Everything Small Businesses Should Know About Cryptocurrency

Everything Small Businesses Should Know About Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency has become a medium of exchange that is actively traded 24/7. Crypto is a digital or virtual currency that enables online payments without the interference of third-party processors. Cryptocurrency has a decentralised structure which allows it to exist without regulation or backing by any government or central authorities. This has become attractive to consumers as they no longer want to depend on an organisation to safeguard their money, and with crypto, the middleman in a transaction is removed.

With its prevalence in mainstream conversation, crypto has become widely accepted as a form of payment. Small businesses have started accepting cryptocurrency for multiple reasons, such as lower transaction fees, increased sales, merchant protection, and convenience for customers. While there are numerous benefits, it does however come with some risks.

The Benefits of Accepting Cryptocurrency

There are several perks for a business accepting cryptocurrency, which is why crypto has experienced such a large-scale adoption.

  1. Lower Transaction Fees 

Without a central intermediary, there are no credit card processing fees for small business owners. These costs can add up when you are charged a fee for each swipe of a card plus a percentage of the transaction total. How many times have you entered a small store to find that they have credit card purchase minimums on their POS system? Using crypto as a payment method can significantly reduce these small costs, which every small business is sensitive to.  

  1. Merchant Protection

Similar to cash transactions, as crypto is decentralised, there is no third-party intervention to reverse charges. The merchant is protected from all types of payment fraud and fraudulent chargebacks. Cryptocurrency exchanges are final. 

  1. Increase Sales 

Crypto can improve the bottom line of your business by opening you up to a whole new market. An increase in sales occurs when small businesses open their doors and expand to international buyers who previously could not access their products or services. As a bonus, not only does it boost your bottom line, but it also positively impacts your reputation.

  1. Customer Convenience 

Digital wallets are becoming increasingly popular, and there is no sign of it going backwards. By offering cryptocurrency as a payment option to your customers, you are adding another method of payment that is widely preferred. Your customer’s personal information gains an extra layer of protection which sequently increases their trust and confidence in your business. Where a customer may have turned away, having crypto as an option got them to stay. 

The Risks of Cryptocurrency

So what is the downfall of this medium of exchange?

  1. Technical Barriers 

If you are unfamiliar with digital currency exchange, setting up cryptocurrency acceptance will be a learning curve. To accept crypto payments from customers, you will have to set up a digital wallet on a digital currency exchange. While a small business owner will need to learn the technology, this is something that you should familiarise yourself with as digital currencies are becoming more prevalent.

  1. Can Be Volatile

Cryptocurrencies’ volatile nature lies in the fact that their value can rise and drop without forewarning. A way to protect yourself against this volatility is to have an “arrangement for translating your cryptocurrency back into your currency of record”, as advised by Ariel Wolanow, managing director of consulting firm Finserv Experts. Merchant services companies can be engaged to help small businesses immediately exchange digital currency for cash value. This way, crypto payments translate to the value of the current currency within the same instant, removing any gamble.

  1. Security Issues

While credit card numbers cannot be stolen, digital wallets can be targeted by cybercriminals if protective measures are not put in place. The risk is that crypto is not backed or insured the way other currencies are. This is why companies are actively working on ways to protect themselves from cryptocurrency security issues. Some are exploring insurance policies to back crypto, while others are implementing double verification methods to protect wallet security.

  1. Regulatory Uncertainty

As crypto has made its way into mainstream society, lawmakers are looking at drafting new regulations. With upcoming changes, there will be an evolution in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, so business owners must be ready to adapt to the changes. The government is particularly looking at how businesses will report gains and pay taxes on crypto transactions.

With the trajectory of the technology, customers are opting for cryptocurrency as their preferred payment option. Small business owners should keep in mind that with these potential risks, they may experience some obstacles, which is why it’s important to learn about the technology and set it up correctly for your business. One thing is for sure, cryptocurrency is here to stay.

How To Grow Your Business In The Digital Age?

How To Grow Your Business In The Digital Age?

If you’re looking to grow your business in the digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial. 

