The WordPress dashboard shows a blinking cursor next to an empty title field at 9:47 p.m. on a Sunday, the third week in a row a Broken Arrow shop owner has opened the editor and closed it again without typing a single word. A half-written list from two months ago sits in a phone’s notes app, but every idea on it already got used, and the same question keeps getting typed into Google late at night: how to come up with blog topics for my business, only to close the tab and go back to inventory spreadsheets. That moment is common, and it is fixable with a repeatable process rather than a burst of creative inspiration that has to be summoned from nothing every single week.

Why the Idea Well Runs Dry So Quickly

Most business owners start a blog with three or four strong ideas already in mind, usually built around their own products or services. Those get published fast, and then the well runs dry because the remaining ideas are all variations on the same theme. There are more than U.S. small businesses than most people realize, over 33 million of them, and a large share are trying to compete for attention in the same crowded search results with a similar handful of topics. Writing only about a company’s own products, hours, or history runs out of material within a month or two, because that kind of content answers questions almost nobody is actually searching for.

The businesses that keep publishing consistently treat topic research as a separate task from writing, done on its own schedule rather than invented under deadline pressure. Industry content marketing research shows that 84% of B2B marketers still rely on a company blog as one of their primary channels for reaching an audience, which means the blog itself is not the problem. The problem is almost always a shortage of topics that connect to what real people are actually asking.

How to Come Up With Blog Topics for My Business Using Real Data

A reliable system pulls topics from five places that already exist inside or around a business: Customer Questions, Competitor Content Gaps, Seasonal/Local Trends, Search Autocomplete, and Sales Team Insights. None of these require guessing what an audience wants, because each one is built on evidence that the audience has already provided in some form. The table below breaks down each source with a concrete example of how it plays out for a real business.

Digging Deeper Into Each Source

Customer Questions is usually the strongest starting point because it requires no research tools at all, only attention. Every support email, phone call, and in-person conversation contains a version of a question that other prospective customers are also wondering about but have not called to ask. The SBA marketing guide points out that a marketing plan should be built around a clearly defined target audience and what actually persuades that audience to buy, and a blog built on real customer questions does exactly that by design.

Competitor Content Gaps take slightly more legwork. Reading through a handful of competing websites and noting what they have not covered, or have only covered shallowly, reveals openings that a more thorough post can fill. This is not about copying a competitor’s structure, it is about noticing where their content stops short of answering the full question a reader came with.

Seasonal/Local Trends reward businesses that pay attention to their calendar and their geography rather than treating every month the same. A landscaping company, a tax preparer, and a heating and cooling contractor all have predictable busy seasons, and publishing relevant posts a few weeks ahead of that seasonal spike gives search engines time to index the content before demand peaks.

Search Autocomplete is one of the fastest ways to confirm that real people are searching for a phrase, since the suggestions that appear while typing are built from actual autocomplete predictions based on trending queries, language, and location. Typing a partial question related to a business’s industry and noting what autofills underneath it is often enough to generate several viable topics in a few minutes.

Sales Team Insights close the loop because the people who talk to prospects every day already know which objections, comparisons, and misconceptions come up repeatedly. A short conversation with whoever answers the phone or closes the sale often produces more usable topics in fifteen minutes than an hour of solo brainstorming.

Turning Ideas Into Posts Worth Publishing

Not every idea that comes out of this process deserves a full post right away. Before committing to a topic, it helps to run it through a short filter to see if it is worth the time to write.

• A real customer, competitor, or search signal prompted the idea, rather than a guess about what “sounds interesting.”
• The topic answers one specific question instead of trying to cover an entire subject in a single post.
• Someone searching for this topic is likely close to making a decision, not just casually curious.
• The idea connects naturally to a service the business actually offers.
• There is enough to say to reach a useful length without padding.

Ideas that pass this filter should be organized against the broader plan for the business, not treated as one-off posts published in isolation. A blog works best as one piece of a coordinated digital marketing effort rather than a disconnected side project, and the reasoning behind that connection is laid out in a related post on unified marketing. A topic list built from real customer questions, competitor gaps, seasonal patterns, autocomplete data, and sales conversations only pays off when the resulting posts are tied to the same goals as the rest of a company’s marketing.

Need a Blog Topic List Built Around Your Real Customers? Contact McWilliams Media to get started.

How McWilliams Media Approaches Blog Topic Research

The process starts with the same five sources covered above, not a generic content calendar template. Real customer questions pulled from a client’s inbox, phone calls, and reviews get logged alongside search data that shows what people in a given industry are actually typing into Google, and seasonal patterns specific to that business get mapped against the calendar months ahead of time. That combination of direct customer input and search behavior data is what keeps a topic list grounded in what an actual audience wants to read, instead of a list of generic industry headlines that could apply to any business in any city.

Working with clients around Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and the greater Tulsa area also means paying attention to local seasonal patterns that a broader, one-size-fits-all content plan would miss, from spring storm cleanup searches to back-to-school retail spikes. Approach and local knowledge are what make a topic research process useful, not a generic promise of “great content,” and that is the standard applied to every blog strategy built for a client.

Building a Sustainable Blogging Rhythm

A topic list is only useful if it turns into a publishing schedule that a business can actually maintain over months, not weeks. Two well-researched posts a month, published consistently, will outperform eight posts crammed into one month followed by a long silence, because search engines and readers both respond better to steady output than sporadic bursts. Setting aside even thirty minutes a week to jot down a new customer question or a competitor gap keeps the list growing so that writing time can go toward the post itself rather than the search for what to write about. Businesses around Broken Arrow that treat topic research as an ongoing habit, rather than a one-time brainstorm, are the ones still publishing a year later.

Ready to Turn Your Customer Questions Into a Content Plan? Reach Out to McWilliams Media today.

The Bottom Line on Finding Blog Topics

The single most important takeaway is this: a blog never runs out of ideas when it draws from Customer Questions, Competitor Content Gaps, Seasonal/Local Trends, Search Autocomplete, and Sales Team Insights, because those five sources refill themselves as a business keeps operating. A reasonable rule of thumb is to write down every real question a customer asks for one month before writing a single new post, then work through that list before inventing anything from scratch. Expect the first few topics to come easily and the process to feel slower after that, since building the habit of noticing questions takes longer than the actual writing does. Businesses in Broken Arrow, OK looking for help turning that raw material into a working content calendar do not have to figure out the whole system alone.

See What a Custom Blog Topic Strategy Looks Like. Contact McWilliams Media to talk through your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should a small business publish blog posts?

Most small businesses see solid results publishing one to four posts per month, depending on available time and how competitive their industry is. Consistency matters more than volume, so a steady schedule of two posts a month usually beats an irregular flurry followed by months of silence.

