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Business/Investment

6 Ways to Improve Your Local SEO Advertising Now

When it comes to helping your business thrive, you have no greater tool than SEO. But what if you’re trying to get more exposure in your specific state, region, county, or town? This is when local SEO should become your priority in order to increase local customers and leads.

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about local SEO and describe six ways to improve your local SEO advertising today.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a type of digital advertising that deals specifically with optimizing your website for local searches. This means that the top results of a search like “San Francisco restaurants” will list businesses that are specifically located in San Francisco, California, instead of a random pizza joint in Reno, Nevada.

Many users use Google specifically to search for local stores and businesses, which means it’s absolutely essential for your business to be discovered online. While this might seem complicated, it’s actually quite simple to get started. Here are the top ways to improve your local SEO advertising today.

Update Your Google My Business Account

Before you can start optimizing your website for local searches, you need to make sure that your business is appropriately listed in Google My Business. Otherwise, you could end up missing out on valuable leads and traffic opportunities.

To get started, head over to google.com/business and sign in with your Gmail account or create a new one if needed. Once you reach the dashboard, make sure the following contact information is correct:

  • The name and full address of your business. You can add a link to your website or blog if desired.
  • Your business phone number. This field should include a local area code to make it easier for customers to call you.
  • Hours that your business is open.

After you have these areas set up, verify your listing by clicking on the verification button near the top of the page next to My Business Account.

From there, simply follow the instructions and place a checkmark in all of the boxes that appear. Typically, you’ll need to upload at least one photo of your business and verify your physical address in order for your listing to become approved.

Create Content Based On Local Events or News

To improve your local SEO efforts, create original content that centers around local events or news. Original content about local events and news is particularly effective because you’re engaging with customers while also creating more potential backlinks and references to your business for local searches.

Simply use Google’s search bar to see what types of topics are trending in your area to get started. Then, if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, take a look at what other local news websites in your area are talking about and find a way to chime in on that conversation.

 Ask For Reviews From Your Customers

One of the quickest ways to get other people talking about your business online is by asking for reviews on popular websites such as Facebook, Yelp, and Trip Advisor. This will give other customers good insight into what type of experience they can expect when doing business with you and will also help you get listed higher in local searches.

 To get started, simply create a URL with your business name and ask customers to post their reviews online when they visit your business. This is an excellent way to build a social presence right from the beginning.

 Ensure Your Website Is Optimized For Mobile

According to Google, mobile is the primary way that people are using search engines. That means it’s essential for your business website to be fully optimized for mobile devices so that potential customers will find you when they are searching nearby or on the go.

 If you don’t have a responsive website design, it’s time to invest in one. You don’t want your business to be left behind as more and more people use smartphones and tablets for online searches.

 Keep the design of your website as simple as possible and include as few ads as you can – Google penalizes websites that try to spam search results with too many ads or other distracting content.

 Separate Each Of Your Services Or Products By Page

While it might be tempting to host all of your products on one page, you’re missing out on an opportunity to provide more information and relevant content to your customers. Instead, make sure that each product or service has its own page so it can be easily found when potential customers search online.

 This is especially important if your business offers a wide array of products or services. Spreading out your products and services by category rather than lumping them together on one page makes it much easier for customers to quickly locate the content that they’re looking for. And it enables you to target multiple local keywords naturally and organically.

 Utilize Local Keywords

As Digital Authority Partners explains, another way to ensure your business website is being found online for local keywords is to use them whenever possible throughout your content. If you have a brick-and-mortar shop, using phrases like “local store near me” or “in-store” isn’t going to do much good. These phrases don’t contain information about where someone can find you. Instead, use more targeted keyword phrases like “Pizza joint in Mankato, MN” or “best-sliced pizza in Mankato” to get the best results.

While figuring out local keywords may require some research, it’s one of the best ways to make your website stand out from the competition. If you’re unsure of where to start, using online keyword research tools such as Ahrefs or Google Analytics will help you determine what types of keywords are best for your business to use to get the results you’re looking for.

If you’re uncertain where to start, get professional assistance to ensure that you’re using targeted keywords that provide real value for potential customers. SEO consultants can help you determine the keywords that will be best for your business and can also make recommendations to ensure your website gets positive results from local searches.

