Fibre Marketing

Category: Online Presence

The Latest Google My Business Features

Posted on by Chloe

Over the years, Google has made it easier for you to reach your potential clients – particularly those local to your business. Generally speaking, consumers who search for a service using the terms, ‘near me,’ without a particular company in mind, will likely look at the businesses who rank in the top positions of the search engine results page (SERP). They will also be more prone to interacting with the business whose Google My Business (GMB) listing is displayed at the very top of the SERP.

Therefore, it is highly recommended that you optimise your website for local searches. Unfortunately, 56% of companies have yet to claim their local business listing on Google, which means that they could be missing out on a relatively simple way to manage their business information, build brand awareness and gain a whole lot of web traffic. A whopping 82% of smartphone shoppers conduct ‘near me’ searches.

Recently, Google announced additional updates that allow you to enhance your listing even further, which are now being rolled out. This blog will give an overview of what features GMB has on offer to help get you and your business up to date and on the local Google search map.

If you’d like more insight into how to optimise your GMB listing, click here to read our advice.

Short Names

Short names, or short links, have been added to the GMB feature with the aim of giving businesses a simpler way of making their GMB profile more accessible. Currently, this feature has only been adopted by 1% of all active GMB merchants.

The shorter name/link must fit between 5 and 32 characters in length and can contain your business name, location, brand, or any other description. For example, you can use your name along with your location, such as @CheltenhamSEO. Be mindful that you can also only change your short name three times a year.

To create your short name:
1. Sign into Google My Business and select the location.
2. Click ‘Info’ from the left-side menu, followed by ‘Add Profile Short Name.’
3. You can then enter your short name.

Once applied, your name will show as ‘Pending,’ and the short URL will then show on your business profile once it’s ready.

Cover Photos and Photo Displays

Businesses can now select a header image, meaning that they can choose the photo(s) that will be seen when they are searched. Previously, the GMB owner did not have much say in which image Google chose to display, so this is great news.

As well as this, you’ll soon see carousel or slide show style photo displays, plus the addition of captions, which will help you tell the story behind your photos. A study conducted by BrightLocal revealed that 60% of consumers said ‘local search results with good images captured their attention and pushed them towards a decision.’

Google has advised businesses to upload a minimum of three exterior photos and three interior photos to their GMB.

Adding Your Logo

If you’ve submitted your business’ core information (address, phone number, opening times, etc), you will have the option to display your business logo on the upper right-hand side of your profile.

To do this, you will need to:
1. Sign in to your ‘Google Admin’ console. Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
2. From the ‘Admin Console’ home page, go to ‘Company Profile Personalization’.
3. Select ‘Custom logo’.
4. Click ‘Choose File’ and select the file containing your logo.
5. Click ‘Upload’.

Offline Features

Google has launched a website which allows you to aid the promotion of your local business on GMB. You can access social media posts, stickers and posters that are generated using information pulled directly from Google review content, star ratings and your profile’s core information. These posts make great content to share on your social media channels.

These features are extremely useful for businesses with positive reviews on Google, as they allow for the management of your reputation and encourage interaction with your business both online and offline.

Welcome Offers

In October 2018, Google launched a ‘Follow’ button that appears on business listings in the Android Google Maps app, following the removal of Google+. This allows customers to view the GMB post in their ‘For You’ tab.

Businesses now have the opportunity to reward following customers by providing offers, coupons and discounts to use offline. Beware that users will not see exactly what the offer is until they follow the business listing.

Manage Bulk Reviews

From August 16th, Google has added a new feature that allows users to manage reviews in bulk for multiple listings. This means that you’ll be able to view, respond to and flag all reviews at once – a dream feature for GMB users.

Although it should be noted that this feature is only available for location groups with no more than 500 locations, and is not available for organisation accounts.

While this is only a small change, it is certainly welcomed by the SEO community as managing reviews on each individual listing can be time consuming. Just log into your account and click ‘Manage Reviews’ from the side menu.

