Content Marketing – Engage121

10 Ways to Grow Your Local Business for (Almost) Nothing

Most local businesses don't have big budgets. But that doesn't mean that their marketing efforts have to stay small. There are plenty of strategies that local businesses can use to drive customers to their stores while getting the most out of their marketing dollars. It's always wise for businesses to keep up with trends and use modern marketing techniques, like guest wifi marketing, instead of being stuck in the past with traditional marketing methods. We launched our first list of free and cheap marketing tactics back in 2017. Now, we're updating that list with the most powerful and cost-effective ways to grow your local business today and beyond. Be Active in Online Communities Being helpful was a tactic we talked about back in 2017, and it's still relevant today. Online communities like Nextdoor are now even more popular and filled with thousands of people who could be looking for your expert advice. Online communities that are specifically related to your industry are a great way to establish your authority, as the editorial team at WPBeginner notes. Some of these communities are obvious. If you run a hospitality business, Tripadvisor is a must. Don't join just any community, however. It's important that you only invest your time in places where potential customers are active. Bean Ninjas' Meryl Johnston recommends trying out several communities to get a feel for which ones suit you and your business. When you've found one or two communities that work, focus your attention on being as helpful as possible to other members of that community. When it comes to posting, our advice hasn't changed since 2017: Be as helpful as possible without expecting anything in return. Just make sure you link back to your company's website in your profile. Create a Business Profile on Facebook Facebook remains a pivotal platform for local businesses today. In fact, it's possibly even more important now than in 2017, given Facebook's increased emphasis on local communities. Facebook visibility can also improve your business' rankings in Google, writes entrepreneur Alyssa Gregory. All of the content that you post to Facebook, including your page itself, can be indexed by Google and show up in results pages. It's essential that you create a separate page for your business, says social media strategist Saige Driver. You won't be taken seriously as a local business if you're posting from your personal account. Filling out your business profile as much as possible is also important. This includes photos of your business, contact information, a link to your website and your operating hours. Then, Post Interesting Content to That Account As we said back in 2017, it's not enough to create a Facebook account. You need to keep posting high-quality, engaging content that your audience loves. Writer Christina Newberry recommends that business owners take a quality-over-quantity approach to content creation. Focus on helping customers and building a relationship rather than trying to hammer home a sales message. Your audience will be much more likely to engage and share [...]

By Engage121 Team| 2021-04-04T08:37:20+00:00 September 24th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Google My Business, Local Business, Local PR, Local SEO, Social Media|

Emotion Appeals: Why Storytelling is Important for Local Businesses, Too

Storytelling offers a way for your business to stand out, increase sales and connect with your audience like never before.

By Engage121 Team| 2019-08-08T16:15:26+00:00 July 23rd, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Local Business|

The ROI of Your LOCAL SEO

All marketing – LOCAL SEO included! – must be evaluated with specific reference to the metrics that drive revenue. This is why it's best to consider getting someone like the Magento SEO Agency to look at your site and explain how you can improve it. These sites will be trained in digital optimization to get as many people to visit your website as possible. This also includes adapting to their knowledge on UX optimization as this is important to attracting a desired target audience. If you are a retailer or restaurant, LOCAL SEO should increase the foot traffic passing through your front door. And achieving this is possible with the help of The best service catering to the SEO of your website in the region. And, if you are a service business, leads or appointments probably matter the most. Regardless of the right metric for your business, we must be able to draw a straight line between LOCAL SEO expenditures and revenue. Some marketing agencies similar to Avidon Marketing Group may be able to draw this parallel for your business. Consider that The US Small Business Administration and SCORE* recognize the very direct relationship between online success and revenue: 76% of local web searches result in a visit to a related business within a day – and 28% of those visits result in a purchase Your business needs to be prominently represented in those local web searches, which can be highly possible with the aid of SEO experts like SirLinksalot. LOCAL SEO describes the tactics that digital marketers use to put your business information in front of consumers when they are in the process of making purchase decisions. We discuss these tactics, prescribed by Google, in our recent blog post. Part of the seo strategy is to add in a sensible digital advertising campaign to gain a leg up over the competition and you have all the ingredients needed to achieving the customer metrics that drive revenue for your business. All that's left to complete the recipe is the ability to measure results and continuously refine your tactics. However, while many small businesses have made the decision to commit resources to digital marketing and LOCAL SEO, few have baked in success by implementing reliable measurement capabilities. Your local seo agency in Toronto (or wherever you're based) is here to help you with this. Restaurant and Retail: Engage121 has partnered with solution providers that measure foot traffic so we can provide a fully integrated program. Service businesses: Engage121 develops and manages custom landing pages that measure leads, conversions and bookings. Online retailers and E-commerce: Engage121's end-to-end Google shopping facility puts local business on par with the largest e-tailers. And, integrating measurement and digital marketing does far more than validate the marketing expense: Achieve data-driven insights into the messages that motivate your consumers; Take advantage of the ability to continually refine your marketing to achieve optimal results; Manage your inventory with the knowledge of which programs are driving traffic; and more that [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2021-03-05T14:07:56+00:00 May 13th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