Conclusion

Whether you’re just starting your business, or you have a long-established company, it’s critical that you take the time to learn how to use local SEO for your business, so you can increase traffic to your website and get more customers in the door. Use the tips mentioned above to  help your website start getting positive results from local searches for the keywords and phrases that are most relevant to your business.

Business/Investment

What Should You Look Out For When Qualifying A Business Buyer?

It’s not hard for entrepreneurs to feel excited when prospective buyers reach out with the intention of buying their business. That excitement may be short lived once they realize how much actual work goes into the successful sale of a business or selecting the right person to buy their business.

Here are some tips on how to qualify a potential buyer for a business to ensure a smooth transition.

Their business background

It’s very important that the business seller knows which business field their buyer is/was into before looking to buy. This is because a lack of experience will result in a cumbersome sales transaction. The seller and buyer will most likely have difficulty reaching an agreement or even understanding each other, and the sale might not go through at all.

Worse than that, the sale might go through but, without any prior experience in this field, the new owner may end up inadvertently ruining the business. That would bring shame and lower the integrity of the business.

To prevent this, sellers should make sure that even if just a few skills are missing on the buyer’s part, arrangements are made to train them or point them in the right direction. That would ensure a seamless transition from seller to buyer.

Value of available funds

How much does the potential buyer have to purchase this business? Some buyers may well turn out to be scammers using juicy baits to get you to sell. Some others might well be genuine, make some payment upfront but in the long run lack the funds to complete payment.

The business seller aims to get a buyer in whom they can confidently pass on the company’s financial responsibilities and cash out without hitches.

To achieve this, business sellers should make sure that a potential buyer has enough liquidity in their account to take on the business, or they must have access to different sources of capital like loans from banks or SBA loans.

Define a timeline for the transaction

A defined time tends to be a motivational force ensuring tasks are promptly carried out with no room for slugging. Buyers should all have a timeline during which they plan to go through with the sale.

In cases where the buyer’s timeline is incompatible with the timeline of the business seller, the seller should impose their preferred deadline and make it known to the buyer.

When this time runs out, the buyer should know they have lost their chance to buy the business. There is also room for the business seller to consider offers from other prospective buyers.

It will help if sellers from the onset ask buyers if their timeline will afford them the opportunity to respond within the seller’s preferred timeline. That way, they reach an agreement before discussing other transaction details.

Contracting a qualified business broker can avoid all of the aforementioned pitfalls and ensure a seamless transaction and for the most amount of profit possible. A. Neumann & Associates, LLC is a leading business brokerage on the East Coast and we highly recommend reaching out to them with any questions you might have.

Business/Investment

Should you use API management?

Companies are starting to recognize that data integration is a gateway to a more profitable future. Through virtualization and new models, even historical data from ages ago can become invaluable in the next chapter of a company’s success. Application programming interfaces, or APIs, have become crucial to taking advantage of analytics to make smarter, faster business decisions. It could be exactly what your company has been looking for.

What is API Management?

It is important to understand the capabilities of an API program. gerenciamento de API succeeds over time, but backend systems keep up with demand. An API management solution can alleviate slippery backend systems by providing caching for data that remains consistent. This scalability imposes traffic limits on individual developers, or groups them by type. API security is critical as system architects strive to identify information within the architecture that is privately identifiable. These stringent controls are best maintained through API authentication, often done with API keys as a quick and reliable way to ensure identity.

API management platforms can help provide a developer experience through a variety of means. This can be done from interactive digital assets, including self-service key registration and integrated static documentation. API management tools implement solid documentation coverage and service discovery, extending to the registration and integration process. Central to this whole deployment is process scheduling for the overall success of the API.

Key API use cases

It is important to access these gateways APIs with the help of built-in APIs. This will connect to backend data for application integration. This is delivered as a mobile application that will eliminate the need to maintain historical data through archaic paper-based systems. This enables a modernized infrastructure within a digital business, providing greater application agility and better scalability for APIs. New styles of applications built within microservices support complex data flows while providing real-time operations. This incorporates a combination of external and internal APIs.

