Resources

Today’s business is all about being seen, easily found and having a strong online presence.

Your presence online is an indication that you are current and keeping up with the times.

Gone are the days of finding business in the yellow pages. As we move to a paperless world, it’s all about making it as easy as possible for clients and potential clients to find you, learn about your services, buy products at the click of a button or book appointments.

If you don’t make it simple, customers will move on.

What we know:

Google has 90% of the search engine market share worldwide.

Facebook, Instagram, Linked in and Twitter follow as the lesser but most common business promotion tools with the largest audiences.

These platforms are simple to use and you can get started on any and all with just a few photos and filling in your details.

First and foremost, get your Google Business page set up. With 90% of the market share, if you have not set up your Google Business page, you will miss out on key opportunities.

Google has already done the legwork for most businesses so all you need to do is claim your business.

Step one – Google your business and see what comes up.

If you find your business, you will see an option to “claim your business”.

Follow the steps and submit for approval. Once approved you can take control of your listing to make it stand out amongst your competition.

The more you post on your Google Business listing, the higher your listing will rise in the Google search engine.

All you need is a smart phone to take a weekly photo, that can be uploaded immediately onto your Google My Business App. If you are creative, great but if not, your photos can be as simple as showing your location, your offices, products and staff. The secret to a higher listing is quantity and regular posting.

If you do not find your listing with Google search, follow this link for the step by step set up. https://www.google.com/intl/en_au/business/ 

YOU DO NOT NEED A SHOP FRONT TO CREATE AN ONLINE GOOGLE BUSINESS PAGE.

Step Two – whether you use a PC or smartphone to post, the Google My Business app makes it easy to create your online presence. Simply fill in the required information and add photos. Make sure you allow notifications. The notifications are simple reminders of when your post is about to expire, certain dates alerts (like public holidays), when you may need to adjust your opening hours and how you might improve your page. All notifications are designed to help you.

If your default photo doesn’t look good, you have the control to change it. How do you want your business to be perceived? What do want customers to see and relate to?

Once set up, a post of a photo and comment weekly should bring your business into Google’s top list.

Tip: it is easiest to post to your business via the app as you have photos available from your phone’s photo library.

On the app you will find up to date information on how well your listing is doing, how many views your business is getting and how you compare with your competition. From the image below showing Porters google listing over the past 28 days, we can see that fewer potential customers search for a new accountant in May. and a simple search of our industry “Chartered Accountants Perth” places us in the top five accountants on Google my business.

With just one more step Google will convert your Google My Business page into your very own website (if you don’t already have one) just select” website” from the side bar menu on your PC. Regular updates to your website will also raise your Google profile.

Step Three – get reviews! Nothing sells your business more than legitimate referrals and reviews. When customers love your product or service they will be happy to provide a review if you make it easy for them to do so. You can email customers a review link. Search yourself, click on review then copy and paste the URL. Review Porters CA Perth here or Porters CA Albany here – we are one team, however the goal is to be found on a Google search, so we have separate map listings.

In order to write reviews you need a Google account.

Set up a Google account in your business name using your logo as your profile picture. This will enable you to write reviews and fully utilise Google opportunities and get your business name out there. Make an effort to review businesses on a regular basis. The review shows as a review from your business, getting your name out there even more and may act as a motivator for others to review you. If you can’t say anything positive, sometimes it is better to say nothing at all.

When you receive a review make sure you reply. Most reviews are positive but readers also like to read the personal replies. Your replies are an opportunity to show your character.  If you do receive negative reviews remember to reply to in a positive and constructive manner. Readers will then be able to assess your integrity and ability to deal with constructive criticism.

High review scores put you higher in google listings so helping other businesses attain this by providing positive reviews is a win for local business.

Learn how your Google page is working for you.

Your weekly reports will give you insights into the number of times your business has been searched – both directly and indirectly. It will also compare how you perform compared with your competitors.

Google has designed a platform that makes it easy for you to create a business page and online profile. For more information visit Google How Can We Help

Other online platforms

When someone is looking into your business, they will look for your presence on all platforms. The easiest way to stay on top of this is to set up a Facebook business page and Instagram at the same time.

Instagram feeds straight to your Facebook in one step.

Follow similar businesses on Instagram or follow us @portersaccountants to get ideas.

Always add one or two hashtags and add your location on Instagram and Facebook. This will help you gain local attention #perthsmallbusiness #wabusiness. Once you have set up your accounts posting and updating really is simple and should only take a few minutes of your time each week to keep up to date.

Get creative, enjoy taking photos and build your online presence.

LinkedIn is also of value if your clients are more likely to be professionals or other businesses rather than consumers. With all social media, keep an eye on who is following you. Try to keep your followers relevant and localised. You don’t need quantity you need quality.

If you found this helpful we would love you to give us a positive review with your newly established google account. Review Porters CA Perth or Porters CA Albany here.

This is just the beginning. If you want to delve deeper we recommend following blogs by Perth social media agency Word Of Mouth.

If you enjoyed this post you can share to your social media account by clicking the icons below.