Did You Know? Organic Search and Local Search Are Related.

With help from an agency like Will Power Marketing, you can make organic and local search work together to get found faster. We recently considered whether Google has become the new homepage for local businesses. Today, we're going to take a look at organic and local search and consider how they're related and also expound on the importance of using the expertise of a wordpress hosting service. It's not surprising that 65% of marketers* agree that there's strong correlation between local and organic rankings. The biggest similarity, of course, is that both start with a search. But both also focus on content, backlinks, keywords and website activity. This the basic premise behind search engine optimization in a general sense too, and are the areas focused on by companies like Shoutout DIgital who work to improve the ranking of companies' websites for them. Investment in SEO is crucial for any business in any sector now, as without it you may never be discovered by the majority, who turn to the internet first when looking for a service. What sets LOCAL SEO apart is the geographic component. With organic search, you want people to know what you do, but to get found locally, you also want to highlight where you do it. That's where the power and value of your website comes into play, influencing not just organic rankings, but LOCAL SEO. In fact, a majority of marketers believe that companies with good visibility in local Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) have high organic placement, too. It can be worth hiring a Digital Marketing Agency to optimize your SEO to place higher in search results as this will often mean somebody browsing will choose your website over a website that is placed lower. At the heart of it all is user intent. Simply put, search engines want to give users what they're looking for. For instance, when a person conducts a search that includes both a business type and location, the search engine knows that the user has local intent. So, if that person wants to find a good pizzeria that delivers, they may search "Pizza delivery" along with their location. What happens next can make or break discovery: The three closest pizza places – also known as the "local 3-pack," show up under the ads on the first search results page. Having the strongest LOCAL SEO presence gives you the very best chance at getting your business to display in this free local 3-pack. Why? Because all these local SEO criteria provide the authority to support local rank. Better together There are a few simple practices that help you get LOCAL SEO and organic search to work in harmony. Local business citations: A full 46% of all Google searches seek local information! Google places a lot of weight on having that information accurate and correct. Having a consistent business name, address and phone number (NAP) is quite important, helping LOCAL SEO by providing search engines with your correct location and creating [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2020-01-22T12:42:00+00:00 March 11th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

