Are you Google worthy
If you ask almost anyone, they will say they use Google. I know that personally when I want to do research for anything, it is the first place I go to.
When I hear about a business I look up their website and see how I feel about that business before I ever do business with them. If that business has been referred to me to use I will be passing judgement on that business based on their online presence and how it makes me feel. Your online presence is your storefront – It is often the decider if people are going to buy from you or if they are going to go elsewhere.
Having a powerful search engine tool like Google means that no question goes unanswered – ever! We have more knowledge at our fingertips (smartphones) than ever before. That knowledge is also accessible anywhere and at any time, assuming you have mobile coverage!
Here are some statistics
Google currently processes more than 50,000 queries every second or 3.5 billion each day, which is 1.2 trillion worldwide each year.
Here are some live statistics Internet Live Stats
http://www.internetlivestats.com/ shows you just how much is currently going on in the internet world, amazing to see and overwhelming to understand.
Every single second there are:
More than 7000 tweets
More than 700 Instagram photos
More than 1000 Tumblr posts
More than 2000 Skype calls
More than 37,000GB of Internet traffic
More than 50,000 Google queries
More than 130,000 YouTube videos viewed
More than 2.5 million emails sent including Spam
Why your business
There is so much going on across the World Wide Web – Why should anyone look at what you and your business have to offer via a Google search! And this is assuming that you appear in their search results.
The interesting thing about this question is that anyone with a web presence is hoping that they will be noticed. That they will be noticed to increase their sales, grow their subscribers, sell their products and more. Some people believe that the mere presence of having a website will mean that they will gain loads of business – this is simply not true.
Do you need a website
Yes, Small Business, you need to have a website but you must also make that website work hard for you and it must be appealing to the people that come by your website. It can be tempting to DIY, outsource overseas, go for the cheapest option, etc. but this is your shop front, a window to the world and people will make a judgment on what they see. This judgment will determine if they are going to do business with you or not. You want your website to inspire people to say yes to what you have on offer.
How do you make your website work hard?
- Don’t build your own – use a recommended professional. After all, you are an expert in your field and your website designer should be an expert in their field.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Social Media links in and out
- Directory Listings
- Local Directories
- Testimonials
- SEO of your social media
- Blogging
- Subscribers
- New content
- Interesting Content
- Mobile responsive website
- New content
- High-quality images
- Refreshing/Redesigning every 2 years minimum
- Utilising experts to achieve results for you
Still, some small business owners are not online – can you believe it!
A couple of years ago it was reported that 50% of small business still don’t have a website. That figure in 2016 has dropped to 40% and respondents of a recent survey said they were planning to add one in the future.
Given these numbers, it is only a matter of time before we have close to 100% of small business owners with a website. When this day happens you don’t want to be the business that is hard to find online!
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