In a small business it can be a challenge to keep up with the latest trends when it comes to marketing online as there are so many moving parts. In truth, many businesses do market online and use social media but most do it when they have time to fit it in. Fitting it in doesn’t really work today and it should feature at the core of your marketing strategy.

The six areas that are focused upon in this book gives you a layered approach to market your business online 24/7. Using the snapshot report as the starting point the areas for attention can be seen very clearly. Using a diagnostic approach instead of guesswork means that results can be seen quicker as a result of the actions that are taken.

What is a Snapshot Report?

A Snapshot Report is an automated needs assessment report that scans the web for a business’s information, reporting how they stack up in various online directories. The insights provide a place to start by highlighting gaps currently in your online presence and we then propose solutions to address those needs.

I hope that this book along with the snapshot report helps you to look at the wider picture of online marketing for you and your business.

Why listings are important?

Customers are relying on the internet more than ever to find local businesses, which is why it’s important that your business listings are present and accurate. If your business information is missing or incorrect, it can result in unhappy customers, lost revenue, and a drop in online search rankings.

With over 81% of consumers performing an online search before making a purchase decision, and up to 88% of local, mobile searches resulting in a store visit within 24 hours, it’s imperative that your business listings are up to date and accurate.

The problem is, creating and maintaining these listings everywhere the business is referenced can take countless hours of manual updates. To add further complications, some of these listings could be changed by third parties or competitors!

That’s where we can help! With our listing solution, we can ensure that your business information across the internet is found, accurate, and protected. By making sure that customers can find you online, you’ll be able to focus on what really matters, growing your business.

What is Snapshot Report?

A Snapshot Report is an automated needs assessment report that scans the web for a business’s information, reporting how they stack up in various online directories. The insights provide a place to start by highlighting gaps currently in your online presence and we then propose solutions to address those needs.

Analysing your Listings

The listing section of Snapshot Report shows aggregated data from various online directories to show:

• Number of listings
• Accuracy of listings
• Missing sites
• Local businesses need accurate listings on many online directories to ensure that customers can find them on the web.
• Put your business on the map with an abundance of accurate listings.

Listing Presence

A strong listing presence improves your business search ranking and makes it more discoverable. Without online listings, your business could lose customers to competitors.

1. Have you considered your customers buying journey?

Chances are, they would do a search on their phone’s browser to research local places.

"What steps would you take if you wanted to find a good, local, and inexpensive restaurant for dinner tonight?"

2. What would happen if your business couldn’t be found or had inaccurate information?

Whether it’s through an online directory or through Google, the listings flow through everything on the internet and affect all parts of the journey.

“How would it affect you if your customers couldn’t find you online or if they found the wrong information about your business?”

3. See the Listing section of the Snapshot Report

If the listing score is low, every minute is a lost opportunity to the business and correcting the missing or inaccurate business information is urgent.

“Based on these scores, you may be displaying inaccurate information or not showing up at all. This could allow your competition to steal potential business right out from under you. Do you think it’s valuable for your business to show wherever customers are looking?

If the listing score is high, then it’s important to keep it that way so the focus is on maintaining and protecting the business information.

“Based on these scores, it appears that your information is appearing correctly, which is great! But consider what could happen if any of your business information happens to change? It would take considerable time to update all the listing sources you’re found on. Would it be valuable to be able to monitor that information to ensure it’s protected and have the ability to quickly and easily update it?

Final Considerations

Listings are the foundation for a business to succeed in today’s online world, and it is critical to have the key information accessible and accurate. With incorrect information showing, new customers may become frustrated and the client could lose them to the competition. Not only will correct information allow the business to be found online, but those listings will also flow through the digital ecosystem and help everything from their SEO and website to reviews and digital advertising.

Focus on the importance of these key metrics:

• Listing Presence
• Listing Accuracy
• Data Provider Accuracy

From the Snapshot Report, you can see how improving your available listings, will help improve the digital presence of the business and increase the chances of being found by prospective customers.

Why are reviews important for your local business?

Today, the reputation today of a business is more about what customers are saying and less about what the business says about themselves. Consumers are able to define a business by providing real-time feedback on review sites, social media, forums, and other channels. Whether it’s raving about a business or letting everyone know they had a terrible experience, these platforms have empowered customers more than ever when it comes to branding.

