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In this article:\nFree local advertising ideas for your salon\nClaim your online listings\nCustomer reviews\nSocial media\nWebinars and videos\nShare your knowledge\nAnd much more!\nEvery business needs advertising in order to gain new customers and increase profits. But it isn’t always an easy or inexpensive task to take on. \nWe know how important marketing and advertising is, and we want to help you get started. So, we’ve come up with a list of several free and effective ways that you can advertise your hair or nail salon.\n1. Create and claim your online directory profiles\nTo improve your online visibility and take advantage of the power of online reviews, you first need to create and claim your online directory profiles on Google, Bing, Yelp, and so many others.\nAdding your salon to these directories not only helps you get found by customers who are searching those directories, but it also helps the search engines to verify that your information is accurate across multiple trusted sources.  \nCheck out these tutorials to get started:\nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nHow to claim your Yelp business listing\nHow to create and claim your free business listing on Yahoo\nHow to create and claim your Bing business listing\nHow to get your business listed with the BBB\nHow to add your business to Citysearch and claim your listing\nHow to create and claim your free business listing on Manta\n2. Get and respond to customer reviews online\nWhen you have your online profiles set up, you can start getting customer reviews on those profiles.\nCustomer reviews are crucial for gaining even more customers for your salon. And the quality of your reviews can really make or break your business. \nHere are a few ways you can encourage your customers to give your salon an online review:\nAsk them for one. After you provide a great service and your client is just thrilled with their new look, ask them if they’d be willing to share their experience with others in a Google or Facebook review. \nPut up “Rate us on Google” signs throughout your salon. These can be on the front door, at the checkout desk, or even cute stickers on the mirrors. This will remind customers that you would love to hear from them. \nText your customers an invitation or reminder to leave your salon a review with a direct link to your Google listing or Facebook page. \nWhen you do start getting reviews, be sure to respond to all of them within a day or two of receiving them. Say “thanks” to those who leave good reviews, and if you ever do receive a bad review, respond politely and professionally.  \nGo deeper: \nHow to respond to negative reviews\n\n3. Set up a free website for your salon\nBeyond your free directory listings, you should absolutely have a website for your salon. And you can totally create one for free!\nSome free sites that we like to use include the following:\nWix\nSquarespace\nGoogle My Business\nKeep in mind that if you do want to have your own domain for your website or will have a web hosting service, you might incur some small fees. But you definitely need a website. Read \nwhy every small business needs to have a website\n.\n4. Improve your local SEO\nSetting up a website and adding your salon to online directories are both key steps to improving your SEO (search engine optimization). This is how you show up higher in the search engines. \nThere are several other free ways that you can improve your SEO:\nWrite awesome content on your website about your staff and services\nStart a blog\nOptimize your website for specific key phrases\nGet other websites to link back to yours\nOnce you’ve done those, check out our guide: \n15 free tips for better local SEO\n \n5. Create a blog on your website\n\nStarting a blog\n is a great way to provide more content that you can use to advertise your salon, and, as we mentioned, it can help improve your SEO too. Adding fresh, new content to your website on a regular basis sends great signals to the search engines. \nHere are a few ideas that you should definitely steal for your blog:\nHow-to articles and videos\nNew trending styles\nHair/nail care tips\nBest new products to try\nNew products you are selling\nAsk your employees if they’d be willing to contribute one or two blog posts every few months and you’ll have plenty of regular content to share. \n6. Get on social media\nWe cannot stress the importance of social media enough. Hair and nail salons can really capitalize on so many opportunities from these free channels. \nMany people are reaching out to salons directly on their social media channels, particularly Facebook and Instagram. \nFor such a visual profession, social media is the perfect place to show off your work and gain new customers who are looking to mix up their style. \nHere are a few tutorials to create your social pages:\nFacebook\nInstagram\nLinkedIn\nTwitter\n7. Partner with local businesses\nPartnering with other businesses in your community can be a powerful strategy for obtaining referrals and new business. You could partner with local bridal boutiques, wedding planners, or even florist shops to offer combined deals on your complimentary services. \n8. Try some email campaigns\nGive email campaigns a try and see how they work with your clientele. Be sure to write a really compelling subject line and keep your email short and to the point. \nThe most successful email campaigns usually offer some kind of promotion or deal for your customers to get it on. \n9. Get in contact with your chamber of commerce\nYour local chamber of commerce is a great resource to take advantage of. They want to help small businesses in their community succeed, so typically they will offer marketing resources and add your salon to their website to help get the word out. \n10. Participate in community events\nVolunteering in your community is the perfect way to get connected with new customers and spread awareness of your salon. People like to see local businesses getting involved and giving back to the community they live in. \nHere are a few ways you can do that:\nVolunteer at a 5k\nParticipate in holiday parades and events\nHelp with city cleanup projects\nProvide free haircuts to veterans\nThere are so many ways you can get involved. Just find the right opportunities for your salon and go for it!