What should I write about when I run out of blog ideas?

Look outside the blog itself, at questions customers ask during sales calls, support emails, or in-person conversations. Checking what competitors haven’t covered, noting seasonal search patterns, and seeing what autofills when typing a partial question into a search bar are also reliable ways to surface new topics.

Does blogging actually help my website rank in search engines?

Blogging can help a website rank for a wider range of search terms because each post targets different keywords than the core service pages do. It works best when posts answer specific, real questions rather than broad topics already saturated by larger competitors, and results typically build over months rather than days.

How long should a business blog post be?

There is no single ideal length, but posts that thoroughly answer a question typically fall between 800 and 1,500 words. The right length depends on the complexity of the topic and what a reader needs to understand it, not an arbitrary word count target.

Should I write my own blog posts or hire someone to do it?

Either approach can work, and the right choice depends on available time, writing comfort, and how much research goes into topic selection. Business owners often write strong first drafts because they know their customers well, but many struggle with consistency, which is where hiring a writer tends to help most.

The post How to Come Up With Blog Topics for My Business first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

In April 2026, a Broken Arrow HVAC company owner sat across from a marketing vendor who told him, flatly, that blogging was “a waste of budget now that AI writes everything anyway.” He had heard some version of that pitch for years, but this time it stuck with him, mostly because his website traffic had been flat for six months and he wasn’t sure what to fix first. His question, the same one so many local business owners quietly wonder about, was simple: does my business really need a blog, or is that advice from a decade ago that no longer applies? The honest answer depends less on trends and more on what a business is trying to accomplish, and that is where the decision actually starts.

What a Business Blog Actually Does for a Local Company

A blog is not a diary and it is not a place to post announcements nobody asked for. At its core, it is a set of pages built to answer the specific questions your customers already have, published in a place your business fully controls. That distinction matters because a Facebook post or an Instagram caption disappears from view within hours, while a well written blog page can keep answering the same question for months or years after it goes live. Industry research backs up how uneven the results can be: content marketing research from the Content Marketing Institute found that only about one in eight marketers say their content efforts clearly exceed their goals, largely because so much published content is thin, generic, or built around keywords instead of real customer questions. In other words, blogging works, but only when the content is actually built to be useful rather than published just to check a box.

So, Does My Business Really Need a Blog? Here’s How We Decide

Rather than treating this as a yes or no question for every business, it helps to look at what a company is actually trying to accomplish. A roofing contractor trying to fill next week’s schedule has different needs than a boutique trying to build a loyal repeat customer base. The table below breaks down five common business goals and how blogging supports each one specifically.

Each of those five goals plays out a little differently once a business puts it into practice. On the traffic side, a new post targets a new, specific search query, so a landscaping company that writes about fall cleanup timing in Oklahoma picks up searches it would never rank for otherwise, since its homepage can only reasonably target a handful of terms. For local SEO and AI visibility, posts that answer local, specific questions are exactly what Google’s local results and AI answer tools are pulling from now. That shift is a big part of why McWilliams Media’s SEO to AIO post explains how AI-driven search results changed the way businesses need to structure their content. Recent AI search summaries data from Pew Research Center found that roughly 18% of Google searches now trigger an AI-generated summary, and question-style searches (the kind blog posts are built to answer) are far more likely to trigger one than short, generic queries.

On authority and trust, detailed, accurate posts demonstrate real industry knowledge, and Google has said as much directly. Its own helpful content guidelines describe rewarding content created to genuinely help a specific audience over content written primarily to attract search traffic, which is exactly the line between a blog post worth writing and one that isn’t. For lead nurturing, a blog post gives a sales follow up email something useful to link to instead of just a repeated sales pitch, keeping a prospect engaged while they compare options. And for repeat customer questions, turning what staff already answer on the phone into a blog post saves time and gives customers a resource to reference on their own, something the SBA marketing guidance on content also points to: content built around a real, relatable scenario keeps a reader’s attention far better than a generic sales page.

Signs Blogging Deserves a Place in Your Marketing Plan

Some businesses are especially well positioned to benefit from consistent blogging. A few common signs include:

• Customers ask the same handful of questions repeatedly before booking, whether by phone, email, or in person.
• The business sells something that requires some explanation or comparison before a customer feels ready to buy.
• Competitors in the same city or trade rank well in search results but publish little to no original content.
• The sales cycle is longer than a single visit, so there’s a real opportunity to stay in front of a prospect over time.
• The business already has a website getting some traffic, but very few pages beyond the homepage and service pages.

Signs Blogging Might Not Be Your First Priority Right Now

Blogging isn’t automatically the right next move for every business, at least not yet. A few situations where other work should come first:

• The business’s core website has gaps, such as missing service pages, broken contact forms, or no mobile-friendly design.
• There’s no realistic way to keep publishing consistently, and a handful of posts published once will do more harm than good if abandoned.
• The business operates in an extremely narrow niche with very low local search volume for any topic.
• Google Business Profile, reviews, and basic local listings haven’t been set up or claimed yet.

Ready to Find Out If Blogging Fits Your Business? Contact McWilliams Media to talk through your specific goals before committing budget to a blog.

How McWilliams Media Decides Whether a Blog Post Is Worth Writing

Before writing a single post for a client, McWilliams Media asks three practical questions rather than assuming every business needs the same content plan. First, does the topic match something local customers are actually typing into a search engine or asking an AI assistant, based on real search data rather than a guess. Second, does the business have first-hand knowledge to add that a generic, copy-and-paste answer would miss, since that’s usually the difference between a page that ranks and one that doesn’t. Third, can the resulting page be tracked against something specific, whether that’s traffic to that exact page, movement in rankings for a term the business cares about, or contact form submissions that can be traced back to it. That measurement step is what keeps a blog from turning into a pile of posts nobody reads. Instead of counting how many articles went live in a month, the useful number is how many of those pages are actually pulling their weight for the business.

That approach matters even more for businesses serving Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and the greater Tulsa area, where local competition for search visibility looks different trade to trade and neighborhood to neighborhood. A plumbing company competing across Broken Arrow needs different topics than a local boutique competing mostly on foot traffic and word of mouth, and treating every client’s blog the same way ignores that. McWilliams Media’s digital marketing services are built around figuring out which of those levers, blogging included, actually moves the needle for a specific business before recommending it as a line item.

The Bottom Line for Broken Arrow Business Owners

The most important takeaway is that blogging isn’t universally necessary, but it’s rarely a wasted effort when it’s built around real customer questions and tracked against a specific goal. A simple rule of thumb: if your team answers the same question more than a few times a month, in person or on the phone, that question is worth a blog post. If a business in Broken Arrow, OK genuinely has nothing recurring that customers ask, and its core website is already strong, blogging may reasonably wait. Realistically, most local businesses have more of those repeat questions than they realize, and each one is a page waiting to be written.