Consumer feedback is now an integral part of any businesses marketing, so it’s important that they stay proactive. But managing a successful online reputation may seem like a daunting task for a business owner. Monitoring their digital profile can include everything from responding to negative reviews, amplifying positive feedback, and creating an authentic online image.

Many businesses find that cultivating their digital profile on their own is too time-consuming, but that’s where we can help.

A strong review strategy can help your clients to not only see what’s being said about them online but allow them to maintain positive brand recognition among consumers. Maintaining an online presence is one of the most worthwhile investments a business owner can make, with products or services to help cut down on time expenditure, monitoring and responding to reviews, and amplifying positive feedback.

Analysing your Reviews

Snapshot Report aggregates data from various review sites to highlight:

• Number of reviews
• Recency of reviews
• Average score

Local businesses must continually collect fresh reviews and strive for 5–star ratings to establish trust and credibility.

1. Consider your own buying journey

How do you go about researching a potential product or service, what information would you consider and find important when, making a decision?

“What do you consider, when deciding on a business or service? Do you listen to the opinions of your friends and family when making that decision?”

2. Do you think that what’s been said about your business in the past, could affect potential customers

As technology continues to evolve and empower consumers, your business needs to understand the importance of its online reputation. Reviews can have a massive impact on the success of a business, positive reviews can easily bring in more customers while negative reviews can potentially cause irreparable damage to the reputation.

Monitoring reviews and utilising positive feedback have become a priority for business owners, and you need to ensure that your business makes it a part of the marketing strategy. With a strong review plan, your business will be able to utilise online feedback in a positive way.

“In today’s online world, customers are talking about your business. Do you know if what they’re saying about you is positive or negative? Are you responding to those customer reviews? Not responding can be worse than having a phone line that goes unanswered because there are thousands of people witnessing the neglect.”

3. See the Review section of the Snapshot Report

Reviews can be quite sensitive but it’s important to help them see how you measure up when it comes to an online reputation. If the score is low, we have solutions that will allow you to locate those negative reviews and find more ways to start collecting more positive reviews.

“You currently have a low score when it comes to your online reputation. Customers are leaving negative reviews about your business do you want to know where those reviews are coming from?

We can also help by not only managing that negative feedback, but by bringing in more positive reviews, would that be valuable to you?”

If the score is high, then that’s great news as customers are leaving generally positive reviews about the business. That doesn’t mean you shouldn't monitor the reviews to ensure the business’s reputation remains positive. It can also be helpful to amplify that positive sentiment and have it reach an even wider audience.

“Based on this score, you appear to have a positive online reputation which is great! What if I can offer you something to help you to monitor those reviews and ensure they remain positive? I can also help amplify that positivity to even more potential customers, would that be helpful?”

Final Considerations

What consumers are saying online matters. A Harvard Business School study found that a restaurant that sees a one-star increase on Yelp will see revenues increase anywhere from five to nine percent. Along with a study showing that 72% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, a huge shift in thinking has happened that’s become more pronounced year over year 2020 will be pivotal.

As consumers put their money where their trust is, having a good online reputation is essentially being transferred into revenue. It’s said that, trust is hard to earn but easy to lose, and it’s important that you nurture the businesses reputation to ensure that it remains positive. Create a strong online reputation strategy by monitoring review sites, responding to customers, and cultivating an increasingly positive reputation.

Using the Snapshot Report metrics as a starting point we can create a tailored review solution, that will help to manage and grow the online reputation of any business.

Why do local businesses need Social?

More business owners now realise that social media has completely changed the modern buying process and that consumers are using a variety of channels to research services and products online. Consumers are relying on social media more than ever to assess their options and to qualify the goods and services they’re interested in without ever needing to set foot in a brick and mortar shop.

Let’s be clear here: every business needs to have a strong social media presence.

With a solid social strategy, your can build a loyal customer base while potentially accruing important insights into how the business is perceived online. But with multiple social media channels, it can be daunting and time-consuming to manage and update each platform. That’s where we can help! With a strong social strategy, we help your business engage with customers and increase their social presence.

