Social Media – Forward Web

Do you want to grow your business in 2020?

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Forward_Web

Make your web presence a priority in 2020. Here is a quick list to help get you moving in the right direction.
1. Audit your current website. When auditing your website, go beyond the aesthetics of the website. Yes, your website should look clean and modern, however beyond the looks, define the purpose. Is the purpose of your website to gain leads, promote a product, highlight certain specifics/services about your business? Once you have determined the purpose, ask your-self (and your team) how well your website is serving it’s purpose and make adjustments where necessary.

2. The numbers don’t lie. Make sure you are collecting some form of analytical data (i.e Google Analytics, Clicky..ect) Without proper analytics it will be impossible to determine your traffic sources, which pages are most popular, how long people are visiting your website..ect. Without this data, its impossible to know where you are succeeding and where you need to improve, the numbers wont lie.

3. Get Active on Social Media. Find 1 social media platform that works for you and get active. Make a commitment for 2020 to post at the very minimum once per week. The content can be an update about your business, an update about your industry or something that is relevant to your business and relevant to your audience.

4. Harness your existing audience. If you have an email list of existing clients or customers, make a commitment to reach out to your email list at least once per month via something simple like an email newsletter. Don’t just spam their inbox with discount codes and promos, make sure you are providing content that your viewer-ship will find interesting or informative.

5. Paid Advertisements. Pay per click campaigns (PPC), social media campaigns, video campaigns..ect are an easy way to drive guaranteed traffic to your website or business. The end game with paid advertisements (regardless of platforms) is to determine the average amount of money you need to spend to acquire 1 sale or lead and scaling up your campaign accordingly.

With the above points in mind, don’t be afraid to spend money, to make money. Nothing will stunt your growth faster than frugalness when it comes to the web. Of course, we are not saying you should break the bank, however fear of failure, should not detour you from moving your web presence forward.

With that being said, if any of the above points sound a bit overwhelming to tackle on your own, we are always here to help. Send us a message or set-up your free consultation at: https://forwardweb.net/free-web-consultation/

Three actions you can take to immediately improve your on-line visibility

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Forward_Web

1. Claim & Set-Up Free Business Pages: Assuming your business has a physical location (shop, storefront, office..ect), Start with your Google Business Page, check to see if Google already has a listing for your business. If they do, proceed to claiming your business page and or creating a new listing for your business if they do not. Next, proceed to ensuring your website URL is attached to your business page and that all information phone number, hours, description..ect are 100% accurate. Once you are done with Google, proceed to doing the same with Yelp and then Facebook.

2. Harness Your Existing Audience: If you’ve been in business awhile, you likely have email, addresses and phone numbers of your existing or previous clients and customers. If you haven’t done so already, organize these contacts into a CRM (i.e Zoho, Nutshell..ect) that will allow you to regularly communicate with your current and previous clients. The key here will be consistency, while being mindful that your clients are already receiving loads of email, mailers and text messages. Before sending your first form of group communication, put your-self in your clients shoes and ask your-self what type of information you’d be interested in receiving. Is it coupons, business updates, all of the above? Nonetheless, you always want to be genuine in your communication (never spammy). The goal is staying connected, not selling.

But wait, how does this activity increase your Internet visibility? Although connecting with your audience directly does not have any effect on your Google/Search Rankings, the trickle down effect that occurs when you regularly connect with your audience is they will at some point, conduct a search of your business on-line. Just think, how many times do you “ok Google” for a business you’re already familiar with? If you’ve followed point#1 even if you do not have great organic visibility for your website, the business pages you set-up should. Thus, the more searches that are conducted on Google that result in a click through to your business page or website, the higher the rank Google will give your pages for these searches.

3. Get Busy on Social Media: For the sake of keeping it simple, focus on a single social media platform that you will use to build your audience, provide relevant information about your industry and lastly, to provide information about your business. Using facebook as an example, according to eMarketer reports, the average facebook user 18+ years of age is spending roughly 30 minutes per day on facebook. During this time, users are not just liking photos and writing comments, they are also searching for businesses and or being introduced to new business they did not know previously existed.

Questions? Don’t be afraid to send us a message, we love to help.

Why is optimizing your web presence important?

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Forward_Web

When successfully optimized, your web presence can spread brand awareness and turn digital interactions into ideal clients. Here are a few points every business should take the time to cover.

1. Make sure you have a mobile friendly website.

If your a business owner, chances are you do most of your work on your laptop or desktop computer. However your potential clients will likely make their first interactions with your business via a mobile device. This means you should have a mobile first mentality when it comes to your website. Information on your website should be easy to access and easy to read, otherwise you might as well not have a website at all.

2. Get Listed on Popular Directories

Google Places, Yelp, Facebook are some of the most popular pages you can get your website listed on. Make sure you add current pictures, your information like phone number, hours..ect are included, along with a nice and descriptive bio about your business. Make a note somewhere that you are listed on these pages so you can remember to keep these pages updated.

