The importance of AMP and ranking high on local search.
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The Importance of AMP “accelerated mobile performance” A site must be mobile-friendly

 

AMP is a new open source initiative that stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. AMP is meant to improve the web browsing experience by decreasing page load times and is Mobile friendly. 

Here are a few of the most exciting advantages of AMP: 

  •  It speeds up website load time 

According to a study from Google, 53% of website visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. AMP has a set of standards which all contribute to decreased page load time. A few of these guidelines include asynchronous JavaScript, resources sized statically (such as images and ads), only inline CSS, etc. Page load times have been shown to have a great influence on traffic and user engagement and are always a very important measurement for site owners to be monitoring.

 

  • Enhanced SEO 

As the web becomes increasingly mobile, it is important for publishers to pay attention to their search rankings beyond the desktop browser. Because page load time is already a factor in SEO, and since this initiative is being speared by Google, AMP pages will eventually be prioritized in their search algorithms and have a positive effect on SERPs.

 

  •   Low bounce rate 

A great side effect of faster loading pages is that your visitors are less likely to leave. Publishers who implement AMP should see a decreased bounce rate and most likely overall increased time spent on site stats. 

 

  •  The potential for increased ad views 

Because the HTML is coded in a way to enhance the overall usability of banners and images, there should be a higher ad view-ability rate, hopefully also increasing a publisher’s ability to monetize their site.

 

Please contact Savvy Sister to evaluate your website to see if it is a good candidate for AMP.

 

 

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Instagram is young and thirty-somethings, and great for online commerce.
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Is Instagram Right For Your Business

Instagram is young and thirty-somethings, and great for online commerce.

Instagram is young and thirty-somethings, and great for online commerce.

Instagram may not be right for your small business.

Write your amazing blog Yo uv’e done a great job.

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iPhone with twitter logo
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Twitter Best Practices

Who should use this platform?  If you have a service or product that can be provided or shipped to a huge geographical audience, but is still a niche market, then Twitter is a great platform to have an active presence.  Destinations, travel services, influencers, political and social causes, non-profits, and artists are great examples of goods and service providers which do well on Twitter.

make sure each of your blogs has a designated featured image because this will auto populate into the tweet

The value of  Twitter organic marketing is using #’s to reach potential customers.  If your organization or business provides craft beer that you can ship as gifts, or parasailing adventures at a popular destination beach, Twitter is great for generating awareness, gaining brand loyalty and promoting your product and service organically.

Paid advertising on Twitter is considered “Promoting” a tweet, and this allows your tweet or Twitter Card to show on feeds of users who don’t necessarily follow you.  This is a great way to initially gain followers, but using #’s is powerful too… and it’s free.

iPhone with twitter logo

Twitter is great for products and services that cover huge geographical niche audiences.

Before you launch an awareness campaign on Twitter, do a little research on which #’s are relevant to your product or service, and start piggybacking on existing #’s in addition to creating your own brand (if you choose).  Use quality images with tweets as much as possible, and make sure they’re clear.  Quality images is important on that platform because most users are viewing their feed on their smartphone, so images are small.  If you’re linking to a blog post on your site, the “featured image” is typically the image that will show, so make sure each of your blogs has a designated featured image because this will auto populate into the tweet.

Twitter is a great free platform to promote your product or service if you can serve a huge geographical audience.  Whether you have product you can ship anywhere, or you are a destination or a cause, if anyone can enjoy what you’re offering, you likely can gain a loyal niche following on Twitter with very little monetary investment.

If you want help with social media marketing or even just an audit of current social media marketing campaigns, give us a call.  727-742-6473  We’ve got 10 minutes… We Will Help YOU!

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Public Relations for Small Business Owners
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PR for Local Small Business – Yes, You Can

Many small business owners consider PR unnecessary, but the fact is that having some PR basics in place, and learning how to manage your public reputation IS something most small business owners can do. In fact, once you understand the basics of PR, and have some of the essential tools in your toolbox, you CAN handle PR and reputation management internally.

Here are some of the basics that small business owners need to have in place so that PR becomes semi-automated and integrated into the way you conduct business.

1. Support local non-profits or youth organizations. This is a great way to inadvertently get your name out into the community. In this world of ever-increasing global news and issues, people are craving the “yester-years” and simplicity of small-town life. Local, community papers are widely read, and having your business mentioned during the “Paint Your Heart Out” or “Arbor Day” celebrations in your town is a great way to touch the locals and neighbors who are most likely to patronize your business or request your services. You don’t need the name of your roofing company splattered all over twitter, you just need the elderly couple 2 blocks over to know you’re there when they need their roof repaired, have their carpets cleaned, or want to have pavers installed.