Get Smart About Google’s Knowledge Panel

Consumers search, a lot and fast! In this age of fleeting attention and fierce competition, companies often get help to ensure their online presence is seen by as many people as possible. Agencies like Home Service Direct have all the required knowledge and experience to help them beat out their competition. It's a constantly changing world and savvy local marketers are always looking for new ways to engage with consumers at the very first opportunity. Of course, this is easier said than done with local competitors also fighting to appear at the top of the searches and engage with any potential customer. This is why so many people go to an seo company in san diego for help as they will be more likely to improve their ranking positions. However, there are lots of things you can do to improve your understanding of how Google works and ranks websites, like joining Google's Knowledge Panel. Most importantly, Google's Knowledge Panel allows local business to engage with consumers directly within search and without any additional clicks. Even though Google presents this first, best opportunity to engage with consumers, a new Moz survey revealed that just over 50% of marketers haven't yet taken advantage of the opportunities that the Knowledge Panel offers! We've touched upon the value of the Knowledge Panel in the past, but it's worth digging deeper to explore the benefits it can unlock for local business. Google Knowledge Panel. What it Is. Why it Matters. The knowledge panel is the box to the right of search results where Google displays information on a relevant business, including the company name, business hours, address and phone number. Today the panel shows up in roughly 40% of searches, and the more localized a search gets, the more likely it is that a local Knowledge Panel will appear. This means that for LOCAL SEO, you need to get smart about using the knowledge panel to help searchers discover and reach your business without any additional clicks. A knowledge panel also includes these actionable features: Q&A: This consumer-facing, crowdsourced feature is similar to the Ask the Community feature on TripAdvisor and Yelp. It allows consumers to ask questions and businesses can provide answers directly within search and without any additional clicks. Users can also give a thumbs-up vote to questions and answers, which influences where the questions and answers might appear on the panel and in search results. Posts: This feature enables businesses to create short 300-words or less blog-style posts that appear directly in the knowledge panel, providing an additional avenue for customer communication directly within search and without any additional clicks. Like Q&A, Posts also appear in search results and are especially visible in Maps search results. Posts are a great way to let prospects and customers know about new products, company news, special offers and events. Posts can include an appropriate call to action (buy now, contact us, etc.) along with a link. Note that each Post expires after seven days so [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2019-06-27T15:15:51+00:00 February 25th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

Is Google The New Homepage for Local Businesses?

Consumers are searching online more than ever before. But local businesses may actually be seeing less web traffic. How is this possible? "Local search" often starts with Google and there are now numerous ways for consumers to find all the information they need right on Google's first search results page. By taking the time to view this chad kimball google maps course, you will be able to see firsthand how making the most of Google and its accompanying resources (Google Maps and Google My Business) can help to grow your business by increasing your online presence, as well as earning more money in the process. What could be better? Google even allows consumers to interact with a local business – all without ever going to a website! Array Digital law firm marketing agency says that this is all enabled by Google My Business listings that are becoming an increasingly vital component in creating online marketing success and attracting new customers. Numerous businesses are now enrolling in a gmb mastery academy to improve their online tactics and remain competitive. In fact, a new MOZ report found that 64% of local business marketers agree that Google is becoming the new "homepage" for local businesses. Most small businesses get IT support to set up their Google My Business. Outsourcing IT requirements also benefits them with cybersecurity and cloud services, which are essential for online business profiles. Search used to be all about getting a click on your website. Now, it's also about getting a click to a Google My Business listing. Websites are still important, but following this Google My Business Checklist and keeping your Google My Business & Knowledge Panel up to date is no longer just nice, it's absolutely necessary. If you don't, you're missing a huge opportunity to promote your business. What is the Knowledge Panel? When a consumer conducts a search for a particular business, Google provide the most relevant results as well a box on the right side of the page that is called the Knowledge Panel. The Knowledge Panel for that business includes directions, phone numbers, hours of operation, and more. Knowledge Panels show up in roughly 40% of searches and are especially crucial for providing consumers actionable results not requiring any additional clicks. You can keep your Knowledge Panel information relevant and up-to-date by first claiming, then verifying, your Google My Business profile. Google My Business is a free, easy to use listing that determines what appears on the Knowledge Panel. This will ensure that your customers can find and contact you, in addition to providing an overview of your products or services. Perhaps most importantly, the Knowledge Panel aggregates consumer reviews, making your online reputation readily available to all consumes. Managing your Google My Business listing, and Knowledge Panel, has become indispensable to online marketing success, as well as putting your business in the best position to get found. Social media marketing, in its turn, helps to connect with customers, generate awareness, and increase sales. [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2021-01-12T13:32:56+00:00 February 11th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

