Search Intelligence A Digital Media Company
Referral based businesses. • Most of the businesses in CEO Clubs are referral based. • What does that mean? • That means most of your business comes from referrals, including your own referrals – that is people you meet at networking events, etc. • However, what most business owners fail to consider is that not all referrals are created equal… meaning the source of the referral or the strength of the referral has a lot to do with whether or not you actually get a call (a shot at the business). • Based on an un-scientific study, I find that probably 80% of referrals are of the WEAK variety. • So what does that mean?
Example: • OK, I need an electrician to fix some stuff at my home. • If I receive a recommendation from a neighbor… What is my next step… • If I know the neighbor well and think a lot of them – I will probably go ahead and call the electrician they recommend. • However, if I don’t know the neighbor very well I will probably Google the business name. • My decision will be based upon what I see in the search results.
What that means… • That means what shows up on the 1 st page of Google search results for the business name will determine whether I call the business or not. • What is one thing most people will be looking for?
• That’s right REVIEWS . • Most people looking for a product or service look for reviews. • 69.9% of consumers read online reviews at the beginning of and during the research phase. • 63.29% of consumers trust businesses with an overall rating of 4.0 or 4.5 out of 5 stars. • You should work at gaining as many reviews as possible… and you have to work at it all the time. Google, Yelp, LinkedIn, Facebook – these are the most important, but you want them anywhere you can. As you gather them you can put them on your website as well. •
What else will people be looking for? • People look at different things for different reasons. • The sites most people look for (expect to see) are: • Your website. • 1. Google (Google My Business) • 2. Facebook • 3. LinkedIn • 4. Yelp • 5. Twitter • 6. Instagram • 7. Manta • 8. YouTube
• 9. Yellow pages • 10. BBB • 11. Angie’s List • 12. MapQuest • 13. Local.com • 14. Localeze • 15. Superpages • 16. Foursquare • 17. Kudzu • 18. Yellowbook • Also, you want to be listed in Apple maps. - https://mapsconnect.apple.com/
• The four most important sites you need to brand your business: • 1. Yelp • 2. FB Page • 3. LinkedIn company page • 4. Google My Business Here are some examples of search results…
Now what? • All of these site need to be created or claimed and optimized. (optimized means a full & consistent description for your business that includes your primary 3-4 search terms). • These sites need to look good. • IE - Your banners, profile images and add photos (images). Images should be geotagged. That means adding a geographical tag so Google knows where you are located. Also each image should have a file name that matches one of your search terms (keyword). https://geotag.online
Looking good! • To improve your image online you need good images/artwork. This is quite easy to accomplish even if you do not consider yourself creative. • First you need to know what images and sizes you need. Here ia a PDF with all image sizes as a reference. - https://cdn.makeawebsitehub.com/wp- content/uploads/2017/05/social-media-image-sizes-2017-a4-print-ready.pdf • I recommend Canva - https://www.canva.com/ - as a really user friendly tool to make the images you will need. • I also recommend a tool Paint.net (http://download.cnet.com/Paint-NET/3000- 2192_4-10338146.html), I use it for some things that Canva is not as good at, but there are a number of image tools available online and that come with your computer that you can use. • Where to get good images. My two best sources: Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/ and Pexels - https://www.pexels.com/. Both offer royalty free images that are spectacular.
• Here are 39 free tools for creating images: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/free- image-creation-tools/
Now – Social Media • You need to create some engagement on social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn • The best way to do that is to post on a regular basis. • Original content is best, but who has time to post every day or multiple time per day. There are services you can pay to do it for you… • But you can do a form of it yourself using curated content. That is relevant content (articles) from other sources that you can post on your social media properties to create a steady flow of content and generate engagement.
How do we do that? • Two services are available that are inexpensive and even offer FREE options. • 1. Quuu – ‘Hand - Curated Content Suggestions For Social Media’ • 2. Buffer – ‘Buffer is a simpler and easier way to schedule posts, track the performance of your content, and manage all your accounts in one place’ • By using these services (they link together) you can provide a steady flow of fresh content to your social media properties: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Instagram
Summary • To capitalize on your referrals, you need to optimize your online presence. Create or claim your listing on the pages I have mentioned here. • Optimize your profile on each one. • Deliver regular relevant on you social media properties… this will help create more connections and draw more potential business to you organically.
Search Intelligence LLC • A digital media company • SEO – search engine optimization, moving websites from obscurity to prominence [page 1 of Google] • Organic search results deliver more new customers than any other source . • Facebook Marketing • SEO Optimized website development • Reputation management • Sales funnel creation • Contact me if I can be of service • Pipp I Patton , Co-Founder • pipp@si-5.com – 813-263-2750
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