Expertise: Digital marketing agencies have a team of professionals with expertise in various areas of digital marketing. They have experience in creating effective social media strategies, With so many social media platforms available, it can be overwhelming to manage all of them effectively. That’s where a digital marketing agency can help. In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of having a digital marketing agency manage your social media and online presence. Developing engaging content, and analyzing data to improve results. By working with a digital marketing agency, you can tap into this expertise and take your online presence to the next level.

Time-Saving: Managing social media accounts and online presence can be time-consuming. By outsourcing this task to a digital marketing agency, you can focus on other aspects of your business while the agency takes care of your online presence. This frees up valuable time and resources that can be invested in other areas of your business.

Cost-Effective: While it may seem counterintuitive, working with a digital marketing agency can be more cost-effective than hiring an in-house team. Digital marketing agencies have access to the latest tools and technologies, which can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. Additionally, the agency’s team of experts can create and execute effective strategies that can help grow your business faster and more effectively than an in-house team.

Consistency: Consistency is key when it comes to building a strong online presence. Digital marketing agencies can help ensure that your social media accounts are regularly updated with engaging content that resonates with your target audience. By maintaining a consistent online presence, you can build brand awareness and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Results-Driven: Digital marketing agencies are results-driven and focused on achieving measurable outcomes. By analyzing data and metrics, they can identify areas for improvement and optimize their strategies to deliver better results. This data-driven approach can help you achieve your business goals and drive growth in a sustainable manner.

Working with a digital marketing agency can have significant benefits for your business. From expertise and time-saving to cost-effectiveness and results-driven strategies, a digital marketing agency can help you build a strong online presence and grow your business in the digital age. If you’re looking to take your online presence to the next level, consider partnering with a digital marketing agency today.

Boost Your Small Business’s SEO with ChatGPT

Boost Your Small Business’s SEO with ChatGPT

  • In today’s digital world, search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for any business looking to grow its online presence. However, optimizing your website and content for search engines can be tedious and time-consuming work, especially when you’re running a small business with limited resources.

That’s where AI-driven tools like ChatGPT come in handy. Using machine learning algorithms, ChatGPT helps small businesses create effective content that ranks higher on search engines while saving time and effort.

Here are some ways which utilizing ChatGPT can help you outsmart your competition and grow your online visibility:

      1. Creating Keyword-Rich Content Effortlessly
One of the main reasons why AI-powered solutions such as ChatGPT are popular among marketers is their ability to generate keyword-rich content effectively. With this tool’s capabilities, it becomes easier to target specific keywords relevant to your niche by developing unique pieces of writing based on those phrases.

For instance, let’s say you own a budding e-commerce store selling grooming products for men. To optimize your page ranking under “Men’s Grooming Products,” you’d preferably want targeted long-tail keywords weaved into quality blogs or product pages optimised toward these terms so they rank above others within similar category/keyword searches across major search engines like Google.

ChatGPT eliminates guesswork from creating optimized copywriting thanks to leading-edge programming techniques simulated over natural language processing modeling predictive behavior patterns towards word association recognition matching user needs.

      2. Save Time & Improve Efficiency
Small business owners understand more than anyone else just how valuable spare minutes in the day can be when running busy schedules trying multitasking different managerial strategies side-by-side one another. Take advantage of automation where possible! 

With software taking care of repetitive research-based procedures you can save yourself the time to focus on other things. Utilising a tool-like ChatGPT helps marketers stay on top of their content creation game with smarter, more optimised strategies at a quicker pace!

      3. Better Quality Writing
Generating quality content that meets SEO standards is not only about including as many keywords throughout the post as possible but also requires delivering a writing style uniquely crafted for your audience; which takes into account variables like tonality, readability, research-based narrative structures summarising search intent increases within your pages.

ChatGPT’s advanced AI models measure these stylistic aspects and act in coherence with prevalent historical data gathered via resources online creating effective high-quality blog articles yielding maximum ROI.

      4. Cost-Effective Solution
One doesn’t necessarily have to break bank by optimising their organic growth channels by hiring literary experts or recruiting interns dealing with SEO-focused messaging training when you can use ChatGPT! Save significant costs by delegating repetitively tedious workloads by using artificial intelligence technology to scale up your business processes.

Keeping up-to-date with ever-changing algorithms and implementing them thoroughly can be demanding even after extensive experiences working as a digital expert. ChatGPT offers an agile all-encompassing solution for small businesses looking to grow their lead generation prospects.

