One of the most practical ways to grow your business is to get your business online … and make sure it gets found.
Did you know that :-
1. Approximately 97% of consumers look for local businesses online.
2. Nearly 20–40% of all searches on Google are local.
3. Almost 40% of consumers say they will not buy a product or service if they can’t find the right information about the same online.
4. Nearly 69% of mobile searchers are looking for a product or service within 5 Miles of their current location.
If these consumers do not find your business online, they’ll certainly find your competitors.
Ensuring that you have an online presence through website and get listed at various services and directory is the best way to get found.
This can be done easily by following these three steps.
1. Have a practical website.
You do not require an expensive or custom-built website. You website just needs to be useful, practical and search engine optimized.
Here is a simple check list to make sure your website is practical.
The main information that consumers want are contact information, summary of the products or services you provide and their pricing, your contact information and reviews and ratings from your existing customers. Since many consumers use mobile devices now a days to find local businesses , you should also ascertain that your website is optimized for smaller, mobile screens also.
You should always include:
a. Your business story in text, photo or video - the main points in a business story are :
1.telling the reader what you do,
2.what problem you solve,
3. how your products or services are different and,
4. What advantages the customer will have by doing business with you.
b. Pricing information -Revealing pricing is a good way to attract customers. You can provide actual prices for your products or services or you can simply indicate about the pricing advantages that your customers will have.
c. Contact information -Depending on your type of business you have various options for your customers to contact you by phone, your location, or online through contact form or email. You must have a link to your contact information by including it on every page of your website. You may also include maps or driving directions and picture of your store front.
d. Reviews and recommendations from your customers -Try to put recommendations from your customers on your website by including written quotes. You may request your customers to add a review or recommendation on other directories or local search sites. Reviews and ratings are your best friend and the best online form of word of mouth marketing.
2. Add proper content.
Including important information about your business, its products and services to both, your website and your business listings. This will help consumers pick and choose to do business with you. Great content is also part of a smart Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan.
3. Local visibility.
Local is in vogue. Users not only want content that is related to their areas of interest but seek information that is local and swiftly accessible. Having your business listed in the local ONLINE BUSINESS directories is equally important for it to get desired visibility. There are lots of other places consumers look to find your business including Google maps, Yelp and many more. You may have an accurate listing set up in these places as well.
These simple steps can ensure your business is online, and gets found.
Get visibility with business listings
Your business name, address, phone number and your products and services must be published in business directories.
These directories can be either online or offline. Consumers find business listings by using search engines or searching directly in the publishers’ directories.
When a consumer uses a search engine to find a business type (like a Dentist) located within a specific area (a city and/or a locality), the search engine often returns both business listings and web listings in the results. The business listings often rank higher than the web listings.
When a consumer uses a local search site, a vertical directory or a review site (like Yelp), the publisher shows business listings, which normally include information about your business, its website, photos, hours of operation, ratings and reviews, offers and more. Some online publishers allow consumers to add reviews and ratings or comments to the business listings.
Many publishers allow businesses to add business listings for free. They also allow you to claim an existing business listing and add more information such as a link to your website or your hours of operation.
You must keep your website and listings accurate and consistent and must avoid frustrating your customers with inaccurate information that could actually hurt your business and its success.
What makes us unique and how USA Online Network can help you achieve you the most of these requisites in one go:-
While there are many providers, who allow you to create free or paid websites through the website builders none of them provide you many of the services that the USA Online Network provides you. Some of these are:
1. We have created a unique interface for the first time that allows you to create and manage your website and business listing in one go through a simple interface.
2. While you create your website – your business listing is also created simultaneously on your city /town portal which is part of the USA Online Network.
3. The interlinked network of nearly 800 main sites and 18000 subsites will make your business visible to the entire USA in one go through our search facility.
4. Your business gets automatically and directly associated with a local City/town site and this creates an enormous advantage from local search and SEO point of view.
5. You will have many unique facilities (that no one else offers) by creating your website and business listing on the USA Online Network.
6. An integrated contact form on the site.
7. SEO and Mobile friendly features.
8. An integrated CRM for managing your customer’s information for your future use.
9. An integrated Google map for your business’s location.
10. Integrated Reviews and Rating tool for your customers.
11. Facility of posting you jobs openings on your website and your local city/town site in one go without additional charges.
12. Posting of your current promotional offers on your website and the local city/town portal through the same interface.
13. Post free/premium classified ads about your other promotional and business requirements through same interface.
14. Excellent features and very low pricing.
15. Benefit of ongoing product enhancements.
