Things are not what they were years ago. Hey, things are not even what they were a year ago! Life is currently so fast-paced that a year feels like only a couple of months. And this year, in 2019, ignoring social media is a definite no-no for any business, local or otherwise. Social media simply cannot be ignored. There are more than 3 billion active users right now! This isn’t the first time I have expressed the importance of local and social.

I know – you’re wondering why the #QueenofLocalSEO is talking to you about social media. Did you know that social media platforms build trust among consumers and search engines alike? Trust means improved placement in search results, and more customers visiting local brick-and-mortar businesses. All of this provides the opportunity for more positive reviews. Together, these help local businesses and brands expand their local digital footprint, which is my area of expertise and my passion. But now that I have digressed, let’s get back to our topic.

Most businesses have taken the first few steps on social media by creating their social accounts and posting some updates hoping to engage prospective customers – but that is not enough, particularly for local businesses that are wanting to drive website and foot traffic to their locations.

With brands and businesses continually fighting for users’ attention, the social media world presents fierce challenges for anyone who ventures into it. Both local businesses and businesses nationwide are feeling the social pressure that we all love to hate. Want to kick a local business’ social media presence into a higher gear? Then keep reading….

Setting Up Local and Social for Success

All great strategies start with goals and objectives, and it’s no different with social media. The first goal should be to rapidly grow a targeted following, and to do this, a business needs to be in tune with Facebook’s current algorithm.

Keep in mind that the things that matter the most to Facebook these days are interactions – from shares, to comments, to likes and engagement with a post shared by a friend. In order to grow their following, a business’ Facebook content needs to be good enough that people will interact with it in any way.

So, once a business has a growing following, it’s time for the next set of goals. And depending on the business’ strategy, those goals could be to:

• Grow an engaged audience
• Increase brand recognition
• Get more sales
• Gain new leads
• Improve ROI
• Streamline customer service
• Increase physical store visits

Local businesses are usually interested in getting more sales, gaining new leads and increasing visits to their location, but social media is also a great tool for customer service. Keeping customers coming back by offering impeccable service online and off is a win/win for every local business.

Taking advantage of tools like Facebook’s Chatbot is a way of doing this. A chatbot can help a local business offer outstanding customer service, even after-hours, by replying with a tailor-made response to people inquiring about the business.

Measuring Just Makes Sense

But how can you know if something worked if you don’t have practices in place to measure? In this phase, the business needs to determine what tools they will use to measure their success and put them in place.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms already offer their own analytics, which can be used to test the performance of a specific post or campaign and make changes as needed.  Other comprehensive analytics platforms include Sprout Social, Buffer and Hootsuite. All of these are great tools to review performance, and also to schedule and manage different social media platforms at the same time.

It’s important to keep in mind that social media doesn’t mean a sale or store visit will be instantly achieved. Social media campaigns will not immediately translate to more sales and visits to brick-and-mortar locations. There’s a variety of ways to measure social media success. Analytics will assist in seeing if social media activity is translating into leads and sales. For other factors – brand recognition, for example – surveys and social listening tools are great assets.

Be Picky When Picking Platforms

 A good strategy for local businesses is to focus predominantly on the platforms that their targeted audience frequents. For example, a campaign on Snapchat would not perform well if a business is looking to sell products to Gen X-ers.

Additionally, content should always be tailored to the social media platform, and for the audience. For example, videos are a great way to engage with an audience on Facebook, but taking advantage of Stories might be better for Instagram. Focusing exclusively on a few platforms can help maximize the business’ efforts, translating to exponential growth.

However, choosing the core platforms is not an easy task. Businesses and brands need to consider many things – starting with the age range of their targeted audience. According to Statista, Facebook has over 5.8 million users between the ages of 24 and 35 just in the United States! This is great for businesses looking into using the social network to get brand recognition and conversions.

Businesses may also want to look into Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, depending on their brand, product and ultimate goals.