2. Have solid internal communication chains IN PLACE. This is huge not only for good customer service, but during a crisis or natural disaster in which your services may be needed, knowing who in your organization is reporting to whom will keep communication clear, and reduce the chances of a missed lead or poor customer service due to a botched hand-off. Knowing the points of contact within your organization for customers, project managers, staffing supervisors, and having clear expectations of which channels of communication are to be used by whom (text, email, phone, auto-notifications, etc.) will ensure that every member of the team is receiving the information they need to provide services requested, and report supplies and/or personnel needed.

3. Don’t be afraid to go public. If you’re not using social media, reconsider this. People are on social media, so if you want people to feel they can trust you and your team, you need to be there too. Whether you’re in the construction industry or have a food truck, you need to be posting content that makes people smile, offers them helpful tips, and showcases your expertise. Post images of your work, post quotes that satisfied clients have said to you, post blogs about simple recipes or helpful-DIY hints, create a fun # around your annual company picnic with hilarious pictures of the egg toss and the three-legged race. It’s absolutely ok to show off the good and the positive things that are happening with your work and your employees, so GET SOCIAL!

4. Invest in a professional Press Release Template, and start compiling a database of local reporters. Of course, Savvy Sister can provide this, but if you are really on a tight budget, just search up press release templates online and try to create a professional press release template that can be used to push out information to your business to local papers and reporters. As you see a story online or in the paper, make a note of the reporter. Most reporters cover a certain beat like lifestyle or “feel-good” stories, local schools, local council meetings, zoning issues, etc. Try to find reporters that cover stories relevant to your business, and start keeping their contact info in an Excel spreadsheet. When you have something to share, write it up (or let us do that for you), and send it out to those most likely to have an interest in covering the story.

5. Make asking for reviews part of invoicing. Having links to your business on Google+ or links to your profile on Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook, (whatever is relevant to your business) at the bottom of emailed invoices is very powerful, and allows customers the opportunity to share their experience with others. There MAY be negative reviews, but this is unlikely if you are committed to providing good service, and the amount of positive reviews is usually heavily outweighed, and is worth this effort.

These are just some of the basics of PR, but if you are using these tools on a regular basis (whether it’s an annual press release or daily posts to social media), you CAN internally manage your reputation. If you want to learn more about solid PR strategies for your organization, contact the team at Savvy Sister Marketing today. We are here to help the small business owner, the non-profit team, and the upstarts! WE WILL HELP YOU. Contact Us Today.

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Responding to Negative Reviews

It’s going to happen. There are individuals who truly believe that the internet is the appropriate place for them to vent their personal grievances against a business owner or their employee(s). Thankfully, most review sites have some policy guidelines that give business owners recourse to have these reviews removed, but if a review – regardless of whether it was true or valid – doesn’t necessarily violate the policies of the site on which it was posted, a response may be required. Here are some guidelines to help small business owners respond to negative reviews.

Don’t – If the review is truly a “rant” when people read it they will likely determine on their own that this is not necessarily a person from whom they can get an accurate assessment of the quality of products and services they can expect from your business. If the review is emotional, extremely long, and full of misspelled words and grammatical errors, it is probably best to let be its own best testimonial. Some people make it clear from their own words that they are unreasonable and/or not believable.

Keep It Professional – Do NOT make personal statements or offer any criticism about the client / customer who left the review. A great advantage to getting a negative review is that it can be an opportunity to showcase your customer relation skills, and demonstrate that you are committed to client satisfaction. State that plainly and clearly, and you will be likely be admired by potential customers regardless of the legitimacy of the review.

Offer A Solution – If the review is actually legitimate, it’s likely that it can be easily resolved. Offer a coupon, free shipping, free appetizer, a face-to-face meeting with the person, whatever is appropriate for the type of products and services you offer. The outcome may not necessarily be that you win that customer back, but it may demonstrate to potential customers that you are a business owner who cares about the opinion of your clients.

Don’t Explain Yourself – Don’t re-hash conversations you may have had with this person to resolve the issue. The chances of winning them over after you have tried to come to an agreement face-to-face or by phone or email are very slim, so don’t bother publishing your efforts on social media. Explaining your “side” will likely make potential customers feel as if you are not someone who listens and rather that you are someone who needs to have the last word. Don’t bother.

Apologize – If the review is legitimate, if you have truly tried to resolve the issue with this person, if you offered some type of recompense, it’s ok to just agree to disagree and let them express that they had a bad experience. This is so very, very rare. Most people are reasonable, and truly want resolution and peace, but there will be times when it’s just impossible. It’s ok to just offer a public apology and wish that person all the best.

By taking the high road, bad reviews can actually be an opportunity to show potential customers that you truly care, and that you are professional, educated, and willing to admit wrongs and try to make things right. It is a chance to be the bigger person and bring a little peace to your small corner of the world.

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Local SEO Best Practices
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Smart Local SEO Practices for Small Business

The query “…Near Me” has become one of the most prolific search queries within the past couple of years.  If you are a brick and mortar business, it is absolutely essential that you understand local SEO and how your business is showing in a SERP.  Location specific queries are managed differently by search engines, so it’s important to understand which elements of your website are the most important with regard to local SEO.