Not Sure Where to Start? Reach out to McWilliams Media and we’ll help you figure out whether a blog belongs in your marketing plan this year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is blogging dead, or does it still work in 2026?

Blogging is not dead, but how it earns visibility has changed. Search engines and AI answer tools increasingly pull from pages that clearly and thoroughly answer a specific question, so thin or generic posts underperform while genuinely useful, well organized content still gets found and cited.

How often should a small business post to its blog?

There is no universal number that works for every business. Many small businesses see solid results publishing somewhere between one and four posts a month, as long as each post is thorough and answers a real customer question, since publishing sporadically or padding out weak topics just to hit a schedule tends to waste effort.

How long does it take to see results from a business blog?

Most businesses start seeing meaningful traffic and ranking movement three to six months after they begin publishing consistently, with results compounding after a year or more. Search engines need time to crawl, index, and evaluate new pages against competitors, so a blog functions as a long-term asset rather than an instant source of leads.

What should a small business blog about if nothing feels new to say?

The most effective topics are usually the questions customers already ask in person, over the phone, or by email every week. Turning those repeat questions into detailed posts creates content that’s both original to the business and genuinely useful, and pricing explanations, process walkthroughs, and common misconceptions are reliable starting points.

Is social media enough, or does a business still need a blog too?

Social media and blogging generally work best together rather than as substitutes for each other. Social posts are built for quick engagement and fade from feeds within hours or days, while blog content lives on a company’s own website and can keep attracting search traffic for months or years, giving the business an owned, searchable record of its expertise that social platforms don’t provide.

The post Does My Business Really Need a Blog? first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

A Broken Arrow HVAC contractor typed “furnace repair cost Tulsa” into Google last winter and found three competitors ranking above their own homepage, every one of them linked to a blog post published within the past year. That scenario plays out across the greater Tulsa area every day, and it raises the exact question local business owners keep asking: do blogs actually help you rank on Google, or is publishing new content just busywork that never moves the needle? The short answer is that blogging works, but only when it is treated as a search strategy rather than a chore to check off once a month.

Google does not rank a website because it has a blog tab. It ranks specific pages because those pages answer specific questions better than the competition, and a well-run blog is simply the fastest way to create a large number of those answer-pages around the terms real customers search. A homepage can only target so many phrases before it stops making sense to a human reader. A blog lets a business build out dozens, even hundreds, of pages that each target a narrower question, like “furnace repair cost Tulsa” or “how often should HVAC filters be changed in Oklahoma.” Each of those pages becomes a new entry point Google can index and surface, and each one is a new chance to appear in front of someone actively searching.

Do Blogs Actually Help You Rank on Google? The Data Behind the Question

The clearest evidence comes from tracked case data rather than opinion. HubSpot documented a business that committed to a consistent blogging schedule, publishing three new posts per week, and measured the organic traffic results over a full year. The growth was not immediate, but it was substantial and sustained. Monthly blog traffic grew from 88 visits in month one to 1,899 visits by month six, an increase of roughly 2,058 percent, and reached 2,299 visits by month twelve, a 2,512.5 percent jump from where the business started, according to HubSpot’s data.

That growth curve matters for a Broken Arrow or Tulsa business owner because it sets realistic expectations. The first few months of consistent publishing rarely produce a dramatic traffic spike. The real payoff shows up around month six and compounds from there, which is why so many businesses quit right before the strategy starts working. The same HubSpot research also references a broader industry pattern: companies that published 16 or more blog posts a month saw nearly 3.5 times more inbound traffic than companies publishing between zero and four posts a month. Volume alone was not the whole story in the case study, though. The business also rebuilt its blog for SEO, added clear calls to action, and linked new posts back to its core service pages, which is the same combination that determines whether a blog actually moves rankings or just sits unread.

Why Publishing Alone Isn’t the Whole Story

Google’s own guidance backs up why the mechanics matter as much as the frequency. According to Google’s ranking guidance, simply changing a publish date or adding filler content to a page “primarily because you believe it will help your search rankings” does not work on its own. What Google’s systems actually reward is original information, reporting, or analysis that a reader would genuinely want to bookmark or share. A blog post that restates what ten other websites already say will rarely outrank a page written by someone who understands the local market, whether that is furnace repair pricing in Tulsa, code requirements in Broken Arrow, or the seasonal quirks of running a business in northeastern Oklahoma.

This is also where most competitors fall short, which creates an opening. Content Marketing Institute’s most recent B2B research found that 39 percent of marketers struggle simply to create enough content, and 35 percent still cite SEO optimization as a top challenge, according to CMI’s research. In other words, a large share of the competition is not blogging consistently enough, or well enough, to build the topical depth Google rewards. A business that keeps publishing useful, locally relevant posts month after month is competing against a field where most other players have already given up.

How Tulsa-Area Searchers Actually Behave

Understanding whether blogs help rankings also means understanding what happens after someone finds the post. Local search behavior tends to be action-oriented. Research published by Search Engine Land found that 76 percent of people who use a phone to search for something nearby visit a business within 24 hours, and a large majority still rely on Google Search or Google Maps to find that business in the first place, according to local search research. A Broken Arrow plumber’s blog post about frozen pipe prevention is not just a ranking play. It is a page positioned to catch someone who is about to make a same-day decision, and a blog that shows up in that moment has a real shot at converting a searcher into a customer, not just a visitor.

The U.S. Small Business Administration makes a related point in its guidance on local marketing strategies, noting that people today search online first, often through Google, before ever visiting a business in person. That sequence, search first and visit second, is exactly why blog content built around real local questions carries weight far beyond the blog page itself.

Signs Your Blog Content Is Actually Helping SEO

Not every blog post pulls its weight, and a few patterns tend to separate the posts that help rankings from the ones that just take up space.

• The post targets a specific question or phrase a real customer would type, not a broad, generic topic.
• It links to at least one relevant service page or another helpful post on the same site.
• It answers the question completely enough that a reader would not need to click back to Google.
• It gets updated or expanded when the information changes, rather than left untouched for years.
• It includes details a competitor could not easily copy, such as local pricing context, regional regulations, or specific processes.
• Search Console or analytics shows it earning impressions or clicks over time, not just sitting flat.

A blog that checks most of these boxes is doing real SEO work. A blog that checks none of them is probably just filling a content calendar.