• Instagram boasts 500 million monthly active users, with ages 18–29 encompassing 55 percent of people in the United States using it.
• Of its 317 million monthly users, 79 percent of users are located outside of the United States.
• Women comprise 81 percent of Pinterest’s 100 million active users.

Each social media platform has a very specific and generational audience, it seems.

Local-Focused Social Media Campaigns Require Engagement

There are several things a brand can do to get an engaging group of followers on social media. Long gone are the days when few businesses advertised on platforms like Facebook. It is indeed much harder to catch the attention of a business’ target audience, so you just have to get creative.

Here are a few examples you must put into practice.

1. Consider a Contest

Social contests are a simple way to reach a larger audience organically. Encouraging people to share and invite their friends to participate for extra entries is a great way to host a social contest. It’s important to make the contest rules clear, and follow all of the social media platform’s rules for holding contests. The biggest factor here is that the prize the business is giving away must exceed the effort required to enter/win.

A complication to consider with these types of social contests is making the prize relevant to the business. For example, giving away an iPad Pro will attract a lot of attention, but you will also get a bunch of entries that are just from people wanting the iPad. They could have no interest in the business’ products or services.

For instance, a good prize for a local presence management solution such as mine may be giving away a year’s worth of listing management and reputation management services. This type of prize could attract an audience that would be interested both in our services and in updates from around the local search industry.

For a plumbing company like bluefrog Plumbing + Drain, another good example might include the company hosting a social contest where the winner would receive a drain cleanout for free. This would also generate leads for the business to market their services to.

2. Give Paid Social Advertising a Try

Advertising on the various ad platforms will help a business get their content seen first, especially by those who have been searching for a related product. Growing an audience organically is not what it used to be. Throwing a little money at the problem is necessary – but be careful with budgets!

Brands still need to produce great content, even if it’s not regularly seen by everyone using a specific social media platform. It’s a waste of time and money to pay to promote content that is not of the highest quality. Knowing this, help a new audience fall in love with the brands you represent.

3. Go! Go! With Live Video

Instead of being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, people are cuckoo for video – especially live video. Video is something every business needs in their marketing arsenal, no matter the size.

• It’s been reported that 80 percent of users would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, while 82 percent prefer live video to social posts.
• 360-degree videos are all the rage, too. Magnifyre did a study and determined that the same video gets 28.81 percent more viewers when published in 360-degree format.
• Video is also great for websites. With around 55 percent of users spending less than 15 seconds on a page, conversions can get a spike with homepage videos.

According to TalkPoint, “78 percent of online audiences are already watching video on Facebook Live.” The demand for video will only increase in 2018 and beyond.

4. Influencer Outreach

Influencing the influencers is a must. With so many businesses vying for their attention, the business needs a compelling offer and some budget to put behind it. Partnering with a relevant, local influencer could really help boost a local business’ social media reach.

Ford has an interesting influencer program. One of their campaigns that comes to mind is the Ford Airstream Campaign running on social media last summer. For those of you in Texas, you may have noticed people vacationing with a Ford Airstream at different campgrounds. This is an influencer campaign in action.

Brands have to be careful when selecting influencers to partner with, as many influencers have been blacklisted by influencer marketing agencies for having fake followers. When choosing an influencer, always focus on the engagement the influencer receives, not just on a large number of followers.

Social Media Can Be a Powerful Local Business Marketing Platform

When used effectively, social media platforms can be very useful for brands, particularly for local businesses looking to increase brand awareness and convert more sales. With the brutal competition going on in the online world right now, simply creating accounts and posting occasional content won’t be enough.

Local and Social Are the Perfect Match – Here’s How to Get Going by @BernieColeman #SEO #SocialMedia
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A serious social plan can bring about fast growth, leading to high levels of engagement, increased numbers of leads, and greater sales. Ultimately, a business needs a strong social presence, so it makes sense to work on a strategy built for engagement and growth.

If you’re not sure where to get started with building a business’ local presence, request a demo – we have the solution!