How to Use Instagram for Business and Marketing

How to Use Instagram for Business and Marketing

Could I find your business on Instagram? 50% of Instagram users say that they use the media platform to discover new brands, and 44% of them use the platform to shop every week. For this reason, every business owner should be on the platform to help grow their business and generate more sales.

Here’s how to use Instagram to take your business to the next level.

      1. Use a Business Account

90% of people on Instagram are following a business, so these are people who will turn into a customer for someone! Switching to a business account has many benefits, such as scheduling posts, insight access, shop features, and control over your product promotions. Once you have created an Instagram account, the second step is to convert it into a business account. You can turn any existing Instagram accounts into business accounts without losing any content.

      2. Penetrate your Target Audience

With insight into your audience demographics, you can gauge who views your page and strategies accordingly. For example, your insights may show you that your viewers are made up of 25-34-year-old males. By identifying your audience, you can better position yourself to target your content to them, as audience research is key to curating your content.

      3. Curate your Content

For your Instagram marketing to be successful, your content needs to be carefully curated so it can achieve the results you are longing for. This means rather than random posts, you schedule your posts and create a theme, achieving a specific “look” for your business. This helps build a brand that is recognisable and attractive to those landing on your page for the first time.

While the content needs to be aesthetically pleasing and follow a specific theme, it must also provide valuable information. This includes sharing insider expertise about your industry, promotional content, and even joining in on a popular trend to maximise your relevance and exposure.

      4. Create Scheduled Posts

An optimised marketing strategy has the upcoming posts for the week figured out ahead of time and scheduled to go live. It’s important to figure out the best possible time for your content to be posted to maximise the eyeballs on your content- according to your target audience. The ideal time to post for your audience can be determined, thanks to insight access!

      5. Track your ROI

Anywhere your time and money go, you want to be able to track how well it’s working for you. With Instagram marketing, it’s easy to track how well your strategy is going, as several analytical tools are available. For example, you can see which posts are performing well and make more like them. The key to this is regularly tracking to see how well your engagement is and what is the increase in the number of views from your followers and beyond your existing follower base is.

If you want to grow your business, start your marketing campaign on a platform with more than 1 billion users. Implement your curated, actionable Instagram strategy and build out a brand that will help you capture more customers.

AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY – MARKETING IN THE MULTIVERSE

AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY - MARKETING IN THE MULTIVERSE

With the advancements in technology, consumers are also advancing. This means that they are no longer so easily captured by traditional marketing. Digital marketing has started to welcome the next technological era- Augmented and Virtual Reality. So what place do AR and VR have in marketing?

      Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is the creation of a technological world created over the real world. Computer-generated content like sounds, graphics and texts will appear as an overlay in front of you. You can bring this dimension into your world by holding your phone while the app runs. For example, IKEA created an app called “IKEA Place”, which allows you to choose your new furniture based on how it looks in your living space. Can’t decide what colour sofa suits your beige walls? Augmented reality can help. See how IKEA Place works below.

      Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is when you enter into the virtual world. Your sight and your auditory perception are replaced with a computer-generated environment. You could be transported to planet mars and engaging with aliens or at a grocery store conversing with the cashier. This is done by submerging you in 360-degree video and three dimensions, so you are completely enveloped in another universe. In this reality, you can navigate and handle objects using your hands! Oreo created a virtual experience for consumers to see how their new product, “Filled Cupcake”, was made. Watch the fun campaign below.

      The Digital Marketing Upgrade

 The economic impact of this upgrade is estimated to be $1.5 trillion by 2030. If a potential customer has your product or service right there in front of them, imagine how much quicker the buying process will be. Customers can interact with the product and immerse themselves in the service, receiving a personal experience.

      1.  Personalised Ad Experience

 Human beings live for experiences. What better way to sell your product or service than involving the customer in a unique personalised interactive experiences? Like the Oreo ad you watched earlier, the customer is taken through the journey of developing the new flavour. After that experience, who wouldn’t run to the closest convenience store? They put the customer in the middle of the magic and gave them a personal experience of the ins and outs. AR and VR can provide this personalised experience to every customer, immersing them in whatever your business offers.

