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Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

by | 16 Dec 2019 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Businesses (especially smaller ones) have to do whatever they can to get their name heard, and with the internet providing everyone the opportunity to carve out their own little space online, it can often be difficult to stand out from the crowd.

When targeting customers or potential customers in a specific geographic area, local citations can be key to a business ranking highly on Google maps. A small focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can boost your profile on Google and help you feature higher than your competitors.

What are Local Citations

A ‘local citation’ isn’t a Google term, but instead refers to a really basic form of marketing on the internet. It is simply an instance of your business’ NAP (that is: business Name, Address and Phone number) appearing online – be that on your website or on others. This may be in business directories, press articles, advertiser sites or reviews of your firm.

How Do Local Citations Benefit a Local Business

Aside from it being a small ad boost, every time someone sees your information; a local citation helps reiterate to Google (and therefore Google Maps) that you are a leading business in your area and that you are a genuine business. Google’s algorithms are well developed to identify spam and disingenuous entries and so good, organic reach through local citations is an easy way for it to understand proper local businesses.

What are the Elements of a Local Citation

The three main elements of a local citation are your NAP: business Name, Address and Phone number. The key is to keep them entirely consistent throughout all citations online – any differentiator will break the link between the citation and it relating directly to your business. It may be worth considering therefore if you have a ‘Ltd’ in your name or a space/unusual capitalisation/sub-brands, that you instead revert to one shorter name for your public-facing communications to avoid any confusion.

Other elements that may be included in citations (but aren’t imperative) include e-mail addresses and links to social media profiles. Where you can, keep the names of such profiles consistent and ensure you refer to yourself in the same way across all of your marketing.

Why Local Citations Matter

Local citations are the best way for Google’s automated algorithms to understand who you are and where you are; and that you’re genuine! The internet is full of bots and false entries, and citations are genuine reviews to show you’re not one of them. Citations alone are responsible for about 10% of Google’s decision in who to rank where on Maps, and with 76% of visitors accessing local results and then visiting one of the businesses featured within 24hrs, it’s a no-brainer that it’s an area of your online presence worth investing in!

Search marketing, SEO or search engine optimisation helps websites to rank well in Google and other search engines. At Woya Digital we are specialists in small business growth through digital marketing, including Local SEO services. We make SEO services affordable for small businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth!

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How To Optimise Your Website for Voice Search

How To Optimise Your Website for Voice Search

by | 4 Nov 2019 | Pay Monthly Websites, SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The world of digital marketing is constantly changing and it is often difficult for a small business to keep up. One major change with the rise in digital assistants is the increasing importance of voice search.

Let’s take a closer look at what this is and how to optimise your website for voice search so that you have more chance of your website getting found.

What is Voice Search?

Voice search has come to prominence with home devices such as Alexa. You ask questions or make requests and Alexa or Siri come up with the relevant answers. Digital assistants are now used on smartphones and other mobile devices, and as consumers, we’re becoming more reliant on them.

Why Is It Important to Optimise Your Website for Voice Search?

When you type a search term into Google, you get a whole list of options stretching down the page. With voice search, you get a limited number. How we construct voice searches is also different. We might type ‘best Chinese restaurant London’ into Google where we would ask Alexa ‘where can I find the best Chinese restaurant in London’.

Voice searches tend to be longer and less abbreviated than text searches. It’s an important distinction to understand when you come to writing your small business web content.

Tips for Optimising Your Site for Voice Search

It’s a challenge to optimise for voice searches. It means tweaking your content and having a slightly different focus.