Why Choose McWilliams Media for Blog Content That Ranks

McWilliams Media builds every blog content plan around how people in Broken Arrow and the greater Tulsa area actually search, not around a generic keyword list pulled from a national database. The process starts with researching the specific phrases local customers type before they call a business, comparing seasonal search patterns, common local questions, and the language people actually use rather than the industry jargon a business might use to describe itself. From there, topics get mapped to what a searcher needs at each stage, from someone comparing options for the first time to someone ready to book. That research process is what keeps a blog from becoming a stack of generic posts that could belong to any business in any city. A post about spring landscaping timelines written for a Broken Arrow audience references different soil, weather, and seasonal patterns than one written for a business somewhere else, and that specificity is exactly what search engines and readers both respond to. This same content strategy approach connects naturally with a broader digital marketing plan, so blog content is not built in isolation but tied to the keywords, service pages, and local search terms that already matter most to the business.

A blog that is not built around real local search terms is just words on a page. Contact McWilliams Media to talk through a content strategy built around how Broken Arrow and Tulsa customers actually search.

Search behavior itself is shifting as more people ask questions directly inside AI tools instead of typing a traditional Google query, which makes the underlying research process even more important. That shift is covered in more depth in this look at AI search visibility, which examines how the same well-researched, locally grounded content that ranks in Google also tends to get pulled into AI-generated answers.

The Realistic Timeline and What to Expect

Based on the data above, a Broken Arrow business starting a serious blogging effort should expect a slow first quarter, a noticeable shift by month six, and a meaningful traffic difference by the one-year mark, provided the posts stay specific, useful, and connected to real service pages. A simple rule of thumb: if a blog post could be published word-for-word on a competitor’s website in a different city without changing a single detail, it is unlikely to do much for rankings. The posts that work are the ones that could only have been written by that specific business, in that specific market.

The most important takeaway is that blogging is not a switch that turns rankings on overnight. It is closer to compound interest, where a handful of well-researched posts published consistently over months build up indexed pages, internal links, and topical relevance that a thin website simply cannot match. Businesses in Broken Arrow that treat their blog as an ongoing part of their marketing, rather than a project that gets finished, tend to be the ones still showing up in search results a year later.

Not Sure Where to Start With a Content Plan? Reach out today to map out a plan built around what Tulsa-area customers are actually searching for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does blogging really help SEO?

Yes, when the posts target real search terms and provide genuinely useful information. A blog gives a website more indexed pages to rank, more opportunities for internal linking, and more chances to answer the specific questions customers are typing into Google.

How often should a business blog for SEO results?

There is no single magic number, but consistency matters more than volume. Businesses that publish regularly, even once or twice a week, tend to see stronger and steadier results than those that post sporadically or in short bursts followed by long gaps.

How long does it take for a blog post to start ranking on Google?

Most new blog posts take a few weeks to get indexed and several months to gain meaningful ranking positions, since Google typically needs time to evaluate a page against established competitors. Noticeable traffic growth from consistent blogging often becomes clearer around the five to six month mark.

Does blog post length affect Google rankings?

Length alone is not a ranking factor, but longer posts often rank better because they tend to cover a topic more thoroughly and answer more of a reader’s follow-up questions. A shorter post that fully answers the question can still outperform a longer one that is padded with filler.

Should old blog posts be updated for SEO?

Yes, refreshing outdated statistics, broken links, or incomplete information can help a post regain or improve its ranking. Google favors content that stays accurate and useful over time, not just content that was accurate when it was first published.

The post Do Blogs Actually Help You Rank on Google? Here’s What the Data Shows first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Businesses of all sizes are constantly looking for ways to promote their services and products. They are also aware of the need to consistently engage with their customers. This leads many business owners, especially those of small businesses, to ask themselves if a website is really necessary.

Doesn’t a Facebook Page for their business do essentially the same thing? There are many similarities between these two methods of promoting a business. However, there are also key differences that dictate which of these platforms is best for you.

We’ve had several clients ask if it would be OK to only have a Facebook Page and not a website. While a Facebook page can be a valuable piece of your online presence, your website is the foundation and stability that everything is built upon. 

The primary purpose of a website is to create a “home” on the internet where your customers can learn additional information about your business. A Facebook Page, on the other hand, is a great tool for connecting with your customers more easily and engaging consistently. Combining these valuable platforms is often the best way to create a curated customer experience.

At McWilliams Media, we believe that a strong media strategy that utilizes several online platforms is the best way to both promote and grow a business of any size. From taking care of the time-consuming work of building your website to educating you on how to utilize your online presence in a way that works for you, we are constantly searching for ways to simplify media solutions for your business. By working with our friendly and experienced team to streamline your online presence, your business will thrive! 

Benefits of a Website for Small Businesses

Many small business owners shy away from a website. This is due to the many unknowns that come with this territory. How do you know what to add to your website? What is SEO? Where does one even begin?

The good news is that many web design businesses (like ourselves,) can facilitate the entire process of creating a website so that it’s both easy and painless.

A Website is Your Business’ Online Home

The primary benefit of a website for your business is having a place to call “home” on the internet. When a potential customer comes across your business information on social media or hears of you through a friend, they are likely to look for further information. A website is the best way to communicate this information in a clear and effective manner.

By creating an authentic and engaging website, you will have the opportunity to share your message, service, or product through a carefully curated user experience.

From a practical standpoint, a business website is the most ideal place to display customer reviews, share detailed information on your products, and generate product sales.

This crucial content can often be buried deep in a Facebook Page, making it nearly impossible to access. A well-designed website combines all the necessary information in a detailed and organized manner while creating an experience that is aesthetically appealing.

Websites Establish Credibility for Your Small Business

We have all experienced the unsettling feeling of coming across an exciting product advertised on social media, only to look for additional information with no success. Unfortunately, many small business owners rely entirely on social media platforms as a way to promote and sell their products. This simply does not promote a professional image. 

A well-designed website establishes credibility for both your company and the products or services you offer. You can think of a website as your business’s first impression. Anyone can create a Facebook Page, only serious business owners invest in designing a website.

You Own Your Website

One of the biggest downfalls of relying solely on a social media platform such as a Facebook Page for business purposes is that you do not own your information!

Any information or content which is shared through a Facebook Page becomes the property of Facebook. They have complete control over what exists on your Facebook Page and can choose to remove your content at any time without your consent. 

In addition to this, Facebook, and other social media platforms use an algorithm which decides the order in which posts are shown to followers. This algorithm is constantly changing which can seriously impact how your followers access your business’s content. 

Although a website for your business requires an investment, it is a platform that you own. This allows you to promote your brand exactly how you wish. You should never build your business solely on platforms that are owned by others as this gives someone else control over your income.

