While your Google listing is the most important online listing for your local business, there are hundreds more that contain information about your business.

These are called citations. Don’t worry, they are a good thing, not a traffic ticket.

Citations contain what is called the NAP+W about your business. Name, Address, Phone number, and Website. Plus, it often includes things like business hours, description, service categories, etc.

Citations should be accurate and consistent for two primary reasons; 1) accurate information

When I was growing up, I remember that it seemed like my dad knew everybody in town. He loved people, and it showed. Both my parents passed before social media became such a prevalent part of our lives, but I think they would have loved it.

Social media is here to stay. We might not all be a ‘people person’ but finding a way to leverage social media to our advantage is a critical part of our online presence, reputation, and reach.

I’m often asked, “What social platforms should I be on?”. The answer is that it depends on who your customer is. Where do they hang out? What drives them to follow a company or brand?

The current list of big social media sites is what is popular right now. However, that list likely will not be the same in 2-5 years. I don’t recommend getting ‘married’ to a particular social media platform. Rather, it is important to get married to a process of being a relationship builder. In other words, connect with people. Make friends. Let them know you are interested in them.

At the end of the day, my dad was a relationship builder. That is really what social media is all about.

Bonus Content: Find your ideal social media platforms
whirlocal.io/learn/lessons/social-platforms

It’s hard to image a world without Google. While this may change in the future, right now being listed on Google is one of the most important things you can do for your local business. Why? Google owns the search engine market in the U.S., with over 75% market share on desktop, and even higher on mobile.

Google provides a free listing called Google My Business. You may also know it by Google Places, Google Maps, and a variety of other things it has been called in the past.

If you have a physical location, you likely already have a listing. If you haven’t claimed ownership of the listing, then you can do so for your business by going through a verification process. If you don’t have a Google My Business listing, you can create one.

Here are two key factors that make this so important:

1. When somebody searches for your company by name, your Google listing should show up. This is just as important as a keyword search.
2. How well you show up for local keyword searches depends heavily on a well optimized Google listing (among other factors).

Bonus Content: Setting up your Google listing
whirlocal.io/learn/lessons/setting-up-google-listing

When I was a kid, I loved building forts. Blankets hung over chairs were a great place to hang out just by myself and read, play with toys, and use my imagination. As I got older, my forts got bigger, and much “cooler”, but the purpose was the same … a retreat.

In military terms, forts were a stronghold that were built as a defense against the enemy. Forts usually involved large walls protected those on the inside from attack or a place to retreat to when things went wrong.

The first thing you should do when it comes to your online presence is to “build your fort”. No, I’m not talking about building a walled fortress. But, there are two things you must do to protect yourself in case things go horribly wrong.

First, own your domain name. I hate it when a business owner realizes they don’t own their domain. They can’t access it, or even worse, the person who registered it won’t give it up. Don’t let it happen to you.

Second, own your content. I see many small businesses relying solely on OPP’s (other people’s platforms) for their marketing. Make sure that you own the content on whatever platform(s) you might be using. Again, I’ve seen too many situations where a business does not own their content and they have to start all over again if they leave that platform. 

Back in 2005, Staples introduced a new campaign which demonstrated how easy it was to shop at Staples. “That was easy” became a catchphrase not only for Staples, but for marketers everywhere.

How easy is it to do business with your company? Do you have an easy button?

Donald Miller, author of “Creating A Story Brand”, talks about the need to have a clear and simple call-to-action that makes it easy for your prospect to start working with you.

Too many times we make it hard. I know I’ve been guilty of overcomplicating both my action plans and call-to-action. It doesn’t have to be that way.

What can you do in your business so your prospects and customers will find it easy to get started? Is it a free trial? Maybe it is refining your processes into a series of simple  1-2-3 steps. As Donald Miller says in his book, you don’t want people to have to consume too many calories just to figure out how to work with you.

 When you figure this out, marketing will become a whole lot easier.

Bonus Content: Develop your easy button
whirlocal.io/worksheets/develop-your-easy-button