Over the next few weeks, the Marlin Blog is going to cover some SEO strategies designed specifically to give small businesses a boost in their local area. Hopefully one, or all, of these can do something for you. I’ll focus on a few specific sites as we discuss, but keep in mind there are dozens of sources out there!
We’re going to lead off with reviews. I’ve touched on this in the past, but reviews are a fantastic way to influence potential customers. User reviews impact how local search engines rank a website. Because of this, a business can increase visibility almost immediately by simply generating customer reviews of their products or website. In addition to the positive boost on search engines, a customer review is one of the best ways to advertise to potential new customers.
In this online world in which we live, personal, genuine recommendations are like gold. Think about it. When I travel to a new city, my husband and I jump on Trip Advisor or Yelp to check restaurant recommendations or local activities. We make our decision based on the sites’ ratings. Those ratings are generated through the recommendations of people just like us. The challenge in this review driven world is to get “real” reviews. As the fun of Amazon reviews has proven, customers tend to be more motivated to write reviews when the service or product was so amazing it was epic or so bad it was epic. To win the review game, we have to break the code with customers writing reviews regularly.
There are a few strategies to improve the review game. To start with, reach out to your regulars and ask them to share their experiences online. You can provide them with links to help make the process as smooth as possible. Make sure you have a business listing on Google! If you don’t have one, create one and use that as your link. Another one is to offer discounts or “rewards” to people who check in and review your business. Encourage reviews by making sure your website says “Check us out on Yelp” or “Check us out on Trip Advisor”.
The easier and more intuitive you make the review process for your customers, the more likely they will be to give you a review. Marlin is here to help you open up that recommendation window! Give us a call and let’s get started!