  • Ensure your website speed is optimised. Speed in search is very important in rankings, so make sure that your site downloads at the optimal speed. It’s a small factor in voice search, but an important one.
  • Have a content-rich site. Good quality content has long been important in digital marketing, so ensure that you provide valuable, interesting content. This is less about hitting the appropriate keywords as setting yourself as the expert, go-to site that puts you at the top of searches.
  • Have blogs written in a conversational style. Because we’re asking voice search devices for information, make sure areas of your site such as blogs are written less formally and more conversationally.
  • Focus on longer tail keywords. This is one part of how people search using voice and it’s important to understand all the different permutations of language that they are likely to use.
  • Add a Q&A section or page to your website. Users are likely to ask questions such as why, what, when etc. Adding a FAQ section to your website quickly creates search-friendly entries that are more likely to show up on voice.
  • Structured data in the site backend. This is something more on the technical side. Structured data and schema mark-up allow search engines to crawl your website efficiently. The backend is basically everything on your website that you don’t see such as the underlying code.

Implementing these relatively simple tips should help your small business manage search results for voice better. It means thinking about the content on your website a little differently based on how the average consumer will be searching via voice.

Woya Digital makes digital marketing affordable for any size business through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out how your website is performing with our FREE online SEO Site Audit Report

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Latest Google Update Released

Latest Google Update Released

by | 25 Sep 2019 | General, SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We seem to have entered an age where everyone blames their social media, web content or marketing related failures on ‘algorithms’; even if perhaps that’s not really the case. In an attempt to stop internet users scapegoating their tech updates, Google yesterday, for the second time announced a broad core algorithm update in advance of it actually happening and impacting on websites. What does a Google update actually mean for your business and web presence? Read on ….

What is a Google Broad Core Algorithm Update?

‘Broad core algorithm updates’ aren’t specifically aimed at combatting any one issue, but rather at improving Google’s overall systems efficiency. These updates can take anything from a few hours to a few days to roll out across all content online. Whilst there’s no set schedule for these updates to take place, they do usually happen every few months. This means that what can be considered ‘Google friendly’ content changes frequently.

What happens when a Google Update is implemented?

The effects of algorithm updates vary depending on exactly what work has been done ‘behind the scenes’. The most notable impact is usually a change in the search rankings of content; so you may find your pages suddenly rank considerably higher or lower than they did before. This happens as Google reassesses all of its content to better align it and list it out.

For businesses who rely heavily on organic search for traffic to their websites and resulting sales, any change in SEO situation can have devastating effects if not managed adequately. It’s important, therefore, to work on your website optimisation regularly.

What should I do about a Google Broad Core Algorithm Update?

Monitor the situation when it comes to your SEO. Any pages that have dropped in the rankings aren’t necessarily being penalised for poor content but may just sit differently alongside new criteria standards. Regardless, action should be taken after each update to ensure that your rankings are able to recover. No one set action will guarantee full recovery but doing nothing will almost definitely inhibit any chances of it – even if another update is just around the corner!

When creating new content, it’s important for it to remain as relevant and current as possible. It is this, and not necessarily stuffing pages with keywords and links, that will help the content stay well ranked. Seek advice from SEO experts and work with them at each update, staying mindful that the approach to take will need to differ every time, dependent on what changes have been implemented.

How soon can SEO action taken recover a site from a Google Brand Core Algorithm Update?

There’s a common misconception that any remedial action taken won’t take effect until the next algorithm update is run. That’s not true: any recovery should be noticeable the next time that an automated ‘crawler’ (a bot that scans the site’s content to judge its fit amongst other pages and analyse where it should sit in the search rankings) scans it. This happens periodically and doesn’t wait for further updates. This means that rapid recovery is achievable, if effective action is taken quickly.

At Woya Digital we are constantly work to ensure that our clients website SEO is optimised and brought in line with constant security and Google updates. Take advantage of our awesome Instant FREE SEO Site Audit Report which we’ll send you to highlight all the things that can be improved on your website, and to optimise your website SEO ranking.

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5 Top Small Business Website Tips

5 Top Small Business Website Tips

by | 7 Sep 2019 | Digital Marketing, SEO, Webdesign

Reading Time: 3 minutes

If you are a small business or start-up, one of the most powerful tools in your marketing armoury is your business website. This mainstay of your online presence is the destination of all your digital marketing engagement and without it, you can’t hope to make more sales, get more clients or convince customers you’re the company to do business with.

