My aim is to keep your site performing as well as it should… this means that the sites should remain up to date with their content, and rank well so that your business can be found on the internet. With this in mind, there are several things that you should do. Start with listing your business in some online directories. Why? Because inward links are important - Google thinks that if lots of people are linking to your website then the content must be really good!
Be aware that when you create a listing with some of them (especially the free ones) you might get a follow up email or phone call from them trying to up-sell you to a paid listing, offering you their google ranking service etc etc. At this stage you don’t need any of that, you are just wanting the free listing!
All businesses
- Create a Google My Business account for your business. This will include your opening hours, address etc, and also creates your Google Map presence. Do it as soon as you can because the verification is by post, so takes a while. https://www.google.com/intl/en_au/business/
- If your business already has a presence on Google, and in Google Maps, then look for the "Claim My Business" option underneath the listing in Google and follow the instructions to become the owner/manager of the listing.
- List your business on any other free local directories - include as much information as you can, including keywords which people will search on when looking for your business. See the lists below:
Australian Businesses:
- Yellow Pages https://yellowpages.com.au
- True Local truelocal.com.au
- Yelp https://yelp.com.au
- Word Of Mouth https://wordofmouth.com.au
- Infobel https://infobel.com
- AussieWeb Local Search https://aussieweb.com.au/
- Start Local business directory https://www.startlocal.com.au
- Pink pages https://pinkpages.com.au
- My Sunshine Coast www.mysunshinecoast.com.au (go to https://mysunshinecoast.com.au/business/update-your-business).
- Hotfrog business directory https://hotfrog.com.au/ ( https://admin.hotfrog.com.au/add/index-card )
- Show Me Local https://showmelocal.com.au
- Enroll Local https://au.enrollbusiness.com
- Create a free listing with http://www.yourcity.com.au
- SMEA create a free listing with https://www.smea.org.au/join
- TUUGO https://tuugo.biz
- Business Listing Now https://businesslistingnow.com
- Zipleaf https://zipleaf.auz.net
- Australia Online Advertising https://australiaonlineadvertising.com.au
- Business Listings https://businesslistings.net.au
New Zealand Businesses:
- Finda https://www.finda.co.nz/account/business/add/step-one/4y1qnd/
- New Zealand Websites https://www.newzealandwebsites.com/modules/directory/add.asp
- The New Zealand Small Business Directory https://www.nzsbdirectory.co.nz/NZSB_Add_Listing.html
- New Zealand Directory https://www.nzdirectory.co.nz/add-website.html $9.95 one off fee
- Hotfrog business directory https://www.hotfrog.co.nz/
- No Cowboys (trades only) https://www.nocowboys.co.nz/register-now
• Review the Analytics report sent to you by WebCoast via email, and see which pages of your website are the most popular. Consider updating these pages with more up to date content/photos. Look at your most popular keyword phrases that people are searching on, are there any other phrases that describe your business? Consider including other phrases or keywords in the text on your website – unless the text appears in your site, your website will not appear in search results for that phrase.
Marketing your website address
Also remember when advertising your business to include your website address in any advertisements, online yellowpages ads, newspaper ads, brochures, business cards and any other material which you distribute with your details on it.
Use your website to cut down your printing costs
If you have produced any brochures or marketing material, this can be included as a PDF download on your website. Customers who ring for a brochure can then download it from the website instead of waiting for the mail to arrive – saves you time & money!
Keep in mind that I'm are here to help. If any of the above sounds like a good idea but you don’t have the time to do it yourself, I'm are happy to help - just call or send an email. Until next time…. Work smarter, not harder.