Complete Control of User Experience

Facebook is a very user-friendly platform. Because of this, many small business owners are able to create a Facebook Page and utilize it with confidence. However, there are several limitations.

On a Facebook Page, you are able to update your cover photo and your profile. You can post curated information on your feed. Although Facebook offers many customization options, you are actually rather limited in what you can change.

A website provides you with complete control of the user experience. From the fonts you choose to the images you upload, your website can be an authentic and entirely unique experience.

When designing a website for a business owner, we work side-by-side to ensure that the website accurately depicts the message they wish to send to their customers. An impressive and well-designed website will lead to engaged users who turn into loyal customers. 

Encourages Creativity

Websites allow you to communicate your business in the most effective way. Whether this is through video, through informational text, or high-quality pictures, a website can easily accommodate any creative need.

There are no limitations as to what your website can be! Working with an experienced web design team allows you to express your creativity in a way that is effective in promoting your business.

Advantages of a Facebook Page for Small Businesses

There are many downsides to a Facebook Page for business owners. However, there are also several advantages that are unique to this social media platform. Because of this, we believe that every business owner should have an established Facebook Page to aid in the promotion of their company.

Facebook is a Free Platform

One of the most obvious advantages of a Facebook Page is the fact that Facebook is a free platform. Although you can pay to advertise your Facebook Page, the creation of the page and the sharing of content is entirely free. This leads many small business owners to utilize a Facebook Page over a website. 

The downside to the free use of this social media platform is that the content that is uploaded to your Facebook Page is no longer your own. Because of this, Facebook can use your images and other content in whatever way they wish.

In addition to this, your content can be removed or your Facebook Page disabled without any warning. Without a home on the internet in the form of a website, your customers will have no way of connecting with you in the event that your Facebook Page is abruptly disabled.

Easily Connect With Customers

The benefit of a Facebook Page and social media, in general, is that it allows businesses to quickly and easily connect with their customers. This can lead to a fiercely loyal customer base that feels as if they have a say in the way a company is run. Utilizing your business Facebook Page to foster this type of connection is an extremely beneficial marketing strategy. 

In addition to fostering genuine connections with your customer base, Facebook Pages also give you a platform on which to share engaging content.

Catchy memes, viral videos, and other types of engaging content can successfully promote your new service or product in a unique way. After a follower engages with your content through your Facebook Page, you will be able to send them to a curated website experience which will give them more detailed information on the services or products you provide.

Facebook is a Search Engine

Facebook, as well as other social media platforms, have quickly become a search engine for businesses. When an individual is looking to invest in a service or product, they are likely to search various social media platforms.

A Facebook Page is a great way to capture new customers. It is also highly beneficial in generating a strong interest in the service or products that you provide. Because your Facebook Page is an excellent way to capture the interest of new customers, it is important that the information on your page is accurate and up-to-date.

Ease of Use

Businesses are most successful when an owner can delegate tasks to their employees. Almost everyone in today’s day and age is capable of using social media platforms like a Facebook Page. Because of this, updating your Facebook Page becomes a task which you can easily delegate with little to no training.

A website, on the other hand, is a bit more complex. Adding content to your website can create formatting issues, or create inconsistencies in the design.

For this reason, it is usually best to leave the specifics of your website to the professionals. Luckily, the team at McWilliams Media is always available to quickly respond to your website needs. This is just another way we provide excellent customer service which seeks to make your life easier.

Creating the Ultimate Media Strategy for Your Small Business

As you can see, both a website and a Facebook Page provide unique benefits for your business. At McWilliams Media, we believe that creating a media strategy that promotes your services or products on multiple platforms is the best way to create a large, loyal customer base.

A website and a Facebook Page can be used in conjunction with one another to create and foster a loyal and engaged customer base. This will encourage increased income and unmatched growth in your business.

Consult With Media Professionals

If you are just starting out on a new business venture, or if you are looking to expand your online presence, it is important to first consult with experienced media professionals!

We are proud to offer free strategy sessions at McWilliams Media where we can discuss a plan of action that would be effective for your unique situation. During this strategy session, we will assist you in weighing the pros and cons of various media platforms. We will also share the many ways McWilliams Media can assist you in promoting and growing your business online.

Create a Strategic Plan

The online presence of your business is something that should be taken seriously. Both a website and a Facebook Page have the power to promote your business. In the same way, a poorly designed online experience can result in the loss of customers and important income. Creating a strategic plan for your online presence is the best way to ensure that your customers have a positive experience while interacting with your business.

Connect With Customers Consistently

Consistency is key! One of the best ways to foster a strong online presence for your business is by connecting with your customers on a consistent basis. Whether this is through a blog that resides on your website, or through engaging content on your Facebook Page, showing up is crucial.

The team at McWilliams Media knows that running a small business requires a lot of time and energy. Because of this, we provide you with creative solutions that allow you to connect consistently without all the work.  

How Do I Start? 

At McWilliams Media, we are proud to provide you with an individualized media experience that suits your needs. By scheduling a free strategy session, we will be able to assist you in creating a media strategy that is simple and effective. When you work with our experienced and friendly team, you are guaranteed to create an authentic online experience for the customers you have worked so hard to attain.

The post Website Or Facebook Page: Which Is Right For Your Business? first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

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As a small business, setting up your Google Business can be a game-changer when it comes to your business’s online visibility and long term growth. However, there are several things you should consider when setting up your Google Business online. Here are the top five mistakes small business owners make when initially setting up their Google Business: 

1. Limiting Your Business Categories

Oftentimes, businesses will only choose one or two categories to define what type of services they provide. It is very rare, though, for a business to offer only one type or even only two different types of services. Google will actually allow you to choose up to ten categories for you to classify your business, and they provide over 3,000 categories to choose from. Choosing more categories will create more search visibility for your business when potential customers search for various keywords. So, make sure to add more categories!

2. Not Adding Media

It is no secret that our world is becoming increasingly more visually-oriented. Because of that, photos and videos make fantastic online tools to tangibly show people both what your business looks like and what it is all about. Examples of great photos and videos to add to your Google Business listing include either photos or a 360 video of your brick-and-mortar business (if you have one) or high-quality images that put on display the services you provide. For a restaurant or catering company, this may be photos from your menu. For a mechanic, you might upload photos of cars you have worked on.

3. Inconsistent Info Between Your Website and Google Business

If your address on your website says “1234 Location Ave.” and your Google Business says 1234 Location Avenue, this is confusing for Google’s ranking algorithms. This is extremely important if you want your website/Google Business to show up on Google searches. Google looks at consistent information as a point of criteria when ranking websites. That said, it important that your web address, phone number, and email address are also consistent.