      2.  Elevated Shopping Experience

 Continuing to provide customers with interactive experiences, AR and VR have created a landscape where you can provide your customers with an elevated shopping experience while providing an augmented experiences. Social Media platforms are already running with this idea and making some serious investments. “IKEA Place” is only one of its kind, multinational retailer Sephora has also incorporated AR to take their customers’ shopping experience to the next level. The app uses facial recognition software to detect your features and match you with the products best suited for you. So you can immediately select and purchase them online.

      3.  Virtual Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing refers to the personalised test run or sampling you can provide your customer. You are allowing them a personalised interactive experience to get familiar with your brand using hands immersive advertising. Much like taking a car for a test drive, now the test drive can be done from the comfort of your couch. VR can make this possible. A virtual experience unlike anything the consumer world has ever seen or, more so, felt before this technological development.

      4.  Empowered Pre-decision-Making

 AR and VR have made an impact on the natural world already as it influences where consumer sentiment is placed. A consumer’s decision-making process can be impacted by the data-driven strategies implemented by AR and VR. The key is creating AR or VR experiences with the perfect balance of EQ and IQ to capture audiences. For example, shoe company TOMS created a VR experience that took the customer through their charity campaign- employees were travelling worldwide to donate shoes to children in need.

The landscape of advertising and marketing has been changing slowly for a long time now, and it is clear that AR and VR will soon be all around us. It’s time to adapt or get left behind.

REACH YOUR AUDIENCE WITH GOOGLE AD CAMPAIGNS

REACH YOUR AUDIENCE WITH GOOGLE AD CAMPAIGNS

If you’re looking for ways to reach your target audience, a great place to start would be on the platform that reaches 2.9 billion people monthly with 5 billion daily interactions. This platform is called Google, and they’ve created Google Ads. A Google Ad cannot go unseen, and Google has made sure of this since they are the ones who developed it.

This advertising platform displays your ad to potential customers who have an interest in the product or service that you offer. Getting a Google Ad involves bidding on search terms or keywords, and the highest bidder is awarded the spot on the top of the search results. Everyone who has ever used Google can recall seeing the stand-out top search results that appear with a denotation of “Ad”. However, Google Ads also appear displayed on non-search websites, mobile apps and videos. Where your advertisement will be displayed depends on the type of ad campaign you choose to run. There are five different ad campaigns available with Google Ads; Search, Display, Video, App and Shopping. So which one best suits you?

      1. Search Ads

Search Ads are the results that appear at the top of Google’s results pages. They display your advertisement with text, a congruent title, and a link for users to click which will take them directly to your page. So, if a user searches for a dentist, with search ads your ad will be displayed at the top of the results distinct from all the other results. An advantage of search ad campaigns is that your advertisement is displayed the same way as all other information on Google, so users know they have to click to receive the results.

      2. Responsive Search Ads

Responsive ads, think of it as having multiple chances to collaborate with Google to create the most effective ad. This type of search ad allows you to enter various versions of headlines and ad copy so that Google can choose the ones that perform best to show to users. Traditional ads, in comparison, only allow you to have one static version of your ad, so the same headline and description appears each time. Responsive ads- true to their name, solicit a response from your target audience as it’s a dynamic ad that auto-tests your versions until it arrives at the best choice for an ad. Arriving at the best-performing ad means that this is the ad that will receive the most clicks from users.

      3. Display Ads

Display ads show up on something called the “Google Display Network”. They are visually engaging ads that reach a plethora of people who browse millions of websites. Display ads benefit both the advertiser and the website owner where the ad is being displayed. The website owner is paid for every click or impression on the ad, and the advertiser receives eyeballs from their target audience. Display ads are made visually engaging so that the website visitor cannot help but notice and pay attention to what’s being offered.

      4. Video Ads

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a million – according to the owner of Majestic Heli Ski. Youtube Ads allow you to reach customers who are watching videos relevant to the product or service you are offering. Google crunches this data to send your message to the right person, at the right moment. A few seconds of your ad is displayed during the video, and you’ve had enough time to grab a potential customer’s undisrupted attention!

Google Ads Logo

      5. App Ads

If you want your app installed or a specific action taken with it- Google App Campaigns promote your ad on Google Search Network, Youtube, Google Play etc. Your mobile application appears in front of your target audience once you provide Google with the information about your app, your audience, and you place a bid. Google matches your app’s search terms or categories to the searches done by users. This way you get your app in front of your target audience!

