable.

Adverts have, for a long time, shown men to be one-dimensional and less well-intentioned; also, many of the adverts show men in very masculine roles and activities. Just look at the male birthday cards, limited to golf and football from some manufacturers…

Reach out to male consumers, directly

In the past, many adverts and marketing ploys for products aimed at men as the final consumer, have attempted to harness the persuasive power of the female in the home first. In other words, if the wife or girlfriend agreed with the purchase, then the male was more likely to purchase the item.

However, it seems that this is no longer the case (although some experts suggest that this may not have been the case in the first place!). If your product or service is aimed at men, then target the male consumer; don’t bother trying to get the women in the house to make the decision… be bold and confident in your language too!

Consider their unique needs

Look to the big brands for inspiration as to how they target men at certain times in their lives; the best companies and products to take note of are men’s toiletries. Although many of these products are made by the same company, the marketing and advertising of their products differ depending on the age group and life-stage their male consumers are deemed to be at… and the language and marketing activities reflect this accordingly.

And the final lesson in all this…?

Just like any marketing and advertising you need to know your audience or your adverts, as well as all your hard work, will be simply wasted. How do you market to the ‘modern man’?

Which social media platforms fit your business?

28th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Part 1 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 2, we then suggest looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

We have talked about social media and its impact on your online business many times before. But, if you are still resisting Facebook and/or Twitter, then experts suggest you are resisting an evolution of social media.

Many customers use either of these social media platforms as a reference point for many companies and, with a new regime for businesses advertising on Facebook, these points could become more driven and focused than ever before.

And companies, realising this, are tidying up their act but, there has been an additional step in this process; many businesses here in the UK, as well as across the globe are using these platforms as a way of not just advertising their business to consumers, but hiring new employees too.

But Facebook and Twitter are not the only two social media platforms.

But, we think there is a problem looming on the horizon and it follows a pattern we have seen before, in other aspects of business – the state of trying to do too much, and not doing anything properly.

Social media could be the Achilles heel in your business; joining all these social media sites is one thing, keeping up with comments, likes, tweets, posts, pins etc. could not only send you into a deep space state of frazzleness, but also earn you black marks from the very people you are trying to impress – your customers.

Not responding to a social media comments, is the equivalent of ignoring the phone when it rings, or not bothering to post out the goods your customers have ordered.

Making the most of the right social media platforms your business

Rather than taking a scatter gun approach and signing up to everything, take some time to consider what it is you want your social media presence to do for your business, and then take some time to review which of the many sites suits your business.

To help you out, we have looked at social media sites and how they fit with sectors of business, making suggestions as to which social media vehicle could be best fit, but the final decision is YOURS!

Retail

Regardless of what you are selling, from scarves to jewellery, designer footwear, furniture, cushions or door stops, the photo is your friend.

Product photos are essential; the wordy description and catchy captions are great but if your consumer cannot see the type of shape or colour it actually is, then you have lost a sale.

Likewise, one of the many photographs you use per product can also be about suggesting to the consumer how your product can be used or what it’ll look when teamed with something else…

Instagram could be the way forward for you. Incredibly popular with retailers large and small, you will find that in terms of fighting for recognition, the smaller retailer will not face such an uphill battle against the ‘giants’.

Commentators have pointed out that Instagram users are a far more relaxed and tolerant lot; your photos do not have been a professional shoot each and every time, and so a shot taken on a mobile phone camera is just as acceptable. In fact, a little wonkiness and fuzziness can work in your favour…

Instagram have plans for 2015 too, that could benefit the smaller business; the site could become a lot more interactive, with all kinds of tools opening up allowing customers to tap on photos and lead themselves straight to you, as well as using video.

Manufacturing

Not so much a public face business, many companies and business to manufacture or create things tend to stay away from social media platforms as such, but there is still a need for you to making contacts and networking out there.

And we feel that networking is the key, which is why business-to-business social media platforms are the ones you should be looking at. We suggest LinkedIn may be the one where you can create the most contacts, depending on what you want to do.

However, don’t ignore your consumers entirely, even if there is another layer of business between you are them. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy and informed when it comes to where their products come from and so, as you make your next product why not consider filming the process and starting your own YouTube channel?

Think no one will be interested? The popular TV show, How It’s Made is very popular, exploding common myths about how some things are created.

Entertainment

We like to think of our clients as a diverse bunch and so we struggled slightly with this heading, but we needed to include the awesome power of video, and real time video ‘snippets’.

Regardless of where you stand on pirate music sites, there is a silent but steady revolution within the media and entertainment sector; rather than fighting the fact that people have not only increasing access to media, but also to sharing it, we suggest you start to embrace it.

We are no experts of Snapchat but, it seems that every teenager and young person across the UK is ‘snapchatting’, as opposed to texting. And, some companies (although not too many yet) have taken up this mantel and have started to update fans and customers using this platform.

But, before you think this is just for those in the entertainment business, there has been successful examples of sports clubs and the like creating a following using Snapchat as well as other companies using small trailers as a means of advertising.

Regulated industries

However, there are some clients who are far more restricted in how they interact with customers and clients; companies and businesses within healthcare, financial sectors and the like are all industries that are regulated or governed by various rules or codes of conduct.