The key to a successful website is not only the graphics and slick design (though these are important, of course). It’s the UX. This stands for User Experience and has become increasingly important as our digital technology has developed. What it means is actually giving your customer all the opportunity possible to engage effectively and easily with your business at all times.

Most people will be accessing your website on their mobile phones rather than a traditional desktop. If you do not have a mobile-friendly website that shows up clearly on a smartphone, you’re likely to lose out because people will become frustrated and search elsewhere.

With this in mind, here are our 5 top tips for improving your small business website so that it works most effectively for your customers, and for your business:

1. Click to Call Phone Number

Potential customers may want to call you directly. The last thing they want is to have to remember your number in order to key it into their mobile.

Your phone number must be clearly displayed on your website and must be a click to call link that automatically dials your business. This is quite a simple point, however you won’t believe how many business websites we come across that do not have this functionality!

2. Boost Your Mobile Business Website Speed

Many things can slow down your website. The truth is that Google and other search engines are likely to penalise your rankings if your website is taking too long to materialise in front of customers. If you’re not sure how fast your website is, you can use Google’s website speed tester to check things out.

We’re far more impatient when it comes to download speeds nowadays. If we don’t get a response in a few seconds, we’re likely to click away. Our advice is don’t risk losing customers because of slow mobile download speeds, find out what the problem is and fix it asap.

3. Link to Social Media Platforms

Want your visitors to share your content on their social media platforms or follow your social media accounts?

It’s amazing the number of businesses that don’t have sharing tools and their social media links highlighted on their website. And those that do, often hide these away at the bottom of pages. Make them front and centre to ensure more engagement!

4. Invest in a Business Website Chatbot

There are lots of benefits to using chatbots, AI software that can do the heavy lifting when it comes to the standard questions people often ask about your business. Not only does it give customers answers they are looking for immediately, it greatly improves UX (It doesn’t have to be expensive either!)

5. Claim your Google Business Profile

Google offers a range of different services aimed predominantly at local small businesses. Claiming your business profile means that your location and business information appears on searches. Having accurate profile information, and by adding products and services, you can get additional promotion and visibility online.

Making the most of your website is vitally important if you are a small business. These simple tips will improve the user experience, help promote better engagement, and boost your business growth.

If you would like to find out what else you can do to supercharge you small business website, why not take advantage of our Instant FREE SEO Site Audit and we’ll send you a report to highlight all the things that can be improved on your website!

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Keyword Analysis to Boost Your Rankings

Keyword Analysis to Boost Your Rankings

by | 5 Jul 2019 | SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Many companies are operating on a tight budget. This means that every effort must be made to maximise the impact of any digital marketing efforts. This in turn is why building the right foundations is crucial, ensuring that you’re not only operating from a firm base but are also more likely to succeed and maximise your marketing spend.

One area that businesses tend to overlook or not really understand, is keyword analysis. If your aim is to reach potential customers online, understanding how they are searching online is vital.

What is Keyword Analysis?

When users search for a product, service or information online, they will use certain search terms which they will input on a platform like Google. In marketing jargon, these are keywords.

If a user is looking for somewhere to eat they might type ‘local restaurants’ or more specifically ‘local curry restaurants’. Each sector, business type, product or service has its own set of search terms associated with it. Keyword analysis is the cornerstone for identifying the words and phrases that people are likely to use to find a business similar to yours, so that you can include them in your marketing strategy to optimise your content.

Services like Google AdWords feature a keyword planner that allows you to do research into the most successful words and phrases for your business. It will reveal how many people are searching for a particular term. You can also search competitor sites and see which keywords they are using and how popular these are.

Why is Keyword Analysis Important?

Including the right keywords in your website structure, content and blogs should greatly increase your online visibility. Website digital marketing is built around creating content that is likely to show up on search engines such as Google.

At its heart, this is very simple: keywords found in the website content match what people are typing into a search engine. Google logs this and ranks your website accordingly. Of course, it doesn’t mean that your website will rush to the top of the rankings if you add a few words here and there.

