The advent of internet technology changed how people do everything in their lives. It changed how people shop, communicate and even market their goods. Online marketing is the order of the day today. There are so many strategies available for online marketing; these include the likes of social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing and whatever else you have been using in your business. Having a team of the best online marketers is going to be great for your business. However, without someone to do the online reputation management (ORM) work you are going to have issues with your marketing.
Local SEO and ORM
Those are two abbreviations; but they are very simple things. SEO is the reason why your business is going to be up on the search engine results pages (SERPs) or not. Local SEO relies heavily on geographical location. Making the most of SEO Company Baltimore can see your business rise up the ranks on Google results and even other search engines like Bing and Yahoo. Local SEO is more focused and it helps a business to grow within a particular locality.
Ever since Google revealed that most of the searches made have a location attached to them, local SEO has grown tremendously. People will search for things like ‘best modeling agency Miami’ or ‘top ten restaurants in Malmo’. If you have not jumped onto the local SEO wagon then it is about time that you did.
Combine a good SEO strategy with ORM and you will witness success that you cannot begin to imagine. The thing about online reputation management is that it does not only help to keep the brand’s identity clean but it also helps greatly to market the brand. In the process of managing your reputation you are bound to come across marketing opportunities that you would have otherwise missed.
Making the most of local SEO and ORM
There are a number of things that you can do to harness the full power of local SEO and the reputation management. Here are some tips for local businesses to put into consideration:
- Strong online presence
Even if you are not going to have a profile on all the social media platforms at least make sure that you are being seen on Google +, Facebook and Twitter. Instagram for Business has been developed but then you do not have to stress yourself with photography and such issues right now. This is unless you are dealing with visually-oriented products. In such a case Instagram and Pinterest as web properties that will do you great. LinkedIn is fantastic for high-tech or professional types of businesses. Generally, have a strong online presence and this will require you to create profiles on relevant web properties.
- Be active online
Having a Twitter account is one thing but is it active? Develop an audience on your social platforms. Let people know what you are doing or at least let them know that you exist. Being active on social media is going to be highly beneficial when it comes to reputation management. In the event that there are some negative sentiments being aired concerning your business, you will be able to override them using your account. If you are not active on social media you probably will not even know what is being said online about you let alone shutting down rumors.
- Protect those who are associated with your business
The CEO, founders, owners and such are vital to the success of your business. Creating a strong social medial presence for them is going to do your business great things. Take a look at the top businesses in the world; they have their social profiles tied to those of their executives. Certain businesses also do best because of the individual. For instance a person will search for a law firm based on the lawyer’s name or a dental clinic using the dentist’s name.
Developing a strong online presence for these individuals is going to help the business grow alright but then it is also going to facilitate your ORM efforts. As aforementioned, keeping a low online profile leaves you exposed to just any drive-by slanderers.
- Blog to educate
Yes, you should blog! Establishing your brand as an authority on a particular area of business is not easy. For example, you want people to know that you are the best personal injury lawyer in their area of residence you are going to need more than just advertising. Some people have no idea what personal injury is. The just know a lawyer is a lawyer and they might go to a criminal lawyer to help them with case of inheritance and estate administration. Blog and educate people about what you do. Implementing authorship is great to help put your name out there as an authority.
- Listen
Listen! Listen! Listen! This is a skill that few people have. On the internet you will be doing more of reading that actual listening but you do get the point. Put what people are saying about your brand into consideration. It is fantastic insight regarding the quality of your brand. If you have made a mistake (as an individual or as a brand) please do apologize and offer to make the necessary remedies with immediate effect. What are your customers constantly complaining about? This is where you should start doing your fixing from. The customer is always right.
Conclusion
The success of a local business on the internet is going to be affected heavily by your SEO and ORM strategies. Local SEO and online reputation management go hand in hand. The above are just some of the many ways that a small business can improve its local SEO and at the same time stay on top of their branding efforts. You will be able to figure out exactly what needs to be done in order to get the brand performing at its best from your customers. Making the necessary rectifications is also going to be easy because you will have the information with you.
