Increase Revenue by Using Your Website

Listen up all you small, local businesses! I've been telling you (my small business clients) this for years, but it is falling on deaf ears so it bears repeating.

Your Web site is a great marketing tool/channel. It isn't simply an online brochure. You must use it as a marketing channel and treat it like any other marketing effort by tracking the return on your investment (ROI). You must also be fervent about constantly improving it. It will cost you far more money to guess than it will to actually know what's working.

Your Web site is open 24/7. You're not limited to retail hours. If you don't already sell from it, consider what you could sell online. It doesn't have to be every product you have, just something that you feel is easily sold online. This will allow you to work smarter, not harder [hmmm....where have you heard that before? :-)] and to increase sales with little extra effort.

A BIG plus to adding eCommerce to your Website? It increases your revenue AND it makes your business more saleable!

Here's 10 things you'll want to track:

• number of sales (orders, leads, phone calls, etc.)
• number of unique visitors (all visits except repeat customers)
• conversion rates (traffic divided by sales)
• traffic from search queries (people using a search engine from their desktop or mobile device)
• direct traffic (they already know your Web address and type it directly into their browser)
• visitor loyalty (are your customers returning to your site and buying again?)
• traffic from social media sources (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn - anywhere you have a social profile)
• traffic from email newsletters (Please tell me you're building an email list and communicating regularly with your customers.)
• traffic from offline marketing campaigns (radio, TV, newspaper, etc.)
• traffic generated for online advertising (paid online advertising like Google AdWords or Bing adCenter)

Most of the areas listed above can be tracked by setting up a free Google Analytics account and connecting your Website URL (Web address) to the account.

If you would like assistance setting up and monitoring the data, let me know. I've provided these services for many clients and I work in it daily. I can help you get set up and interpret the data.

Challenge for August:
Find 1 thing from your local business that you can sell online.

Note: It doesn't have to be costly to sell from your Website - you can do it using a simple PayPal account. In fact, you don't even NEED a Website to use PayPal to sell products.
I can help you get started!

Google Launches Additional Local Search Features

Haven't claimed or listed your business in Google yet? Do it today!
If you aren't there, Google AND your customers won't be able to find you. 90% of Web users go to the Internet to find a LOCAL business; no more phone books. And what about mobile users in your area? Can't find you if you don't create or claim your listing.What's stopping you? It's free! OK, enough lecturing. :-)

Google continues to update the features for local search so that your local business can have a rich listing. Soon they will drill down to search for city pages which is already active for many large cities across the nation. City pages will act as landing pages to help people find businesses within a certain area and category such as restaurant, office supplies, etc. It will be a local search engine for each city.

Additional features that have already been added to Places/Local Listings -

• Descriptive terms in listings:  Places Pages now have additional markup to indicate common feedback in reviews about a business. It's important to get consistent, positive reviews of your business. You don't have any control over what appears under your listing, so if there is negative feedback it could show here along with the positive.
• My Places tab in Maps: People can star and bookmark Place Pages of interest. Having a strong Places Page that stands out will increase your likelihood of getting bookmarked.
• New features in Mobile search: Mobile searches often have a local intent. Icons appear on the bottom of Google.com's mobile page for easy access to Places and for an increased focus on local. A similar interface for tablets should be coming soon. Expect to see more developments, as local and mobile (often referred to as “LoMo”), continue to be an area of high importance for Google.

Read the full article with screenshots of the features above.

Source: Nick Roshon is a natural search strategist at iCrossing (via Google Reader)

3 Steps to Brand/Rebrand Your Company

1. Why brand or why does my brand need an update? Whether you're branding a new business or rebranding your existing business, ask yourself these questions to help you fully understand your purpose for doing so:

*What prompted me to update my brand?
*Am I going through a transition like a merger or growth?
*Am I introducing a new product or service? 

It's imperative to conduct research with your customers, competitors, and marketplace to help define your strategy and build a story that will resonate -- and differentiate you -- with your target customer.

*What do I want this company to be?
*Why should people do business with me/us?
*What's my value proposition? (What differentiates me from my competitors?)
*Who are my customers?

Keep this down to one page to simplify the process and make it as straightforward as possible. When your strategy and story are crystal clear, developing a brand name and identity will be easier than you think. The right choice will present itself if your decision is built on a smart, solid strategy.

2. Design the customer experience Stating your claim and lip service doesn't cut it -- customers need to experience your brand. Review all customer touch points; the space where you interact with customers. Review your sales processes and even your product or service design. Make sure all your touch points are aligned and designed to tell your brand's story. Develop processes for you and your team to assure that your message is consistent.

If you have employees, be sure they are on board making sure they understand and believe in your brand. Train them so the right customer experience actually occurs.

3. Start spreading the news
Now it's time to go public. Do what is right for your business' strategy and goals - advertising, public relations, target marketing, special events, social networking, etc. Review your brand strategy to determine what's the best fit to reach your target customer -- and get them to take action.

Be sure to track your success for each campaign so you know what worked and listen to what your customers are telling you to further define and refine your brand.

Related posts:
Someone Has Visited Your Web Site Once, What About Again?
Market Your Biz Online: Local is Key Area of Focus for Search Engines
Step by step process to create a viral marketing strategy


This content was adapted by me for local small business for this article post. 
Original content created by Molly Rice, Spyglass Creative, in a May article for iMediaConnection.com. Read the full article here.