Websites to dazzle your customers and outflank your competition.
Gone are the days when businesses were satisfied with a so-called “basic” website that could be had for a few thousand dollars.
Today’s standards demand sites that are carefully planned and executed; crafted to showcase the business you operate today as well as the one you’re planning for tomorrow. They offer depth of content, provide a depository for collateral, support demand generation for your events and host recordings of past programs and webinars. They adhere to standards of responsive design (because Google gives preference to sites with mobile compatibility) and include form completions that link to email opt-in lists and marketing automation platforms. Sometimes they even sell, with a shopping cart and other eCommerce functionality.
On top of all that, they have really killer content that performs for human eyeballs as well as Google. Providing that content makes our service offering stand out from web firms who will rely on you to provide your own content. We know that the first place buyers most often look for product or service information is on Google. And we want to work alongside your team to create content that in search friendly and helps you be found.
Of the sites we deliver, 100 percent are composed in WordPress, because it supports our customers and their sites with a best-practice platform. And, because we know everyone wants a site with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS), even if they want us to use their CMS to manage and maintain their site.
If website development is something we jointly agree belongs in your marketing plan, we’ll work with you to stand up a new website or create v2.0 of your old one. But, if you come to us with a “website project,” where you simply want us to stand up a presence for you to maintain as part of a marketing effort that doesn’t include our team, we’ll happily refer you to another agency whose business focus is better aligned with your requirements.
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Turn Online Customer Reviews into a Powerful Marketing Tool
Ninety percent of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. NINETY percent. Further, 84% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. That makes sense since an online review is essentially a personal recommendation.
If you’re not asking your current clients/customers to review you, why not? While it takes a little bit of strategy to effectively manage online reviews, you can turn reviews into a powerful tool to build trust, win new customers and improve your search engine ranking.
Why do online reviews matter?
Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) has long been the most effective marketing tool there is. Clients who have had a positive service experience are often happy to share a good recommendation or review, making them a valuable inbound marketing channel.
Online reviews are also extremely influential. In fact, they can be the difference between signing a new client and watching them walk away. According to BrightLocal’s 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey, most people (91%) regularly or occasionally read online reviews – and those same people read less than ten reviews before forming an opinion about a business. Nearly 60% of consumers say that the star rating of a business is most important. So, shoot for the stars
Asking for reviews
Asking for reviews doesn’t have to eat up that much of your time. With some preparation, you can add just a few seconds to your regular interactions with customers. For example, you can have customer feedback cards printed that give customers very simple instructions on how they can give you a review online and/or include a link to your business profile on your preferred site (such as your Facebook page or Google My Business profile). Then you can hand out the card at the end of a client meeting with a quick, polite request. You can also include this information in any automated emails you may send to customers after a transaction or meeting.
You should be a little selective in the sites you ask for reviews on. Since Google dominates the search engine space, it’s not a bad idea to start there (plus Google Local reportedly gives higher ranking to businesses with 5 or more reviews). Then move on to others. You don’t want to get overwhelmed monitoring and posting responses all over the web. It’s more important that the reviews are positive as opposed to having a high number of reviews. A good rule of thumb (after Google) is to look at industry-specific review sites such as Avvo for lawyers, Yelp for restaurants and Healthgrades for doctors.
And, remember, you don’t have to have many reviews to reap the benefit. Just five positive reviews will have an impact on potential clients (and Google).
Bottom line? Reviews matter. Consumers rely on them to make purchasing/spending decisions and businesses need them to distinguish themselves from the competition. Finally, according to the BrightLocal survey, half of all clients will provide a review if they’re asked to do so. So, start asking!
This post courtesy of Account Manager Jennifer Kardian.