      6. Shopping Ads

Lastly, shopping ads have a separate section on Google’s search engine. They’re displayed on SERPS and come with product imagery and a detailed product description, including price. Your shopping ad looks like it’s a part of a catalogue section on Google as specific products are prompted rather than your whole brand. For example, if a user is looking for a “pink umbrella”, the pink umbrella you offer will pop up, even though those umbrellas are available in various colours. Any keywords the user searches for will match up with its relevant shopping ad.

Now that you know about the five campaign types on Google Ads it’s time to select which one is best for you! Whatever you choose, anything displayed on the world’s number one search engine will help you reach your desired audience. Contact us today to get your Google Ad campaign up and running!

Common Lead Generation Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Common Lead Generation Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

As a business owner, you want more leads, but sadly, they don’t come easily. Door knocking is a thing of the past. Instead, consumers can buy whatever they can think of without getting up from the couch. With so many options at the customer’s fingertips, this makes being a seller difficult. Competition is everywhere and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Because customers know how many options exist, they’ve become more demanding and harder to satisfy. But with leads keeping our business alive, there is no choice but to continue pushing forward to generate more leads. However, for the best chance to generate more sales, you must avoid making common lead-generating mistakes that hinder your success. 

Keep reading to discover what mistakes you might be making in lead generation and how to avoid them! 

     1. Selecting the Wrong Audience

If you are advertising to an audience who is most likely uninterested in your product or service, like trying to sell a product with meat to a vegan or a bicycle to a toddler. Neither scenario are likely to boost your sales. 

To set yourself up for success in generating leads, you need to know who your target audience is and focus on advertising to them. You can categorize your customers or contacts profiles for clarity and efficiency. If you offer more than one product or service, figure out your audience for each option. This way, your return on investment can be high as you are marketing to your audience directly. You’ll generate more leads by targeting your communication to your specific audience, and you’ll notice their interest in your product or service immediately. 

     2. Failing to Measure ROI 

To know how wisely you are investing your money, a key measurement you should be familiar with is Return on Investment (ROI). When you analyse your ROI, you want to see that the money you have invested into your business translates into enquiries and sales. 

It is quite easy to measure your ROI as there are various ways you can measure it. One of the most common ways is by looking at the revenue generated by a campaign. A high percentage of revenue in comparison to costs indicates a good ROI. Another way is by looking at the number of page visits your website receives. As mentioned, you need to identify your audience and advertise to them. If your ROI is low, this is an indication that you haven’t selected the right target audience.

 

     3. Weak or Missing Call-To-Action 

A Call-To-Action (CTA) is a key component in any advertising strategy and marketing message. If your customer is not directed to a CTA, they will not know what to do next, and you will most probably lose their attention. This is why you need to tell the customer what to do and avoid them having to ask you instead. The worst-case scenario in this situation is that your customer moves on and starts looking at competitors. 

It would be best if you had a strong CTA to attract customers and generate a stream of leads. Without it, your potential customer will not know what to do, so make sure there’s a button or a link available that invites the reader to “click here for more information”. 

     4. Not Following Up 

How many times have you stood in a store waiting for assistance, and when someone didn’t show up after a few minutes, you abandoned your pursuit and left? The same can happen if you fail to follow up with your customers. Failing to react to an inquiry from a new lead means they will stop waiting for you and move on and never to return. 

You need to create a system to track all of your leads and have a system where you can engage with them. You can create an automated process to make it easier for you to keep track of your leads. Responding as soon as possible is key and setting a reminder system is beneficial to ensure you follow up with your leads regularly.

     5. Uninspiring Landing Page

When a potential customer responds to a message you have sent or to content on your page, they will be directed to another page. This is called the landing page; if this page is uninspiring and boring, they will be less encouraged to discover more about your business and what you offer. Landing pages must be thought out to highlight your product or service. If you have more than one product or service, then you need separate landing pages for each, especially if they are different. All your campaigns should also have their own landing pages so your potential customers can be inspired to stay and you can secure a sale. 

These common lead generations can be easily fixed to maximise your marketing efforts as long as you don’t ignore them. Once you fix these pitfalls, you will notice that the impact on generating more leads will be significant.