Public APIs expose internal data and functionality for use by external developers. This can be done through built-in services such as credit card processing. This can also branch into expanded sales channels, allowing retailers to add product catalog capabilities through a third-party website. Some companies use these API platforms to expand to offer value-added services.

In-house developed partner APIs share limited data sets with external companies, typically for B2B interaction within a supply chain. This partner onboarding reduces the time and cost of onboarding new partners by reducing the need for custom coding. This accelerates the supply chain, allowing partners to customize their information exchanges.

Components and Capabilities

As far as desenvolvimento de API goes, it starts with modeling these interfaces. A good API management solution allows users to quickly develop and test their projects to handle a variety of requests across multiple formats. From there, API portals allow users to share their APIs. This allows you to package and manage these products to engage and empower API developers while informing users. API analysis is the best way to monitor all operational aspects to gain a deeper understanding of APL design and capabilities.

This starts with being able to leverage the websites, apps and devices we use through API technology. This can be used to send and receive datasets and digital resources for use in the business world that expands beyond just API developers. API providers are now prioritizing a focus on analysts and other non-programmers to make it accessible and easy to use. API-based businesses become more agile, observable, and competitive. This provides a level of simplicity for developing enterprise applications using microservices exposed through APIs. This allows companies and individuals to take advantage of market visibility through API platforms.

Business/Investment

What Can Attract More Business to Your Day Spa?

If you’d like to see more business coming to your day spa, do you have any thoughts on how best to go about that?

Day spas tend to be rather popular with people. As such, you stand to do a fair amount of business if you play your cards right.

So, what can get more people coming your way and your revenue going up and up?

Get Your Brand Recognized for the Right Reasons

In doing all you can for your day spa, here are some things to focus on if not already doing such:

1. Getting the word out – How good of a job do you do when it comes to getting the word out to consumers on what you have to offer? The day spa business can be rather competitive. As a result, you do not want competitors getting a leg up on you when it comes to brand promotions. Do all you can to be sure people know what you have to offer and why they should choose you. This can be done via your website and social media platforms for starters. If you have a small business app, consider that a plus. Of course great customer service and products can help spread the word. That is as satisfied customers tell family and friends about your operation.

2. Provide great products – Don’t sleep on the importance of providing the best products. Given most of them come to your day spa to get a break from the daily grind; you do not want them leaving disappointed. So, review everything you have to see if you are lacking anything. This would be products that could improve a customer’s experience. Do you have the best massage beds available? If not, now would be the time to go online and look to massage beds for sale. The right beds will leave your visitors relaxed and refreshed. That is as they get set to head home after a fun day at your business. You should also survey your customers on occasion. Ask them if there are any items and more lacking from your day spa and what they’d like to see. Getting an overwhelming response on certain items may lead you to add them.

3. Reasonable prices and deals – If you have a lot of competition, are you confident your pricing is good? You don’t want to scare away too many individuals because they feel they can’t afford your offerings. It is also smart to offer some discounts from time to time. Doing so can lead to more business and even securing people for the long haul. For example, if you have memberships available, you may offer a buy one/get one free membership. That way a family member can come along for free or a friend of the member and so on. Also look to the idea of an online store if you do not have one now. That is a good means of selling products over the Internet and increasing revenue.

If your day spa business needs to heat up, where will you turn your focus to?

Business/Investment

3 Ways to Better Finance Your Small Business

As a small business owner, odds are one of the things that can keep you awake at night is your financial situation.

With that thought in mind, are you happy with how your company is doing financially?

If the answer is no, do you have any thoughts on how to go about improving your finances?

Take Steps to Better Ensure Success

In looking at where your finances are now and how you can go about improving them, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Not being afraid to seek financial help – Some business owners can be a little stubborn. That is when it comes to asking for financial help. While it may be a pride issue, the bottom line is to know when you need a financial shot in the arm and how to go about getting it. One possibility would be to look into revolving credit. If you qualify for such credit, you can access it when you need it without having to apply again and again. Even though you will have a pre-approved limit, the ability to access those funds and put them to good use is key. Whether you go with revolving credit, a small business loan or even folks to invest in you, get the help you need.

