SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a great way to organically grow your business. If you produce enough content and use the relevant keywords for the questions your customers are asking, you have a chance being near the top of the first page of a Google/Bing/Yahoo/Ask search query. However, the times continue to change.
SEO was extremely important in the time when people would google a business to find about it, but now depending on your business (restaurant/bar, hair salon, dentist office) there may be a number of different apps they may go to before they actually put it into Google. With location based searches in Yelp/Facebook chances are the first experience your potential client may have with your business is through one of those apps and so it’s important to make a good impression.
If you’ve spent a lot of time developing content and optimizing keywords it’s not for naught, but in the ever changing technological landscape you have to do something in addition to that.
This is where your Yelp/Facebook page presence is extremely important. If they’re looking for a brewery or bars or pizza place near them, pull your shop up on Yelp and there’s a couple bad reviews and hardly any pictures, chances are they won’t come to your business. Those bad reviews are there forever and you need to use that to your advantage.
If you have a negative review on Yelp or Facebook address it head on! This is a chance for your other new potential customers to see directly how you handled an annoyed customer and offered them a free dessert or something similar to offset their issue. After you’ve responded anyone that looks to your page will see your professional behavior and will want to risk your business because if they have a complaint, they’ll see how you dealt with it.
There shouldn’t be a fear that you’ll be giving out thousands of free desserts to irate customers, there should be excitement at the potential new customers willing to give your place a try because you’re a stand up person.
Just in case you haven’t already, click here to claim your Yelp page. Let us know if you need help.