Hotels Can Add More To Their Listings

Hotels can now add more to their GMB listings, as Google has now made it possible for users to edit ‘services’ and ‘amenities’ in the ‘Hotel Attributes’ section of Google My Business. Please be aware that this can only be done from your desktop, not the mobile app.

Google provides summaries of a hotel’s amenities and services for customers to view from search results, but now that this can be modified by the hotels themselves, users are more likely to see factually correct information. Previously, owners of hotel sites would not be able to change it themselves.

Regarding services, you can add a range of features to your listing to offer search users a more in-depth idea of your hotel. The options include housekeeping, baggage storage, wake up calls, elevators, gift shops and more.

In Summary

Signing up to GMB is completely free and certainly worth the effort if you want to plant your local business firmly at the top of the SERP. Google is constantly rolling out new specifications for their GMB feature and it is vital you keep an eye out for the most recent updates, so that your business can continue to expand its online presence.

Update

Today (on July 5th 2019), users have already detected sightings of a more visual and user friendly interface when they log in to their GMB account. We’ll be monitoring for any further progress so we can keep you fully informed.

Discussion on Twitter here.

Building your online brand

Posted on by Chloe

Many entrepreneurs focus on building a business, rather than a brand – this is a mistake. Developing an online brand can play an important role in helping you to build a long-lasting, successful business. Just look at Apple – whenever they release a new product, people line up outside their shops to get their hands on it. This is because they feel an emotional connection to the brand and trust in the quality of their items. An online brand is the ultimate way to give your business a competitive advantage and connect with your audience on a more personal level. With that in mind, here are our top ways to build your online brand.

Understand the importance

The first step to building your online brand, is to understand the important role that it plays in the success of your business. Some business owners are reluctant to invest in online branding, because they feel that it may be a waste of money and yield little results. However, building your online brand can have a number of significant benefits such as creating awareness and interest in your business, attracting new customers, growing your business online, and securing repeat customers. All of these are important factors in any successful business.

Research your target audience

Before you can build an online brand, it is also important to understand your target audience. Make sure you do thorough research and establish who your audience are and what will appeal to them – this includes things like their gender, age, and interests. You can use a number of online tools to help you identify your target audience. Some useful examples include Google Trends, Compete, and Comscore. These tools with provide you with valuable information on your target audience, and help you determine what they will want to see and hear. This will enable you can create an effective online brand strategy and develop your brands voice.

Use a range of media platforms

The most effective online branding strategies use a variety of different media platforms to capture their audience. For example, use content networks to develop your brand through repetition, then use behavioural marketing to get your advertisements seen by your target audience. You also need to consider what social media you are going to use. There are plenty of different social media platforms, so make sure you find the one that’s best for your business. Your market research should help you understand what social media your audience uses, and how to reach them. Remember that social media is a great tool for getting organic traffic and building your online brand, so make sure you take advantage of it! It’s also important to keep in mind that media platforms are constantly evolving, so make sure you are flexible and adapt your strategies to any new changes.

Create a recognisable logo

Your brand logo is extremely important. It has the power to arouse interest in your audience and build awareness of your brand and business. Make sure you choose a unique logo, that is easily recognisable and reflects the story behind your business – brands like Apple and Nike are a good example. Keep in mind that people are likely to forget or confuse a logo that is too complicated, so it’s always best to keep it simple!

Remember that content is key

Posting regular quality and relevant content, is one of the best way to connect with your audience and build your online brand. We see content everywhere – from Google and Youtube, to Facebook and Instagram. Good quality content will attract more people and if they enjoy it, then they are going to associate the value of your content to your brand. Posting high quality content is also a great way to encourage similar reputable organisations to repost your content and include backlinks to your website. This will help to generate more traffic to your website and enhance your organic search presence. Remember, the more prevalent your brand becomes in the mind of your peers, the stronger your reputation will grow online.

