Our own Local Search efforts paid off yesterday when we discovered that we were ranked second in Google Local Search results for two of our major Keywords, “Marketing, Lancaster, PA” and “Internet Marketing, Lancaster, PA”. So, we thought we’d take a moment to tell you “Hey! This stuff really works!”
Many of us were bought up to be “Seen and not heard.” I don’t know about you, but as a child I certainly wasn’t taught to crow my brilliance from the rooftops.
Ranked second for Local Search, "Internet Marketing, Lancaster, PA"
When it comes to Internet marketing though, that’s often exactly what you need to do. After all, who do you expect to do it for you?
Before anyone starts shouting, “Your customers should! Social proof! You ALWAYS talk about social proof!” and looking for the pitchforks and sticks with fire on the end…
If you provide wonderful service, your customers should tell others how brilliant you are.
But, in order to do that, they need to find you. What’s more, once they’ve found you and discovered how amazing your products and services are, they need a way to tell others with minimal effort. That’s where an oft-overlooked aspect of social proof comes in: You MUST provide your customers a way to leave feedback that is convenient and quick. Doing this is key to any online marketing effort.
People want to tell their friends and family about positive experiences they’ve had. They want people they tell to experience the same great service or product for themselves. They’ll certainly spread positive experiences by word of mouth. But without a little, shall we say, nudge? Most people will not take the time to post a positive review online. Some people do not know how; others feel that it takes too long, or don’t know what to say.
There are three steps that any business should take to promote positive reviews:
1) Provide customers a place to leave them. Many of the local search providers allow this.
2) Urge customers to actually go ahead and write one. Figure out the direct link to a page that accepts reviews for your business, and get that link in front of people. If you don’t ask, no one else will. So, don’t be shy.
3) Give them a push in the right direction. Providing a starting point for someone to write a positive review will often help overcome the “Uh, I don’t know what to say” factor. Try something simple like “If you feel that your experience with us was positive, please take the time to tell others why.” with that aforementioned link attached.
Ranked second for Local Search term, "Marketing, Lancaster, PA" 2 weeks after optimization.
You really should be blowing your own horn. We’re doing it today because we’re proud of the Local Search results we’ve achieved for our own website. After all, sometimes even a Kiwi needs to unleash the rooster within…
