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Is Your Business Listed in Online Directories for Business?

Do you have a small business?  Have you claimed your business online?  If not, you are missing out on a potentially huge online marketing strategy!  The best part is, most online directories have a free listing option.  What are you waiting for?

Online directories for business are a great place to start building your online marketing presence

Online Directories can be a great way to start getting your business noticed.  Most likely you have heard of the larger players out there like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yellow Pages, etc.   They all have online directories available on your computer, mobile phone, tablet and even vehicle GPS systems.

Did you know most online directories for business have free listing options?

Yes! Most online directories do offer free listings.  These typically include your business name, address, phone number, a brief description of your goods/services, and can include a limited number of images.

What about paid online listing options?

Most online directories do have different tiers of paid advertising and promotion.  The inclusions can range from the ability to add a longer description, upload a menu, add more images, link to your website, offer exclusive deals through the directory, etc.  The added features range depending on the specific directory.  It’s a good idea to contact one of their customer service reps to see the best plan for your business.

What is a good place to start?

A great place to start would be… Google!  Google is the number one ranked search engine in the world.  Followed by Bing and Yahoo.  These would be great places to start claiming your business and building your listings.

Claiming Your Business

If you’ve been in business a while, chances are your business has already been populated by one of these search engines.  Once you find your listing, the next step is to claim it.  Once claimed and confirmed, you will be able to edit and update your listing to better reflect your business and start driving traffic towards you and your website.

If you would like help claiming your business online or just growing your online presence in general, I invite you to contact me by telephone or email, or through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  I look forward to helping you help our community!

Until next time,

Deanna

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Is Social Media Better than a Website for Online Marketing?

If you’re asking this question, than I applaud you for trying to understand the difference between the two online marketing tools.  Each online strategy serves a different purpose in your online marketing campaign.

Pros and Cons of a Website

Pros:

  • A website contains all the facts of your business. The main menu provides easy and quick access.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Each page of a website has keywords which, when formatted properly, increase your SEO and your ranking on major search engines like Google and Bing, making it easier for people to find you online.

Cons:

  • A website is cold. As much as it may look nice, it doesn’t really have a personality; just the cold hard facts.
  • While it’s good to keep it updated, you simply can’t change the basic facts that often.

Pros and Cons of Social Media

Pros:

  • Let your personality shine! A proper social media presence builds a rapport with fans and followers, and lets shows the warmth of the business.
  • You can post as much as your heart desires! You can send out a range of posts from Community involvement, to inspirational/humorous quotes, and pictures of the daily goings-on at your business.

Cons:

  • Events and Information gets lost in the chronologically ordered timeline. Potential customers won’t spend hours, even minutes, scrolling through to try to find out if you’re open on the Holiday Monday.  A website has that information more readily accessible.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t really apply to social media streams. Having these accounts active minimally impacts your SEO. The only real way to increase SEO organically is through a properly formatted website and blogging.

What is better? 

Having both an active social media presence and an up-to-date website representing your business is the best online marketing strategy.  The two work hand in hand to help you get found online, interact with fans and followers and provide the information necessary for those potential customers to reach you.

As a social media marketing specialist, I highly recommend you keep both your website and social media as updated as possible.  There are many ways to streamline content from one to the other.  I would love to discuss the options that will have the best return on investment for your business.

If you are looking for help building your online presence and awareness through social media marketing, I invite you to contact me by telephone or email, or through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  I look forward to helping you help our community!

Until next time,

Deanna

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How to Get Found Online: Establish a Target Market

Business man drawing target with chalk

Part 1: Establish a Target Market, and Stick to It.

We sometimes don’t stop to appreciate the seeming simplicity of online search engines. Have a question?  Just type it into Google, Bing, or Yahoo and you’re rewarded with thousands of answers from sources around the world.  But how do you get found online? As a small business owner, you need to think about the questions your prospective clients will be asking these Search Engines that will lead them to your business.  In this 3 blog series, I will be giving away some tips that will help you increase your SEO, and in turn help you find the people that are trying to find you online! Read more

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