4. Not Adding a Business Description

A business description helps customers to further understand what your business is all about. This is the place where you really have the chance to sell a customer on your value proposition, or what your business brings to the table. What is more, adding a business description is the perfect opportunity to add valuable keywords to your Google Business that will make it appear in more searches.

5. Not Responding to Reviews (Positive or Negative)

Do not just set up your Google Business and then forget about it! When you begin to receive reviews, it is important that you actually respond to them. This type of personal interaction is huge for prospective customers to see on your Google Business. It truly does not matter if the reviews are positive or negative as long as you are sincere and intentional in your response. In fact, responding kindly to negative reviews may even entice the negative reviewers to come back and change their ratings. 

The post 5 Mistakes Most Small Businesses Make When Setting Up Their Google Business first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

You have an idea for a business. Maybe it’s an innovative new product or a needed service that you know people will love. You do all the things a good entrepreneur should do, register your name with the state, write up a business plan, order some business cards, tell friends and family what you are doing, hyperventilate, tell yourself 1000 times a day that your plan will work, argue with yourself in the mirror about whether you are crazy or not. Last but not least you build a website. You are sure this is going to be the difference maker for your business. You hope that soon thousands will flock to your website daily to hand over money in exchange for your product or service. Right before you launch the site you wonder to yourself if Red is a bit too ostentatious of color for the yacht you will soon purchase. You decided you can probably figure that out later and send your new website and business out into the world.

Cue the crickets.

You start to realize that your shiny new website isn’t getting much traffic and therefore your stream of customers to your new business is not the stampede you imagined. Looks like you’ll have plenty of time to figure out that yacht color.

Welcome to a hard entrepreneurial reality, people won’t visit your site or buy from you because your website is new or shiny. People don’t buy when you are ready to sell, they buy when they are ready to buy. So the key to driving traffic to your site and sales to your company is connecting with the people that are searching for your product or service. To do that you are going to have to learn about something called Search Engine Optimization commonly abbreviated to SEO. SEO is more of an art than science, a vast and constantly changing field where the focus is understanding what search engines want and how they serve search results to people. The goal of good SEO is to help your website be found by the people who would benefit from it by optimizing keywords and content so that search engines serve those results first. In the world of SEO, there are two very important streams to understand, Organic SEO and Local SEO. We are going to look today at the difference between Organic SEO and Local SEO and how you can combine the two streams together to form a mighty river of people visiting your site. Bye. Bye Crickets. Hello Customers.

What is organic SEO? What is local SEO? Which one do I need?

Organic SEO revolves around a website and keywords. It is not necessarily attached to a geographical location or focused on driving traffic to a brick and mortar location. It is focused on keywords and driving traffic to that website based on people searching for those keywords regardless of where the individual searching may be located. Organic SEO is essential for national brands, internet marketers, and online businesses. Local SEO is similar to Organic SEO but has a strong geographical component to it. It is focused on building signals of relevance for search engines to pick up on regarding a specific location. It’s focus is to drive traffic in a certain area to a brick and mortar location. The big difference is in what the two streams are trying to show to search engines. In Organic SEO the goal is to get search engines to find relevant and trusted content. In Local SEO the goal is to get search engines to find relevant and trusted locations.

So which strategy for SEO should you use for your website?

Life has tough choices, for example when choosing which ice cream. Chocolate or vanilla. Thankfully a genius invented the twist cone and I am forever grateful. Why choose chocolate or vanilla when you can have both?

Local SEO vs Organic SEO can indeed be a twist cone scenario. A powerful and comprehensive SEO strategy will combine both strategies to their maximum impact to drive new customers to the website and business location. We are going to look at some key components for both SEO strategies and how to combine them together in an effective way. The results of a well-executed SEO strategy can be delicious. You just might go get a twist cone to celebrate.

Ways To Improve Local SEO

Local SEO is focused on making sure search engines find relevant and trusted locations. A primary goal of local SEO is for the website to place high in Google Maps for relevant keywords. Not all keywords trigger a local map, typically only the searches that Google determines to have local intent. One important concept of local SEO is a focus on citatations, (no, not the kind the traffic officer leaves on your window). Citations are references to your name, address, and phone number online. Common places for business citations to appear online are on directory sites like Yelp, Yahoo! Local, Manta, and many others. The goal of local SEO is to create a strong citation profile that lets search engines know that your locations are trusted places to go for people searching for certain keywords.

Optimized Google My Business Page

Wondering how to find a new gym? Wondering when your favorite restaurant closes? My guess is that last time you had those questions you grabbed your smartphone and entered in a search and that locations google location page popped up on your phone. Having an optimized Google My Business Page is absolutely critical for good local SEO. Unfortunately, many business owners neglect this important step and don’t even set up a verified page with Google! Over the years many changes and improvements have been made to Google Location listings. Now google offers a variety of features to business owners including the ability to post offers, posts, pictures, videos, and other media to present themselves better to customers. Do not leave a good Google local page out of your Local SEO strategy.

Verified Listings

One great strategy for local SEO is to make sure your business information is distributed across a wide range of web directories and listings. This would be sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, Manta and many others. It is critically important to make sure your business information is consistent and accurate across all platforms and directories. Make sure your address, phone number, email, and website are correct and the same across the web. When there are inconsistencies across your listings search engines are less likely to trust that your location is a trusted and relevant location.

Ways To Improve Organic SEO

Strategies for organic SEO include researching and choosing relevant keywords for a website that has high amounts of traffic and achievable levels of competition. These keywords are then used strategically in website content to send signals to search engines that the website is a trusted and relevant source for people searching those keywords. Keywords are often used in page and blog copy and also added to the metadata of the page and images. Citations are the focus of local SEO but links are the focus of Organic SEO. A website that is connected with a strong link structure is more likely to be shown by search engines. Both internal links and external links are important components of a solid organic SEO strategy.

Keyword Optimization

The first step to keyword optimization is choosing the right keywords to try and rank for in search engine results. You want to research a wide list of keywords relevant to your business and then sort them based on the amount of traffic that keyword receives and the ranking difficulty level. Certain keywords have a large number of people contending for search engine traffic so they are more difficult to rank high on and be found on the first 1-2 pages of search results. You want to choose keywords that have the best balance of traffic and achievable competition for ranking.

After choosing your keywords focus on consistently creating content for your website that includes your strategic keywords in an intentional way. Create blog posts or pages that have your keyword inserted into the content several times so that search engines will identify it as relevant content for people searching for those keywords.

Links! Links! Links!

Citations are the name of the game for local SEO but links are the creme de la creme of Organic SEO. A well-designed website should focus on both a well designed internal link structure and also high-quality external links.