3. Get Active on Social Media

Facebook is a great place to start, even if you do not have a facebook profile, your friends, family, colleagues and last but not least, your potential clients likely do. If you followed point#2, you already have your business page set-up, now all you have to do is get active. Post frequently, however make sure what you are posting is relevant, professional, yet something your viewers can relate and connect to. If you do not know where to start, keep it simple and start by keeping your viewer-ship up to date with what is going on with your business (sales, events, new products, services..ect).

This of course is just a starting point, if you have already covered this points, kudos you are on your way. If you have not, getting started is half the battle.

3 Reasons Why Social Media Matters For Your Business

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Forward_Web

In today’s day and age, marketing your business on social media is imperative in order to succeed in this competitive market. A large percentage of marketers agree that social media is important for successful business growth but, if you are not sure why, keep reading because Forward Web shares 3 reasons why social medial matters for your business in this article!

Reason #1: Increased Traffic to Your Website

One of the greatest struggles for a digital marketer is getting people to your site and keeping them there. The advantage of using social media is that it has the benefit of directing people straight to your site. For instance, Forward Web writes blogs regularly which are then shared across a selection of social sites and all links lead back to our website. Each interaction pushes that content in front of more people and this results in more opportunities for people to find our website.

You too can accomplish the same results by implementing this process. A lot of the social profiles now have the option to adding a link back to your website too. For example, Facebook and Instagram now encourages this connection with the implementation of the call-to-action button that links people directly to your app or website. Bottom line, the goal is to increase traffic to your website.

Reason #2: Increase Your Brand’s Exposure And Authority

For people to be more aware of your company, it is important to have a strong social presence and to constantly be engaging. Social media makes it possible to demonstrate not only that you exist but also that your business is functional and responsive, with current, interesting and relevant things going on. A simple share or retweet from your followers can change the way the message is delivered. This helps increase your brand’s exposure and authority tremendously as it amplifies your message, thus exposing you to more people.

Reason #3: Social Media Provides An Avenue For Contact and Feedback

As a business, social media is a fantastic and effective avenue for contact and feedback, it really opens up some doors of opportunity that might not have otherwise been available. This is a real opportunity to not only understand your customers’ experiences and quickly respond to their concerns or complaints, but it also helps you understand how your business is perceived. This information is a essential to make any necessary adjustments for constant and regular growth.

One of the reasons why so many people rely on social media nowadays is because users know they will get a speedy response through social media. It is pretty standard for customers to expect a reply within an hour and with that in mind it is important to monitor your accounts regularly. Feedback is highly useful and welcomed (even if it’s not always what you want to hear). In fact, unhappy customers could be considered a great opportunity for improvement and growth, after all, wouldn’t you want to know if a customer is unhappy or if your business has a problem? Think about it, if you can turn an unhappy customer around, they will be completely satisfied with the experience and be more inclined to spread the word.

As you can see, social medial can play a major role in the success of your business. Not because it can be used to push your way to the top of the results page but because it allows you to engage with your audience and build strong, long-term relationships, listen and respond to trends and feedback, and make and share amazing content. It takes some patience but the process is well worth the investment because over time, your influence will increase as people will find value in what your business offers. Would you like more information on this topic? Contact Forward Web today!

5 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Important For Your Business

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Forward_Web

As a business, in today’s day and age, your digital storefront extends to social media marketing sites (like Twitter and Facebook). Nowadays, it is not enough to only have a website for your business. You certainly don’t want to risk falling behind your competition therefore, it is time to start capitalizing on social media marketing! Forward Web provides 5 great reasons why social media marketing is important for your business:

Reason #1: It will get you more sales!

It is simple; Your customers are more likely to buy from you when they need the service or product you sell if you stay in front of your customer base. Social media is a great tool that not only keeps your company’s name in front of potential buyers, but also gives you the opportunity to constantly give them incentives to buy. For example, try posting and/or tweeting coupon codes (good only to those who are your Twitter or Facebook followers) and you will be surprised by how many people actually use the code.

Reason #2: It gives you the opportunity to observe your target market up close and personal.

The ability to interact with your customers is part of what makes marketing with Twitter and Facebook so awesome (and effective). You get to read their status updates and tweets to get insights into their daily lives. As a result, this gives you the upper hand and allows you to adjust your marketing strategy as needed.

Reason #3: It doesn’t cost you anything!

Ok, nothing could possible beat that! (Especially if you handle your own social media management). If you are inexperienced with social media, or your writing skills are a little rusty or perhaps you might feel intimidated by even the thought of interacting with people online, no problem! Hire a professional PR (Public Relations) company or a company that specializes in web marketing and/or social media management company, such as Forward Web.