The 7 SEO Benefits of Responsive Web Design

The 7 SEO Benefits of Responsive Web Design

To create the best user experience, you need a responsive website, and this is achieved through a responsive web design (RWD). RWD involves creating a web page that is compatible across a variety of devices and screen sizes. Having a RWD prioritises the user, creating an effortless experience for them to interact with your website. Simultaneously, this indicates to Google that your website is optimal for search on any device. So, to set your website up for success, you need to implement an RWD strategy.

Keep reading to find out all the SEO benefits a responsive web design has to offer!

  1. The Customer Experience 

Google’s main concern is keeping its users happy. They do this by pulling up content they believe the user will find most interesting. Google will bring your website up to its users once it feels that you have reached the standard of providing a user-focused experience. If Google deems that your content is what users want to see, you’ll see this reflected in your search ranking results. Responsive web design plays a critical part in creating a great user experience. This is how you can increase the chances of turning users into paying customers!

  1. Mobile-First 

Globally, nearly half of web traffic is mobile traffic. So a responsive website benefits your SEO strategy and makes your site user-friendly. We know that Google takes the “mobile-first” approach, prioritising users who are accessing Google on their mobile phones. This is why it’s so important that your website is designed to be accessible and easy to navigate, even on a small screen. Again, the Google algorithm prioritises mobile user-friendly websites so they can provide people using their search engine with a great experience. So Google favours websites and ranks them higher if they fit the responsive web design standard.

  1. Fast Page Speed

One of the most important factors which impact your SEO is your page speed. Depending on how quickly your page loads, your customers decide whether they click off your website. A responsive web design ensures that your page speed is fast and, in turn, your rankings in Google searches are high. You need to ensure your website is optimised to load as quickly as possible on mobile and desktop devices. This can make or break the user’s experience. Having an RWD will keep traffic on your page and turn it into potential sales.

  1. Time On Page 

When the user spends a long time on your page, this sends a message to Google that your content matches what the user was searching for. It’s also an indicator of how easy and enjoyable their experience was on your website. The user will be clicking off if your website isn’t easy to navigate or slow to load. This is how often you head for the red “X” when a website doesn’t load quickly or the information you’re looking for is hard to find. On the other hand, if your website has a responsive web design, it will provide an experience that keeps the user on the page and even encourages them to come back. This is how you turn a potential customer, into a customer, into a returning customer. 

  1. Lower Bounce Rate

Bounce rate refers to how quickly users visit and click off your website. It’s also a good indication of how your website’s speed is doing. This bounce rate can be lowered when you meet your user’s wants and needs. For example, the page loads quickly, the content is fit to screen, and the site is easy to navigate. Even if your content is fantastic, if your website doesn’t fulfil these three standards, then the users will leave and continue searching elsewhere. With a RWD, you can lower your website’s bounce rate, capturing customers and making sales.

  1. No Duplicate Content

It’s incredibly easy to accidentally create a duplicate of your website, one mobile and one desktop. First, you need to make sure there are no duplicates of your URL, as this could confuse Google on which site to prioritise. It’s important you avoid having duplicate content when designing your website. So creating a single, responsive web-designed version of your website is optimal. As we’ve talked about, worrying about website speed, responsiveness, and navigation is essential, but that doesn’t mean you get to neglect the content. Always keep an eye out to see if there are any other content duplication issues on your website.

  1. Increase Social Shares

It’s safe to say that social media has taken over the world. You want your website to become visible and continue gaining visibility so new customers can find you. More social traffic means more eyeballs on your website, which in turn means more customers. This can be done by increasing social shares! To increase social shares, you need great content that is shareable across various social platforms. When your website is easy to navigate, it’s also easy for whoever likes your content to share it. RWD website designers typically include prompts and buttons allowing users to share your content on various platforms easily. Your website must make it quick and straightforward for the user to share your content, otherwise, they may lose interest in exerting effort into the share. Once your website is optimised using RWD, you’ll see that a great social media presence skyrockets your visibility and attracts users to share your content helping you to reach a wider audience. 

For users to have an easy web experience, you need a web design that accommodates users’ access and interactions with the website. If you’re creating your website or rebuilding it, don’t skip over strategising with a responsive web design, as this can be the difference between capturing a customer and losing one. Get in touch with the team at TDA to learn more. 