Analysing your Social Media

The Social section of Snapshot Report investigates a business’s social media presence:

• Facebook: Likes, Average Posts/Month, Average Likes/Post, Average Shares/Post
• Twitter: Followers, Following, Tweets
• Instagram: Followers, Posts*

Social channels are a great way for you to grow the business fan base and turn online leads into raving customers. Every day, millions of consumers declare their buying intentions on social media. By keeping followers engaged it will help to grow the audience and build brand loyalty.

1. Consider the buying journey

How would go about researching a potential product or service, and what are the things to consider in the buying journey.

"What steps would you take if you wanted to find a good, local, and inexpensive restaurant for dinner tonight?"

2. Your customers spend time online where would your business come into play

If you have a high score, then you understand why there is a need to focus on social media. For those of you with a low score, this step will be integral in understanding the value of managing social presence.

Customers are spending more time than ever online and particularly with social media in. If you’re not engaging with those customers, there will most likely be a competing business that is and you could be losing potential revenue as those costumers become loyal to the competition.

“Your customers are online as we speak, engaging with a variety of brands and businesses. It’s important that your business is interacting with those customers on these social channels as it can help to build brand loyalty and position you ahead of the competition“.

3. See the Social section of the Snapshot Report

See the social section of Snapshot Report and see how you measure up when it comes to social presence. If the score is low, then your social voice is not being heard. Social media is important to consumers and the benefits that can come from having a loyal following of customers is tangible in revenue.

“You’re currently showing a low score when it comes to social presence. At this moment, your competitors could be engaging with your customers and building brand loyalty. Do you think it’s valuable to get ahead of that and offer consumers the opportunity to engage with your business online?”

If the listing score is high, then you obviously see the value in having a strong social presence. But we can still help!

“Based on your scores, it appears that you have a strong social media presence which is great! I can imagine that it can take time to create posts and monitor reviews, would it be valuable if I can help make that easier for you and give you more time to focus on running your business?”

Final Considerations

Social media is now an integral part of any business, and ensuring that it’s properly managed is something that every owner needs to prioritise. Customers continue to spend more time on a variety of social media platforms, with 3.48 billion social media users spending an average of 2 hours each day visiting those sites. As social media continues to evolve and grow, more businesses need to understand it’s importance and how it can potentially impact their business.

If you’re new to social media, we can create solutions that will help to build out a strong online presence and allow you to easily manage the growing audience. If you’re already doing a great job of managing the social channels, we can easily manage those platforms for you and free up valuable time.

Managing social takes time and we can help manage and grow the social presence of any business.

Why are websites important for local businesses?

Let’s face it - consumer attitudes are changing when it comes to shopping. In a world with Google, Yelp, Bing and Facebook, users have easy access to all the information they need before making a purchase decision. Walking into a store is no longer needed for a first impression, judgement has often been made online before taking one step.

Without a quality website that properly communicates the appropriate information, consumers are likely to dismiss that business and move on to a competitor. A business's website is their virtual storefront, and just like it was when customers walked down the high street, it needs to draw them in to check out what your offer and is and why they should do business with you.

Analysing your website

Snapshot Report leverages Google Page Speed Insights to assess your prospect’s website.

The Website section looks at:

• Mobile responsiveness
• Desktop load speed
• Homepage content

1. Have you considered the customers own buying journey

How would go about researching a potential product or service. What are the key steps in this part of the buying process when searching for a local business.

“When you’re considering the purchase of a product or service, how do you go about researching potential options?”

2. Visualise how your website is seen when found online

The website will most likely be a customer’s first impression of the business, so it needs to properly convey what they’re about and what they offer. Not only that, websites need to be mobile-responsive as consumers are using their phones more than ever.

With a low-quality website or no website at all, the business could be missing out on opportunities to gain new customers who are actively searching for what they offer.

“With consumers finding local businesses online before even stepping into a store, how do you feel your website is performing in converting online visitors into paying customers?”

3. See the Mobile section of the Snapshot Report

With consumers using mobile devices more than ever, your business must have a website that’s responsive to whatever screen it’s being viewed on. Not only will slow loading times result in fewer viewers, but many mobile users won’t even recommend a business if their website is poorly designed or unresponsive.

You can see how important it is to your customers to consider how mobile-friendly the website is. If the score is low, there are solutions that can help fix any issues that were found.