If Your Focus is Local, It’s Not Just About Google Anymore

Every business needs to know the importance of growing an online presence. For example, 1stOnTheList.com SEO services will help you reach high rankings on Google so more people will be able to find your business online. The higher you rank, the more of an audience you will be able to reach. On top of this, today's consumers are more empowered than ever before, researching products and services in a multitude of ways -- and smart local marketers are there at every touchpoint. While it's true that search will always be at the heart of local marketing, it isn't just about Google. Take for example the website of Gladiator Business, a good example of a website that utilizes the power of SEO. Think about it: With most local businesses laser-focused on Google, it can be hard to stand out. The ability to embrace other opportunities and diversify your local marketing mix with online and offline strategies like making custom enamel pins can be a game changer for your business in 2019 and beyond. That's why more and more savvy local marketers have broadened their scope significantly, with a new focus on other platforms including social, directories, and online reviews. Hey, I believe I've seen an uprise in businesses using sticker printing services and other physical marketing methods, and placing these stickers or materials in local shop windows, bars, and pubs - businesses are really still trying to get their presence known any way they can again. And with competition fiercer than ever, there's no better time than now to leverage a cohesive, versatile local marketing strategy that gets you in front of the right consumers with the right messaging at the right time. Let's talk about what that looks like: Other Search Engines: When consumers are in the market for a product or service, they research on their phones, tablets or desktops. These searches take place on various engines, including Google, Safari, Bing, Yelp, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor, YellowPages and many more sites. In order to meet consumers anywhere and everywhere they're looking, your business needs to be prominent on all of them by using ethical link building done by SEO experts. Consumer review sites: Reviews are very much a ranking factor and send a strong signal to search engines and potential customers that you are a trusted, quality business. That's why it makes good sense to be active on key consumer review sites. And once you get reviews, responding to them promptly is an essential component of careful reputation management. No reviews? No problem! Contact us for quick tips on how to build a solid base. Online Directories: Up to date directory listings are crucial, so be sure that your contact information, phone, website URL and company details are current and correct across all business directories. Not only does this matter to major search engines, it's an important way to build brand awareness and establish local consumer trust. Social Media: You simply can't do local marketing without social. Social media has [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2021-06-01T23:39:22+00:00 January 29th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

6 Ways to Power Your LOCAL Search Results

Increase Visibility, Get Found and Drive Sales SEO should be a huge focus for your business. You should be looking at improving on-page SEO, looking at these essential web scraping proxy providers to get an upper hand on your competitors, and slowly building your presence online, especially locally. Why? Because when people are in the market for a product or service, they search. They're already in the mood to buy; all you need to do is stand out, and for this you can uses the services from SEO Boise. And you will stand out – if you add six simple but powerful local search strategies to your small business marketing mix. It's a fact: 46% of all Google searches seek local information. What's more, "near me" searches have grown 130% year-over-year since 2015, translating into a whopping 34-fold increase* in single local search queries. That's a big deal! These stats mean that now, more than ever before, local search engine optimization (LOCAL SEO) presents significant growth opportunities for every small business. Not only is LOCAL SEO an especially effective way to generate visibility, but according to this source, it also helps you boost site traffic, increase engagement and drive sales. There has never been a better time to boost your businesses LOCAL SEO. The best way to do that is by getting some help, so search for Boston SEO to find one of the first SEO companies in existence to see how they could help. What is LOCAL SEO? Like traditional SEO, LOCAL SEO focuses on content, backlinks, keywords and website activity. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. What sets LOCAL SEO apart is the way it leverages the geographical component. While traditional SEO concentrates on the "What" of your business (your product or service) LOCAL SEO also prioritizes the "Where" – further refining search to meet the demands of today's connected consumers. Which makes sense - say you own an independent shop in the North West of England, you'd want to hire an SEO from Cumbria who knows a bit about the local area so can really hone in on where the links can be made. By combining What + Where, LOCAL SEO optimizes your online presence and puts your business in a position to show up in local searches and meet potential customers right when they're looking for you. When you want to rank use Minneapolis SEO company Romain Berg, to understand and implement the six key components that help you power LOCAL SEO: Google My Business: This free, easy to use listing helps you manage what appears on the right side of the page when customers search for your business on Google, including your business name, address, phone number and reviews. Website Backlinks: When other web pages - including review sites and social business pages – include links back to your website, it strengthens your relevance. Search engines take the number of backlinks into account when they rank websites in search results; the more backlinks [...]