\n11. Host webinars and Q&A sessions online\nWebinars and online Q&A’s can help you provide value to customers and non-customers alike. Start a Facebook Live video to share tips about hair care, answer common questions that customers have, or show viewers how to do a certain technique that everyone should be able to do. \nThings like these videos and blog posts that offer some value to others are great ways to show that you know your stuff and that you are passionate about what you do. \n12. Offer fun deals\nEveryone loves a deal. Tap into this reality and get attention. \nOffer cool and fun deals. You could do back-to-school specials, bridal deals, or any number of discounts that work for your client-base. Get creative and start a new promotion to catch people’s attention and get new customers. \n13. Start a referral program for your salon\nLet your current customers advertise for you by creating a referral or customer loyalty program. Offer a discounted service for a current customer if they refer a new client to you, and offer that new client the same deal. \nLearn more with this article: \nThe 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program\n14. Create short promotional videos \nPeople are visual. That’s why we spend so much time scrolling through social media apps. We like pretty pictures and cool videos. Take advantage of that by creating some promotional videos for your salon that show off your work. \n\nBiteable\n is a popular (and free) video software that we like to use. \n15. Start a YouTube channel for your salon\nCreate a YouTube channel for your salon where you can share all of the cool new videos that you just produced. Tutorials, promotional pieces, webinars–all of those are great for sharing on your YouTube channel. \nLots of people love to look up hair and nail tutorials, so you may even produce a video that goes viral and gives your salon a lot more attention. \n16. Share your salon’s testimonials online\nWhen you get new reviews online, share them. You can share reviews across social media channels or put a review feed on your website. \nYou could also create videos of customers sharing their testimonial of your salon. These appeal to that visual side and help add a more personal touch to your salon by allowing customers to see someone sharing their experience, rather than just reading about it. \n17. Put up flyers\nFlyers still have their place in the advertising world. Create your own flyers to advertise your new promotions or openings at your salon. Place these in high traffic areas like grocery stores, college campuses, and even your own shop. \nCanva\n is a great free resource to use for creating professional flyers. 

17 free local advertising ideas for your hair or nail salon

In this article:\nWhat is SEO for small businesses?\nHow to optimize local SEO for your small business\n4 free ways to show up better in local searches\nHow reputation management software can improve SEO\nSEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a buzzword that every business student learns to parrot and consultants toss around like they know how it works. But what is SEO and how do you optimize it for your local business? Does SEO even matter for super-small shops? We’ll tell you below, and show you the free steps you can undertake to improve your ranking in local search.\nThe truth is, local SEO definitely matters. Some stats for you: nearly 9 out of 10 of people conduct \nonline\n searches for \nlocal\n businesses, 97% of people read online reviews for local businesses, and most of your potential local customers trust those reviews as much as a personal recommendation from family or friends. \nSo whether you run a roadside taco stand, a pet grooming truck clinic, a pressure washing business, a nail salon, or any other local business, you need to be paying close attention to online reviews and to how you show up in online searches.\nIn relevant terms for small business, the process of improving your rankings in these searches is effectively “SEO.”\nWhy local SEO is vital for small businesses\nOne reason local SEO is vital is that, according to a recent report from Google, \n“near me” searches\n have increased by 200%. A “near me” search takes place when a (usually) mobile phone user searches stores, restaurants, hairdressers, auto repair, ATMs, gas stations, dry cleaners, and whatever else “near me.” \nThese specific, “near me” searches, as well as more organic mobile searches, are exploding in popularity, which can mean a nice jump in business for you—if you know a few key ways to show up better in these local search results. (See our list below)\nWhy SEO for larger firms is big business\nFor larger businesses, SEO has become somewhat of a dark art because search engines like Google are very tight-lipped about what exactly determines search performance and rankings. The truth is nobody outside of Google (and likely very few people \ninside\n Google) really knows exactly how Google’s SEO algorithms work, particularly as they are constantly being updated and Google refuses to tell anyone the details.\nThere are “best practices” and commonly understood techniques to improve website SEO: Optimize and be consistent with indexing and key terms on all pages. Don’t try to “game” the system. Don’t repeat content. Don’t stuff pages with keywords or farm worthless links. Don’t attempt to be what you are not… or Google will ding you and you’ll actually show up WORSE than before.\nHowever, once those are done, the nuts and bolts of how to actually achieve further improvements are nebulous, which is why there are hundreds of “SEO companies” that will be happy to take your money in exchange for attempting to boost your enterprise webpage’s performance and/or your ranking in search results.\nFor small, local shops, paying for professional SEO services may not make sense\nOn the other hand, for small businesses without a strong, high-value e-commerce website with hundreds or thousands of indexed pages, “enterprise SEO” and its associated costs don’t make sense. \nThat being said, there are several easy-to-undertake things that small business owners can do to optimize and improve their business’ rankings in local search results, which is of course what really matters for small, local auto shops, hair salons, dentists, restaurants, dog groomers, etc. \nFour free tips to improve local SEO for your small business\n1. Claim all of your business pages\nBefore you can optimize your online presence, you need to OWN your online pages. Review sites like Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor allow reviewers to post content about your business \neven if you haven’t created a page there\n, and will continue to collate future reviews on that page until you officially claim it.\nSo, even if you have no interest in building a website for your business, it’s vital that you claim your business listings on all the relevant review sites. (For example, restaurants should also claim their OpenTable pages.)\nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nHow to claim your Yelp business listing\nHow to claim your business listing on TripAdvisor\n2. Complete all the optional fields and add quality photos to your business profile on review sites\nIn our article “\nThe top 5 things every small business should include in their Google My Business listing\n,” we go into greater detail, but the TL;DR version is: fill in as much information as possible—including all the optional content fields—and add some attractive photos to represent your business. All else being equal, the business with more information and relevant detail in its business profile will likely rank higher in a search than one with less.\n3. Read and respond to all reviews\nAccording to a recent article by Chatmeter.com, Google has confirmed that “responding to reviews improves your local SEO.” Just exactly what they mean by “confirmed” is open to some interpretation, but it does seem clear that Google acknowledges the importance of being actively involved with the online review process in boosting local search rankings.\nApart from that, it just makes good business sense to reply to your reviews. In addition to simply being polite (if someone says “thank you” or “can you help me with a problem?” to you in person, do you respond to them or ignore them?), responding to all reviews shows your current customers you value their opinions, and shows potential customers you are actively engaged in the business and that you take feedback seriously. This improves loyalty and attracts new customers.\nSmart business owners also see reviews as valuable insights into their customers’ experiences. Large businesses pay millions to learn what their customers think… but you can get those insights for free from online reviews. Your customers may point out legitimate issues in your products, services, or facilities, and you can learn from them and take steps to improve.\nThe best reason? As we discuss in our article on \nhow to respond to Google reviews\n, studies show what when businesses start replying to reviews, they increase both the total number of reviews received and their overall rating. And a better rating means more money in your pocket.\nAccording to a Cornell report, a one-star increase in your rating can increase your revenue by up to 39%.\n4. Work to get more reviews\nNotice we didn’t say “buy reviews,” “bribe people for good reviews,” or “write fake reviews.” These hacks could get you in hot water with the review sites or, even worse, the Federal Trade Commission.\nThe best way to get more reviews is to simply ask—but ask in the right way. Don’t ask for a “good” or “5 star” review. Don’t promise discounts or free products in exchange for a good review. Just find ways to get feedback from your customers and encourage them to share their experiences online.\nGo deeper: \nHow to get more reviews\n\nSources:\n
\nhttps://www.chatmeter.com/blog/google-confirms-responding-to-reviews-improves-your-local-seo/\n

The simple (and free) method small businesses are using to climb local search rankings

In this article:\nWhy use LinkedIn for your business\nHow to set up a LinkedIn business profile\nHow to use LinkedIn to grow your business\nLinkedIn has more than 645 million members worldwide. That’s a lot of people to connect with to help grow your business. \nThe best part is, any business can set up a free LinkedIn account. With the many opportunities that LinkedIn offers to connect you with potential employees and other professionals in your industry, it’s a great tool to utilize for your business. \nWhy use LinkedIn for businesses\nBeyond just the sheer number of people who use LinkedIn on a regular basis, this professional network can provide your business with tons of opportunities, from spreading the word about a new job to connecting with industry leaders and staying up to date on industry news. \nThe three main benefits your business can get from Linked in are as follows:\n1. Build your professional network\nLinkedIn is a powerhouse for connecting with other like-minded professionals. You can follow industry leaders, trending topics for your industry, and gain valuable insight into what other business owners are doing to thrive in their businesses. \n2. Increase your company’s exposure to attract quality employees\nWhen you create a company page on LinkedIn, you have more opportunities to attract quality employees to your business. You can post job opportunities to gain interest from qualified applicants all over the place. \n3. LinkedIn increases your business’s credibility\nWhen customers and potential employees see that your business has a LinkedIn account, that adds another level of trust to your business. LinkedIn is widely known as a professional network, so simply having a company page can boost your trust and help others learn more about your business. \nHow to set up a LinkedIn company page\nNow that you know why LinkedIn is a good idea, let’s get started on creating an account. \nStep 1: Sign up for LinkedIn\nIf you don’t already have a LinkedIn account, you will need to create one. In order to create a company page, you must create a personal LinkedIn account from which to manage your page. \nGo to \nLinkedin.com\n and click “Join now” to sign up for an account. If you already have an account, sign in and proceed to step 2 to create your company page. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Create your company page on LinkedIn\nWhen you get logged in to LinkedIn, navigate to the top menu bar and click the “Work” dropdown menu next to your profile picture. \nFrom there, go to the bottom of the new window and click “Create a Company Page.”\n(Image)\n\nYou’ll then be given the option to select the type of page you wish to create. \nThe options include:\nSmall business (for fewer than 200 employees)\nMedium to large business (for more than 200 employees)\nShowcase page (a sub-page for an existing business page)\nEducation institution (for schools and universities)\nSelect the appropriate page for your business–for most of you, this will be the “small business” option. \n(Image)\n\nNext, you need to add all of your company information. This includes:\nBusiness name (make sure this is the same name you use across all of your company’s online listings)\nA unique URL (you can put your company name here if it’s available)\nBusiness website\nYour industry\nCompany size\nCompany type\nCompany logo (for profile photo)\nTagline\nWhen you have filled out all of your information and added a photo, click “Create page.