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To Prosper in 2020 Your Business Needs All of These

⭐ To Stand Out

⭐ To Go Mobile

⭐ To Go Video

⭐ To Go “Beyond SEO”

⭐ To Have a 5 Star Reputation

⭐ To Have Well Optimised GMB Listing

⭐ To Be in 3 Pack or PAGE 1

⭐ To Have a Good Looking Effective Website,

⭐ That Loads Under 3 Seconds on mobile

⭐ That Has Schema on Every Page

⭐ That is Secure

⭐ That is GDPR and ADA Compliant

⭐ To Not Rely only on the Website

⭐ To Get Calls – Directly

Let’s talk about these. Any one of these starred points will help you 5 star your business. The more, the better. To do best and prosper all are necessary. 

If you have someone at hand to do all these necessary things then get them to do them. If you do not, then call us, and we will help you, and for probably less than what you expect.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Stand Out

By “business” I mean any legal, medical, dental, etc practice, and any business providing a service. There are thousands and thousands of websites in any field, and maybe hundreds in your vicinity competing with yours. Many of these are very ordinary compared with yours. When your best competitors have all got good looking websites, built by experts, saying all the right things, SEO’d to the max, but all having a collective sameness, yours needs to stand out from the same-ases. But, how?

Try sitting with a marketing person or someone who is an online shopper and go search a hundred sites in your field, and be critical and ask of each “would this site make me pick up a phone and ring or buy?”. Most business owners are too complacent to do that. You will see some things done better or differently. Do the same for FaceBook, Google and YouTube ads and in any media.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Go Video

The www is going video. Have you noticed? Video ads and video information is everywhere. Say what you like about modern times, but it is clear that attention spans of all but a few of us oldies have shrunk much, and especially those born with a mobile (almost) attached. As worthy as your words are they are less likely to be read. It is getting to be that anyone online has to be shown, and not told, anything. Having a good spokesperson video as a welcome, or talking about your services, was always a good idea, but now is all but essential. Video, or moving images is becoming ever prevelant, expected, in ads and even emails, and most of what your business services are or are about should be there on your site in videos.

Are you thinking that video is highly expensive and out of your league, or maybe that it is inappropriate for your business anyway. Some is or would be, but a lot is not. You can get 30 second, or longer, video ads made for FaceBook, Google, YouTube, or welcome, explainer, testimonial or informative videos for your website done very economically. Getting more patients, clients or customers is your game and just one more of them could well pay for a series of videos.

Why not, indeed? You may be thinking that your site has all the words needed to talk about and explain your services and testimonials to proclaim them, and that having a video saying what is already written and readable on your website is redundant, droll even, and unecessary.  You would be wrong. Surveys show that videos where a spokesperson (or even yourself), or a slide presentation with voice over,  saying what’s on your site is very effective in increasing the number of site visitors that become new clients, patients or customers. More and more people, and especially the younger generation, would rather hear your fine words than read them, and they would rather a video than all the fine photos. If you were to go one step past getting a written review by getting your reviewer to make a video with his phone saying some good words about you. That putting a face to the words is so much more convincing that mere written words.  So go video, and stand out, or get left behind as more competitors go video on their sites and around the web. There are a lot of video producers with the latest video production technology who can surprise you and make your business stand out.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Go Mobile

There’s so many surveys done about this. In case you haven’t heard the consensus is that about 80%, and increasing, of searches online are being searched on mobile devices. Websites need to be “responsive” or designed for mobile. Site owners are being advised that Google indexes mobile first. Sites that do not display well on mobile devices will appear less and less,and soon not at all. Getting websites mobile is simply a must do.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Have a Mobile App

A mobile app is the way to keep in touch with your clientele. They see and respond to notifications on their phone. Not so, emails. A very useful thing, mobile app. For notifications, and announcements for sales, alerts, reminders, to schedule appointments, social media integration, feedback, client loyalty, mobile payments, branding and becoming much more.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Go “Beyond SEO”

For years the search engine optimising experts (SEOers) have been quarreling about what works and what does not, and what are the best ranking factors for the current year. Meanwhile Google keeps changing its algorythms in minor ways, and an occasional major change, and not telling just what has changed. The SEO gurus agree more or less on the importance of ranking basic factors such as backlinks, citations, and a well organised website. (But even the relative importance of the basics changes.)