Build your reputation online

Building your reputation online is extremely important. People aren’t going to buy from your business if they don’t know or trust it. Online reputation and brand authority is also an important factor in your search engine rankings, as more authoritative sites will appear higher in search engine result pages. This will help to drive more quality traffic to your website and generate more conversions for your business. It is important to remember that building an online reputation for your brand will take time and consistency is key. Keep posting quality, relevant content and eventually your brand will build a following and brand authority online.

What Makes a Good Blog?

Posted on by Chloe

What makes a good blog can be broken down into four segments. Firstly, there are the different forms success takes, secondly there is the marketing boost that all successful blogs need, thirdly there is surprise, and fourthly there is targeting. This post covers all four elements of a successful blog, and also offers a little bit of advice about trying to replicate the success of others.

Success Has Many Forms

Take YouTube as an example: Pewdiepie holds the record for the most total viewers on YouTube, and it is just one guy who used to upload every day; then, take Lemmino. He uploads once per month at the most, and he has the most loyal followers. Both are working alone, both are incredibly successful, and yet both use a very different method for achieving their success.

The key to blogging success seems to be “Experimenting.”  i.e. trying out a bunch of different ideas until you find the thing that works. Many times, you are surprised by what works and what does not.

For example, there was a blog aimed at teenage boys, and the web master tried everything from fight videos to hilarious comic strips. He tried every cliché in the book to attract teenage males. Yet, the web master had his biggest run of success when he posted opinion pieces on local issues, but he put a joke or funny comment in every third line of his blog. That simple format attracted more of his target demographic than all the gun-violence posts he ever uploaded.

Your Face on A Billboard

You may have the highest quality blog of all time, but if nobody sees it, then nobody interacts with it, which means Google ranks it as number 120,000 on its results. You will need to give your search ranking a boost from time-to-time with search engine optimization. Just like putting your face on a billboard, you need to draw a little attention from time-to-time if you want to generate sustained success for your blog. Get people interested by optimising your website and its content for Google, and then, if your blog is good, it will be carried by its own success.

Think of the keywords that you want to rank for. The headlines you’re creating. Do you need visual content? Remember, do not keyword spam and do not make your post too long. People have shorter attention spans – keep content between 500-1,000 words, and use subheadings (H2s) and bullet points if necessary.

What Makes A Good Blog?

Targeting and surprise. Sadly, these are two elements that are often confused by bloggers and people in the publishing industry.

Targeting means you need to produce content that your readers are actually interested in. Your blog needs to fit your niche, and thus needs to appeal to those who are interested in it, while pushing away everybody else. It is the “pushing away” part that most bloggers mess up – many try and create content that would appeal to anyone in the hopes that they gain more traffic. The fact is that if you wish to target certain people, then you have to alienate others. need to alienate some people if you want to target others.

This also means that you need to have a thorough understanding of what your target audience wants and write directly for them. If you’re stuck for ideas, type in some keywords that you’d like to rank for, and look at the questions from the ‘People Always Ask’ section on the search engine results page (SERP). That’s what your target audience are searching, so make sure your blog has the answers.

Secondly, surprise means “unexpected.” It doesn’t mean click-bait titles, it doesn’t mean shock news, and it doesn’t mean being unorthodox.

Examining the Success Of Strangers

You should do learn from your success because they offer the most powerful lessons.

Should you learn from the success of others? You probably shouldn’t. Most people have no idea why they succeeded because they spend too much time examining why they failed and not why they succeeded. Secondly, repeating somebody else’s success is often harder than building a successful blog using your own trial and error.

A wise person examines the success of strangers and takes its lessons on board, but maybe doesn’t try to replicate the success directly.

 

Site Indexing: What is it, and why does it matter?

Posted on by Chloe

The main aim of any business website is to attract interest in the brand. From this interest, sales  of products and services can be increased. This is why creating a business website that works is so important. It’s your way of establishing a global shop window, where people can see what your business has to offer.

Establishing a website is not the full story though. If your website is not indexed by Google, it will not appear in search results, where you want it to be. As we recently reported, there has been a recent issue with sites dropping out of the index due to a bug. This has led to problems for businesses who have missed out on potential custom as a result. Although this recent issue is a glitch that is being resolved, it’s possible to have ongoing issues with indexing if you do not have a proper understanding of how important it is.