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Complete your profile\nNow that your company page is created, there are a few things you can do to really round out your LinkedIn profile. \nFirst, add a cover photo. A picture of your location or something that represents your business well should go here. \n(Image)\n\nNext, let’s add a little more information about your company. Click the pencil icon below your cover photo to edit your business info. \n(Image)\n\nIn the next window that pops up, you can first update “Page info.” This is your profile picture, the name of your company and a tagline. You would have entered all of these when creating the page, but if you want to switch anything up, you can do that here. \n(Image)\n\nThen move down to “Buttons.” This allows you to add a custom button to the header of your company page. Click the toggle from “Off” to “On,” select a button name, and enter the URL that you want your button to go to. \nThis could be a contact page on your website, a careers page, or whatever you feel is relevant for the goals of your LinkedIn account. Click “Save” and move to the “About” section. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nUnder “Overview,” you can and should enter a description of your company to help others know what you do. Add your website too if you haven’t done this already and enter your business phone number. \nYou’ll see that your industry, company size, and company type are all filled in from when you created the page. Now you can add the year your company was founded and up to 20 specialties–these can be unique services you offer and the qualities that your company exudes. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nOn to locations. This is where you can add your address to help potential employees and customers find your business easier. \nClick “Add a location” and then fill in the fields for your address. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nNext, add community hashtags to your profile. This will help you see when others are posting about your interests, industry, and brand. Stay in the know by adding relevant hashtags and sharing the content you find with your community. \n(Image)\n\nFinally, add featured groups to your page to show your followers what groups you are involved with and/or interested in. This can say a lot about your company and will help convey the right messages to your connections. \n(Image)\n\nNow your profile is complete! The only thing that’s left it to start posting. Read on to learn more about how you can utilize posts and other features to help grow your business. \nHow to use LinkedIn to grow your business\nLinkedIn has some pretty cool features that your business should definitely take advantage of. We’ve listed a few to help you get started on improving your LinkedIn profile and growing your business. \n1. Content suggestions\nWhen you are on your LinkedIn company page, there’s an option near the top that says “Content Suggestions.” This feature is great for when you aren’t quite sure what to post or share on your page. \n(Image)\n\nClick this and then add filters based on industry, location, and employee level to find the kind of content you’d like to share. Click “View content suggestions,” and LinkedIn will generate a list of content that others have already posted. \nBrowse through this list and share the content that speaks to you and your business. \n2. Job postings\nYou can create job listings from your company page, and LinkedIn will help put your post in front of the most qualified candidates. \nThis feature is not free, but it is so helpful for finding the best job applicants. You need to pay a small daily fee in order to put your job post in front of candidates on LinkedIn. LinkedIn will provide a recommended daily budget based on the type of job you post. The average job post budget ranges from $10-$30 per day. \n3. Analytics and activity reporting\nLinkedIn shows your page’s analytics and the actions that people have taken on your page. With analytics, you can see how many page views, unique visitors, and followers you’ve had and filter these by dates and demographics. \nThe activity reporting will tell you how people have engaged with your company profile and content. If they’ve mentioned your brand, shared or reacted to your content, or commented on your posts, you’ll be notified of it. \nThese reports can help you to know what you’re doing right and where you can make improvements with your page. 

How to create a LinkedIn business account

In this article:\nWhat is local SEO\nWhy local SEO is vital for small businesses, sole proprietorships, contractors, freelancers, and more\n15 free (and low-cost) tips and tools to climb small business SEO rankings\nIf you want to sound smart at your next gathering of local business owners, just start throwing around terms like “maximizing local SEO!” \nSEO refers to the steps you take to improve your business’s ranking in search results, wether they are on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Safari, Firefox, or any other search engine, in addition to mobile search results. \n \n\nLocal \nSEO adds an extra dynamic. If you run a brick and mortar business, you also want to make sure search engines know you have a physical location they should direct customers to. If you're a freelancer, sole proprietor, microbusiness, solopreneur, or similar business, you definitely need to keep an eye on how you show up in search results relative to your product or services.\nIt stands to reason that the higher your business ranks in these results, the more traffic your website and online review profiles will get, and the more new customers will find you in local searches.\nWhy local SEO is vital for small businesses\nFor local, small businesses, you might assume that how they rank on web searches may not really matter. But you’d be wrong. \nNowadays, almost everyone searches online when looking for nearby places to eat, lawyers to hire, mechanics to trust, and dentists to visit… along with every other local service or retail business. In fact, according to a Google report, \n“near me” searches\n have increased by 200%.\n\nSo it’s vital that you do whatever you reasonably can to show up, and show up well, in local searches. \nFor small businesses, this primarily means taking the basic steps to set up your profile completely and correctly on online review sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor, in addition to making sure your website is up to snuff and you are engaging where appropriate on social media.\nFor the purposes of this article, we will get some valuable advice from one of the experts in the SEO industry, and touch a little on the more technical tips that more advanced, tech-savvy business owners might employ. \nBut mainly we’ll go over the basic steps that should be no-brainers for every local business owner who wants to rank higher in local searches, get seen by more potential customers, and make more money.\nDo small businesses really benefit from local SEO tips?\nSEO is a critical part of a successful digital marketing strategy, even for microbusinesses, sole proprietors, and similar businesses. Small businesses should make sure they have successful location data (proper address, phone number, and business name) on Google My Business and other top business directories like Bing Local and ReferLocal.”