Everyone would like to be in Google’s 3 pack, or on their Page 1 for any good profitable keyword, but it’s clear that a best practice SEOed website alone does not guarantee a 3 Pack or Page 1 spot. Compare who is there and who is way down in “More Places” or Page 2 or 3 and you will find some who “ought” to better placed and some that make you wonder “how come?” they are up where they are. So, what to do? Do what can be easily done for your site, without going silly spending thousands with someone who “knows” the latest ranking factors for 2019, and waiting 3 months to see whether all those dollars work, or don’t work. Fix what is easy enough to fix, don’t obsess about it, and “Go Beyond SEO.”

⭐ Your Business Needs to BE 5 Star and Have a     5 Star Reputation

The marketing analysts who research such things keep upping the per cents of people who search and peruse reviews before they buy…anything!. Not just a movie, a restaurant, or next holiday spot, but services like medical, dental, legal, and trades like plumbers and renovators. It’s near enough to “nearly everyone” now! Moreover, they look for fresh reviews, ones less than 3 months old. So, if you don’t have reviews (like many professional practices on my  sites) then get them. You ARE missing business now, and ever more so in future, and it’s going to competitors who have 4.5 to 5 stars. Sadly, many good practitioners languish for want of a good (or any) reputation. They will be dead in the water if they do not get that good reputation. Having 5 star reviews is nice but getting that widely known and talked about on social media is the prize.

If you do not have reviews and are not in the process of getting them, what is stopping you? Because they are effective, and becoming essential, you need to start getting them. Most patients or clients will willingly give a review, if politely asked. It’s wasteful not to ask them. Some may be critical about something. That is nothing to be afraid of. You need to know what you can improve. There are good CRM systems that message shortly after their visit and ask for their comments, and if they like to, a review and rating. And better than a written message for the review they can easily make a video on their phone and send that. Such systems also increase the efficiency of a practice and the engagement with clients/patients, make reminders, and other messages. I offer the best such system that I know of. It tells you all that people have said and are saying about you, gets you fresh new reviews from most clients/patients and gets you lots more business because of those reviews.  I have a 30 day free trial of this reputation builder.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Have a Well Optimised GMB Listing

GMB? Google My Business. I see many GMB listings “unclaimed”, let alone not optimised. Google has made a GMB listing forall businesses that it knows about. If you have not “claimed” your GMB listing go there and do it. and then optimise it. You gain so much better ranking by doing that that it is derelict to not do so. Do that, or get someone to do it.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Be 3 Pack or Page 1

The market analysts do the surveys and their stats say that about half the business goes to the 3 Pack (when there is one) and about half of what’s left goes to page 1, with decreasing amounts to Page 2  or 3.

You don’t absolutely “need” to be in 3 Page or Page 1. If you believe your business is good and worthy of better ranking there some experts who can help you. There are ways to take a business out of the Page 3 or “More Places” doldrums and take the place of a competitor in Page 1 or the 3 Pack. Some 3 Pack or GMB experts know how to do that. It could be very worthwhile to enquire about possibility of doing that. It would certainly be very, very good for business, but otherwise there are other ways to get business, and there are many, and increasing, businesses who do not rely on their website, or don’t even have one, and are doing well. I will come to that now.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Have a Good Looking and effective Website

By “goodlooking and effective” I do not mean a whoopee site having masses of technicolor graphics and images. You need some videos and put more emphasis on them and less on the words than was once the case. A personal video by the principal attorney, dentist, doctor, roofer, plumber, …and etc is more trustworthy (ie effective) than 100s of words. Same with any testimonials. Make a policy of asking clients to make about 30 seconds of video. So less words and more videos. Videos are easy enough to get the hang of, but maybe get some help.