“The mobile responsiveness of your site currently has a low score. That means that when potential customers are looking up your website on their phone, it’s slow to load and doesn’t provide them with a quality experience. This could lead to missing out on revenue as those customers purchase from a competitor. Would it be helpful if I had a solution that could fix this for you?”

4. See the Desktop section of the Snapshot Report

Although mobile usage has grown considerably, desktop computers remain a popular platform for many consumers. A low score in this section shows that your businesses site is slow to load, which in turn doesn’t create a good user experience. We have a solution that can help fix this and can help gain new customers and keep you ahead of the competition.

“Based on your low score, it appears that your website is slow to load on desktop. Slow load times can create a negative user experience and could cause customers to dismiss your business. If I can help you speed up your website, would that help?”

5. See the Homepage section of the Snapshot Report

As your business website is often the first impression a consumer gets of their business, it’s important that the homepage clearly lays out vital information. If this score is low, that means that the homepage is missing crucial pieces and could be more effective. We have solutions that help to clean it up and add what’s missing.

“This low score is showing that your homepage is currently missing important information. If it’s left this way, customers will move on when they can’t find what they’re looking for and you could miss out on potential revenue. Would it help if I can fix that for you?”

Final Considerations

When it comes to having a website, it shouldn’t even be a question. Not having a website can be a major obstacle for growth and the business's success. The first step for many consumers is to conduct an online search, and if that business isn’t found then the customer will just move on to a competitor who is. The business has essentially lost that potential revenue.

That being said, it’s better to have no website than a poorly built website. A business's website is often the first impression a consumer gets. If the user experience is negative due to slow speeds, unresponsiveness, or missing information, it’ll lead to frustration and customers abandoning the website. This not only hurts the searchability of the website but simply makes the business look bad.

Why do local businesses need digital advertising?

You need to understand that customers are searching for your business services online. If customers can’t find the business, you are missing out on sales opportunities and pushing customers toward the competition.

Online advertising puts the business in front of targeted audiences in search engine results, social media feeds, and other relevant sites around the web. It’s vital to run targeted ad campaigns so that they can build brand awareness, drive traffic to their website, and get new customers. By making sure that people find their business first, they can stay ahead of their competition.

1. Have your prospect consider their own buying journey

How easy is it to find your business on search engines like Google and Bing? What is there to consider the in the buying journey? Chances are, you would do a search on the phone's browser to research local places.

"What steps would you take if you wanted to find a good, local, and inexpensive restaurant for dinner tonight?"

2. Consider the place of the business within that journey

With the buyer's journey in mind, you’ll want your business to begin thinking about the part it plays within that journey. Where can the business fit into that buying decision to catch more of that traffic?

“As a business owner, would it be valuable for your business to show up in searches when people use keywords related to the products and services you offer? People are more likely to engage with your ad since they are actively searching and ready to make a purchase. How much is it worth to get that one conversion from a qualified audience?”

3. See the Google Ads section of the Snapshot Report

Using the data in the Google Ads section of the report see how many people are searching for related keywords in your area. This number is an estimate of how many people are starting to conduct that search in the first step of their buyer's journey and represents how many people they could be appearing for right when a consumer wants to buy.

“This is how many people are searching for related keywords in your area. These people are looking for products and services like yours and are ready to buy—don't you want them to buy from you, rather than from your competitors?”

If consumers aren't buying with you, they are going to buy from your competition. Why not search for your own services/products using general keywords. Does your business show up? Or is the competition showing up?

4. Campaign Performance data

If the competition is already appearing on the search engine when consumers are ready to buy, they'll steal your business!

"This shows that you have left the door open. Your local competition is actively advertising to your potential audience and getting your business. Do you think it’s valuable for you to be known for your products and services in your area? Your competition may be a step ahead and stealing the business you could capture right out from under you."

5. The importance of retargeting and ongoing campaigning

Consumers don't always immediately buy right after visiting your website. They may be doing some research before they buy, which is why it's a great idea to include retargeting in the advertising strategy.

"What sort of website traffic do you receive on a monthly basis? Imagine the revenue they could drive if just another 5% of those visitors converted...that's where retargeting comes in!"

Communicate your message to audiences who have already considered your business and been on your site—this is the warmest possible audience to serve your message. As their browsing history indicates that they have looked at you before, use retargeting to drive them back when they are looking at your competition or on other sites in order to turn returning users into paying customers.