We’ll touch more on these techniques below.\nImprove local SEO ranking by claiming and completing all of your free online business listings\nBefore you can “optimize” search engine results, you have to make sure you actually \nhave\n results. This starts with \nclaiming your free business profiles\n on Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and any industry-focused sites (like OpenTable for restaurants, for example).\nClaiming your listings is free, easy, and absolutely crucial, yet less than half of small businesses have bothered to take this step. Plus, research shows that businesses that claim their listings on multiple online business reviews sites make more money! \nFollow our easy, step-by-step tutorials to claim your profiles:\nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nHow to claim your listing on Yelp\nHow to claim your TripAdvisor business profile\nYou also need a website. Yes, you. Businesses with websites perform better in local SEO than those without. \nThere are hundreds of low-cost sites that will help you create a simple, clean, professional-looking website. We like Wix and Squarespace, but you should have a look and see what speaks to you. \nThey offer easy templates and high-quality images and layouts for you to choose from. We’ll talk about optimizing your website’s SEO a little later.\n\nIn addition to the big review sites like Yelp and Google, you should also take advantage of free national and local business directories and listings. Be sure to read our post, \n25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on\n, and get clicking.\nBoost local business SEO by filling in all “optional” fields and adding next-level info\nWe go into more detail in our article \nThe top 5 things every small business should include in their Google My Business listing\n, but the gist of it is you need to complete every field, make sure your name, address, phone number, website, and email are listed correctly, and add additional info (like menus for restaurants) and high-quality, web-optimized images to help you stand out from the crowd. \nAll other things being equal, the local business result with more information, images, and relevant detail show up higher in local online searches. \nMake sure you use appropriate keywords and variations thereof in your business description, company boilerplate, or whatever the particular review platform allows. \nThis content is part of searchable terms for web browsers and if you include the keywords you want to be listed for here, you can improve SEO. (More on keywords below.)\nPro tip: your website should also prominently list all of the above info for the same reasons, and include links to your review site pages.\nEngage your customers via online review sites to improve local SEO\nHopefully you have already claimed your business profiles and have started to engage your customers on review sites. Apart from showing good manners, this makes good business sense. \n\nReplying to reviews\n, both positive and negative, shows that you take your customers seriously and are committed to improving your products and services.\n\nBut there’s more to it than that. Chatmeter.com said that Google has confirmed “responding to reviews improves your local SEO.” Improving your local SEO means you get seen by more customers searching for businesses like yours.\nPlus, research shows that businesses that regularly respond to their online business reviews earn more revenue!\nTo improve local SEO, optimize the performance of your website and make sure it’s mobile-friendly\nSo, you decided to build a website. That’s great! You’re way ahead of nearly half of small businesses, who still don’t have a website. \nHowever, throwing up a simple page that lists your phone number, address, location, and email address, while far more effective than nothing, isn’t going to cut it if you want to maximize local SEO. Let’s address some common website issues:\nMaximize website load speed and fix any broken links\nDo you know how fast your site takes to load on desktop and mobile? You should. You only have a couple of seconds before today’s impatient users will give up on your site. \nRun tests using both desktop and mobile devices and use your web hosting company’s recommended tips for optimizing page load speed.\nEvery hyperlink you include on your site should be functional (and rather than just pasting in some random URL, you should use “anchor text” that includes keywords you want to be associated with). \nSometimes these links “break” due to the referred webpage expiring, being removed, the other site forgetting to renew, etc. \nIf there are broken links on your site, search engines will punish you in search rankings. \nOptimize your site for mobile, and don’t use gigantic images\nFar more people today search the web via mobile than on desktop or laptop. A quick and easy thing you can fix is to make sure all your images and pages are optimized for mobile display, and that you don’t have huge, high-resolution images hogging all the bandwidth. \nTry to shoot for less than 100K for larger background images, and under 50K for other images. With the free image optimization tools available today, this is a piece of cake. \nCompanies like Wix and Squarespace will also automatically create the “mobile version” of your site when you build your site, if you desire.\nBonus tip: Google offers a handy, free tool to \ncheck if your website is mobile friendly\n.\nRegularly confirm your site is actually up\nThis might sound silly, but do you have a way to know if your website is actually up and running? \nThere are many reasons why your site might go down, from failing hardware (such as routers or servers) to problems with your web hosting service, or maybe you even forgot to renew your ownership of your domain (some of our writers have been there… done that). Make it a practice to regularly check your website’s heath and function. \nMake sure your site works with and without the “www” in the URL\nOne sure way to drive off potential customers is if they see an error page when they type (your business name).com into a browser window. \nIf you haven’t already, be sure to set up a 301 redirect for the non-www version of your URL. (Google “how to set up a 301 redirect” and pick your favorite platform.)\nYou might also want to snag the .net, .co, and/or .biz versions of your business URL and redirect them to your main site as well. \nParking a domain and redirecting any traffic it gets costs a few bucks a year and you can capture more customers that way. \nRemember, there are other search engines besides Google\nGoogle is the current 800-pound gorilla, but you should pay careful attention to how your business’s results are displayed on \nall\n the various search engines. \nYou may be cited or referred to in other people’s blog posts, social media content, local free business listings, reviews, etc. and if those results are inconsistent or incorrect, it can confuse search engines, and your incorrect information may be pulled up in certain searches. \nThis is especially true if you have moved locations, changed your phone number, or modified your website URL without performing a 301 redirect. \n\nAll of the listings you can control should be consistent, have phone numbers listed in the preferred format of each search engine (for example, is the area code prefix listed with parenthesis or without?). Do the email “contact us” links listed function correctly and launch your email software? Does your website load correctly when you click on your business’s link?