The Digitav Blog

Free Guide

Google Maps and The Local Business List is an important and free method of marketing your business online – some recent research from Yahoo indicated that more than 40% of all searches are for local services. That is a search for a business or service that usually includes a geographic reference, such as ‘Employment Law, Blackpool’.

Even if the services you offer are national or international you still want to appear in local searches. There are so many of them it makes sense to use this free service from Google. You don’t even need to have a website to appear in the directory, enter your business details and you will appear in the search results. But, if you do have a website it can even help towards ordinary searches too. This can occur if the traffic to your website increases as a result of an improved performance in the Local Business Listing.

Putting your business on the Google Map might also prompt you to tighten up the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on your website, which will also have a beneficial effect on your normal search engine ranking too. So whether you have a website or not download the digitav free guide to putting your business on the Google Maps Local Business Listing. If you are already using Google maps you may still find some of the information in the guide useful.

Once you have taken the plunge and signed up you will also be able to view how many people have seen your entry. You can also see how many people clicked on the link for more information and how many people clicked on the link to your website. This makes your entry measurable; you can see how it’s performing and update your entry completely free.

Please comment, contribute or contact digitav for more information.

admin Internet Marketing

Manage your Online Presence

Of course, Social Media activities can be used for Marketing, PR and Communication but Social Media for business is much more than that, it’s about managing the online presence of your business.  It is about managing every aspect of the online activities of your business. This is because there are now a number of online tools for consumers to pass on information and experiences about goods and services they have bought or used, and the effects of these are often overlooked.

A consumer can review or comment on a business and propagate information (that may be incorrect) through a wide range of Internet activities from Review Websites, Blogs, Forums and many types of Social Media sites. Their friends and colleagues can pass this information on through email, their own publishing tools and conversation at a frightening speed.

This rapid dissemination of information can have a huge positive or a huge negative impact on your business and its activities. Businesses can use social media activities to expand the positive information and mitigate the negative information created by this consumer driven environment. Your business should manage its online presence and you should know what is being published about your business activities on the Internet. The use of Social Media is essential and must be taken to the core of every business.

Not being online is no excuse. A hotel in Blackpool was recently dubbed the worst in the UK by the Hotel Review site Trip Advisor. More than 35 reviews were received from guests condemning the Hotel with only three praising it. The Trip advisor website allows a hotel to be notified of adverse comments, allows a response and will remove criticisms if it can be proved that the comments were malicious, if the Hotel chooses to manage their own account. The Hotel was unaware of any of this until the story appeared in the National Press.

By using Social Media you can create a community for your clients. Engage them with information on your products and services, encourage their comments and reactions and then they become more amenable to you and your products. They are more likely to buy from you, trust you and remain loyal to you. This will increase your level of business, increase the number of visitors to your site and help to create a positive image for your business.

Please comment, contribute or contact digitav for more information.

admin Internet, Internet Marketing

Build a Web Presence

Web Design isn’t just about building a web site for your business. Web Design is about creating an online presence, an integrated approach to generating more business, offering your customers a better service and increasing your revenues.

So, how do you go about this? Where do you begin? Well, you need to decide what you would expect from your online presence. This means deciding whether you want to sell your goods and services online, do you want to manage your customers accounts, do you want to manage your staff, control your stock, market your business both virtual and bricks and mortar?

You can track your vehicles, manage your telephone system and many more things too. So, how far do you want to go? The sensible approach is to begin with that bit which is most important to you. Learn how it works and then build your system according to the importance of each section to your business, tie it together, integrate it.

You can go the whole way and develop an entire system, put everything online and manage your business from anywhere. A true flexible approach or you can cherry pick what you consider to be the best bits for your business and still manage it remotely.

Not only can you manage your business through your website, you can create a community for your clients. Engage them in the things that you provide, encourage their reactions and they become more amenable to you and your products. They are more likely to buy from you, trust you and remain loyal to you.

The important thing is that every part of the system works in combination with each other, it must be designed, it must be put into operation and it must be working by the time that you need it. It becomes a project and that needs to be managed. Or maybe you would just like a one page do little web site!

Contact digitav for more information.

admin Internet, Web Design