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Tired of hearing about voice search? Well, buckle up, because there’s still a lot of ground to cover! Today I’m about to reveal just how important voice search habits are to local businesses.

If you thought you already knew how and why people use voice search, just wait until you learn more about this recent survey, conducted by Chatmeter in collaboration with Sapio Research and Hotwire Global. It puts even more emphasis on understanding local consumers and what they want from businesses (and voice search).

Why Do People Use Voice Search?

We know that more and more people are using voice search, but it’s important to understand why. Tapping into people’s motives gives businesses a better idea of what customers want, what they’re expecting and how businesses can provide them with results. Obviously, customers are looking for something: what is it?

According to Chatmeter, 52 percent of consumers prefer voice technology simply because it’s convenient. There’s no typing or dealing with autocorrect, and it pulls up an answer straight away. Thanks to hands-free voice searches, users can multitask while asking the Google Assistant for answers, using it when they’re washing dishes or driving. Another 23 percent of the people surveyed said they enjoy the novelty of the technology. It’s one step closer to the technology-driven future we’ve all envisioned.

What do these survey results tell us? Consumers want fast results in an easy-to-understand format so they can spend as little time and energy searching as possible. Local businesses should take advantage of the reason why consumers are using voice search.

• Are they looking for directions while driving? Make sure the business is listed on mapping apps like Apple, Waze and Garmin.
• Are they looking for a phone number? Make sure the business’ NAP (name, address and phone number) is accurate and syndicated to all major data sources, including data aggregators, business directories and vertical-specific directories.
• Do they want to impress their friends by getting an answer to a specific query? The business should focus on getting as many featured snippets as possible! 

How Many People Are Using Smart Devices?

You might think voice searchers are a small part of the population since they must own a smart speaker (like the Amazon Echo, Apple Homepod or Google Home) or a smartphone. Not everyone has those. However, the number of people with access to these devices is growing day by day.

Chatmeter found that 61 percent of consumers today own a smart speaker, with 51 percent of them using it daily. These aren’t just fun devices installed or purchased to impress people; they’re useful objects that have become an everyday part of how people shop, eat, research, travel and take care of themselves. Even if people aren’t using their voice assistants on a daily basis, a solid 29 percent of them are using it at least once a week.

It’s no surprise that most people have voice assistants on their cellphones. Nine out of every 10 cellphone owners use voice assistants on their phones. Roughly 51 percent of these people use the assistant for voice search daily, while another 33 percent use it at least once a week. Do these numbers surprise you? Keep in mind we always have our phones in our hands.

Before you know it, almost everyone in the United States will be relying on voice search. Failing to optimize for that future is a risky move, especially on the part of local businesses.

Where Does the Local Aspect Come into Voice Search?

Why do I say that local businesses need to optimize for voice search more than any other kind of company? Because people use voice search to find things that are close to them. Chatmeter found that about 27 percent of those surveyed use their devices to find a restaurant, shop or business within their vicinity. The “near me” phrase is completely changing how people search, especially with voice assistants.

According to a study by BrightLocal, local businesses must meet the following criteria to show up in SERPs for voice searches.

How Close the Business Is to the Searcher

Because so much of voice search revolves around people searching for businesses near them, it’s vital that local retailers, restaurants, and service area businesses indicate that they are nearby. Even if people don’t specifically search for something “near me,” the Google Assistant will still base its voice search results on proximity to the searcher. I can’t overstate the importance of establishing a local online presence with complete information, including the business’ address.

How the Business Interacts With Reviews

Managing and responding to reviews, both good and bad, can give businesses a stronger local presence and encourage nearby customers to connect. Many local businesses only respond to negative reviews that drive their ratings down, but the smartest ones establish connections with both happy and unhappy customers.

How Many Backlinks the Business’ Site Has

Google wants to pull voice search results from websites that have established their authority on the subject matter. SEO and backlinks go hand in hand, and that doesn’t change just because people are searching with a voice assistant instead of typing. Link building allows web crawlers to find a business’ content, index it, and decide if the website has a good reputation.

