The Benefits of Setting Up Google My Business

Setting up Google My Business

The Benefits of Setting Up Google My Business

You’ve seen it before, but maybe you didn’t know what it was called. Google My Business (GMB) is something every business owner should familiarise themselves with. GMB is a local business listing that Google displays on the right-hand side of the search engine. It provides specific business information to the searcher as Google is assuming this is what they are looking for. GMB is there to provide convenience to the searcher, making locating a particular business quick and easy. It instantly provides the search with a link to your website, operational hours, business location and much more. This platform is free-to-use, so there are no risks associated with familiarizing yourself with this strategy. 

      Appear in Google Maps Searches 

GMB is one of the best strategies for boosting your business local presence. How many times have you searched up a company and been relieved when you find out they are close by. Keeping your business information up to date gives you an upper hand against your competition as you’ll show up in the local search results. By creating a GMB listing, the updated business information you provide is populated in Google Maps. Your business will show up in the Local Pack section which can bring new customers to your door. Think of how many companies that you know of that are already using a GMB. The next time someone searches for a mortgage broker, restaurant or anything in-between, your business can pop up!


      Appear in Google’s Local Pack & Increase Engagement 

The Local Pack, as previously mentioned, is a strategy used to attract new business as your information appears in a section called the Local Pack. This is globally considered an ‘elite’ section of Google’s local searches. Large and small businesses across the globe implement all available SEO tactics to boost their local rankings and get into the Local Pack. Creating a GMB can quickly increase your odds of entering this elite section of Google. To rank higher in results, you must provide Google with your most current information. The more information you provide Google, the more information can reach your customers. By updating your GMB profile, Google will rank you higher in results. What makes Local Pack so desirable is that it enables your business to appear on Google Maps before any organic results show up. Your potential customers can access your website instantly and book you directly. Statistics report that those who show up in the Local Pack get 700% more clicks. So why not take the time to create a GMB to increase your odds, website traffic and in-turn and most importantly, your sales. 

      Star Ratings & Customer Confidence

We all know the importance and powerful influence of reviews (if you don’t you can click on our last article). Setting up a GMB allows customers to leave star ratings on their experience with you and provide you with genuine feedback. The better the quality of a product or service- the higher your ratings and the more positive your reviews! Showing your customers that you have an actual business location propels your customers’ confidence in making a purchase. As Google is well trusted by people, seeing your business appear in the local search causes a chain reaction of trust and confidence. If you appear in the local search, then your customer knows that Google would have gone through a verification process and posted a business that they can also count on.


      Analytics & Advertising

GMB also offers you an ‘insights’ section which will equip you with a plethora of analytics that breaks down brand visibility, target customers, and the customer’s engagement. This will allow you a chance to hone in on your advertising and marketing strategies. Google My Business is a free form of advertising on Google as your business receives targeted exposure free of charge. It is more time sufficient to create and certify your Google My Business listening than to start a search campaign. Most importantly, it is completely free, fast and straightforward to use. Google advertising achieves efficient and effective results faster than an organic search result. 

GMB is essentially a ‘one-stop-shop, which is why it is so essential every business updates their information to maintain an active account that remains on the map. 

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.

Every Business Needs a Great Website

Every Business Needs a Great Website

Every Business Needs a Great Website

Nowadays, having a great website is a critical element in building a successful business. To create a great website, you need to consider aspects beyond only having users see an excellent looking web page. The layout plays a huge part in the number of sales your business makes. Visitors want to locate what they are looking for in the first 15-20 seconds of being on the page. You do not want to risk losing potential customers just because you have a messy looking website. A standard error is having large chunks of content, clutter and a poorly designed navigation menu. Potential customers will be overwhelmed and reluctant to continue sifting through the site, despite how great the content may be.

Consider your audience

Websites often fail to remember that they need to speak to the type of customer that they want. It would be best if you talked to them in the tone and language that will attract them to your business. Say your business is a restaurant, then naturally, your website should be using layman’s terms to communicate with your customers effectively. However, if your business is in the medical field, you must speak using clinical terminology. Your customer will appreciate the technical terms that describe what it exactly is that you are offering. Likewise, the average Joe wants to read an online menu in plain simple English.

Respond appropriately

It is also essential that you don’t overwhelm your potential customer with too much information. Unnecessary, scroll after scroll gets tiresome. Studies have shown that if you have not captured the attention of your audience in 15 seconds, then they will click off. Consider using images, videos, headings and other visuals to engage with your customer and present an exact representation of what it is that you have to offer them. Waffling around will make it harder for your potential customer to find what they were initially looking for. Sifting through unnecessary blocks of content will also turn your customer away. Be direct with your message, direct with your information and allow room for customers to enquire if there are any further queries. A great website should build a credible online presence and convince your client to stay.