Issues with Google My Business & How to Solve Them

Issues with Google My Business & How to Solve Them

 

In the last weeks, a high level of Google My Business (now renamed Google Business Profile) has been suspended and removed from the Google local search results. As a result, Google has received an influx of complaints from business owners. Google’s engineers and support team are still working to resolve this issue. Other users have reported various problems with their Google My Business, which seem to be common issues in the community. While waiting for Google, see if any of the issues below apply to your profile and how you can solve them yourself.

  1. Reinstatement Loops:

 When profiles are suspended after reinstatement and unable to be reinstated, this is known as the “reinstatement loop”. This usually occurs when the business has listed its address as a FedEx or UPS drop-off point. Other reasons this can happen are if competitors report a profile if there have been unknown or known violations of guidelines and keyword stuffing.

This issue can be resolved by getting in touch with the Google My Business support team to understand which exact issue applies to you, and from there, you can solve the issue. If the issue persists for whatever reason, you can escalate the problem to the community by reporting it.

  1. Service Establishment Category

    2.  Service area businesses (SABs) which are used by companies or individuals, appear as ‘service establishments’ on Google Maps. An issue is that service establishments do not appear as a category for you to select for your profile. Users are reporting that this is affecting their visibility on Google as SABs. Instead of showing up in and around their business address, they are listed in another nearby area.

    At the moment, Google has announced that they are trying to resolve this issue, but in the meantime, unfortunately, visibility reports are low until the Google team corrects this. Keep in mind that Google is, however, aware of service establishments.

    1. Real Reviews Are Not Showing

    We all know that reviews are a vital part of every business. These days, it is one of the most powerful marketing tools available. So what happens when your crucial marketing tool is not visible on your profile? Those who left you the reviews can see them, the public, however, cannot. Google has always had a framework that rejects reviews that violate its guidelines, such as ‘fake reviews’, but when your real reviews are not showing, this is a problem that you need to rectify immediately.

    The best thing to do in this situation is to obtain a screenshot from a person who reviewed your Google My Business profile and report it to the community forum. Again, Google is aware of this problem, rest assured, you are not the only one.

    *Google reserves the right to remove your Google reviews if they contain restricted content. Google reserves the right to use its judgment when deciding whether to remove or reinstate a review. Google Restricted Content

    1. Drop in Support Assistance Due to Covid-19

     Covid-19 has impacted the entire world, and not even Google is immune to its devastating effects. As the support teams are made up of a limited amount of staff, there is a significant delay compared to pre-pandemic times. Google has announced that they are “currently working with limited support teams”. They have acknowledged that there will be longer wait times to connect with support assistance.

    
So, expect delays. It may take time, but the Google support team will get back to you. After that, it’s just going to take a little more patience.

  1. Editing Phone Numbers in India

    2.  What was initially believed to be a bug turned out to be done deliberately by Google. For months, Indian users could not edit their phone numbers on their GMB listings. Google had done this to ensure that in India and other regions, the numbers being displayed on Google were correct.

    Google has announced that they have updated the workflow for Indian users and that a new process prompts business profiles to adapt to the new procedure. Additional documents must be uploaded for the manual change when they need to edit their business phone number.

    1. The Notification Bugs

    You may be one of the business profiles encountering notifications from Google advising that your profile is only 85% complete or a prompt to add a logo. Again, this is a bug that Google has been working on since 2021.

    Your best option is to ignore the notification and make sure you check your profile to see whether or not these messages from Google apply to your profile.

    1. Unable to Delete Addresses for SABs

    Service area businesses have been reintegrated, with old suspended company profiles being reinstalled. During this reinstallation, the old business addresses are back on display.

    Do not be alarmed if this happens to you. Unfortunately, there is no solution to this issue, but Google is aware of the glitch.

    While the profile suspensions and the current issues are all very troubling for business owners with Google My Business profiles, rest assured that the Google team is aware and is working on rectifying these issues. In the meantime, apply some of the tips above, so you aren’t left at the mercy of Google.

