It’s the golden age of technology with endless ai tools, design platforms, and drag-and-drop website builders at our disposal, which makes it easier than ever to have an online presence. The downside? EVERYONE can have an online presence, including bots. Building an online presence today is much less about being present and more about convincing the search engines that you aren’t ai slop or bot-generated content. I just got through the rigmarole of setting up a new business and I’ve got some pro tips for being seen online.
Despite 90% of consumers looking for local businesses online, 27% of small busiensses do not have a website. Source: https://www.wix.com/blog/small-business-website-statistics
Getting Started
Besides your website, you mainly need three things set up: Google Business (gets you shown on Google Maps), Meta (Facebook/Instagram), and NextDoor. If you spend a few hours updating your logo, hours, contact info, and services/products offered, you will be in the top 10% of local businesses.
Google Business Profile
Google Business is completely free, fast to set up, and easy to update. The thing most small businesses get wrong is thinking Google Business Profiles are a set-it-and-forget-it. This leaves your profile to die and Google to not believe your business is active. Google consistently favors businesses that often post updates on their Google Business Profile.
Still not convinced? Here’s a list of what Google Business Profiles provides for free:
- Collect reviews
- Share updates on your business
- Let your customers know which holidays you’re open
- Appear on Google Maps
- Manage which photos appear to represent your business
- The community can add photos of your business, which boosts your visibility
- Gives AI search engines a fast address, contact, website, and info on your businesses
Social Media Profiles
Creating accounts for Meta Business, Facebook, and Instagram is very easy, especially if you copy and paste info from your Google Business Profile. For your business descriptions, you’ll want to present your business from a community standpoint. For local businesses, add the importance of your city in your business description. I recommend getting a handful of pictures on your social profiles (logo, building, products/offerings), then focus on getting candid photos over the next few weeks, then start posting short form content (reels, stories, and vertical videos). Growth on social is slow, but greatly worth it in the long run. Meta Business Suite runs out of Facebook.com. Set up a personal profile, create a page (register as a local business), create an Instgram page, then add in all of your business details within the Meta interface. My last advice for social media is to not be afraid to ad spend. The organic reach of social posts is tiny these days. If you’re spending time to create high quality posts, they likely won’t perform well without spending money. If you’re tight on money, find opportunities to tag larger accounts – businesses, people, and groups.
NextDoor
NextDoor is a digital neighborhood, a hub for recommendations, referral marketing, and kindness. According to the app, 88% of NextDoor users shop at local businesses every week. There’s a lot of trust within the app and posts are often organically discoverable, showing promos, advice, and posts that you give to different users. Building your business through NextDoor is best done through the “local expert” strategy. Share advice, comment often (as your business), and share your company wins. Avoid direct promotion or boring Canva-style social posts. NextDoor networking should be candid, fun, and informative. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, NextDoor doesn’t use a follower system where businesses have to slowly build their following before the algorithm starts to share your content.
In Closing…
There are millions of options for where to spend your time, resources, and money these days. I hope this list helps you narrow down a quick priority list. If you’re looking for help with any of these or if you want to take your marketing to the next step, reach out to me anytime.
Ben Wesner, Marketing Manager @ Rogue Valley Creative
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