Can Local SEO and Organic SEO be combined?

Yes!! Although it’s important to understand the difference between both SEO strategies a comprehensive SEO strategy for most businesses should include a hybrid approach that combines the best of Local and organic SEO techniques. You should focus on both optimizing your site for the best keywords and also making sure that your business location is well verified and found by search engines as a trusted and relevant place. Combining the best of local and organic SEO techniques can be a powerful way to drive traffic to your site and new customers to your business.

The post Understanding SEO vs Local SEO first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

We understand the pressures your business faces over speeding up the process to make it to the top of Google, but we want to caution you over some new spam attempts circulating the internet. Have you gotten emails trying to sell you a “Get to the top of Google” scam and you were skeptical whether it was spam?

They may have claimed that they can scan your site and provide you with information that only experts can provide. They also may have claimed your website not being up-to-date, missing information, or lacking speed. These emails or calls may be full of promises about your business being able to leverage this success overnight and gain a large quota of sales quickly!

Tempting.

We know.

These scare tactics can convince anyone to jump in on the investment, but before you hand over any private or financial information we wanted to provide you with some valuable tips to help you recognize spam, as well as reasons as to why you should stick to the experts.

How to recognize spam:

• Unsolicited emails and/or comments left on your website from random companies or contacts that you have never had contact with before. These are often full of exaggerated promises that seem too good to be true – because they are.
• Consider the email address. For example, are they sending you an email from an unprofessional email address or a free service such as @gmail.com or @hotmail.com?
• Research their company and consider the professionalism or the lack there of, their website, social media accounts, and email addresses provided.
• Requesting private information too soon. For example, are they requesting your private or banking information simply after your first interaction? If they seem pushy at all – RUN.

Why you want to use SEO experts instead:

• You will be better off because the experts are not out to trick you, but actually want to see your company succeed. Our success is directly correlated with your company’s success!
• You will save money by not trying to find a quick fix that doesn’t work and results in you needing to start ALL over again. Invest your money the right way the first time and avoid detours along the way to your SEO success.
• Your company will grow when you avoid the shortcuts.

Bottom line, trust your SEO success with the experts. SEO isn’t an overnight fix. It’s about promoting your site and overtime beating your competitors in the Google race.

Remember: slow and steady wins the race.

The post SEO Spam: How to Recognize and Avoid It first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Customers are becoming savvier every day and work hard to not to be “sold”. This means that with each purchasing decision made, buyers are looking for some added value beyond the sale; perhaps a connection, relationship and better understanding of their needs. A couple of great tactics used to gain a better relationship with your potential customers is:

Reevaluate Your Messaging

Simplify your messaging and make sure that your website can be scanned within 10 seconds so a potential customer can understand what you have to offer. Your message should focus on your customer’s story and position your business as their guide. Keep your focus on building an authentic relationship with customers versus simply growing your business. The benefits of taking the time to care for your customers will highly benefit you in the end.

Simplifying Your Business Practices by Using Automation

Automation is drastically changing the way businesses communicate with customers and the way customers expect to interact with businesses. There are a couple of key ways to utilize automation in order to streamline your digital marketing efforts and ensure that no sale is left behind.

1. Live chat & chatbots are wonderful ways to expand your business’ reach without having to hire more staff. This also provides an on-call service that will answer basic questions at all hours for potential customers.
2. Voice search technology like Alexa or Google Home is going to provide your business with plenty of marketing opportunities with you having to do a thing!

Using Video as Your Main Communication Tool

Video is not going anywhere. The speed in which content is being created is growing rapidly with everyone having the ability to become a YouTube star. Video, in particular, is morphing the way businesses and customers communicate. Consider the following ideas:

1. Video is not just for web pages and social media, but a great effective tactic to include in your email marketing. This means that aside from regular text, you can either embed or link to a video of you speaking to the reader and sharing your message. This brings you into someone’s office or home, simply through email.
2. Welcome videos are a wonderful way to instantly begin a relationship with a new subscriber. Sending a 10-second custom video to a customer is a revolutionary form of contact and will also help ensure some deals. This is a wonderful tactic for realtors, counselors, and any other service that eventually hopes to build a relationship. This can be done through a quick casual video on your phone, or even through apps that service this exact purpose.
3. Video will ensure higher ratings on Google, better algorithms, and will increase the chances of your emails being opened. Don’t overthink video. Instead, realize it is a way to show how authentic your business is!

Digital marketing leaves a lot of space for creativity. Ultimately, customers are looking for a clear message and efficient ways to communicate so they can learn about your business. What better way to do this than to reevaluate your messaging, take advantage of atomization options, and use the resources at your fingertips to create simple videos!

Our team of marketing specialists are available to help your business succeed and take your digital strategy to the next level!

The post Digital Marketing in 2019: Ways to Up Your Digital Strategy first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

If you’ve had a website for any length of time, you have probably heard of SEO. Some of you may have hired someone to do it. Almost all of you have likely at least said, “yeah, I should probably do that.” But what exactly is SEO? And why is it so important?

1. What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. No, that doesn’t mean making the search engines on your computer work better (that’s not really a thing). But it does mean making search engines work to your advantage.

Search engines, like Google or Bing, are web functionalities that help people find things on the internet. If you’re in business, this is really important. You want people to find you.

What search engines do

When a customer searches for businesses like yours, they see a list of choices. Search engines direct people to websites. But they also rank these results. They use hundreds of factors to perform these functions. However, they can be distilled into two ideas; relevance and popularity.

How relevant your site is to a search will affect your site’s query ranking. But popularity is also important. Search engines work on the idea that popularity corresponds to accuracy. So if a site is more popular, it is more likely to be of a higher quality.

What SEO does

So SEO helps you make sure your site appears in the correct search queries (relevance). Then it helps you push your site to the top of those queries (relevance & popularity). In short, SEO is how you get seen online. If Google is a field of billboards, SEO makes your billboard taller than anyone else’s.

2. How does SEO work?

But how is this accomplished? Well, for starters, keywords. These are the words that are most relevant to your business.You need the right keywords on your site. And you need them to occur often. This is the simplest function of SEO.

Search engine bots accomplish this by scanning your sites content. They make sure your keywords match your business. They make sure your keywords match your market. And they make sure your site follows the rules of the search engines.

Beyond keywords

But keywords are just the beginning. In the old days, search engines only looked for words. Therefore, search results were often of little value. But now search engines are much better and much smarter. But this also makes them much, much more complex.

Search engines now look at hundreds of factors to determine the rank and relevance of your site. Knowing which of these factors is most important to your business is a major function of good SEO. This helps keep your site from blending into the noise of the internet.