Aesthetically appealing

A great looking website is going to keep your potential customer on your page, and this is a fact. Much like how you should avoid bombarding potential customers with too much information, you should also avoid an overwhelming layout. The design of a great website should be visually appealing and clean-cut for maximum impact. At all costs, you should avoid using too many colours, shapes, pictures and other visuals. Ensure that your photography is high quality, the layout is cohesive and clutter-free. Carefully selecting images, colour schemes and typefaces play a large role in achieving a feel-good vibe. Your website must be aesthetically appealing, and if you cannot accomplish this yourself, you can always hire a designer.

Easy scrolling

Keep in mind that an easy and straightforward navigation menu is the difference between your customer staying on your page or clicking off. If they find the website hard to navigate, it will be a dealbreaker, and you can say goodbye to your potential sale. Your customer will become frustrated and annoyed that they cannot find what they are searching for. Keep in mind that as important as it is for your website to be aesthetically pleasing, it is equally as important for it to be user friendly. People are accessing sites from their mobile phones and tablets, so a responsive website is necessary. You need to accommodate the design of the website to the size of the device they are using to visit your site. Also, at the minimum, include at least one Call-To-Action on each page. Your potential customer is more likely to click the button that keeps appearing everywhere and is readily available. No one wants to scour the entire website to find the “Sign up” button. To eliminate your bounce rate and keep your visitors on your website, it is imperative that you have an organised page and navigation menu.

Having a great website is extremely important for your business. Considering the factors discussed above will lead you closer to developing and designing a business website that is effective in achieving your goal and reaching your customers.

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.

Link Building for SEO

Link Building for SEO

Link Building for SEO

What is Link Building?

If you want a thriving and competing online business, building high-quality links is essential. Link building is the process of obtaining hyperlinks from other websites and adding them to your own. A link is a means for users to navigate between multiple pages on the internet. Building links is a difficult task, and for this reason, masting the art of creating high-quality links will set you above both your competition and other SEOs.

Why is Link Building Important for SEO?

Fundamentally, the mechanics of link building need to be understood to see why they are so crucial for SEO. Four components make up the basics of link building and how search engines see and interrupt from them.

1. Start of link tag “Anchor tag”: This opens the link tag and signals the search engines that a link to something will appear.

2. Link referral location “hyperlink referral”: “Href” stands for “hyperlink referral”, and the URL that the link is pointing is in the text within quotation marks. Besides a web page, an image or a file to download can also be linked. Local links will begin with a # sign inside of a URL, and they will take you to another section of the page.

3. Visible/anchor text of link: As the name indicates- this text can be easily found on the page and needs to be clicked on to open the link. The text is specially formatted to stand out from its surrounding text, e.g. underlined or in blue to indicate it is clickable.

4. Closure of link tag: To search engines, this is the sign that says it is the end of the link tag.

What do Links Mean for Search Engines?

Search engines use links to discover new web pages and to help determine how well a page should rank in its results. Search engines scour pages on the internet and collect the content they find on the web and add it to their indexes. This method determines whether the page quality is adequate to be ranked high for relevant keywords. When determining rank, the number of links pointing to the page and the quality of the websites is also considered.  To be awarded a high rank in search results, it is helpful to have high-quality websites linking towards you.

Google has been the dominating search engine since the late 1990s, and this attributed to the fact that links are a ranking factor. PageRank was created by one of Google’s founders and naturally implemented by Google to measure the quality of a page based on the number of links pointing to it. A link is interrupted as a vote of confidence about a page. When someone links another website, they are sending a bold message that they consider the page to be of high-quality. This metric has been adopted as a ranking algorithm and is exceptionally useful. Recently, Google has begun to penalise websites that exploit techniques in their link building to optimise the keyword search. With this in mind, it is vital that when link building, you are aware of the techniques to reframe from using to adhere to Google’s guidelines.

The benefits of link building to your business

Now that we’ve established the importance of links for search engines determining rankings, we can also look at the other domino effect of benefits. Firstly, a good link will help you in building your brand and establishing your place in your chosen field. This is achieved by content creation which a link building technique that will highlight your companies expertise and advertise your excellence. Another benefit is that you are simultaneously building business relationships as the link building process involves outreach to other websites in your field. This outreach is a form of promotion of your companies expertise. Building relationships with others in your market is also indicative of a business that is worthy of trust. This, in turn, brings us to the third benefit, which is sending referral traffic. A good link from a popular website will result in traffic, especially if the website is relevant to your field.

If you want to be seen as a strong competitor and ensure the future of your business, then it is vital that you build links to your company, and to build links well to gain the full benefit of this metric.