For those companies seeing to use social media, you will need to be aware of any restrictions that prevent you from using them to their full capacity but there are ways and means. Clearly, anonymising any information and not sharing photos without specific prior permission is a must but there are forums out there; we came across Connected Living, a website and social media platform that connects the ‘aging population’ with one another and other forums too, with the overall objective being to prevent isolation.

Technology

For those customers within the technology field, there is no fixed or one-platform-is-better-than-the-other argument, simply because technological businesses tend to lead the field by starting the whole social media platform off to a flying start…

And so, the bitesize lessons from part 1 of social media and business are thus:

Many people consider Facebook and Twitter as a ‘point of reference’ for many people and that joining these networks is essential; you can differ from this opinion
There are many other social platforms out there, some well-known some not-so-well-known
Some platforms are geared specifically towards certain kinds of businesses or industries, with specific objectives as to why they exist
Joining everything can lead to disaster, so do your research and choose the right platform for your business (and where your customers are at)

Facebook is changing: an UPDATE

25th November 2014 by Alan Leave a Comment

Only the other day, we were checking over our Facebook news feed and we came across something we thought would be useful to us. We clicked on the link but we were not taken to the website or the story we thought it was. In all honesty, the page we landed on was a little ‘risqué’, not to our taste at all. Neither was it about content marketing, as we thought it was.

After we had navigated away from it, we were left feeling rather annoyed and foolish; we had been lured by a false promise. We had been hoodwinked, fooled into clicking on a link that took us to a false website full of spammy rubbish and adverts.

Within a few days, a pop up window from Facebook asked us if we would be willing to take a short survey about what was useful and relevant to us – and we filled it, getting our back on all the rubbish links and statuses that seem to be littering our news feed.

But it seems that Facebook has been really listening, announcing in late August 2014, some sweeping changes to how its ranking system will work from now on. This effectively means that spammy links and rubbish statuses that clutter up the news feed should start to disappear. But, as an online local business, if you use Facebook as one of your social media platforms, you need to take note too as these changes will start to take effect very soon (if not already!).

From the horse’s mouth

So what is Facebook saying? In a nutshell, the team at FB want to ensure that the ‘right content is delivered to the right people’. Feedback from users has been that spam statuses etc. tend to swamp their news feed, meaning that the stuff they want to see from friends and family, as well as a few brands, are lost within their timeline. The improvements coming in these next few weeks are three-fold…

like-baiting

This is where a post explicitly asks you to either like it, share it or comment on it. By doing this, Facebook users effectively give the post credence and this mean that is ‘looks’ and ‘feel’ popular hence it gets bumped up the news feed.

But, when Facebook asked users what they thought they found that these like-baiting stories were ‘15% less relevant’ that other stories which were far more useful to the user, but further down the news feed. Users, it seems, told Facebook that they found these like-baiting stories made using the platform less pleasurable.

Social media is supposed to be fun, enjoyable and informative hence when a platform is told that stuff on it prevents this enjoyment, then they must do something about it! And so the improvements are that these stories will be detected and should no longer take precedence over statuses from family and friends.

However, do not lament the passing of such like-baiting for long as the changes will not affect companies who genuinely use Facebook as a platform to connect and converse with fans and customers, just don’t partake in those nuisance posts that ask you to like and share the photos of the puppy with sad eyes…

like- baiting screen shots or graphics

This brings us nicely on to other nuisance like-baiting statuses, which use graphics to try and get us to converse. You know the ones – like if you ‘vote’ for the pony, share if you ‘vote’ for the parrot and ignore to vote for the crisp packet. They are rarely relevant to the company or the business to which it is linked and is another way of tricking likes, shares and comments (even if they are not favourable!) from users.

Users can ‘hide’ this content, something that Facebook has noticed people are doing more and more. They want to filter out these like-baiting screenshots so that relevant stories are on your news feed, not this annoying rubbish that seems to have gathered pace in recent months.

Spammy links

And this is how we started this blog post, with our story of the recent click we made on a link we thought would be of use and relevance to us. It seems that many users are feeding back their annoyance to Facebook, with the platform pledging that by monitoring genuine shares and links between ‘friends’, that they can detect these rubbish links and effectively filter them from your news feed; great news for those of us who find such things incredibly annoying, especially if they masquerade as something else.

Will it affect you?

According to Facebook, if you are a genuine user, inviting discussion and opinion on matters and issues that are relevant to your page and business, then no, there will be no negative impact. In fact, they suggest that your news feed and reach should increase as these statuses that are created with intentional spam to ‘catch’ users will effectively start to disappear creating more ‘room’ on the news feed.

Will it impact content marketing?

Yes, and in a good way – or so it is predicted.

Many search engine optimising experts suggest that this means companies and brands will have to take another look at their content marketing plan, especially in relation to Facebook; the days of brands being able to gather ‘vanity metrics’ – likes and shares that mean nothing to their business, except tap push them up the rankings – are gone . It is also a positive change in that it will reward those brands that do post original content that is useful, informative and well-written.

For example, on a global scale, American Express produce a whole series of articles for small business, posting these on a regular, daily basis.

And there are brands, like Locally, who keep in touch with their customers and potential new clients with informative posts, as well as statuses, stories, tweets etc. that are useful, rather than just any old rubbish to draw people in.

In other words, your statuses – the likes, shares and comments you invite – must lead potential customers to an owned website (yours!), not some random, ad-filled site that just wants to sell, sell, sell nonsensical items to people.