So you are now a new small business owner. Congratulations! The world (and the economy) needs more ambitious people like you who have made the bold decision to own their destiny and start their own business.
No doubt most of you are experts in your own profession, but may be in need of help in the area of marketing, especially in the online world. "Where do I start?" is a question I hear often from new business owners. Yes, it can be daunting, but it is certainly very doable - one step at a time.
Here is a quick suggestion as the first step, even if you do not have a website yet. Start with creating your local citations. This gives you a basic online presence - for free.
What is a citation, you ask? In simple terms, a citation is a mention of your business name on another website i.e. it is a business listing. At a minimum, a citation must include your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number). A link to your website is useful, but not essential in the beginning. You may add other information as well including your product/ service category, hours of operation etc. But at least start with NAP. That is pretty much all there is to it!
So which are these other sites where you could add your citations. Start with the basics: Google My Business, Facebook, Yellow Pages, Yelp, TripAdvisor and any other site you think your potential customers use to find a business like yours.
This will help you in two important ways. One, it helps local prospective customers know you exist. Two, it will increase your chances of showing up in search engine results and rank higher for important keywords. But more on that later.
There you go, you made a good beginning towards marketing your new business!
Pro Tip: It is very critical that you have consistent information in your citations. The exact same business name, the same address, phone number etc. right down to the last character. This helps the search engine algorithms to determine that all the citations on the different websites belong to you and it’s the same business and you start building trust.
All the best! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out: [email protected]