At 3Circle Media, we work with all sizes and types of organizations from nonprofits to law firms and small businesses. We really like working with small businesses because as entrepreneurs ourselves, it is fun to help a small business show their best self online. If you have a small business that is established or just getting started, here are 5 things you must have to make sure your business sparkles online.
1. Claim Your Google My Business Listing
This isn’t technically a part of your website, but it really the first thing you should do with your small business: claim your Google My Business listing. Google has made it very easy for your business to be found online, and one of the ways that they have done this is with their My Business listing. Take the time to make sure that your Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) are correct as well as your category and subcategory of business, anything that makes you stand out. This is how Google will show your listing both by a keyword search or a maps search when someone types in “X business near me.” If you don’t have a correct GMB listing, you are missing out on valuable search traffic.
2. Create A Short but Descriptive URL
We always advise customers who are looking for a new domain to keep the URL short and sweet. If your company is Fort Worth Running Shoes, we would suggest using FWRS.com as a domain over forttworthrunningshoes.com. The former is easier for people to remember and type into the search bar. Also, if you can, grab all of the domains around your business like the .com, .biz, and so on. You can add redirections from these URLs to your main URL easily so you don’t miss out on customers. Also, make sure that your URL path is “friendly,” meaning that it tells search engines and customers what your page is about. For example, if you have a dog grooming business, your URL for services should look like “www.doggrooming.com/services” and not “www.doggrooming.com/?page_id=59”.
3. Show Reviews and Testimonials From Customers
People love working with businesses that have good reviews and customer satisfaction. Your Google My Business account is a great way to collect reviews and show them on your site. Yelp, Angie’s List and other recommendation websites are essential in helping customers find great businesses, and displaying these reviews and linking to these sites is good business practice for all size businesses, not just small business.
4. Blog and Then Blog Some More
Content creation is one of the number one ways to get people interested in your business and also push your website higher in search rankings. A good rule of thumb for blogging is to keep your posts between 300-500 words, make sure that the content is relevant to your business and then share your posts on all of your social media channels.
5.. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
Even though we are listing this as number 5, it is equally if not more important than #1 on our list. Mobile is now responsible for over 51% of website traffic as of 2020. If your website isn’t mobile friendly or responsive across a variety of tablets and phones, you are missing out on customers. Also, your business can look “dated” and old school if it doesn’t look good on mobile, and that is not the impression you want to make with your customers.
If you are a small business in need of some website or SEO love, give us a shout! We can help you dust off your online presence and make your business shine.