SEO experts

The algorithms used to do this are complex and constantly changing. For that reason, SEO has become an industry in itself. SEO experts work hard to keep up with the changing metrics of the major engines. They analyze search engine rules and site content. Then they make them work well together.

3. Why do you need SEO?

I think we sometimes have the idea that putting a website online suddenly gives us an online presence. But it doesn’t always work that way. The internet is huge. After all, it’s called the “world-wide-web” for a reason. So when someone searches for “Mufflers Tulsa, Oklahoma,” they might not find your Tulsa muffler shop at all.

Avoid Search failure

Who’s had an experience like this? You’re looking for–say–ok, mufflers. You type in “Mufflers Tulsa Oklahoma” and you see several that look familiar. Scrolling down a bit, you see one that catches your eye, Tony’s Muffler Shop.

You click on the website. You chat online with an expert. Nice site! Great experience! You might even book an appointment. Then you find out they’re in Munsey, Indiana! (or some other random location) How did this happen!?

The top few on the list were most likely local. But you, like many others, rarely choose the top result unless it’s the specific name you were searching for. So you scrolled past the obvious choices. And not far down the list, you found your Munsey muffler shop with the great site.

Why was he there? Well, there are a lot of possible reasons. But more importantly, why did so many Tulsa, Oklahoma muffler shops not get seen in that search? SEO. Or rather, the lack of good quality SEO.

Get seen.

Without good SEO, you have no idea who will see your site, or if anyone ever will!  You work hard to make your business the best. And you probably paid good money for your site. So you need to make sure that site doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

SEO helps you make sure your site meets the complex criteria for search engine rankings. You need to know that when someone searches for a business like yours, you at least have a chance! SEO gives you the peace of mind to know you’re not invisible.

Get seen by the right people.

Expert SEO not only makes you visible online but also makes you visible to the right people. You need to know that you’re showing up in search queries. But you also need to know you’re showing up in the right search queries.

By fine-tuning keywords, link structure, and other key elements, professional SEO targets your customers. You wouldn’t spend your money on a magazine advertisement in a place you can’t do business, would you? Well, without good SEO, you might be doing just that. The internet is huge, and good SEO helps shrink it down to size.

Tulsa & Broken Arrow SEO

At McWilliams Media in Broken Arrow and Tulsa, Oklahoma, we specialize in professional, customized SEO for your business. Call us today to see how we can maximize your website’s impact! We will work with you to make sure your business gets seen–and that it gets seen by the right people!

Our team are experts in all phases of digital marketing. From web design and branding to videography and social media, we are here to help you succeed! We are passionate about helping our entrepreneurs build their dreams! Call us for a free consultation today!

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

The post SEO-What it is and Why you need it first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

The Google-net

How did this happen? Seems like Google owns the internet! I thought the whole idea of this thing was that no one could ever do that, but here we are! I know, technically, the internet is still free and owned by everyone. However, sometimes it feels like it’s the “Google-net.”

Part of that is the “Kleenex factor.” Even when people are searching on Bing or AOL (yes, that’s still a thing…I just looked it up!), they say they’re “Googling” something. So other search engines do exist. But the reality is that if you’re going to get seen by the most people possible on the internet, you have to be seen on Google.

But Google’s dominance is not just helping them, it’s helping us, too! Their analytics, AdWords programs, and other goodies can be invaluable tools to grow the exposure of any business! And one of the best tools out there is Google reviews.

Why Your Business Needs More Google Reviews

Well, the most obvious part of the answer is just that. We live in the age of Google. But what does a Google review do for you exactly? The first is simple: it’s a review from an actual customer.

Reviews, in general, are the most powerful type of advertising available. Which would you rather have, a postcard in someone’s mailbox, or a neighbor telling them how great you are? Of course, you’d rather people hear about you from someone with personal experience! That’s the power of reviews. Online reviews are no different.

Online customer reviews are the new neighbor conversations. Your customers go online and “tell their neighbors” about you. And it really, really works! Here’s what current research says about your prospects and online reviews.

• Up to 90% read online reviews before visiting a business.
• About 88% trust them as much as personal recommendations.
• They spend about 31% more on businesses with “excellent” reviews.
• Over 90% will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating.
• Over 70% will take action ONLY if they find positive reviews

Getting Google Reviews

Online customer reviews are now one of the most powerful tools we have for converting prospects to customers. Over 70%…that’s the number of people who WILL NOT click through, call, or visit unless they read a positive review! So how do you get reviews on Google? And how do you keep them fresh and positive?

According to Google my Business Help,

“Reviews on Google provide valuable information about your business to both you and your customers. Business reviews appear next to your listing in Maps and Search, and can help your business stand out on Google.”

How to Keep the Reviews Coming

Encourage your customers to spread the word about your business. Here are some tips on how to get them sharing!

• Verify your business so your information is eligible to appear on Maps, Search, and other Google services. Only verified businesses can respond to reviews. Learn how to verify your business
• Remind your customers to leave reviews. Let them know that it’s quick and easy to leave business reviews on mobile devices or computers.
• Show them How! Yes, in the digital age, there are still lots of people who don’t know how to leave reviews. Become an expert at it and help your customers get started. Learn how to leave Google reviews
• Create and share a link that customers can click to leave a review.
• Reply to reviews to build your customers’ trust. Your customers will notice that your business values their input, and possibly leave more reviews in the future. Learn how to read and reply to reviews

What You Shouldn’t Do

According to Google, “Reviews are only valuable when they are honest and unbiased. (For example, business owners shouldn’t offer incentives to customers in exchange for reviews.) Read more in our review posting guidelines.”

While you don’t want to violate their policies, and you certainly don’t want to be dishonest, you can do some things to protect yourself from negative reviews.

How to Keep the Reviews Positive

• Read all your reviews. Or have someone do it for you, at least once a week if not more! This may not be a good practice for an actor, but it’s indispensable for a business owner. You must know what your customers are saying.
• Remove inappropriate reviews. If you see a review that’s inappropriate or that violates Google’s policies, you can flag it for removal.
• Reply to reviews to build your customers’ trust. Your customers will notice that your business values their input, and possibly leave more reviews in the future.
• Respond immediately if a review is negative! We all make mistakes, and sometimes customers just aren’t happy for some reason or another. Responding quickly to a negative review is the best way to correct the situation. Learn how to read and reply to reviews

So let’s get going! Whether it’s managing reviews, social media, SEO, or website design and hosting, McWilliams Media is here for you! We are passionate about helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses! Our expert team can give you everything you need to thrive in the online marketplace! Contact us today for a free consultation!

The post Getting Google Reviews: Why & How? first appeared on McWilliams Media | Website Design | Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.