What is site indexing?

It’s important that you have an understanding of site indexing, in order to realise how vital it can be for your business. The process of indexing involves Google searching the web for pages to be added to the Google Index. It’s this index that is used to produce results when searches are made online.

Websites need to be structured correctly, in order to be indexed and to appear in search results. This means that there needs to be an efficient sitemap in place and that tags need to be correctly added to enable Google bots to find the content and index the page correctly.

Why is site indexing important for your business?

Knowing what site indexing means, you should be able to get an idea of why it’s so important. In order for your business to show up in search results, the pages of your website need to be indexed. Any pages that are not indexed are not available to be presented in search results. The pages exist but no-one can find them, so they are not of much use.

You need to make it as easy as possible for Google to find your online content so that all of the information contained on your website is added to the index.

Keeping check on your index status

As can be seen from the recent issues caused by a bug, just because your website pages are added to the Google Index, this does not mean they will always remain there. The recent problem was a temporary one, but there can be issues which cause your pages to drop from the index more permanently. If you do not realise that this has happened, you may be wondering why traffic to your website has dropped.

You can check on the current index status of your pages yourself. However, many businesses find it easier to get experts to do the work for them, giving them time to concentrate on the day to day running of the business.

The simple fact is that if the pages of your website drop from the Google Index, no-one is going to know that they exist. This makes monitoring the index status of pages a vital exercise.

As we mentioned at the start of this article, the main aim of having on online presence is for your website to attract people to your business. You want them to visit your site, and see all of the good content that is there; and you want them to go on to invest in your products or services. This is not going to happen if people do not know that your website exists, because it does not show up in search results. No matter how wonderful your website content is, it does not matter if the pages are not indexed. You need to make sure that it’s easy for Google to find, and navigate through, the pages of your website, so that they are added to the Index and can be produced in search results.

Google dropping pages out of the Search Index

Posted on by Chloe

It’s been reported that a Google bug is causing the removal of pages from the search index. Starting on Thursday 4th April, Google confirmed the bug on Saturday 6th, and as of the time of writing, (11th April), it is yet to be fully resolved.

Sites are seeing web pages being omitted from their index, thus not showing up in Google search results. This could have a huge impact for these websites, resulting in less traffic and therefore less e-commerce check outs, leads and conversions.

On Twitter, people have been asking what the issue is/was, but Google seemed to be avoiding the question:

Come Monday morning, the issue was still not resolved:

Google did also confirm that, while you can use the URL inspection tool to expedite pages, everything will be fixed by Google and we don’t necessarily need to do anything:

Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon – has your site been affected?

This is not the first Google bug we’ve seen – a few months ago, a bug caused 14 Ads to show on mobile SERPs.

UPDATE: The issue has been resolved:

How to Optimise Your Google My Business Listing

Posted on by Chloe

Optimising your presence online is essential if you want your business to be as competitive as possible. Making sure that your Google My Business listing works as effectively as it should is a major part of this. It makes sense to use this vital tool to its full effect as it does not involve any financial expense to your business and it can help you to feature highly on Google Maps and in Google’s overall organic rankings.

You can choose to do all of the work to optimise your Google My Business listing yourself, or you can work with professionals. This can have benefits for you, as professionals have experience and expertise in working with tools such as Google My Business.

Whatever decision you make about dealing with the optimisation of your Google My Business listing, you need to know what is involved.

Make sure your Google My Business profile is complete

You need to remember that this is a device which is being used to help people find your business. This means that you need to include all important information in your profile. The information that should always be featured includes:

  • The address of your business.
  • Your phone number.
  • The hours that your business operates. Do not forget to include details of any special opening hours which may apply on bank holidays.
  • The operating category of your business, so that people know what you do.
  • A description of the role of your business.
  • How to find your premises.
  • How people can buy your products or pay for your services.