How to Leverage Social Media PR to Grow Your Business

How to Leverage Social Media PR to Grow Your Business

Social media is one of the key business channels allowing you to connect with an audience to share information. What goes in hand with social media is public relations, as its purpose is to persuade audience perception through managing and spreading information. Social media PR aims to highlight your business’s positive reputation and ensure it is always portrayed in a positive light. This is achieved by sharing information to create a positive brand image and networking with creators to increase audience trust. Statistically, 78% of social media users talk about the brands they follow to their friends and family. Did we mention that social media PR is totally free?Does your business have a social media PR strategy? If you don’t, not to worry. Keep reading to find out different strategies you can implement right away!

  1. Connect with your target audience

Let’s start with the basics. Every brand should be in frequent communication with their customers on social media.

All the likes, comments, and retweets-you should be doing them all, on the daily. Even though this is a simple social media PR strategy, it does not mean it should be overlooked, as it is one of the key influencers on your business success! No one wants to go feeling like they aren’t being heard, especially on a social platform.

These days, customers and potential customers will decide whether they like your brand, or not, based on your engagement on social media. Every response to a customer query ensures that you keep them happy and make them feel special. If you receive a negative comment or tweet, have a plan for how you and your team will respond to the message. This response should be polite, informative, and willing to help solve the customer’s concern.

You should also always aim to keep your target audience updated, this means social media announcements. You have seen it everywhere. This common practice is a great way to leverage your social media. New product? Announce it. New Service? Announce it. Change to your business? Announce it.

A great-looking announcement is also advantageous, so consider using high-quality photos or videos with an attention-grabbing caption to match!

  1. Dealing with a social media crisis  

No business wants a PR scandal, but this is what a PR strategy is for. An unhappy customer or a system outage and your business can find itself in hot water. You and your team must create a social media crisis communication plan before that event occurs.

With social media, one post with a complaint can reach thousands of users and impact your business reputation. With a social media crisis plan, you have legal advisors and PR agencies on speed dial. These two bodies can help you with damage control by quickly preparing an official statement and revising your social media PR efforts.

Crisis communication sends out a message to your audience that you are a brand who cares about their customer’s needs. This type of practice demonstrates integrity and promotes customer loyalty and satisfaction. Overall, increasing the longevity of your business.

  1. Guest feature on a podcast or blog

These days, a popular PR strategy is guest podcasting and blogging, as they are highly informative and sharable.

Podcasting is an ever-growing industry with 380 million listeners worldwide! Guest featuring on a podcast reaches a niche targeted audience and spreads awareness of your business. Not only will you be connecting with your customers but also with potential customers. It has been reported that 67% of podcast listeners receive brand information positively. After you have appeared on a podcast, you can share the behind-scenes clips with your audience to make sure they tune in.

Once your featured episode is live, you can share a link to all your social media pages!

Guest featuring on a blog is also an effective strategy, as appearing in a reputable publication increases customer trust and helps you to reach a wider audience. Don’t be intimidated to reach out to different publications and bloggers, as they also benefit from the fresh content they receive from you.

After a blog has been written, do not neglect sharing the links to all your social media platforms. It’s also a good idea to recycle a few quotes from the blog post that can be shared on social media. This way, you are also doubling up on your social media content!

  1. Get friendly with influencers, content creators, and journalists

Influencers or content creators with all different sizes of audiences can help promote your business.

It’s as simple as sending your product to their doorstop in exchange for a review and, of course, exposure. Then, after they have shared your product with their audience, you can once again double up on content (with their permission) and share what they created on your social media platforms.

A helpful tip is to engage with influencers or content creators with a similar audience to your target market. For example, if you’re a hair care brand, make sure that you are not sending your products to a food content creator.

Also, keep in mind that you do not always need to engage with the most popular influencers out there. Sometimes, a micro-influencer can have more engagement with their followers than a macro-influencer!

Like influencers and content creators, journalists also have considerable influence over a wide audience.

So, it is worth getting friendly! You can do this by using different social media platforms to connect with them. Share their stories, comment on their pieces, and tag them! As with publications and bloggers, journalists are also looking for fresh content and stories. After you have already exchanged a few messages here and there, pitching an interesting story to them is a great way to capture their attention.

Once a piece has been written, don’t forget to share it on your social media platforms!

Are you feeling ready to implement these strategies? Do not wait to leverage social media PR to grow your business today!