![\"Marketing](\"http:\/\/www.brandignity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/marketing-steps.jpg\")
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Small business owners and managers are always searching for ways to ensure the success and growth of their company. Businesses have to go where their customers are already looking to do this. In today’s world, that means connecting with customers online, including referral marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most businesses already have a website, so we\u2019ll be focusing on how to leverage this existing asset.\u00a0 Let’s explore 7 ways you can help customers find your business using the web.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you’re serious about obtaining more customers for your business, one of the most important things to do is optimize your company’s visibility on the Internet. This is how you ensure that customers are exposed to your business and website in their search. There are specific\u00a0strategies you should be\u00a0employing to optimize your level of online visibility. These include:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SEO is an online marketing strategy\u00a0that involves using various services to ensure solid\u00a0rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO is a technical process that involves many elements, including:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When pursuing an SEO campaign, its best for most businesses\u00a0to consult with a professional. \u00a0Going about it the wrong way can trigger penalties that bury your website in the search results.\u00a0 If you want to learn more about SEO, here<\/a> is a good place to get started.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A popular\u00a0strategy that many businesses use to increase online visibility\u00a0is content marketing<\/a>. This is a two-step marketing\u00a0process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first part involves the creation of brand-building content that will attract the target market’s attention. Digital writers use numerous strategies to accomplish this objective, such as the inclusion of eye-catching infographics, publishing blog posts and educational content.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The second part of content marketing is promotion. \u00a0In today’s completive market, simply publishing content is not enough. \u00a0Promoting the content through SEO<\/a>, social media and even paid advertising is required to ensure your target audience is seeing and consuming it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another technique that can be used to help your company attain the level of visibility necessary to generate more brand exposure\u00a0is online reputation management<\/a>. This strategy\u00a0involves utilizing various techniques\u00a0to ensure that your brand’s online\u00a0image is positive and powerful across the web.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One Forbes article<\/a> noted that the reputation management\u00a0process should involve researching your\u00a0brand name to ensure that it is not bogged down with a negative reputation. \u00a0This involves checking search results, social media posts and online reviews. \u00a0You want to make sure that potential customers see your business in the best light possible, wherever they may find it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A fourth methodology that can be used to make your business\u00a0more visible online is the use of SMO techniques. This approach helps optimize brand awareness on popular social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest\u00a0and Twitter. Because there are likely thousands of people in your local community who use these channels regularly, you want to make sure you have a strong, positive presence on them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While not all businesses will be on every social media site, it\u2019s a good idea to be on Facebook and Twitter at a minimum. \u00a0Posting and tweeting regularly, combined\u00a0with Facebook and Twitter ads, is a great way to increase your brand awareness. \u00a0Only 10% to 20% of what you post should be promotional. \u00a0The other 80% to 90% should be content that is engaging, educational or entertaining. \u00a0You want your business to become part of the online community, and not be ignored for over-promoting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After you have implemented the strategies necessary to optimize your online visibility, it\u2019s important that you take additional steps to convert these individuals to leads and customers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Beyond using your website to encourage potential customers to contact you, online reviews are incredibly important as well. With 86% of consumers<\/a> taking time to read online reviews, this is one of the best ways to convert casual browsers to leads and customers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, most businesses are not fully utilizing this.\u00a0 Many\u00a0individuals will likely be willing to complete an online review (as long as they are happy), but you need to make the process easy. Here are some tips that can help you realize this\u00a0objective:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Don’t simply ask satisfied customer\u00a0to go online and post a positive review about your company. Let them know exactly where they’ll need to go online to access your review profile on Google, Yelp, Facebook or any other review site you are targeting. \u00a0A good way to do this is to simply\u00a0ask them to go to the site you want them to leave a review on and search for your business name. \u00a0This is easier to do than typing in a long URL directly to your business listing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Instructions to leave a review can be sent via email, printed on a receipt or on a separate printed business card.\u00a0 If you are requesting reviews via email, then simply requesting a review and including a clickable link to your review profile is enough. Be sure you ask your customers to leave the review.\u00a0 Be polite and don\u2019t just tell them what to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the best ways to ensure that a satisfied customer\u00a0writes a review is by requesting it directly after a purchase. This helps ensure that the positive nature of the\u00a0transaction\u00a0is fresh in the customer’s\u00a0mind<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You will want to make sure the reviews are left from customers’ personal mobile devices. \u00a0Review sites track internet connections. \u00a0Reviews coming from your office or store over and over will get removed or flagged as spam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the case of requesting reviews via email, it\u2019s a good idea to send a follow up 3 to 4 days later if the review has not been left. \u00a0People are busy so a friendly follow up will help get your business more reviews coming in. \u00a0Best of all, there is no financial cost to do this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s important that customers are able to find you online. \u00a0This requires your business to show in search results, have regular social media activity, be consistently\u00a0publishing new content\u00a0and actively managing your online reputation and reviews.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, the reality is that most businesses do not do this – at least not with any consistency. \u00a0Following these 7 steps and making it a normal business process will put you far ahead of your competition over time, and help ensure you dominate your local market.<\/p>\n Eric Welke is a Cofounder and the President of RenegadeWorks. RenegadeWorks<\/a> provides online reputation management software and referral marketing software for small businesses. Eric is passionate about helping businesses succeed in an ever-changing digital world. Follow Eric and the RenegadeWorks team on Twitter @RenegadeWorks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Small business owners and managers are always searching for ways to ensure the success and growth of their company. Businesses have to go where their customers are already looking to do this. In today’s world, that means connecting with customers online, including referral marketing. Most businesses already have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16784],"tags":[16961,16962],"class_list":["post-30942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-growth-hacking","tag-get-customers-online","tag-online-customer-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nOptimizing Online Visibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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2. Content Marketing<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
3. Online Reputation Management (ORM)<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
4. Social Media Optimization (SMO)<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
From Visibility to Phone Calls Using Online Reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n1. Give Them Specific Instructions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Request the Review Immediately\u00a0After the Purchase<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Follow Up<\/strong><\/h3>\n
A Few Takeaways<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n![\"Web](\"http:\/\/www.brandignity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MORE-WEB-TRAFFIC.jpg\")
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\nAuthor Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n