By Lucy Victor| 2020-11-03T07:32:56+00:00 January 15th, 2019|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local Business, Social Media|

A HOT!Content Quick Start Guide

HOT!Content is certainly a lot more than a daily collection of articles. There's a lot you will learn over time, so here's a Quick Start Guide that will help you get the most from HOT!Content right away: Activate. Your first step is to "introduce" or enable HOT!Content to work with the pages and sites (including Google, Facebook, Yelp and more) that will be important to your LOCAL SEO success. There are these SEO Driven Web Services that'd be able to help you give you that kick-start you'd need. You will always maintain complete control - HOT!Content will never publish or interact with these sites without your express permission. Claim Google My Business. You will be able to "claim" your Google My Business ("GMB") page once you activate in Step 1. It's so important to your LOCAL SEO that it merits its own step! Claiming your GMB requires a bit of know-how. So, again, don't hesitate to contact us for help. Post. LOCAL SEO in a nutshell means getting found online by your customers and prospects - no matter where they are looking. Publishing content of interest increases the likelihood that you will be found. Think of posting as investing in your online presence. Marketing experts recommend posting 5x/week! Get started here or simply by clicking on "POST" in your HOT!Content email. Respond to your consumers. LOCAL SEO values reviews highly and HOT!Content's Reputation Monitor captures all consumer reviews posted by customers of your business. Be sure to respond to each review, even if it's just a "thank you." No reviews? Get in touch with us and we'll explain how to encourage people to say nice things about you online. Promote your business. HOT!Content is a great way to target ads at just the people you want to meet. Let us help you build a campaign that will achieve your objectives, within your budget. Questions? Comments? We're here to help: Email: support@engage121.com Facebook Messenger: @engage121

By Lucy Victor| 2019-11-08T09:12:02+00:00 November 12th, 2018|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Google My Business, Local Business, Local PR, Local SEO, Reputation Monitor, Social Media|

HOT!Content is DIY

HOT!Content is a comprehensive solution for local businesses; but not all local businesses! HOT!Content only makes sense for those businesses that can afford the time and effort to do-it-yourself. And, no one should underestimate that cost! Since you have not (yet) activated your HOT!Content subscription, we are thinking you may be one of the many local businesses that need an expert to manage your LOCAL SEO for you. We would like to introduce our Digital Marketing Assistant to you. A couple of quick comments: You will enjoy your own dedicated Assistant to work with you - personally. Your Digital Marketing Assistant is comprehensive and will expertly manage all 6 primary elements in developing your LOCAL SEO success. The use of the best marketing tools from the complex sentence generator - seo tools centre. We manage LOCAL SEO for more than a thousand local businesses. One of our Assistants knows and understands your industry, and your business. There are components of LOCAL SEO success that are only available to our Digital Marketing Assistants. Make sure you are doing all you can to achieve success by exploring our full service solution. It's affordable! Unlike other digital marketing services you may have heard about, we know local business and we understand your budget. Your best next step is to request a LOCAL SEO Assessment. It's no cost, only takes about 30 minutes, and we promise, you will learn a lot! Questions? Comments? We're here to help: Email: support@engage121.com Facebook Messenger: @engage121

By Lucy Victor| 2020-11-17T18:20:25+00:00 November 12th, 2018|Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Google My Business, Local Business, Local PR, Local SEO, Reputation Monitor, Social Media|