\nOptimize local SEO with accurate, comprehensive website keywords, meta description, and title\nCarefully consider and understand the keywords you want your business to rank for and make sure you’re including them in your website build, including your search engine title, slug, meta description, H1/H2/H3 tags, etc. \nThe title is the actual link that a search engine displays, or the “name” of your website, and the meta description is the small block of text that is displayed below that link. H- tags is shorthand for “headline” or “headers” that attract more emphasis from search engines. For example:\nThis is an H1 tag about improving local SEO.\nAn H2 tag about boosting small business SEO looks like this on our template.\nOr if you want less visual (and local search engine) attention, try an H3 header.\nA good exercise is to type out every variation you can think of relating to your business and the services or products you offer. \nFor example, a pet grooming service near Chicago might use the keywords “pet groomers in Chicago,” “Chicago pet groomers,” “pet groomer in Chicago,” “dog groomer in Chicago,” “Chicago dog groomer,” “Chicago dog groomers,” “Best pet groomer in (Aurora or whatever suburb you want to target)”… you get the idea. \n\nConduct searches for all of these terms and pay attention to how your higher-ranking competitors have their sites listed, their titles, meta descriptions, and keywords. See if you can improve yours.\nRemember, don’t just stuff these keywords in a long list at the bottom of a webpage or try to hide them in the code, and don’t repeat terms over and over in a non-organic way. \nSearch engines like Google are getting very sophisticated and you will actually be punished for keyword stuffing or other “90’s era” methods for trying to boost SEO without doing the work or building any value.\nImprove local SEO by setting up social media accounts\nOnce you have a good website built and have optimized your business listings on all the major review sites, you should also create social media profiles for your business on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (if applicable), and maybe LinkedIn. \nYou may have noticed that, in addition to a business website, almost every company has an official account on all of the major social media sites. They are doing this for a good reason. \nReview sites aren’t the only places people engage with companies and write reviews, and you can derive benefit from meeting your current and potential customers on these social media sites. The more active you are in multiple types of online communities, the more you have a voice (and the better you will show up in online searches).\nCreate a company blog or create other original web content to climb local SEO rankings\nIn addition, you should consider creating regular content on your website, such as adding a blog. \nThe value of a blog may not be apparent to, say, a hairdresser or a dentist or an auto repair shop, but you’d be surprised how much SEO value you can get if you have interesting insights into the industry, valuable tips, funny stories, or other content that interests people.\nThe more people talk about you (and ideally, link to your site or content) on multiple online locations, the more “valuable” you become to search engines like Google and the higher you will start to rank.\nAdding a feature like a blog to your site also gives you the ability to focus on specific keywords/ideas without needing to update your main website pages all the time.\nCaveat: you must commit to regular, fresh content on your blog and/or social media sites. You can’t just create your accounts and then never post anything again. This will bring you no value at all and may actually hurt you.\nBoost your small business website’s SEO with link-building\nOnce you have your review site profiles, website, social media accounts, and possibly a blog up and running and healthy, you can work to maximize link-building.\nLink-building is the practice of getting other sites, social media users, etc. to include functional links to your business profile and/or webpage. \nSometimes you can pay “influencers” to include your website link in one of their posts, but for small businesses this is usually not the most cost-effective way to build these “backlinks.” \nIdeally, you should be producing not only a top-quality product or service, but you should also be creating interesting, relevant, regular content for your website, social media channels, and/or blog. \nIf you can spend some time each week working on some fresh, interesting content, and post it regularly, you can start to get noticed by “more important” websites, influencers, and business listings.\n\nThe value of this is, when you first create a new website, you have basically zero “domain authority.” Unless someone specifically types in the name of your business exactly, they will probably not be able to find your business on a search. \nHowever, as your business has more time being listed on the indexes of various search engines, and you consistently maintain accuracy and quality in your site, you will start to climb the rankings. \nWhen people from other, higher-domain-authority sites notice your content and post links to it, then effectively some of their value or “authority” is added to your site, which tells search engines to bump you higher in the rankings. \nThis is why, if you try to purchase a link placement from a site with a domain authority of 40 or above, it can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars per link.\n“Hook” media and influencers by creating compelling stories based on your data or expertise\nOn a budget? There are free ways to build links, and they may be more inherently valuable since you “earned” them instead of “buying” them. \nYou might try to work with local news/media outlets to get mentioned, with a linkback to your site. And, if you can work a little extra to get a URL mention from websites you respect in your industry, your business will start to rank higher in local search results.\nWhen creating a “hook” for local media, you might consider conducting some quick research on your customers’ preferences. \nJust as a quick example, if you run a local coffee shop, and national coffee day is coming up, you might prepare a quick blurb containing interesting statistics you can pitch to local news media or industry websites or forums you follow. Like “Did you know that X% of people prefer decaffeinated coffee?” or “Despite the ‘living healthier’ trend, our sales show that sales of pastry have risen X% over the past year.”  \nIf you’re in a college town, you might find some interesting trends something like “our study shows that late-night coffee sales go up X% during finals week” This is the kind of content that is catchy, is a quick story with minimal research on your part, and which people will link to, talk about online, share, and upvote. All of this engagement improves local SEO.\nLocal SEO is a broad and complicated topic, and the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know. If you take the steps outlined above you will be off to a good start. If you think you have the chops to dive deeper, \nGoogle’s SEO starter guide\n has some good info. 