To be effective your site needs to be to the point. without irelevant distractions. Display what you want the visitor to do, and why, at top and prominently and supporting guff well down or on other pages.

⭐ Your Business Website Needs a Clever Bot

A bot makes your site more effective. You must have seen some of those “can I help you?” “chat bots” in the bottom corner. Some are very droll. The better ones, the AI ones, (intelligent is overstating their wit, clever is more apt), are helpful in several ways. Sometimes a caller just wants to know something or leave a message and the bot can say it or note it. They are "always there" and take calls when no person is available. They are becoming cleverer and can be customised as you like. Customise your bot to be a friendly concierge taking a lot of load off reception - arranging appointments or call back, taking notes and directing calls, and answering caller queries.

⭐ Your Business Website Needs to Have Prominent Calls To Action

If your website's intent is to get the viewer to DO something - buy, subscribe etc - the CTAs should be prominent on allpages, as buttons or linked text.  

⭐ Your Business Website Needs to be Customised For Mobile

 Your website needs to go beyond just being responsive and be trimmed to display faster and better on mobile devices. Cut the verbiage and animations to the minimum. Your viewers will be skimming, and animations slow the page.

⭐ Your Business Website Needs to Load Under 3 Seconds

Why 3 seconds? Actually, the quicker it loads the less visitors you lose. If your site is still loading after 3 seconds over 50% of the visitors that were there have now left. Think about that! You have invested so much into the site and your advertising and half of your money you put on the table is blown if your site takes more than just 3 seconds to load. The small cost of making the site load faster will more than pay for itself by keeping more visitors there to see and buy your wares. Isn’t that what it isthere for? Get someone to speed up your site!

⭐ Your Website Needs to Have Schema on Every Page

Schema? Schema is a lot of fill-in-the-blanks that tells Google what you site is for, and “all about” it. That is quick and easy for Google’s bots to digest and index. Google wants quick and bothers less, or less often, about trying to work out what sites that do not have schema are about for indexing. Not having schema pushes your site way down below sites that do. Again, easy enough to get done, and a dereliction to not do so.

⭐ Your Website Needs to Be Secure.

The easiest to fix “need” is saved for last. If you do not have a SSL Certificate for your website your site is now being demoted in its ranking and visitors are turned away. When visitors a site without a SSL certificate they now see

“Your connection is not private. Attackers might be trying to steal your information (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards)”?.

They will ohuh and choose to “return to safety” (ie go back). And if they persist trying to load your site they have to “learn more” and then confirm they really do want your site they can “Proceed to aaa.com (unsafe)”

An SSL certificate gives security to your site. A site with SSL has “Secure” at left of the address bar, url prefix of https instead of http, and a small “lock” icon in the address bar. Apart from giving confidence to Google and the other search engines having SSL gives confidence to visitors.  Many are already educated about needing security and look for the indication that a site has SSL security (ie an https address)

You should have a SSL Certificate for your site anyway if you get payments or if any forms can have sensitive or confidential information. But it is essential if you don’t want to be demoted or be seen to have an unsafe site. It’s an easy fix. Get your webmaster to arrange for it to be done, or find someone who can fix it for a small fee. You need to!

⭐ But Your Business Needs to Not Rely Only on the Website

The lifeblood of your (any) business is calls from people wanting you to do for them what you do. You may have a pretty, well organised website, and some people may even find it, but if noone sees it and then rings you, or fills in and submits your form you may as well not have a website, and not pour time and money into it trying to boost its ranking.

You have to work hard to get on page 1 so you need to not rely on that happening.

So, what alternatives are there? Word of mouth? Yes that’s good but limited. Newspaper ads? They’re expensive and ineffective. TV? More so. FaceBook and Google ads? They can be very effective – IF they can induce a viewer to not just click but to pick up a phone and call. The return on the investment can be good if the ads are made by someone who knows how to do them well. To increase your return on the ads several fold (or to even make them worth doing) you need to have your pixel on them. They need to be good because you know that it takes 3, 4, 5 or more calls to get a call that succeeds in bringing a new client/patient. There is more to making an ad that converts and gets the action you want than “just any” words and images. The ad writer needs to know what works, now.