How Active the Business Is on Social Media

Search engines, including Google, usually only pull voice search results from the top three listings or the featured snippet. Therefore, placing high in search results is vital for local businesses. One way to improve placement is to share content like blogs, press releases and newsletters across social media. Optimize the business’ social media profiles and don’t be afraid to engage with local customers via Twitter, Facebook and other relevant platforms.

How Visible the Business Is on Industry-Specific & Local Directories

As I said before, claim your listings! We’ve talked about this hundreds of times, but whether you manually submit to directories or use aggregators, it’s vital that local businesses establish a presence within all relevant directories. People simply won’t trust a business if it doesn’t have a Google My Business listing, for example.

The above criteria is important, but local businesses must pair these strategies with other voice search ranking factors, like having a secure site, a fast loading time, informative content and authority.

Understanding How Consumers’ #VoiceSearch Habits Affect Local Businesses by @BernieColeman #SEO
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Voice Search Optimization for Local Businesses

If you’re just now diving into the world of voice search optimization, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with an extensive roadmap on the subject. At Advice Local, we’ve been researching the voice search for a while, so we’re more than ready to help local businesses jump on the bandwagon.

Want to know if a business is voice search-ready? Take our voice search readiness test. And, if you want to know how we help local businesses get found in voice search, request a demo today!

The post Understanding How Consumers’ Voice Search Habits Affect Local Businesses appeared first on Advice Local.

I’m back again with more information about voice search! Surprised? Maybe not, since I’ve been touting the importance of voice search all year. Let me hop back up on my soapbox once again to talk about something slightly different: the specific importance of digging into Google Analytics and Google Search Console to help local businesses place in voice search results.

In order to do everything from rank with Google to gain more customers, businesses need to understand one thing: consumer behavior. Why do users do the things they do? What are they looking for? How do search engine algorithms adapt to this behavior? Understanding how a business’ website is getting found and for which specific keywords, the length of the search, etc. can provide valuable insights into creating content for desktop, mobile and voice search.

Voice search is changing customer behavior and helping us learn more about the way the average person searches. Keep reading to find out more about how reviewing analytics can transform what you create.

Digging Into Analytics to Understand User Intent and Voice Search

Since there isn’t a way to get voice search traffic analytics specifically, we must approach it in other ways. The number one reason businesses need analytics is to understand their customers’ intent when searching. We already know that the way people search changes when they use smart devices – they use lots of long-tail keywords and speak more conversationally. Understanding factors like these changes the way businesses understand (and adapt to) users’ wants and needs.

Let’s break down this screenshot taken from Google Analytics over seven days and see what we can learn about the consumers’ intent.