2. Removing credit card debt – Millions of Americans deal with credit card debt. That said you do not want to be one of those people whose business is suffering because of it. Take the time to review and see if such debt is weighing down your business. In the event it is, the goal should be to remove such debt sooner than later. Start by paying more than the minimum each month that is due. You should also look to use cash more often when buying things you need for your business. Although some items you get will need a credit card, be smart and avoid continually running the debt up. You might also check around with banks to consider a balance transfer. Transferring the debt over to another bank with better rates could be a wise move on your end.

3. Deals with vendors – If you work with vendors to provide you with items, are you getting the best of deals? If the answer is no, now would be a good time to work on that. Even if you have specific vendors you’ve worked with for years, do not be afraid to make some changes. That is if it will improve your financial picture as time goes by. Unless there is going to be a drop off in quality of the items they provide be open to switching. That would be when it will save you sizable amounts of money. Let them know you need to save money and that is why you want to end the relationship. You may find them willing to negotiate with you and you could come out ahead when all is said and done.

In doing all you can to better your small business finances, what will be your first move?

Rachael is a content writer at SerpWizz, who has written on a Ultimate Resume Guide, from colored diamonds to SEO software. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, sketching, cooking, and video games.

Business/Investment

Tracking Success with Your Company

It goes without saying that operating a company is a full-time job and then some.

Even when you think you have every detail covered, there is likely something else to pop up you forgot about.

That said how can you best go about tracking success with your company from day one?

Documenting Your Ability to Be Successful

In running a first-rate business, you want to do all you can to track and document as much of your operation. Doing so make it easier to see where you are doing well and where you need some improvement.

Among the areas to focus in on:

1. Sales data – Make sure you are tracking your sales efforts. Not doing so can lead to confusion and not being successful at the end of the day. From which products and services do well to which lag behind, track and record your company’s efforts. One important aspect of the sales process is following up on commissions. Your sales team members work too hard not to be rewarded for their efforts. By having the right kind sales spreadsheet in play all the time, you can better record. That is each member’s sales data, what commissions owed and more. The data should be compiled so that it is easy for you to access both in-house and when you are out of the office too. By selling the company on recording and tracking data, you do something positive for your biz.

2. Customer data – Also be sure to properly log customer data. You want that data so you can reach out to them for a variety of things. From billing to when you have special offers available and more. If the data is hard to come by or unorganized, it can make reaching them all that more challenging. You also want to be sure you protect that customer data. Nothing will irritate customers more than to find out their data is compromised. In a day and age when hacking is not uncommon, be sure you have the proper safeguards in place to best protect the data.

3. Marketing data – Are you doing a good job of putting out there and analyzing your marketing data? Without proper marketing data, it can be hard for you to know whether your efforts are making inroads. Each time you put a marketing piece out there, track to see how it is received by the buying public. You should also be tracking your social media efforts. What social sites are bringing traffic back to you and which are not worth all that much of your time moving ahead? Last, the hope is that you are using your website to market your brand. As such, check the traffic your site is receiving on a regular basis. The goal is to see what patterns you come across and where more efforts may need to be made.

In doing all you can to find success, track efforts and see where improvements are going to be necessary.

Written by Meghan Hale, a content writer at ladolcestudio.co.uk and editing machine. You’ll find me yelling at my dog to stop barking, whether it be at the neighbours or on a long afternoon walk   

Business/Investment

Delivering Top notch customer service to energise Your Business

You can’t have dissatisfied customers and yet expect to have a successful business. The two don’t mix. If you want to have a successful business with longevity, keeping your customers happy and satisfied at all times is key. And the key to this is top notch customer service.

Asides from keeping your business profitable, satisfied customers also equals a highly competitive business. If your business is currently lagging, here’s how you can energise it by switching to a more customer oriented business plan:

  1. Hiring the right people

You can’t care for your customers the right way if you don’t have the right people on your staff. No amount of training and retraining can change an individual’s personality so you need to make sure you hire personnel who share your company goals and enthusiasm for customer satisfaction. For instance, hiring someone with a friendly personality and placing him/her at the front desk or as a sales rep will put customers more at ease and make them feel welcome. So when hiring, keep an eye out for potential, enthusiasm, and an understanding of your company’s philosophy.

