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The best methods to get started and gain initial results from online marketing for your company.
By Matt Wacek
Originally Posted: April 17, 2018
Last Updated: April 11, 2021
The first step to take in building your online presence is to have a website. A website should be thought of as your online business card.
Your website will serve as the foundation for your online presence.
Having a great looking website is the first step to building a great brand online.
DISCLAIMER! The simple website builders such as Squarespace or Wix can allow you to create a beautiful looking website, however when it comes to indexing in the search engine result pages (showing up for the keywords you want your website to show up in), they often experience issues. I highly, highly, highly recommend using WordPress as the CMS (Content Management System) and use a high converting, theme that allows for front end drag-and-drop building.
Next, after installing WordPress, download an SEO WordPress Plugin (plugins are essentially tools to add to your website that allow you to customize more aspects of your website) such as Yoast SEO to make sure that your website’s pages, titles, and other content are set up to be SEO friendly and communicates
Google My Business is Google’s online directory. It’s the biggest and most important directory in the world.
If you have been in business for a while, chances are that Google has already created this listing for your business.
If you are starting out then you would need to create a listing yourself.
This is a relatively quick & simple process which can be completed in minutes here: https://www.google.com/business
The best thing about creating and verifying your listing is that it does not cost anything but a few minutes of your time – the upside & ROI is truly exponential.
There are many outdoor service business owners that have not taken this step, and creating this crucial listing will put you ahead of a majority of your competition.
The second most important directory in the world are Facebook Pages for your business.
Here are some stats to demonstrate the importance of Facebook Pages:
Just like a Google My Business listing, setting up a Facebook page is free.
Here are the step-by-step instructions for setting up a Business Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/business/pages/set-up
The majority of the internet has basically consolidated between two companies, Google (who owns YouTube) and Facebook. Google is where people search for information or be entertained (YouTube), and Facebook is where people spend their time to connect with others.
It’s crucial that you utilize the free tools that are accessible for your business, because the ROI is absolutely priceless even when factoring in the amount of time the pages & listings take to build.
This is another strategy you can do to build your online presence without spending any money.
There are 3 primary review focused directories that to focus on: Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
Google and Facebook are the most important (however having a listing on Yelp will not hurt!).
One of the BIGGEST mistakes I see outdoor service companies do when it comes to their reviews online is not acknowledging them whether they’re good or bad – this can place doubt into any prospective clients minds when there is a negative review on your page and there has been no response by the company. Doubt is the LAST thing you want a prospective client to be thinking prior to reaching out to get a quote for services!
If a review is good – it’s best to “react” to the review (Google you can “like” and Facebook offers a variety of reactions). It is even better if you comment and thank them for the positive review & their continued business. If a review is negative – address the problem immediately in your replies, you need to do damage control and do whatever you can to ensure that client becomes satisfied with whatever their pain point is.
“Over 84% of consumers trust online reviews. Online reviews are like the modern referrals.”
Inc Magazine
If you’re just starting out and you have no reviews on any of your pages here is the best way to get your first few reviews:
These strategies are the fundamental building blocks of creating a robust online presence.
Pros follow the fundamentals while amateurs ignore them.
Most of these strategies do not cost anything but your time.
Your time is your most valuable resource and by implementing these strategies you’ll be spending it wisely.
Landscape Marketing Pros is a digital marketing agency based in Florida that serves clients nationwide. Our mission is to help our clients wear one less hat while managing their business and deliver an astounding return on investment in the process.
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