• Those who searched “advice local” or similar searches most likely knew the business name they were looking for. Based on the lower bounce rate for four of the keywords, they were looking for a specific piece of information on the website and clicked through to another page(s) to find it.
• The searches for “brownbook” and “get fave” were most likely seeking the specific directories, but since we had that directory’s name on a higher-ranking page on our site, they clicked through to it. However, based on the 100 percent bounce rate, the searcher did not find what they were looking for.
• The searches for “business description example” and “google my business cover photo size” were most likely people wanting to know a specific answer. They both visited the pages for less than one minute, then bounced back to search results immediately.
• For the “business description example” search, we may want to consider optimizing the page more by linking to a product page for the service we offer. Since there was only one search for this in the last seven days, we would need to look at the search traffic volume for this phrase and several other factors before taking any action.
• For the “google my business cover photo size” search, we wouldn’t necessarily take any optimization action. Since we want to place in search results for “Google My Business,” we could add a mention on this page to drive traffic to a product page about our Google My Business claiming and optimization service.
• The search for “claim google business listing” could either be someone wanting to learn how to create a Google My Business listing or someone looking for a company that provides this service. Based on the bounce rate, they didn’t stay on the site long enough to read the how-to, so perhaps they were looking for a service. We could optimize this post further by adding information at the top about the Google My Business claiming service we offer and perhaps benefit more from this type of search in the future.
• The search for “data aggregator” was most likely someone wanting to find one. The bounce rate was 100 percent with less than one minute on the site, which tells me they did not find what they were looking for. Since this was a pretty generic search, while we like placing in the top of search results for it, it probably wouldn’t make sense to optimize further based off this search term at this time.
• The search for “does posting on blogs or forums help with seo” was someone looking for a specific answer. Based on the 100 percent bounce rate and the less than one minute spent on site, we can’t say for sure if they found the answer they were looking for. They could have, perhaps, returned to search results to see what others had to say on the topic. If the bounce rate had been zero and the exit 100 percent, it would tell us they found the exact answer they were looking for and didn’t need or want to do additional research. If forum posting was a service we offered, we would need to dig into this search term much more over a longer period of time. Adding additional information or a link to a product page about the service would be a couple of strategies to utilize.
• The search for “how to create a listing on foursquare” implies the searcher intent was to learn how to create a business listing on this specific directory. They are most likely a DIYer and not looking to hire someone. Before taking further action, I would want to look at this search term volume over a longer period of time. Once I had more information, we could devise a strategy to drive the user to our listing management services page.

Before any optimization strategies are determined or implemented, there are many more factors, like overall search volume for the term in a tool such as SEMRush, variants of the phrase, how much search traffic a specific site receives for the phrase, etc. For ease of explaining intent here, we only used a seven-day period. We actually would use a much longer time frame before taking any action.

When talking about user intent, the intent may or may not be explicitly expressed in the user’s query. Understanding which keywords are used isn’t the only important part of learning about user intent. Businesses also need to know where searchers land and what answers they were seeking, regardless of how they phrased their queries.

For example, maybe users in the business’ area have been searching for local “attorneys” when the company’s content and website have been using the term “lawyer” or “legal representative.” Understanding where users are trying to ultimately land for their answers will help businesses alter their tactics to provide instant, accurate answers to users’ searches.

As Jenny Halasz said in her contribution on Search Engine Watch, “Try to match your customers’ intent with your content, seek to answer questions, and provide details wherever possible. The same steps you take now to optimize for answer boxes are going to help you in voice search, too.”

Voice Search Analytics Influences a Business’ Content Strategies

User intent isn’t the only part of voice search analytics that impacts a business’ content. Learning to rank on Google with voice search and mobile search, as opposed to desktop search, is a different experience entirely. Businesses may rank well on a computer but fall short on other searches for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the site is too slow to load or appears unfriendly on mobile devices.

Above is a screenshot from Google Search Console showing mobile traffic for specific queries over a seven-day period. While you can’t see the bounce rate or exit rate like you can in Google Analytics, you can see specific mobile traffic in relation to search queries. To understand and optimize content, it’s important to dig into not only Google Analytics, but also the multiple other tools available that relate to the business, such as Google Search Console.

Roughly 22 percent of voice searches are built around local content. Therefore, it makes sense for businesses to build content strategies that highlight location more than ever before, especially on mobile devices. Having access to statistics on how users search for local businesses can help businesses tailor their plan to accurately target nearby customers.

Additionally, voice search analytics can help businesses employ specific phrases that are commonly used by searchers. The more it can incorporate popular wording into their content, the more likely the business is to obtain customers via voice searches.

Let Analytics and Tools Guide Your Local SEO Strategies

Although some SEO tactics have held up throughout the increasing popularity of voice search, there are a handful of methods that specifically target voice search results. For instance, many businesses are now placing more emphasis on location due to the rise in “near me” phraseology in searches.

