With more and more customers searching for products and services online, it has never been more important to have a strong online presence. Showing up on the first page of Google is now a basic requirement for any business looking to attract new customers and increase sales.
It’s estimated that 67% of all clicks on the SERP’s go to the top 5 listings. This means it’s now more important than ever to work on your marketing strategy to ensure potential customers can find your business when they enter their search.
We’re giving away 3 top tips to be found on Google so you can attract more customers in 2020.
Claim your Listings
Before the internet became so integrated in our daily lives, people used to use directories to find services and products.
Remember the Yellow Pages? This was essentially a precursor of Google, albeit in paper form. The chunky printed directories would be delivered to home and business addresses nationwide, so that people could lookup companies offering the services they required. Fast-forward to 2020 and the Yellow Pages now only exists as an online directory and is no longer printed. Google now dominates this market and is the go-to place for people looking for new services and products.
With that in mind, it’s worth increasing your businesses visibility in Google’s listings. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to claim your Google My Business Listing.
Google My Business is how Google returns local results. For example, if you search for ‘dry cleaners near me’, Google will show you businesses local to your area.
To be featured in Google’s Local Pack, you need to claim your business listing. This process only takes a few minutes and once you’ve done this, you can add images, special promotions, directions and receive customer reviews. This makes your business much more prominent to potential customers and increases your chance of receiving enquiries.
Use Schema Mark-up
Ever typed a question in to Google and then seen the answer straight at the top of the search results? Well, this is because of schema mark-up.
Shema mark-up allows web design companies to structure their data so that Google can easily identify and display what the content is about. For example, if you created a web page which contains a recipe for mushroom risotto, by including schema mark-up you can get Google to display the full recipe right in the results page, knows as a ‘rich snippet’, without the user having to click on the link. The same applies for things like event times, reviews, people, FAQ’s etc.
By utilising schema mark-up on your website, you can significantly increase the amount of real estate Google gives you in the SERP’s and in turn, increase click though rate and conversions.
Start a Blog
One of the best ways to increase relevant traffic to your site is to start a blog. A blog allows you to capture potential customers during their research stage. It also allows you to add value and educate the before they purchase or inquire about your products or services.
By providing engaging and informative content about your products, in an impartial way, you can build trust and authority within your niche. This makes it much easier to convert search queries into online purchases.
Blog content is also very shareable. For an easy win, make sure you integrate your social network platforms so that readers can easily share your content to their preferred platform. If people have read an article or review on your site which has added value their buying process, they are likely to share with friends or colleagues who may be looking for the same thing. This a great way to increase brand exposure.
Conclusion
So, if you’re looking to kickstart your marketing campaign in 2020 with an effective strategy, make sure you apply these top tips so that you can generate relevant leads and increase sales.