Building an internet presence
A quick way to check your internet presence is to type in some relevant keywords about you and your business into google search. If you had a minimal presence or were past the second page or further down the line on search results then keep reading to find out how to improve this and receive more business from the internet. Note: if you find your business listing with the option to claim it, do it, see free online directories for business below for more details.
Don’t rely on just one search engine to see how your internet advertising is doing. Use multiple search engines like Duck Duck Go, Bing, and Dogpile. Most people prefer to rely on just one or two search engines that deliver three key features:
- Relevant results (results you are interested in)
- Uncluttered, easy-to-read interface
- Helpful options to broaden or tighten a search
Affordable web site advertising
Having a web site is a must for every small business. It’s a very affordable option if you can do the web site construction yourself. There are many web hosting providers that offer free and easy to use tools to build a simple web site, most all will provide everything you need to get started. If you lack the computer skills to build one your self use caution if hiring a professional. There are plenty of testimonials about unscrupulous people who will take your down payment and never deliver. The same goes for those who claim to boost your SEO and search rankings (I will address this in another post soon). Continue reading to learn more about how to do this yourself.
If you already have a web site, place backlinks (https://yoursite.com) at as many content related web sites as you are able. Avoid placing links in unrelated sites. That is, you want to have links at sites that may be associated with sawmills, trees, lumber and woodworking, and not baby sitting, party supplies or food service site. Having links in unrelated site will have a negative affect on search rankings. Sites with prohibited content will be very bad for your web site rankings if you have a link to/or from them.
The Sawmill Finder offers serval options to place your business on the net. Galaxy Host offers a discount to Sawmill Finder members. Web hosting with a free domain name is only $2.49 /month and comes with all the tools to build your own web site. Also available is a single page web site built for you, also with a free domain name and hosting, $65. A complete 5 page web site built for you with free domain name and hosting $199.
The Sawmill Finder
Make the internet work for you
Key Words
Think about what you offer and your service area. Are you portable, where are you located, do you offer kiln drying services, sell lumber or take orders for custom furniture? When building a web site or placing a listing here, keywords are a critical component of any type of internet presence. Be sure to place them in your ad and web site.
Searching for your business.
Search the internet using the above recommended key words. If you cant find yourself then chances are that no one else will ether.
Search engines look at many things when ranking results. Not just the keywords but at how many places the relevant keywords are found over the expanse of the internet. This also applies to the places you are found that are similar in content that have your specific details. The more the better. In other words, if you want sawmill business, information that is found in a number of sawmill related web sites around the web you work in your favor in reaching a higher position in search results. However, if your information is in places that are not related to the sawmill service it can have an opposite affect.
Advertising, Pay or Pray?
We all have asked ourselves if paying for advertising is the way to go. When working with a limited budget, it’s not really possible to shell out $340,000 for a 30-second TV commercial or $10,000 for an email marketing campaign.
If you have the financial ability to invest as an experiment you can give it a try. However, beware, many of us have found out the hard way that the free offers from large web hosting platforms are bait to get you started. Next thing you know your in a subscription paying for something that has no cost effective return. Paid ads work for big business that have substantial market investments and returns. Not so much for the small business and sole proprietor with a limited budget trying to keep a low overhead.
Free online directories for business.
Ranging from high-profile platforms to local listings, online directories cover a range of audiences and most offer a free version. When searching, if you find your information somewhere and it’s not accurate, correct this right away. If there is an option to claim your listing, take advantage of this. Especially if there is incorrect information. Conflicting information between different ads over the internet will lower your search rankings and misdirect potential customers, resulting in lost income. Take advantage of every opportunity to update and enhance your details. Ad photos, additional business details and contact information. Use relevant keywords that will increase the chances of reaching customers searching for your services and location.
You can begin to build your internet presence without a large and recurring expense by taking advantage of the many services out there that are free or low cost. Yelp, Manta and Google business offer great exposure and will bring traffic to your web site. But remember most are free to start and want to sell more expensive subscriptions, not that some of them don’t work, just be cautious.
Start Here
But remember about getting sucked into the free offers.
- https://www.google.com/business/ Set up a free Google Business listing or claim and verify your ad.
- https://www.manta.com/ Look for your information here and claim it and update your details.
- https://business.yelp.com/ You can set up a free account, but watch out. They want your credit card on file, even though they say they will charge you anything be very cautious. They want you to pay for their advertising.
More ways to get your business found
- Write guest posts for other blogs.
- Answer Quora questions.
- Publish content on LinkedIn.
- Offer to do interviews on other business’ podcasts.
- Promote your website on your email signature.
- Send email newsletters.
- Do a free product giveaway or contest.
- Create YouTube videos.
- Post on social media.
- Experiment with photo and video platforms.
- Encourage happy customers to give online reviews.
Summary
Target your advertising effort in places that specialize in your service. Keep your internet presence and message relevant to your business. Use key words that target what clients search for. Take advantage of free business listings. Keep your business details updated everyplace you find them. The information above will build upon your existing web presence and will get you started if you don’t already have one.
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