When search engines, specifically Google, determine that the user is searching for something geographically near them, the results page has a “local pack” showing the data that Google has on file about relevant businesses in a specific geographic region.  This information is geography based, and the listed choices are featured on a map to the right.  Below the “pack” local organic results appear based on page rank as determined by that search engine at the time of that query.  The search engines are using the data that is currently on your website to display this information, so if your business is not updated with current info, phone number, hours of operation, and service description, you may be losing a sale.

Because it is still the most widely-used search engine, making sure that your Google My Business page is current is foundational to local SEO.  (If you don’t know how to update, edit, post, and reply to rankings on your Google My Business Page, become a member now for an in-depth tutorial on Google My Business or contact Savvy Sister Marketing for help.)

Local directory sites such as your local Chamber of Commerce website, BBB, Patch.com, Local.com, and the local online paper are important as well.

Contextually relevant citations in review sites like HomeAdvisor, BBB, Yelp, Manta, Trip Advisor, Wix, and FourSquare should be consistent across all sites.  Another important element is having “on-page signals” for the search engines that alert them to your physical location.  Your site should list the names of the cities, counties, zip codes, and regions that you service.

If your location is incorrect in Google maps, and you provide goods and/or services at your brick-and-mortar location, this must be addressed immediately.  If you have customers telling you that their GPS sent them to the wrong location, or they cannot find your location in their GPS, correcting this is also a priority.  For more in-depth information on how to ensure your business is showing properly in maps and GPS systems, become a member to access our tutorial, or contact Savvy Sister Marketing today.  Don’t put this off – you’re losing customers.

Getting good local SEO established can be very time consuming, and if you’re a busy business owner, it may be worth it to source this out so that you are certain it is done correctly and consistently across all relevant platforms.  Good local SEO depends on good website content as well as relevant inbound links, reviews, and citations.  It can seem an overwhelming task, but when done correctly it can be a game-changer for a local small-business owner in dominating the local SERP.

If you want an audit of your “local” presence, or if you want help making sure you’re listing properly in local relevant sites, contact Savvy Sister Marketing today.  We Will Help You!

 

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Branded Search and Reputation Management

When people have done their due diligence, spent time doing research and decided they are ready to purchase, they typically will type in your brand name in order to find your site.  These people are at the bottom of the funnel, and are ready to convert.  They’re usually trying to get back to a page they already found, or they have been referred to your brand by a satisfied customer.

Looking good online when someone types “YOUR COMPANY reviews” as a search query is critical at this point.  This is why a good reputation management strategy is important.  A user gets a first impression oftentimes from star rankings on Google+, Yelp or Facebook.  If you have low star rankings, even a referral from their friend may not be enough to overcome this barrier of a low review score. That’s why having a solid, simple process for collecting reviews is important.

Here are simple steps to ensure that you’re consistently collecting honest, solid reviews from satisfied customers:

  • Deliver Good Service.  There’s no amount of online paid advertising or social media marketing that can replace good, quality service.  This should be the cornerstone of any small business.  If you have done something wrong, missed a deadline, delivered a faulty product, own up to it, correct it, and apologize.  Mistakes and misunderstandings are going to happen, but when a customer sees online that your overall goal, and your overall customer satisfaction rating is good, they are more likely to trust you.
  • Claim Your Profiles On Relevant Review Sites.  This can take time, but it’s important that you have claimed your business on all relevant platforms like Yelp, Google+, FourSquare, TripAdvisor or any other review site that is relevant to your industry.  Claiming the profile allows you to get links embedded into your site and emails that make it easy for customers to leave a review, but more importantly, it allows you to respond to negative reviews.
  • Create links on your site and in emails that make it easy for customers to leave a review.  When you email your customer their receipt, the email should contain text that is linked to wherever you want them to leave a review.  People ARE satisfied with your service, but they’re also very busy.  Making the process of leaving a review simple is a great way to show your customers that you respect their time, and they’re more likely to leave a good review if it only takes a moment for them to do so.
  • Respond to negative reviews.  Yes, do this.  Try as much as possible to sound accommodating and not defensive.  Yes, there are people who will leave reviews that are not accurate, ranting, and unreasonable.  While there are steps you can take to have these types of reviews removed, it’s best to respond in a way that is apologetic and demonstrates that you are willing to have further dialogue with the customer to try to remedy the situation.
  • Put the stickers up at your brick and mortar, and make it easy to leave a review. When you claim your profile on most platforms, you can put the stickers up indicating “We’re on Yelp,” reminding customers to leave a review.  If you want to go a step further and generate a QR code that directs people directly to the review site, that’s even better.

Having a solid, consistent process in place for collecting reviews will help ensure that you’re getting enough positive reviews, getting recent reviews, and getting reviews consistently.  All of this helps with organic results, but more importantly, it mitigates that unusual negative or marginal review, and helps keep your overall ranking high.

 

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