  1. Make customer service everyone’s focus

It’s not just the receptionist, marketers, customer service reps, and sales reps that should operate in a customer focused manner. Everyone in the company from the doorman to the guys in IT should operate with a customer first mentality. This is important because with no customers, there would be no business. So everyone in your company should be pitching in to keep the customers happy.

  1. Training happens every day

There’s no such thing as too much training, especially in light of the fact that customer needs are always changing. Recently, Starbucks had to retrain all their staff in the US after two customers were poorly treated at a branch. So don’t shy away from investing in training your personnel in order to ensure they actually have the tools and knowledge to serve and relate with your customers the right way

  1. Happy employees are a big asset

It’s easier for a satisfied and happy employee to provide great customer service, compared to a bitter and dissatisfied employee with poor working conditions. Since happy employees are in a better position to create happy customers, make the effort to provide optimal working conditions for your staff and ensure they are well cared for. One easy way to accomplish this is through fostering a rewarding work environment for employees.

  1. Offer flexible solutions

Be it payment terms, hassle-free returns policies, prices, delivery options, or otherwise, offer your customers options so they can pick the one that’s most convenient and satisfies their needs. If a customer can get all he/she needs from your business, there’ll be no reason to check out the competition. Having that degree of flexibility is particularly valuable in the early stages of your business’s life as you’ll be likely to face a number of ups and downs in those vital first few years.

  1. Reward loyalty and retain customers

Retaining customers can be difficult, but it’s much easier if you provide your customers a reason to stay. You can accomplish this through loyalty schemes, listening and responding to customer feedback, and more. A customer that feels appreciated is more likely to keep coming back. Just make sure your loyalty scheme is straight forward and doesn’t seem like a ploy.

Business/Investment

How can blogging help boost your online presence? 5 Secrets You Should Know

An adage that you’ll commonly come across on the internet, especially when considering content marketing, is “Content is King”. The more content you have, the better the online visibility of your brand will be. And one effective way of generating more content that will lead to an increased interest in your brand is through blogging.

In present day, your business’ online presence is just as important as what type of business insurance coverage you have. If you fail to properly boost and manage your online presence, not only will lose out on the millions of potential customers that surf the internet every day, your brand will also likely be overshadowed by other businesses who aren’t making the same mistake of ignoring the potentials of having a healthy online presence.

Blogging can be an effective strategy for not only increasing your online presence, but for also strengthening it. If you haven’t been using blogging to your advantage, below are some of the biggest benefits you’ve been missing out on.

  1. Significant boost to SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It refers to the potential of your website to rank highly on a search engine result. The higher your ranking is, the better. Fresh content is a significant factor that search engines take into consideration when trying to determine how highly a website should be ranked. By using blogging to put out relevant content on a frequent basis, your SEO will greatly improve and more of your target audience will be able to find your website on the first page of search engine results.

  1. Grow and maintain relationships with new and old customers

It is important to keep your customers engaged if you want them to keep coming back for more. And one sure way to keep people checking on your website is by adding relevant content to your website on a daily basis by blogging. This will help you attract new customers to your website as well as keep the old ones happy. Blogging can also help build trust with customers especially if your content contains useful information that will turn you into an authority in your field.

  1. Establish your business as a leader in its industry

By sharing valuable content and information through blogging, you can establish your business as a reputable force within its industry. This is possible regardless how big or small your brand is. In fact, depending on how good your blogs are, you can turn your brand into a sought after sensation by putting out consistently engaging, compelling, and insightful content. Before long, you’ll be considered the “go to” resource within your niche

  1. Brand will connect with more people

By blogging sharable content, you create an opportunity to generate more brand awareness and thus reach more people within your target market. Followers of your brand online will likely share your content with friends and family on social media who will in turn share it with their friends and family. Before long, your brand thanks to blogging can become more recognisable which will in turn lead to increased interest in your goods and services.

So stop waiting and get started blogging to expand the reach of your business.

Business/Investment

Binary Options Trading for Beginners

Binary options trading is slowly getting popular among people who want to earn more. If you’re thinking about getting in on the game, here are a few things you need to know.

