Small businesses have had to adjust to the new normal in recent weeks, yet the “norm” is probably going to continue to change over the months ahead.
Does your company have a plan for post-COVID?
Now is actually the perfect time to start focusing more on your Local Web Score, which is made up of your Local SEO and Local Reputation Scores.
Here’s how you can benefit by paying attention to both SEO and your reputation, and how you can improve your efforts.
The Importance of Local SEO
Everyone hears day in and day out how important local SEO is, but do you know the benefits? Or the disadvantages you put your business at if you do choose to ignore your Score?
Paying attention to local SEO efforts now can lead to:
- Improved user experiences
- Increased number of quality leads (and conversions!)
- Better cost management of marketing campaigns
- More data for your marketing campaigns to work with
- Increased brand awareness, credibility, trust, and loyalty
- Improved PR strategies
Local SEO is cost effective and there is no reason it shouldn’t be a part of your marketing strategy.
Ignoring this part of your plan or not giving it the attention it deserves could be making it much more difficult for your potential customers to find you and, in turn, holding your business back.
The Importance of Reputation Management
Many businesses skip this part of a marketing strategy, and it’s a bad habit to fall into.
Failing to pay attention to reputation management could cause your sales and conversions to drop drastically.
If you’re not paying attention to your score here, you could have no clue where you’re going wrong with your business.
Your audience is reading your reviews, so why aren’t you? Customers often will read reviews before they make their purchasing decisions.
In fact, “84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation” and 54% of people visit the website after reading positive reviews.
Not only does this factor improve your Local Web Score, it’s just good business practice to know what your customers are saying about their experience.
Reputation management helps you uncover exactly where your business can improve while also helping you attract more positive reviews.
You may identify problems with your website, UX, or customer service strategies through reviews, feedback, and testimonials.
Taking the time here can also help turn potential leads into clients when they see you are willing to engage with your current customers, even if they weren’t happy with their experience.
How To Improve Your Local Web Score
Now that you know the benefits of local SEO and reputation management, it’s time to consider just how to go about improving that Local Web Score. These suggestions are sure to get you on the right track:
Perform A Website Audit
Before anything else, it’s a good idea to perform a website audit for your SEO efforts.
This report will help you identify exactly where your website is lacking, and what you can do to improve.
An audit should cover SEO, copy, technical code, usability, and visual design to be beneficial to your business.
This information will then help you understand:
- Why traffic, leads, and conversions are down
- How you can align your SEO and website with other aspects of your marketing and business strategies
- Any issues your site may have (errors, 404’s, etc).
SEO is more complicated than many people realize and an audit first can help you get on the right track without wasted time, effort, and money.
Research
Research is another can’t-miss step when it comes to improving your Local SEO Score.
Research into your current data as well as competitors will help you identify keywords, target audiences, user expectations, and more.
Answer All Reviews, Good Or Bad
Not only does your Local Reputation Score affect your overall Score, believe it or not, reviews and testimonials can absolutely have an impact on your SEO efforts, too.
You should be taking the time to respond to each review you’re left, whether it’s on Google, Yelp, or another platform.
Thanking a commentator who left a positive remark can help improve the CX.
Responding to a bad review in a helpful manner can help readers see that you’re understanding and willing to work with the customer if there is an issue.
You may even bring back the original customer by taking the time out to acknowledge them!
Review management reports can help ensure you’re seeing everything your audience is saying about you, from Google to Twitter.
You can then decide the best path to getting more positive reviews for your business.
Update Your Website Listings
Updating your business listings can improve both your SEO and reputation management efforts.
Google My Business is a perfect example of a business listing. The information here and on similar resources should be accurate, up-to-date, and in line with your brand at all times.
If it has been a while since you reviewed it, now’s the perfect opportunity.
Constantly Optimize Your Website
Using the website, SEO, and review management audits, you should have enough information now to update and optimize your website.
You want to be sure you’re keeping technical errors low while also focusing more on the UX. Is your site easy to navigate? Is it easy to contact you?
All of these factors will impact your bottom line.
Your business can’t afford to ignore its Local Web Score. From SEO to reputation management, quite a lot could be impacting your customers’ decisions.
But the tips mentioned here can help ensure you’re doing all you can to attract leads and convert them.