Local SEO: 15 free tips for better search rankings

More than ever, free business listing sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google My Business are how customers find your business, even for super-small local microbusinesses, pop-ups, solopreneurs, freelancers, contractors, and more. Basically, the web has become a goldmine of free advertising and exposure for small business owners thanks to these dozens of business listing sites.\nTo help business owners such as yourself, we’ve compiled a list of \nover\n 25 free online communities, directories, and any free business listing sites where you should have a profile. Read the short descriptions below each site and decide which platforms you want to be listed on.\nRemember: the more you choose, the greater your online footprint and the easier it is for customers to find your business and spend money with you. In fact, research shows that businesses that claim their free listings on multiple sites earn more money. Enjoy!\n(More than) 25 free business listing sites for your local business\n1. \nYelp\n\nThe third most popular review website on the web, Yelp is used daily by millions searching for local small businesses, especially restaurants.\nGuide: \nHow to claim your business on Yelp\n2. \nGoogle My Business\n\nShoppers use the most popular search engine for information about and directions to local stores. For everything. It’s the main street of the web. According to Google, 50% of all the mobile consumers who use Google for \nlocal searches\n in a day visit the businesses they search.\nGuide: \nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nGo deeper: \nRank higher on Google local by optimizing your Google my Business listing\n3. \nFacebook\n\nMore than 1 out of 7 people on the planet are on Facebook, and they’re actively checking out the 65 million plus local business pages listed on the biggest social network ever. Creating a Facebook presence for your business takes five steps. Read our step-by-step guide: \nHow to create and claim your Facebook business page\n.\n4. \nTripAdvisor\n\nAnother top five review website, TripAdvisor’s 415 million monthly users have smoke coming from their keyboards — over 535 million reviews have been published on the site. Your small business, especially if it’s in the hospitality space, is missing out on a windfall of digital awareness and feedback if you’re not on TripAdvisor.\nGuide: \nHow to claim your business listing on TripAdvisor\n5. \nTwitter\n\nWhy is this on our list, you might wonder? True, Twitter might not “sell” your customers to come into your shop, but it surfaces to the top in searches and presents one of the easiest and fastest ways for customers to reach out to you. It’s also a location-based tool that lets you search for customers in your area.\nLearn \nhow to create a business Twitter account\n.\n6. \nInstagram\n\nA \nrecent study\n shows 82% of customers research before they come into the store to buy. Today, especially if you’re marketing to younger demographics, photography-based Instagram is a visual invitation to come in and see for oneself.\nGuide: \nHow to create an Instagram account for your business\n7. \nYouTube\n\nSome people don’t have time to read reviews, scroll through a website, or comb through social media posts. A video is easy. Just hit play. A YouTube video (even just one) is a solid \nsmall business marketing\n vehicle to reach over 30 million customers who are watching almost 5 billion YouTube videos a day.\n8. \nFoursquare\n\nFoursquare has a passionate following of 55 million monthly \nlocal small business\n fans. They check-in, share where they are, and leave tips for others to follow. Without a filled-in profile on Foursquare, SMB owners are missing out on helpful user-generated information about their business.\nLearn \nhow to list or claim your business on Foursquare\n.\n9. \nLinkedIn\n\nIt might seem like LinkedIn only matters for national or global brands, but a local business can show researching consumers more of who they are, from owners to employees. Use LinkedIn to present yourself as a reputable, well-connected owner with years of relevant experience, especially for finance-based businesses.\nRead our step-by-step guide: \nHow to create a business LinkedIn account\n10. \nYahoo\n\nWe know Google reigns supreme in search, but Yahoo is still used by \n1 billion\n potential small business customers people every month. Why? For some, it’s preference. For others, especially Firefox web browsers, it’s the default on their machine. Similar to Google My Business, Yahoo partners with Yext (below) to display local small business listings in search results.\n\nCreate and claim your Yahoo business listing\n.\n11. \nBing Places for Business\n\nWith slightly more users than Yahoo, Bing is Microsoft’s search engine. \nBing Places for Business\n is where small business owners can access their local listings. Every Microsoft computer’s default web browser is Internet Explorer and searches with Bing, so it’s worth your time to set up your business information for Skype, Office, Xbox, and Surface tablet users.\nFollow our step-by-step guide to \ncreate and claim your Bing business listing\n.\n12. Angie’s List (now \nAngi.com\n)\nOriginally created to review local contractors, the online directory has grown to be a go-to repository for crowd-sourced online reviews. It’s free for small business owners to register on \nAngi.com\n). If you offer home services, Angie’s List is highly recommended to reach local customers.