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you create a winning digital strategy click here to book a session with us.

5 Reasons Every Business Needs Online Google Reviews

5 Reasons Every Business Needs Online Google Reviews

Kia Ora! 

In this months blog, we will go back to basics with Reviews and the importance of taking your Brand and Reputation marketing super-seriously. In this day and age, especially with the fear and uncertainty spread by the pandemic many people across the globe will never feel, think or act the same. It has never been more important for your potential customer to trust your business and you. Virtually no one makes an online purchase without scrolling down the page and clicking ‘Reviews’.

This is where smart businesses pivot and adapt to not only survive but thrive through times like these. Online reviews are arguably the most powerful and beneficial tool that any business can employ. It is a reference point from consumers across the globe and a way for you to control and perfect your Branding, Reputation, creating customer loyalty and in turn increasing your bottom line.

Here are five reasons why every business needs to have online reviews;

      1. Online Google reviews help boost your SEO

Reviews are a crucial influencer in a customers decision on whether to engage with the business and make a purchase. 92% of consumers read online reviews before they make a purchase. Customers believe what other customers are saying, and therefore positive reviews increase your online visibility and allow customers to interact with your business and with each other. Having customers talk about you is just what you need to cultivate your brand and increase your global exposure. Reading online reviews is an essential part of a customers decision-making process, so having reviews on Search Engines such as Google, Facebook, Bing and Yelp will improve the businesses visibility since the more people that talk about your brand the better.  Local SEO experts have reported that reviews represent around 9.8% of all the ranking factors that can be found. This means that creating a steady stream of reviews will enable your brand to come up in search results when customers are shopping online.

 Online Reviews

      2. Expand your customer reach

Powerful reviews are capable of building your business online identity and expanding your brand reach. 88% of people trust online reviews and 72% only interact with brands that have positive reviews. Studies have shown that people trust perfect strangers on the internet so what people are saying, good or bad, will be circulated and considered social proof. Establishing a stream of steady reviews can develop your creditability and encourage your customers to trust your brand. When a customer has something good to say they usually leave reviews on more than one platform which in turn increases your multi-channel footprint. If you find yourself in the position of receiving negative reviews this too can be turned into a positive. It presents you with the opportunity to reach out to your concerned customer and try to resolve the issue. By doing this you are increasing customer satisfaction and making it likely that the customer will return and leave a positive review. A negative review is a perfect opportunity to create a loyal customer.

      3. Reviews create brand loyalty

Now that you have increased your brands’ visibility and established a strong cyber footprint, your reviews will create brand loyalty. Anyone that takes the time to leave positive feedback will likely be a returning customer. Establishing loyal customers not only increases sales but also strengthens your company’s credibility. Having an emotional connection with customers has proven to provide 23% more revenue than with customers who are non-engaged. Reviews are a proven method of growing customer engagement which leads to the next key point which is obtaining direct feedback from customers.

      4. Online reviews provide you with direct feedback from your customers

Another reason why every business needs online reviews is that it establishes a direct line to your customers. All their queries, concerns, likes and dislikes are all relayed back to you and from that point, you can analyse the data and react accordingly. One of the most devastating impacts on customer and brand relationships is when the brand grows and detaches from its clients. To avoid this it is necessary to collect online reviews and take the time to read the feedback. This feedback will ensure that you continue to meet your clients’ needs. Customers in this tech-savvy day and age are expecting companies to respond to their comments. This gives you a platform to address their concerns directly and rectify the problem which allows you to maintain the customer and brand relationship. Having an open-to-feedback appearance will catapult your brand into a sphere of success.

      5. Online Google reviews lead to more sales

Of course, companies with positive reviews will see an increase in their sales. This is because being a visible brand with positive reviews means that your business will be favoured by algorithms. Search Engines will collate the online reviews and syndicate them into Google Product Listing Ads in Google Shopping by approved companies. This gives your business a great boost and will increase your company’s bottom line. A study by Harvard Business School found that online reviews have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line. The study proved that besides positive reviews not only make your customers trust you but also increase your star rating which empirically leads to increased sales. Companies with better ratings are likely to see views converted to traffic and sales. Just one-star improvement on Google can lead to a boost of 10% on sales, Imagine what 50 reviews can do. It is basic human logic to spend money on something that others have said is worth spending money on.

Everyone is reading reviews and making decisions according to what they have read. It is clear that customers can directly impact the success of a business and so it is vital that customers demands and expectations are met. Creating a transparent conversation about your brand will lead to a positive online presence and reputation which will quickly convert itself into sales.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can implement easy tools into your business to help generate more reviews and streamline the process click here to book a session with us. If you are an existing customer of ours, please don’t forget to send you review requests for the week!