Final Considerations

When thinking of digital advertising solutions within your business, be sure to cover:

1. Budgeting—setting a budget of what you want to spend and what the business can afford.
2. Metrics—agree exactly how you can measure the success of the campaigns.
3. Targeting—how you can tailor ads to certain groups of people or certain areas in the city that yields the most promising ad performance.

The more money you invest to run ads, the wider the potential reach will be. Subsequently the more people that interact with the ads, the faster you can optimize or adjust campaigns towards audiences who are most likely to take the right action online. A larger budget means you can uncover these insights faster and therefore drive more conversions.

Why do local businesses need SEO?

Business owners must first understand that search engines have completely revolutionized the modern buying process and that consumers are searching for their business services online. Consumers are using search engines to assess their options and to qualify the goods and services they’re interested in without ever needing to set foot in a brick and mortar store. In fact, a recent study revealed that 81% of consumers will perform an online search before making a purchase decision.

Let’s set the record straight: every business needs to invest in SEO!

SEO is the work that goes into improving a website’s ranking in organic (unpaid) search results on search engines like Google and Bing. The goal with SEO is to rank on page one for the right keyword search phrases that are relevant to the business.

A solid SEO strategy involves keyword research, link building, reputation management, content creation, and more. However, most business owners don’t have the time, tools, or expertise needed to invest in an effective SEO strategy on their own. They need help!

With a strong SEO strategy, we can help your business get found online, increase engagement, increase their organic website traffic, and produce real customer conversions.

Analysing your SEO

The SEO section of Snapshot Report shows your how the SEO of the business stacks up compared to their competitors. It assesses SEO in two areas:

• Organic Keyword Performance - to compare the businesses keyword performance against their top competitors.
• Organic Keyword Ranking - to assess the top keywords that consumers are using to search for your prospect’s products or services.

The Snapshot Report for the business, on the platform will automatically scan their business website for the top keywords in our database as determined by Google. Based on these keywords, the report generates a list of top competitors (also determined by Google) to compare:

Keyword overlap

How similar your prospects are to their competitors, based on shared SEO keywords.

Why is this important? The more keywords that your prospects share with competitors, the more likely they’ll be fighting to rank on the same search queries.

Number of keywords

The number of keywords for which your prospects and their competitors will appear in the top 50 search results on Google.

Why is this important? This is the number of different routes that a potential customer can take using search queries to get to the products and services that are on your prospect’s website.

Your business should aim to have as many different search routes as possible in order to maximise exposure and opportunities to gain clicks. If competitors with a high level of keyword overlap are ranking on more keywords than your business and seeing a higher volume of clicks, it’s possible that your business is not ranking on search queries that are relevant to the business and therefore losing out on potential traffic as a result.

Monthly clicks

The estimated number of clicks your business and the competition get from all of their organic keywords within a month.

Why is this important? When people search for products and services on Google, they're usually looking to buy. So, when people are searching for the products and services that your prospect offers, they’ll want to see as many clicks as possible.

If the number of monthly clicks are low compared to the number of searches, we need to figure out why. People could be visiting your website via other channels (social media, advertising, print, etc.), but if they’re visiting competitor websites, it’s worth investigating further. It could be that they’re not ranked high enough on relevant keywords, in which case an SEO campaign that boosts their ranking is definitely in order.

Or, perhaps their business is perceived as untrustworthy due to a lack of online reviews. In that case, a review request campaign would be a more suitable solution.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact motivations for every action within a consumer’s search journey, but this data can help you make some educated guesses. For example, does the report reveal a competitor with lots of keyword overlap and high clicks that eclipse the number of low clicks for your business? You might be losing business to the competition.

Monthly value of clicks

The estimated value your prospects and their competitors are getting from all of their organic keywords.

Why is this important? If a business wants to see results and they aren’t currently running any PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns, this section gives them an idea of how much a click would cost them on their relevant keywords. Remember that SEO campaigns take time. If immediate traffic is needed (such as for a promotion or to get customers in the door in time for the holiday season), focusing on a PPC campaign as part of their SEO strategy might be the best way to start.

Organic Keyword Ranking

The Organic Keyword Ranking section in Snapshot Report uncovers organic keywords that your prospects are currently ranking for. These are some of the top keywords that consumers are using to search for your prospect’s products or services on Google.