Furthermore, we’ve come to learn that 80 percent of Google Home results come from featured snippets. This information has encouraged more businesses to answer questions in a concise, detailed manner so that the content might be picked up in a featured snippet. Understanding more about how voice assistants select their highlighted answers can only improve businesses’ SEO strategies, especially as voice search becomes a more common method of looking things up online.

Using SEMRush, a business can identify which phrases have made the featured snippet. Here’s a screenshot showing how to apply that filter.

As we said before, a large chunk of voice searches are built around local queries. Of the voice searchers surveyed in this 2018 BrightLocal study, roughly 46 percent said they search local businesses’ information on a daily basis. Considering that the use of voice search is steadily increasing, it’s safe to say that local businesses need to be on top of the latest trends and tools in the field.

Why #VoiceSearch #Analytics Is Gold in the Hands of Businesses by @BernieColeman #SEO
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To Sum It All Up

At Advice Local, we’ve been doing our best to research and understand voice search so that we can help local businesses optimize for the coming changes. Voice search analytics play a huge role in our development of SEO strategies and content plans. We’re continually trying to gain more insight into how voice searchers behave and what they want from businesses.

To find out if your business’ listings and website are optimized for voice search, schedule a demo with us today!

The post Why Voice Search Analytics Is Gold in the Hands of Businesses appeared first on Advice Local.

With fake news littering the internet and scams happening left and right, many consumers feel they don’t know who to trust. They want to rely on small local businesses, but how can they feel safe with a company most people don’t know about? How can they know they’re spending their money with a reputable business?

According to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer, only 48 percent of the general population trusts businesses. That means that for every two potential customers a business has, it’s likely that only one trusts the company. It’s up to companies to change that with smart marketing techniques, content production and local SEO tactics.

The Importance of Trust for a Local Business

Fortunately, 84 percent of consumers trust small businesses more than other kinds of businesses. Why? They like the customer service, convenience and ability to support local consumers. This makes it a bit easier for local companies to win over customers’ faith.

However, it still requires effort. People aren’t going to build a relationship with a business just because it’s from their local area. They need reasons to trust and hand over their money to a small company.

How Businesses Can Build Trust

Today we want to share with you some of the top ways in which local businesses can establish trust with their customers. Some of them can apply to large corporations as well, but most are specific to small companies that want to reach local customers.

1. Get Active Within the Community and Online

There are few marketing strategies that are as powerful as word-of-mouth, especially when it comes to local businesses. Get involved in local events and festivals. Market with other small businesses and establish a real presence with the people. You need people to start talking about the business and what it has to offer.

When it comes to the internet, the best thing a local business can do is manage its online directory listings. People need to be able to find the business online, regardless of where they first heard about it. Google My Business (GMB), Yelp and Bing Places are some of the top local pages to get on ASAP. There, local businesses can list their name, address and phone number (NAP) data and other valuable business details.

Another way to get active with the community via the internet is to optimize the business’ social media platforms. Are they filled out with accurate information? Can people easily find the business’ Facebook page or Twitter account? Becoming more active on social media will boost the local business’ online presence, while building links to the business’ website, which improves trust among search engines as well as consumers.

2. Boost Communication With Customers

No matter what industry a company is in, emphasizing positive communication with customers is a key step to achieving long-term success. Whether the business representatives are responding to a phone call or speaking with a customer in-store, the more they communicate, the better. According to PWC, 71 percent of Americans would rather interact with a human than a chatbot – make sure their interactions are pleasant.

Communication isn’t just about specific conversations, though. It’s also about conveying to the community what the business has to offer. Clarify the specifics of the business, its history and how it makes a positive impact in the local area and their industry. Ask yourself this question: What value does the business offer to customers that the competition doesn’t? Then, communicate the answer online, offline and throughout the business’ marketing and branding efforts.

Google knows just how important it is for local businesses to communicate with their customers or potential clients. That’s why they included the Messages feature on their GMB mobile app. Now it’s easier than ever for local businesses to reply to inquiries and have an open line of communication with consumers right from their phones. Here’s how to use the messaging feature and other items available through the GMB mobile app, such as responding to reviews.

