7 Ways To Expand Your Business Through Digital Marketing

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of aligning the various elements of your site (tags, content, data, information, links, etc.) with the best practices of search engines, so that you can rank as high as possible in search engine results. 2. SEM (Search Engine Marketing): The process of implementing search and display campaigns on advertising platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads, with the aim of creating relevant traffic and awareness for your brand and website. 3. Social Media Marketing: The process of marketing your brand and website on social channels to create awareness, loyalty, retention, traffic and conversions. o Most common social channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. 4. Email Marketing: The process of collecting email subscribers, then creating and sending email campaigns intended to grow brand awareness and sell more products and services, or otherwise convert subscribers such as encouraging event sign ups, content downloads, etc. o Common email marketing platforms: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, GetResponse, SendinBlue (this is a highly saturated market, and there are many to choose from) 5. Content Marketing: The process of creating and sharing videos, articles, images and other forms of digital content. 6. Local Marketing: The process of marketing your product or service to specific geographical locations or neighborhoods. 7. Landing Page Marketing: The process of creating highly targeted landing pages and directing traffic to said pages based on a set of predetermined criteria. The main goal of these pages is to get visitors to stay longer on your site and convert (buy, signup, etc.) ○ Landing page marketing is also known as CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization.

Local SEO Archives - Riman Agency

So many businesses are slowly focusing on the digital aspect of their business, recognizing the opportunities that come with having a strong online presence. Big or small, digital marketing can have a big impact on your business if executed correctly, which is why I am here to help. Fundamentally, there’s a lot more to Digital Marketing than just search, in fact, Digital marketing is an ever-evolving mix of different digital channels that you can use to promote and drive value to your business. While most people think of SEO and SEM when it comes to digital marketing, and while yes, they are a big part of it, there are also other crucial channels to look at when trying to optimize and prepare your business to excel in the online world.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of aligning the various elements of your site (tags, content, data, information, links, etc.) with the best practices of search engines, so that you can rank as high as possible in search engine results.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing): The process of implementing search and display campaigns on advertising platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads, with the aim of creating relevant traffic and awareness for your brand and website.
Social Media Marketing: The process of marketing your brand and website on social channels to create awareness, loyalty, retention, traffic and conversions.
- Most common social channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
Email Marketing: The process of collecting email subscribers, then creating and sending email campaigns intended to grow brand awareness and sell more products and services, or otherwise convert subscribers such as encouraging event sign-ups, content downloads, etc.
- Common email marketing platforms: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, GetResponse, SendinBlue (this is a highly saturated market, and there are many to choose from)
Content Marketing: The process of creating and sharing videos, articles, images and other forms of digital content.
Local Marketing: The process of marketing your product or service to specific geographical locations or neighbourhoods.
Landing Page Marketing: The process of creating highly targeted landing pages and directing traffic to said pages based on a set of predetermined criteria. The main goal of these pages is to get visitors to stay longer on your site and convert (buy, signup, etc.)
- Landing page marketing is also known as CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization.

While these are not the only ways to grow your business online, they are a gold standard that should be practiced with every business. The channels help build a foundation for your business to not only survive online but to thrive in it and sail the waters efficiently.

5 Local Business Listings Best Practices.

8 years into my journey as a digital marketer, I have developed a habit of assessing the local listings of any place I show up to.

Every time I go to a restaurant, coffee shop or retail store in a rural area, I do an assessment of the business’s local listings. I make it my mission to help out, as my drive to be a supportive digital marketer kick in.

What has become apparent in recent years is that, no matter how small the community, online local listings and local business strength are increasingly important. Even your neighbour is pulling up listings on their smartphone and that is impacting their purchasing decisions. Yes, even if your business is right next door.

In going from place to place, assessing listings as I go, I have noticed several trends in how businesses handle (or don’t handle) their local listings.

Here are 5 of my top observations, and what you can do about them:

1. Google is not everything

As important as your Google listing is, you will still have considerable traffic coming from other listings and search engines.

Here are the top traffic drivers that you should be aware of:

Google My Business – https://www.google.com/business/
Bing Places – https://www.bingplaces.com
Yelp – https://biz.yelp.com
Yellow Pages – http://m1.adsolutions.yp.com/free-listing-basic-benefits
FourSquare – http://business.foursquare.com
Whitepages – https://www.whitepages.com

These services are all free and can potentially drive significant traffic. If you have not properly set up your listings on these services, it would be in your best interests to do so or find someone (like a digital marketer) who can do it for you.

2.Make sure your listings are complete

What constitutes a complete listing is different from one platform to another. Yet, there are some basic elements that should be included in each and every listing, across all platforms:

Name
Tagline
Description
Address
Phone
Site URL
Hours of operation
Categories
Photos and videos

Then there are a few “nice to have” elements:

Alternate phone numbers
Social channels
Payment methods accepted

Make sure all your listings are as complete as possible.

3. Make sure your listings are consistent (down to the letter!)

The key to successful local SEO (search engine optimization) is consistency. Accurate and consistent information across all your listings will improve your SEO reputation, which is an important factor in how well you rank in search results.

For example, Google has a measurement index called “listing accuracy”. This index relies on the consistency of your information across these listings.

Do an audit of your online listings, including everywhere in your own website and/or blog that lists such information. Ensure all information is consistent, down to the letter, with your current business status.

4. Avoid duplicate listings

Having more than one listing with different information is a red flag to Google and other search engines that your data is not accurate.

Also, since search engines pull information from many different sources, duplicate listings will dilute your ranking position (i.e. you may rank lower in search results pages).

Did you or someone in your business accidentally submit two listings to Yellow Pages, for example? Make sure there is only one and that it has accurate and consistent information.

5. Search Console

There is nothing more discrediting than seeing a local listing with 10 reviews, all of them 5/5 and all of them left by people with the same family name. It’s nice to have a supportive family, but it’s important to get impartial, authentic reviews as well.

When in the pursuit of reviews, make sure that you are inviting your actual clients to leave reviews and not just family members. This authenticity really does matter to potential clients or customers.

Also, make sure that you are UpToDate! If you change your business hours, your location, storefront, phone number or any other essential details, make sure to update your listings as well.

Takeaway

Local listings are used to ensure that your visitors find your business. View this as a positive thing and use it to your advantage.

Drive value in the best possible ways by providing relevant, up to date and consistent information about your business.

For local businesses to thrive, online marketing is a must. Searching online is now the number one way people find the products, services and businesses they’re looking for. You need to make sure they’re finding you and getting the most relevant information when they do.

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