Posting poorly written content on social media sites could give a bad impression or even transmit the wrong message, affecting your digital PR presence negatively. Therefore, although there is a cost when you hire a company to manage your social media marketing, it is completely worth it and you will definitely see a return on your investment.

Reason #4: The social media marketing arena is a fairly level playing field.

In the past, companies needed to invest millions of dollars to run traditional ad campaigns in order to succeed but, contrary to the brick and mortar companies we are all used to, all companies start off on equal footing when it comes to social media marketing. Today, if you want to get the most traffic and increase your online sales, you must out-write, outwit and out-network your competition while offering superior products. Your success depends on whether you use the most clever, attention grabbing tactics and the most useful link-worthy content, you have to stand out.

Reason #5: You can address problems immediately.

Of course, you will want to know if there is a problem with your product or service immediately. Social medial marketing is a great source for useful feedback, which is a exceptional way to ensure that you will be the first to know if there are any issues and fix them as soon as possible. After all, the customer is always right and consumers appreciate companies that respond to customer complaints in a timely manner.

As you can see, the reasons why social media marketing is essential for your business are many. Social media marketing is key and there really are so many advantages that you can benefit from it, make sure you are on top of this aspect of your business and you too will succeed tremendously! Make sure to contact Forward Web if you still you have questions or want to inquire about our social media management services!

7 Ways to Increase Your Local Search Rank

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Forward_Web

With infinite online marketing options available today to improve website leads, traffic and sales, it is no surprise that many small business owners are feeling confused.

Online marketing has certainly become more complex. In fact, local search engine optimization will constantly produce results and nowadays, with more and more consumers engaging in the regular use of smartphones, it has become immensely important for local businesses to have strong local search presence.

Forward Web hopes you find the following 7 ways to help your business increase your local search rank helpful:

Confirm that Your Website is Optimized

When it comes to materializing in local search, your on-page optimization is of the utmost importance. It is essential to take the time to properly optimize all of your on-page factors before you even begin to think about link building or citation building (just having a solid on page optimization is not enough in today’s competitive market).

Build Your Local Listing Pages

This step is very simple and straightforward; make sure to claim your local listings on Google+, Bing Local, Yahoo Local and any other popular business listing directories. Once you have completed your profile, you will have to verify that you are indeed the business listing owner. Each site has a different verification method, some may just verify your email while others may send you a pin code through USPS mail then you will have to manually enter the code in order to complete the verification.

In addition to the big sites, there are also local listings that you can make sure to include such as YP.com, Yelp, foursquare and other industry specific business directories. Make sure you complete each profile thoroughly using accurate and consistent information across all of your local listings.

Maintain NAP Information Constant

When it comes to NAP (business name, address and phone number), it is important to maintain consistency as you create business listings. Pay attention to make sure that all directory listings appear exactly as it is on your website.

Maintaining consistency will improve your local SEO greatly. For instance, abbreviating the word Ave on your website but spelling it out in your listings will affect your SEO, therefore, you want to keep a close eye to make sure everything stays the same across the board. It might be a good idea to audit your business listings to catch and correct any discrepancies.

Make Certain That Your Website is Mobile and Table Friendly

What do you think will happen when someone visits your website on their table or mobile device and encounter difficulties as they try to navigate through an unresponsive website? Most likely they will leave and find a site that is optimized for their device.

Local searches on mobile and table devices are becoming more and more common nowadays, consequently, it is vital for your website to offer a pleasant and smooth experience on any device. Investing in a mobile/tablet friendly site is well worth it and will go a long way.

Start Blogging

A great way to increase your local search visibility is by creating a blog on your website and updating it regularly. Your blog should consist of content that targets local keywords and search terms that are related to your business. Blogging not only provides great SEO benefits but also gives visitors to your website new information to read each time. The goal is to ultimately convert a visitor into a sale (or at least a lead) and the longer they stay on your website, the higher your probabilities for that outcome will be. Also, to further expand your reach, you can share your blogs on your social media accounts.

Reviews

So many people depend on reviews for just about everything nowadays (I think we are all guilty of this), and for good reasons. Positive online reviews build trust and credibility, which is what we are all actively looking for. With that in mind, we encourage you to encourage your customers to leave reviews. You want to make sure that you are gathering local business reviews immediately and not force or offer incentives to do so. Perhaps you could present them with a list of review websites and let them know that you would love to hear their feedback.

You will find yourself pleasantly surprised that most customers will be happy to provide their feedback when simply asked.

Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms

Social media is an essential part of your local search marketing efforts therefore, you want to choose the right platforms for your business. Trying to be active on every social media platform is highly counter productive so, identifying the outlets that your target audience is active on always the priority. Once you determined the appropriate social media platform your business will be active on, create a publication schedule (remember, your objective is to engage with your audience constantly).

ForwardWeb.net wants your business to thrive and we hope that you find these tips to increase your local search rank useful and informative. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding local search ranking or anything else related to web development and web marketing, contact ForwardWeb.net!