The Messages feature is only available for local businesses that have a claimed listing on Google My Business – just another reason why local listings are so important for local businesses.

3. Make Customers Feel Safe

Shopping online is a risky business nowadays with increasing cyberattacks and a lack of foolproof security on many sites. When a consumer visits a new site, they need to feel like the business behind it is reliable. Spam emails, confusing checkout processes and slow-loading pages can be concerning.

Even if a business is not exclusively online, there are ways in which they can make customers feel safe – like adding a SSL certificate to their site, for example. A HTTPS address not only adds a level of trust for consumers, but also for Google. The search engine ranks sites with secure domains higher than those without. Take every step possible to ensure that consumers feel safe while exploring the business’ services and profiles online. Here’s more on why a business’ website needs to have a HTTPS address.

4. Encourage and Respond to Reviews

We’ve been telling people for years that reviews matter for more than just that gold star rating everyone aspires to obtain. According to BrightLocal’s research in 2018, 86 percent of consumers read reviews for local businesses. The average consumer readers about 10 online reviews before they feel they can trust a business, and most people between the ages of 18 and 34 trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Not only do businesses need to establish a positive presence on popular review sites, but they also need to respond to reviews in a timely matter, regardless of whether they’re good or bad. Roughly 89 percent of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews, according to BrightLocal, which means it’s yet another opportunity for businesses to impress consumers and gain their trust. Here are some tips on how to respond to reviews.

5. Make the Brand Personal and Local

Regardless of their industries, businesses can always make themselves more relevant to their target audience. For instance, a local auto shop can pay attention to the weather and offer services that are specifically useful to people nearby. Local clothing stores can advertise for particular events and restaurants can offer residents special discounts. Partnering with other local businesses is a win-win situation and can have some other positive side effects, too.

The important thing is to create a local presence that makes the business stand out – but not at the sake of losing its authenticity. Develop a personality that appeals to the people without coming across as boastful or overly advertorial. Lots of times, it helps to put a real face to the business. Get the owners and team members out there with the community to breathe life into the business’ name and logo.

In a world full of technology, 59 percent of the people surveyed by PWC said they feel companies have lost touch with the human element. Local businesses can benefit immensely by presenting an authentic, relatable front to the people.

Five Sure-Fire Ways Local Businesses Can Build Trust With Consumers by @Advice_Local #SEO
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How Advice Local Can Help Local Businesses Gain Consumers’ Trust

You know what can really break people’s trust in a brand? A lack of presence online or incorrect information on directories. That’s where we come in – listing management is our thing!

At Advice Local, partners choose us to help them manage the local business listings of their clients on many different platforms. Request a demo today to see how we do it and why our partners love us!

The post Five Sure-Fire Ways Local Businesses Can Build Trust With Consumers appeared first on Advice Local.

The days of competing with local businesses via storefront window displays and newspaper ads are long gone. Sure, traditional methods of advertising still hold value, but it’s pretty much impossible for any business to survive without online visibility – particularly a local business. It’s just the way of the world nowadays.

Without an optimized presence online, local businesses will struggle to stay relevant and appeal to local customers. In fact, a company’s online visibility (and presence on search engines) can make or break it. Here’s why.

Online Visibility Draws in Potential Customers and Profit

Shockingly, about a third (36 percent) of small businesses still don’t even have a website. This makes it incredibly difficult for customers to find the business through anything other than word of mouth or traditional advertising. Considering that most customers expect local businesses to have some sort of website, this is a risky move that can decrease a business’ appeal to future clients.

Additionally, according to Bazaarvoice, 82 percent of smartphone users consult their phones on purchases they are about to make in-store. If a local company doesn’t have a website, or a presence with review sites like Yelp, Google or Bing, where will people find them?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many local businesses fail within their first year (20 percent). Another 50 percent will go under within five years, and roughly 80 percent fail within the first decade. It’s not easy for small companies to survive in today’s world, and finding new customers is a big part of that battle. Why not make it easier for people to find the business online? People don’t just rely on family and friends’ recommendations anymore; they do research and make decisions based on what they find online.