This is your opportunity to tell people about your business, so use it wisely.

Include photographs of your business

Google My Business listings that include photographs usually receive more click-throughs, and more other forms of contact. People like to see what your business look like. Make sure to include photographs that show the inside and outside of your premises.

When you are choosing photographs to use, it’s important to opt for quality and relevance. Do not just decide to use photographs that you already have, if they are not clear or do not accurately represent your business. Have some up to date photographs taken, that show people what your business is all about, and what they can expect when they visit.

Pay attention to your reviews

People can leave reviews on your Google My Business listing, and if these reviews are good, they can have a positive impact on your rankings. The best way to get good reviews is to make sure that you provide a high standard of service. Make sure that products are delivered on time and that services are carried out as promised. You also need to ensure that good customer service is at the centre of everything that you do.

Whether the reviews you receive are positive or not, you need to make sure that you respond to them. People like to feel that they are being listened to. Acknowledge people who are pleased with your service, and say thank you. If people have suggestions, say that you will take them on-board, or explain why it’s not possible to do so. If someone is unhappy with your service, say that you will contact them about the issue. The exact response you give will depend on the situation.

Keep your listing up to date

Once you have created your Google My Business listing, you need to make sure that it’s kept up to date, in order to ensure that it works as effectively as it should. If your address or telephone number changes, do not forget to make the change to your listing. Likewise, if you add to your services, tell people about it. Doing this work helps to make sure that your listing is optimised as all times.

Google My Business is an important tool to use, when it comes to advertising your business. It helps people who are looking for your products or services, in your area, to find you. Make sure that you include all of the relevant information about your business, including photographs. Once you have created your listing, do not forget to update it every time there is a change that people need to know about, in order to help them find your business.

Update for August 2019: 

Google are rolling out new features for Google My Business accounts. Click here to read what these entail and how they can benefit your business.

Can Website Design Affect Your SEO?

Posted on by Chloe

If you’re asking – “Can website design affect my SEO?” – then the simple answer is yes. Web design plays an integral role in SEO, and you should be aware of how your design decisions can affect your search rankings.

How bad design will affect your SEO

We’ve explained previously how most people use the internet when searching for a product or service and over 90% of those people start by using a search engine. So, someone goes online and searches for an answer, a product, or a service, and it leads them to your website – great! However, if a user doesn’t engage with your content because of poor design, then they’re likely to go back to the SERP to find a better answer to their query. PageCloud add that “this action is known as bouncing or “pogo sticking” and tells the search engines that the user was not satisfied – you weren’t the right answer or solution to their search.” Over time this will cause your rankings to drop, as a high bounce rate shows a low value for that page.

Poor design mistakes to avoid

Poor website design can be due to a number of factors. Here are a few of the main design mistakes you should avoid at all costs:

  • Illegible text – Users are unlikely to engage with your content if your font is too small or difficult to read. You also need to make sure that your content has enough spacing and does not appear crammed. Use a readability tool to make sure that your text can be read and understood easily.
  • Large files – This includes images and videos that may slow down your pages. Remember that not everyone has access to high speed internet, and users are likely to leave your site if pages take too long to download. You should therefore use online tools to check your page load speeds regularly.
  • Intrusive Pop ups – While they can be useful, pop ups can cause frustration for your online audience and affect user experience, especially if they haven’t even accessed any of your content yet. This can hurt your SEO. You should therefore use pop ups carefully, and never in a way that appears intrusive or irrelevant.
  • Distracting sounds / colours – Web Blog PunkChip explain that “autoplay of embedded audio and video clips causes interruption to browsing, and so you should avoid making audio tracks or videos play automatically on your website.” If you do have a clip playing automatically, ensure that it’s muted. Don’t forget that offensive or distracting colour schemes can also have a negative effect on usability and cause frustration for your visitors.

How a great design layout improves SEO

Your website design should be simple, easy, and minimalistic. This will allow users to navigate your website with ease, get the information that they need, and spend more time on your site. All of these will significantly impact on your SEO effects and will boost the usability of your site. Remember that search engines like Google like it when answers are easy to find, and so content at the top of a page will always have more value.