These insights are valuable because they give you an idea of:

• How people search for their business online
• The types of keywords they should be targeting in PPC campaigns
• The type of organic content your prospects need on their site to gain relevancy.

Competitiveness

How difficult it is to appear in the top Google Search results.

Why is this important? The more competitive the keyword, the more businesses you’ll see targeting those exact keywords in SEO campaigns and the more effort will be needed to improve SEO. This is because those keywords are commonly used by consumers who are searching for your prospect’s business services and search engines deem them to be extremely relevant to their business category.

Rank

The position of your business website in Google Search.

Why is this important? These are the approximate rankings for some of the keywords related to the business category.

Are you happy with the current rankings on the keywords provided? If you’re happy, great! If not, look at starting an SEO campaign.

If the business ranks low on high value, relevant keywords, competitors could be taking the lion’s share of clicks.

Local Searches

The estimated number of searches per month in the business country.

Why is this important? This is relevant if the business is competing in a local landscape. When the number of local searches is high, it means that more people in the businesses country are finding and clicking through to the site when searching with the keywords surfaced in the report. It’s an indication that they should be targeting those keywords–especially if the rank on those popular keywords is low.

1. Consider your own buying journey

The key areas to be found are on search engines like Google and Bing.

"What steps would you take if you wanted to find a good, local, and inexpensive restaurant for dinner tonight?"

Here is a visual representation of the modern customer journey:

2. Where does your business fit within that journey?

Where can your business fit into that buying decision to catch more of that traffic? And what parts of that journey can you affect?

“As a business owner, would it be valuable for your business to show up in searches when people use keywords related to the products and services you offer? People are much more likely to click on your site since they are actively searching and ready to make a purchase. Even better when your site is trusted by consumers at the top of relevant search results. How much is it worth to get that one conversion from a qualified audience?”

When thinking of SEO for the business, take these key details into consideration:

• Who is the business trying to sell to? Different audiences have different search habits. Do they go on social media? Do they go on search? It’s important to craft a strategy that is targeted towards your target audience.
• Who are the competition? Who can we immediately identify as the top competitors to beat? What keywords are they ranking highly on or targeting in their own campaigns?
• What is their market size? A divorce lawyer in London needs to capture the attention of a much larger audience compared to a small village gift shop owner.
• How many products and services are on offer? This will help to gauge the volume of keywords that the business should focus on.
• What is the budget?

3. See the SEO section of Snapshot Report

Review the information in Snapshot Report to gain an understanding of the current SEO. If the competition are ranking higher on searches when consumers are ready to buy, they'll steal that business!

“People conduct more than 3.5 billion searches every day on Google. With a custom Search Engine Optimization strategy, we can ensure that those most valuable consumers can see your business where it counts. SEO is about getting your website found on search engines like Google. Consumers see the top search results as being the most trustworthy, which is why establishing good search rankings is absolutely critical. In fact, studies show that the first five search results get nearly 70% of all clicks, and 75% of consumers will never click past the first page of search. Furthermore, a whopping 88% of local, mobile searches result in a store visit shortly afterwards. If you aren’t showing up at the top, you’re losing the battle. We can help you get found online with an SEO strategy.”

Final Considerations

There is no single, ‘instant fix’ SEO solution–it’s the sum of many small tasks that work together to elevate the ranking and visibility of a website over time. Some of these other components include: mobile-friendly and Google-fast websites, providing web content that is relevant to customers, ensuring their Google My Business page is claimed and verified, and creating and promoting a keyword focussed blog on your site.

By incorporating multiple solutions we build a solid foundation for good SEO. Online listings, reviews, digital ads and social activity all contribute to search engine rankings for local search. The more places your business is listed online, the more visible it becomes. The more positive reviews received for the business, the more trust they generate. The more targeted ad campaigns the business runs, more paid traffic is generated. The more social content shared, will lead to more engagement experienced. All of these factors go a long way to influence how search engines perceive your businesses online relevance, and ignoring certain elements can have a detrimental impact on the overall SEO.

Ways to measure the success of your SEO strategy include:

• Tracking a site’s increase in rankings over time
• Measuring increases in organic search traffic
• Measuring increases in conversions