What’s the first thing you do before shopping at a new business? If you’re like most people, you probably Google them – and that’s exactly why your business needs to show up in search results.
Showing up in search results makes you credible and increases your visibility. But how can you make sure that customers actually find your business amongst the others in your industry and in your area?
How to Get Noticed
Your website is up and running. It looks great, and it’s got all the information that customers should know. But how can you make sure it gets noticed?
Use Target Keywords
Your website could be the most gorgeous page in the world, but Google won’t care unless it includes relevant keywords. Your on-page SEO is crucial for your ranking in a Google search!
Make Crawling Easy
Google “crawls” the web to add new pages to its index and update existing pages. The easier you make it for Google to learn information from your pages, the quicker it can add you to its index – and, therefore, show your results in searches.
To make crawling easier, insert keywords (in a natural manner; we don’t recommend keyword-stuffing), internally link your website’s pages, and run a technical SEO audit.
Build More Pages
One of the best ways to be seen on search is by creating more website pages, and the most useful way to use those pages is by starting a blog.
Starting a blog can increase your organic reach – but not only that, a blog also provides useful information to your customers and positions you as a voice of authority in your industry. As more and more people start to see your blog as a helpful tool, Google will take notice and prioritize your site.
Get Verified
We talked about Google crawling your pages and how to make that task easier for them. But what streamlines the process even more is claiming your business and getting verified.
All you need to do is create a Google My Business account, find your business on Google Maps, then claim your business through Google Maps. Google will then send you a code in the mail which you’ll enter into your Google My Business profile. After claiming your business, you’ll be verified by Google and have the opportunity to optimize your Google My Business page to gain more eyes and more traffic (online and in-person).
Create Quality Content
Something else important that Google looks at: how long people stay on your website before clicking away. To get them to stay, you need to create and write quality content that grabs their attention and keeps it.
To make this happen, you can answer common questions, dive deep into topics related to your business, provide intriguing images and videos, and create an all-around pleasing experience for your audience. You’ll never regret focusing on quality instead of quantity; quality is sustainable and always favored in the “eyes” of Google.
Post on Social Media
Use social media to your advantage! Stay active on your accounts and remember, it’s called social media – don’t use it simply to promote yourself. Use it to engage with and connect to your audience. Less than 20% of your posts should promote your business; use the other 80% to ask interesting questions, post advice/tips, and start conversations with your following.
Remember: social media is great, but it can’t hold the entire weight of your online presence on its shoulders. To gain credibility with your audience and solidify your position as a leader, you need a website as well.
Think of it like this: social media is what attracts your customers to you, and your website is the place where you demonstrate what you have to offer.
Keep Your Page Updated
If you Googled a store’s hours and saw that they’re open, only to drive all the way there to find them closed, you’d probably be pretty annoyed. That’s exactly what you don’t want your customers to experience. Keeping your Google My Business Page updated with current information like hours (including holiday hours), your address, contact information, reviews, and more not only optimizes the experience for your customers, but ranks you higher in Google’s book as well.
There are other websites where it may be important for your business listing to appear as well, such as Yelp or YP.com.
Keeping all of this information updated may sound like a chore. And, if you run multiple locations, it can be very time-consuming, but that doesn’t make it any less important of a task. Here’s some good news: FDS Local, a behind-the-scenes program that we offer, takes care of all the details for you.
We glean relevant information about your pages and you can sit back and relax, enjoying the peace of mind that your business listings across the internet are updated without you having to lift a finger. Our team at Federated Digital Solutions, along with a trained AI program, makes sure that your information is updated and accurate across the internet.
Have You Googled Yourself Lately?
Take a few minutes and Google your business, preferably in an incognito tab so the browser isn’t aware that you’re the owner. How do you feel about where you place in the results?
If you aren’t satisfied, we can help. Get in touch with our team at Federated Media to learn more about improving your placement in search results today!