When considering layout, you should make sure that text and images are properly separated using whitespace so that your pages are easy to navigate. This will help focus your readers and increase engagement without overwhelming them. Functional navigation is another important factor. A consistent header and footer is a simple way to improve user accessibility and will help anyone visiting your site access your content with ease.

How the right content improves your SEO

Once you have the perfect layout, you need to fill it with amazing content that makes your site stand out! This awesome content not only increases engagement, but it’s also a great way to get backlinks, as other sites will link to you if they feel that your content will provide their users with additional quality information. Remember that the volume and quality (the latter more importantly) of the content on your website will directly affect your SEO rank.

Your website needs to look good on all devices

 In today’s modern world, most people use a variety of mobile devices for browsing the internet. It’s therefore important to have a responsive website that can consistently perform on all types of mobile devices. If your content isn’t properly designed for every screen size, then your user experience with suffer, and you will have trouble getting high rankings in search engine results. Forbes advise that “mobile-friendliness is an absolute must if you’re hoping to make gains in organic search visibility, and it should be a primary design focus.” Tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help you determine if your pages are accessible on mobile.

How to check the quality of your web design

To figure out if you have a good design, you can do some user testing. Using free services like Google Optimize is a great way to check accessibility and see where improvements can be made. You can also ask family and friends to visit your site and give feedback on what they liked, and if there were any frustrations or improvements they can suggest.

In summary, bad website design is bad for SEO. Good web design is therefore crucial to a successful SEO strategy, and when done well, the design of your website can help you to rank higher, which will lead to increased traffic, conversions, and profits.

Websites online presence and why you need to be active!

Posted on by Fibre Agency

In the current information age, having an online presence is of paramount importance for pretty much anyone. If your business primarily consists of physical products or you find most of customers through word of mouth you may not think that an online presence is relevant to you, but I’m here today to tell you that you’re wrong.

As I’ve written ad nauseum before, being visible online through search engine optimization and so on brings a variety of benefits, the most obvious of which are more traffic and therefore many more potential customers. However, merely being visible is not enough. Your website may be very easy to find, and may even be in top two or three ranked sites for certain search terms, but if your business’ online presence isn’t strong enough, then it’s not going to reach its’ full potential. Being visible is just one piece of the broader challenge of having an excellent online presence.

The first step is to create a top-notch website. Although it’s fairly easy these days for anyone with an old computer and an internet connection to build a rudimentary site, it’s well worth investing in a professional web design service to do this for you. The difference is absolutely huge, not to mention the amount of time it saves from not having to learn how to operate all the various plugins and other accoutrements.services-conversion-rate-optimization

Just think about how much more inclined you are to stick around on a website if it looks slick and has an intuitive interface, compared to a random blog someone threw together on WordPress where half the links don’t work and the background picture doesn’t align properly. Again, your website may be easily found by a search engine, but if it’s lacking in design no one is going to stick around long enough to want to pay for your services.

The next step is to make sure that you have high-quality content on your site apart from the basic services that you have on offer. You don’t want a site that merely looks and feels good, so the more great articles and blog posts you have, the better. This is beneficial in two ways.

First, people are more likely to stick around your site, revisit it and pay for your services if there is content worth reading.

Second, having high-quality content makes for superior link building, and your site is far more likely to be shared on social media, blogs, forums and so on. This means more people with similar interests visiting (thus more likely to be paying customers), and since search engines use the number of links as a factor in ranking sites, you’ll get more traffic through that route as well. To keep customers intrigued, you’ll have to make sure that there is always more fresh content to keep them coming back.

It’s all too easy to negate the importance of an active presence, a tangible experience which customers and readers will remember and relate to, however given the rise of social media and the fact that every individual has a web-based personality, no matter your business this strategy is absolutely crucial to success.

We’re Fibre Marketing and we offer affordable SEO agency services, contact us today if you need to build your online presence.