SEO with keywords will depend on many factors such as competition in the market place and the location of your business. Getting it right involves a good deal of work and experimentation.

How Keywords Impact the Build of Your Website

Identifying certain keywords to focusing on should influence your website design. It might dictate what text you use for title pages, subheadings, the text you lay down on each page and where it is positioned. Keywords should also be included in the HTML or coding of your site with meta titles and descriptions.

You could also include blogs to focus on certain keywords or combinations of keywords to improve your visibility online.

Google has advanced its algorithms in recent years which has put more emphasis on good quality content. This means that you can’t just stuff your chosen keyword in every available space. Your website needs to focus on user experience and flow to make sense to your visitor as well as show up on search engines.

Competitor Keyword Analysis

One good place to start when you’re trying to find the right words and phrases to focus on for your business is to take a look at what your competitors are doing. Pick the businesses that always seem to be ranking highly for standard searches and do a competitor keyword analysis on them.

This should reveal what they rank highly for and show what customers related to your sector are actually searching for.

Keyword analysis reveals a lot more than the standard words and phrases associated with your business. Carrying this research out before you begin running marketing campaigns and developing your website is important. Once you have this base keyword foundation in place, you should expect to see greater levels of relevant traffic and more conversions on your site.

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The Power of Online Customer Reviews

The Power of Online Customer Reviews

by | 27 Sep 2018 | General, SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

What is the first thing you do before you contact a new business? Of course, you check them out online before engaging with them!

Getting your business noticed and improving sales is a complicated process. It involves making use of several marketing approaches including having a great website, SEO, consistent social media engagement and eye-catching content. Additionally, one of the most powerful and often neglected advertisements for your business comes from your customers themselves – through online customer reviews.

Whether you sell products online or you are a plumber, builder or firm of accountants providing a service, people really want to know what other people think of you.

These are the key reasons that you should encourage online customer reviews:

1. Online Customer Reviews influence purchasing decisions

According to the Local Search Association:

  • 68% of us are likely to engage with a business if we read positive reviews about them
  • Only 18% of people look at a review and say it doesn’t influence their decision making
  • Over half of customers look at the star rating when making up their mind

There’s no doubt that if you can garner some good online customer reviews for your business or product, you are likely to improve your chances of someone buying from you or hiring your services in the future.

2. Online customer reviews are great for building trust and credibility with potential customers

There’s the much-used adage in business that people buy from people. You can add to that: people buy from people THEY TRUST.

You can put a whole host of information on your website to improve SEO and create a slicker sales funnel to get your leads to buy a product or hire your service. If you don’t have that added ingredient of trust however, it could make little or no difference. Having reviews on your site or posted on industry specific websites boost your credibility considerably.

3. Online customer reviews help boost your SEO rankings

SEO has developed considerably over the last decade. It’s no longer just about putting in the right keywords and hoping for the best. It involves putting in a whole range of different building blocks. Google reviews, for example, are important for building your standing in local listings.

4. Online customer reviews can lead to improved click through rates to your website

People are more likely to respond to positive reviews, and therefore click through to your business website from search engines and rating sites.

Encouraging customers to leave Reviews

It’s all well and good understanding the power of online customer reviews but how do you actually get customers to leave one? The key is making it as easy as possible for your customer:

    • Create several spaces to leave reviews, not just on your website. Try signing up to sites such as Yelp, and Google My Business
    • Don’t forget to optimise your own website so that people know where to leave reviews and how to view them
    • Provide your customer with an incentive to write a review. For example, if you run a coffee shop or bar, a free drink may entice someone to leave a good comment or two about your business
    • Just ask. No, it’s not rude to ask someone if they can leave a review for your business. Send them a thank you for their business via email with a link to the review site and you might be surprised at the response you get
    • Finally, if you get a review (whether it’s positive or negative) take the time to respond. It’s a way of building engagement and it shows that you care about your customers

If you’d like to find out more about how to effectively build customer relationships and boost your business online, get in touch with the digital marketing specialist team at Woya Digital.

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