Binary Options

In coding, binary means that a value is either 1 or 0. In trading, the concept isn’t that far off. You either gain or lose money based on a “yes” or “no” proposition. If the proposition is true, i.e. if the answer is “yes”, then you earn money. If it is false, i.e. if the answer is “no”, then you lose money. Based on your earnings and the initial price you pay, you can determine how much you actually gain or lose.

Binary Options Trading

To give you a clearer idea of how binary options trading works, here is an example:

The proposition is this: “Will the price of gold be higher than $1,000 at midnight?” If you believe that the price will increase, you can buy the binary option. Otherwise, you sell it.

For this example, let’s say that you buy the binary option. Let’s put your initial offer (or the price you pay to buy the binary option) at $40. If the price of gold exceeds $1,000 at midnight, you get $100 and earn $60. If the price of gold doesn’t exceed $1,000 at midnight, you earn $0 and lose $40, which is your initial offer.

Now, let’s consider selling the binary option. If you don’t believe that the price of gold will exceed $1000 at midnight, you can sell the binary option at, say, an initial bid of $37. (The initial bid is typically lower than the initial offer. In other words, you risk more money if you buy than if you sell.) When midnight comes and the price of gold doesn’t exceed $1,000, you get $100 and earn $63. On the contrary, you earn $0 and lose $37, which is your initial bid.

Binary Options Trading Tips

If you want to try your luck at binary trading, here are some binary options trading tips to help you get started:

1. Don’t put all your money in binary trading.

Binary options trading can be exciting, especially for a beginner. But with any type of trading, binary options come with risks that you should take into consideration when putting in money. After all, you don’t want to drain your savings, right? So before you start trading, decide on how much of your money you’re willing to lose just in case the worst happens. Once you start earning, you can make your “trading money pool” bigger.

2. Being wise is better than being quick.

Because binary options trading is time-sensitive, you may feel pressured to bid as soon as you can. However, it is important to stay smart about the bids you enter. Prioritize “wise trading” over “quick trading” so you have a higher chance of earning money.

3. Keep your emotions in check.

Yes, binary options trading is exciting, especially when you start winning. But don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Know when to step out of the game before you start losing big money.

Business/Investment

Solving problems that can occur during construction

There are many problems that can occur during construction

Construction projects are underway, as you are reading this, all over the world and projects can last right through the night. In many cases problems can occur during construction which can come about due to the weather, man power or even poor tools. Take a look at some problems which can occur and how you can prevent them from happening:

Weather problems

Construction projects can last for a great amount of time meaning that due to the changing of the seasons, workers will have to prepare for maybe all four of them. In some cases, torrential rain can occur which can cause the ground of the construction to become wet, soft and can often halt the project depending on the severity of the rain. To prepare and overcome this visit JWA for bog mats which you can place down during and after the rainfall and enable the workers to be able to walk across the boggy ground without any problems whatsoever.

Tool problems

In some cases, workers will be using tools which are old and have seen too many jobs themselves. This can cause a problem, especially with the most commonly used tools, if too many of them break or are not performing the job properly, it can slow down the project to a near stop and cause you to be way behind on the deadline. It´s imperative that if hiring a construction company that you include within the contract that all tools being used will be assessed before the construction project starts and ensure that they will last throughout. In some cases, it will be necessary for new tools due to the wear and tear or length of the project, but ensuring this is outlined within the contract will keep you in budget and won´t halt the construction process

Construction worker problems

In most cases you will be contracting workers from another company and it is the job of this company to keep the workers happy and nothing to do with you. Making sure you hire a reputable company to provide the workers is a sure-fire way that you can avoid any problems during your project. If a poor company is hired, you could have contracted 20 workers per day but they are only sending 10, meaning your deadlines will probably not be kept to and if they are, they will be of poor, rushed quality. Keeping in great contact with the company is also a good way that you can ensure that everything is running smoothly, if you´re the project manager then you will usually be the person that takes the flack if something goes wrong from the bosses upstairs.

As you can see from the above three points, complete risk analysis, preparation and planning are the most important things you can do before you actually go ahead and start the project. Remember that if you don’t prepare, things will most likely occur and it could end the construction project entirely!