⭐ Your Business Needs to Get Buyer Calls.

Getting calls from people who want what you do IS your business. Unless you are fortunately able to rely on “word of mouth”or “walk ins” without calls you don’t have a business.

FaceBook and Google ads made by someone who knows how to make them to give a profitable return can get a good stream of buyer intent calls. These are calls from people who are actually looking for what you have 

Eureka! How? These people would not have come from your website but have responded to expertly placed ads from a “call ads” specialist. You can contract to get as many such calls as will make a difference to your business, and you will pay much less for each than if you were to do ads in the usual ways. Find someone who can send those “buyer intent” calls to you and you can be very profitable without obsessing over a website. You just need to make sure you and staff make the most of the calls that come, make money from them, and not waste the calls .

⭐ Your Business Website's "Becoming" Needs

By "becoming" I mean these are beneficial now, and will soon become "needed" for a website to rank high and perform better than the rest of them. It will need, and sooner the better :

⭐To have AMP (accelerated mobile pages). These load quickly and therefore will rank higher.

⭐To be able to rank for voice search (eg Alexa : "where is..") because searching by voice activated devices is becoming common

⭐To include "rich snippets" and FAQ as these are favoured by Google and are a ranking factor.

⭐To have a Progressive Web App that is loaded from the website and reloads the website instantly (even offline) and gives much improved user engagement.

⭐To have a customised chat/help bot to get more clients as they become to expect and prefer to use bots for queries, and also improve efficiency of your front office. 

⭐To use push notifications (appropriately) for better messaging to clients and prospectives  

⭐ Your Website Needs to Be GDPR and ADA Compliant.

What is GDPR? Any peice of personal data about any person in the EU needs to be protected in many specified ways. In many cases you do not know if a person lives in EU so your site needs to be compliant.

What is ADA? American Disabilities Act. A blind person in US needs to hear anything on a website and a deaf person needs to be able to read everything on a website and all functions need to controllable with a mouse. Website owners are being sued for large amounts by opportunist lawfirms so all websites need to become compliant  

⭐ Five Star Your Business is Here to Help Your Business.

To give your business its best chance to prosper in 2020 and beyond you need all of the above. 

Maybe you don't have some of the above and despite that are ranking well. That's good, but beware that Google continually updates its rankings and will progressively favour those sites which either give a better user experience, or which intrinsically help Google know what your site does, and where, (with Schema). They will be promoted over less well organised sites. 

It will reward you to protect the investment you have made in the website. The cost of doing so will be less than the lost business from not doing so. Get your website person or agency to do all these necessary things. If the cost of that does not please you then I and my team will help you, and for probably less than what you expect. We do, or get done, anything mentioned here. I am all for helping small business and practices prosper.

PS.This is a no frills, no hype, no BS, just the facts small business, and this site is a plain no frills, no JS animations, no distractions. It is not pretty but it loads fast.

To Prosper in 2020 Your Business Needs All of These

⭐ To Stand Out

⭐ To Go Mobile

⭐ To Go Video

⭐ To Go “Beyond SEO”

⭐ To Have a 5 Star Reputation

⭐ To Have Well Optimised GMB Listing

⭐ To Be in 3 Pack or PAGE 1

⭐ To Have a Good Looking Effective Website,

⭐ That Loads Under 3 Seconds on mobile

⭐ That Has Schema on Every Page

⭐ That is Secure

⭐ That is GDPR and ADA Compliant

⭐ To Not Rely only on the Website

⭐ To Get Calls – Directly

Let’s talk about these. Any one of these starred points will help you 5 star your business. The more, the better. To do best and prosper all are necessary. 

If you have someone at hand to do all these necessary things then get them to do them. If you do not, then call us, and we will help you, and for probably less than what you expect.