Be local, be trustworthy and be responsive
It’s hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. And as we all know, with the holidays comes chaos – especially for business owners.
During this busy period, quality SEO is your key to success. This means having up to date and reliable information on your website and Google to ensure customers can easily access it. People rely on Google to gain up-to-date and accurate details and Google maps amounts for a large percentage of foot-traffic.
There’s nothing worse than turning up to a restaurant which Google says is open to only find it’s closed!
In this article we will break down the simple but effective ways in which you can help your businesses stand out from the rest these holidays.
Use your Google My Business Listing
A study by Brandify said that 56% of people are more likely to visit a business the day they look it up on Google. Which means it’s important to ensure your address, opening hours (including the days you have reduced hours or are closed during the holiday period), phone number, website link, photos of services and offering are all up to date.
Answer your reviews (even the negative ones!)
Although it’s a tedious task, answer your reviews – even the negative ones! It’s important to always answer your customer reviews and thank them for the positive ones and acknowledge the negative ones. Business owners who answer feedback in a timely manner create trust and support with their customers.
Don’t forget there is the option to post events, offerings, what’s on and business updates on Google My Business as well. This ensures your customers are kept up to date with the exciting things you have on offer.
Ensuring your local SEO is on track will help turn prospective customers into paying customers.
Ensure your website is up to date
Ensuring your website is up to date is your secret weapon.
Imagine this, you want to impress your in-laws with a lunch at a local winery. You use Google to find the perfect restaurant and the first few options take a long time to load, there’s no up-to-date information or current menu and they have no social presence. You move on.
You find an option further down on Google and find a website that loads quickly, it’s fresh, modern, easy to navigate, you’ve glazed over the menu, drooled over the food and made a booking.
If your website needs some TLC, it might be worth investing in a re-design. At HyperWeb, we specialise in creating compelling and engaging websites that are easy to use – find out more information here.
Invest in your blog
Your blog is an excellent resource to write articles on questions customers might have, how-to guides and inspire them to take action.
Blog posts will also help your SEO ranking as you will start to rank for questions customers write directly in Google.
Let’s take the winery example again; “What is the difference between Pinot Noir and Shiraz?”
Use your socials to populate your content
Finally, don’t deprioritise your socials! Something a lot of clients forget is to also keep their details on FB and IG up to date. Ensure you list your product or offering, location, contact number and website in your bio.
If the thought of dancing in front of the camera making a reel makes you cringe, never fear! Re-sharing blog posts, events, how-to, images, products and your team will help to promote your business and stay relevant.
At HyperWeb, we consider ourselves website, SEO, content and social media nerds. If you’d like to have a chat about how we can help your business stand out online get in touch today.