Getting a business listed in the most popular directories and data sources is the place to start. This list of the best directories can help with that. Companies like ours can help, too! Request a demo to see how local businesses benefit from our services.

Without Online Visibility, Where’s the Business’ Credibility?

Fake news and online scammers have left many consumers hesitant to trust businesses, even if they’re run by their next door neighbors. Local companies must first earn their customers’ trust before they can expect to turn a profit or be referred to future clients. How? They need to prove that the business is real, authentic and reliable.

Everyone researches companies before making a decision. When people research local businesses, they need to see that the companies are transparent and professional. Consumers should be able to find records of healthy interactions with customers and reviews from happy clients. It’s also positive if the local business has a visible relationship with the community. People love to see that small companies donate to charities, help out with events, or simply acknowledge local happenings and holidays.

Another source of credibility is original content. Blogs, interviews, videos, infographics and email newsletters can all help local businesses establish their place as an expert in their respective field. This boosts their authority and online presence while also gaining potential customers’ trust, all while improving the business’ place in search results.

Interacting With Customers Online Is Vital

One of the big reasons people love working with local businesses is that they’re more personable than big corporations. Instead of interacting with a chatbot or outsourced customer service representative, consumers can hear from the actual business and its employees. The company’s online presence can highlight this and win more customers who appreciate the personal aspect of business.

Obviously, social media facilitates a great deal of consumer-company interactions. That’s a smart start for local businesses, but don’t stop there. Reviews (and the local business’ reactions to them) can be extremely defining in the eyes of future customers. According to BrightLocal, at least 93 percent of consumers use reviews to determine if a local business is good or bad. Furthermore, 89 percent of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews.

If a local business lacks an online presence, how will potential customers conduct research? Where will they find reviews that tell them whether or not to trust the company? In all honesty, we wouldn’t trust a company that’s invisible online. Would you?

The Risks That Come With Online Activity – And How to Handle Them

Many local businesses fear exposing themselves to the internet. They see how powerful a negative review or social media disaster can be, and they figure they’re safer sticking to their old methods of customer interaction and advertising. Unfortunately, that train of thought will lead a small company to disaster in most cases.

In fact, most businesses are visible, whether they realize it or not. Their data is listed in government databases and these databases are accessed by other data sources such as directories. The sources list the business’ data on their websites, so whether the business is paying attention or sticking their head in the ground, they are most likely listed and simply not managing their data or reviews. Run our free online visibility report and find out about a business for yourself today.

It’s important to keep in mind that negative reviews offer businesses the chance to respond in a positive manner. Even if the review was unfair, people will appreciate an apology and a gesture of professionalism on the part of the business. Similarly, negative press via social media can be handled in a manner that actually improves customers’ view of the business. Customer service is extremely important to consumers, so don’t be afraid to showcase how the business handles problems in a public manner.

Another risk is the threat of online hackers and spammers. The local business should protect their website so that customers feel safe sharing private information or making purchases. Secure the website and indicate to users that it’s safe. Consider adding a third-party trustmark that indicates the website poses no threats. Roughly 84 percent of consumers have greater confidence in trustmarks they know and recognize.

The Ins and Outs of Online #Visibility for Local Businesses by @Advice_Local #SEO
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How Advice Local Can Help With Online Visibility

Consumers need to be able to find local businesses online in an instant. Without a strong online presence, a local company might as well be handing out paper flyers to an audience with their faces stuck in their phones and headphones in their ears. Very few people will find or trust the business, no matter how authentic it may be.

At Advice Local, we recognize the importance of establishing a credible online presence from the get-go, especially when it comes to small companies. That’s why we offer a free online visibility report! Local businesses can see just how easily potential customers can find them. Contact us today to schedule a demo.

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