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Every modern business, whether a startup or a major corporation, needs to ensure it has a strong online footprint. In other words, you should be making sure your customers can find your business online.
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The digital age is firmly upon us. Online commerce is a driving force in every market. Consumers enjoy the benefit of convenient online browsing and secure shopping, and they appreciate the fact that the internet has broadened the scope of just about every market.
Take a moment to think about where your customers can find your business online. Of course, you have to have a website. It doesn’t need to be complex. A simple few pages outlining who you are and what your business is about will suffice.
Additionally, you should have a presence on social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are all useful tools for smaller businesses looking to grow and gather custom. Focus on the social media platforms where your customers like to hang out to ensure that more of them can find your business online.
You also need to make sure to present your business in the best possible light on all these channels. Therefore, monitor and respond to comments. Encourage reviews. And keep your content up-to-date so that Google is your friend. The latter point cannot be stressed too strongly. If you have a low ranking on Google you are losing business.
But there is another aspect of your internet presence that you should also consider carefully: Can your customers find your business online in local searches?
Can Your Customers Find Your Business Online with Local Searches?
Why are local searches so important? Quite simply, this is because most of the searches for businesses of all kinds are carried out on handheld devices such as smartphones. Furthermore, most of these searches are are done while customers are on the move and hoping to find a local list of businesses online.
Consider how this works from the customer’s perspective. You’re in a certain town and remember you need a particular product. Maybe it’s some tools for your car. Because you know you want to find a specific type of business online, you pull out your smartphone and type “tool suppliers near me” in the search bar for your phone’s internet browser. Or maybe you type “tool suppliers near me” or “tool shops in <name of town>” or something similar. You get the idea. Your search engine will bring up entries in that area, with details of addresses, store hours, phone numbers, and maps.
This also works when you access an online directory of local businesses. So if you want to make it easy for your customers to find you online, make sure to list your business in a local directory. Your brand will get noticed more readily by customers in your area.
Basically, consumers want convenience, and a local search result is certainly convenient. What’s more, if your business is the one that appears near the top with a map and an address, you are far more likely to get the business than another business further down with less detail. A local directory provides great visibility on the internet, and it will help your business build and grow.
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Keep Your Content Fresh and Relevant
If yours is a small business, it is extremely important to have relevant, quality content that links back to your website. Moreover, you should strive to link also with authority sites in your site’s content. This will give your business more credence. If you have a blog, for example, make sure to post clean, fresh content regularly. What’s more, keep that content relevant to your business as well as to your industry in general. The uniqueness of content is essential if you really want to inspire your audiences. You can get your hands on an advanced plagiarism checker like PlagiarismChecker.co that enables you to grab a minor duplication in content within a blink of an eye.
Be sure to track and respond to comments on your social media pages. Also, start and monitor discussions and answer inquiries right away. Not only should your customers be able to find you online, but they also want to know you’ll respond to them in a timely manner.
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A Final Word
We hope this article helps you understand the importance of making it easy for your customers to find your business online. Moreover, we have tried to stress the importance of local searches in attracting more customers and growing your business.
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Start with a thorough review of the situation right now. Check your Facebook page, your blog, and your Twitter feed. Can you improve or refresh those platforms? What’s more, give your website an upgrade to look the part and bring more traffic to your pages. Focus on making it easy for your customers to find you online, and your business will soon be growing strong.