\n13. \nYellowpages.com\n\nAccording to the digitally re-invented Yellow Pages’ website, \n60 million people\n still search for businesses on its directory. It’s free to \nclaim your business’s “yp Profile.”\n14. \nSemrush\n listing management tool\nNow, technically this is free, but only for a trial period. But we feel this service might be worth the small price you pay. Semrush is known for their keyword research and search engine optimization (SEO) tools, but they also offer business listings management. Semrush says, “Get your business data automatically distributed to the most authoritative directories on the Internet.” You can improve your rankings on Google’s search results, local pack, map results and more. Visit \nSemrush\n to start your free trial of their business listing management tool.\n15. \nBetter Business Bureau (BBB)\n\nThe Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been vouching for marketplace trust since 1912. It’s the number one website for reporting scams and other quackery. It’s free to have your business listed in the nonprofit organization’s database. Simply search for your business and if it’s not there, follow these steps to \nadd your business to BBB\n. Highly recommended for local law firms.\n16. \nApple Maps\n\nWhile Android dominates the market with an 87% market share, iOS holds around 13% of that market share which is still over a billion users. The primary map app on iOS devices is Apple Maps, another free directory in which you can and should make sure your business is listed. You will need an Apple ID to create or edit your Apple Maps listing, but that’s free to create too if you don’t already have one. Get started at \nmapsconnect.apple.com\n. \n17. \nGlassDoor\n\nSometimes customers want to know how an employer treats its employees. Any type of research in this area will lead curious customers to GlassDoor, the number one review site for companies and employees. With over \n700,000 companies\n reviewed over 33 million times, GlassDoor is another stop local business owners should know about. Recommended for larger corporations. Companies are registered only when employees \nsubmit a review\n.\n18. \nBizJournals.com\n\nThe nationwide local business publication also offers a searchable \ndirectory\n of local private businesses. It serves 43 major markets in the US, each with its own website and tailored news. Bizjournals populates its company profiles from business data company \nOwler\n.\n19. Chamber lists\nAn extremely valuable local resource that is often overlooked is your city’s Chamber of Commerce. A hub for events, news, and networking, the Chamber’s website keeps a list of local businesses and members. It might be worth your time to get in front of the right local officials at the Chamber and participate in the free small business services. They exist for owners — the initiators of local commerce — to thrive.\nA helpful tool to find your city's Chamber of Commerce is the \nChamber of Commerce Directory\n.\n20. \nWhitepages\n\nWith over \n5 billion records\n, Whitepages is an enormous database of global people and businesses. One unique feature of Whitepages is its \nAPIs\n, which allow businesses to buy and use the company’s extensive data to build their own software. This means a WP listing shows up not only on whitepages.com but also across all of their API customers’ sites as well. Whitepages uses Yext to create listings.\n21. \nAlignable\n\nA new player to the industry, venture-backed startup Alignable claims to be the number one source of referrals for local small businesses, with over 22,000 communities networked on its platform. It’s free and easy to connect on \nAlignable\n once you \ncreate your Alignable business listing\n, and start receiving referrals from other local small business owners.\n22. \nManta\n\nAn established online listing community, Manta sees \n1,000 companies\n join its small business directory every day. This site is recommended not only because it’s easy to \nadd your company profile to Manta\n, but also because its time-tested presence carries considerable SEO benefits.\n23. \nYext\n\nIt seems like we’ve been waiting for this one, no? Yext is a one-and-done effort to get your company listed across almost every small business site mentioned in this article. As a one-stop shop, Yext lets you fill out the information for your business and voilà, you’ll be found “everywhere.” See how your company appears in Yext \nright now\n.\nGo deeper: \nHow to use Yext to improve your online business listings\n24. \nCitySearch\n\nCitySearch helps you find local business in your neighborhood. With a voting system, award badges, and special deals, CitySearch prioritizes fun. Locals recommend anything from restaurants to attorney offices to hair salons. Bolster your presence on the platform by \nadding your business to CitySearch’s database\n.\n25. \nMerchantCircle\n\nFinally, MerchantCircle allows consumers to search for local merchants by category. According to its website, the directory has over 2 million merchants on its site with over 100 million consumers visiting each month. \nClaim your business listing on MerchantCircle\n.\nThat’s 25 free business listings, but we’ve got more good stuff for you, so let’s keep going!\n26. \nEZ Local\n\nClaim your free listing on EZ Local. Build up your business’s online presence and check out some of the other features that this web directory site offers: social media management, custom web design, and more. Do a quick search first to see if your business already exists at \nezlocal.com\n. \n27. \nCitySquares\n\nCitySquares was created to help consumers find local businesses in their neighborhoods. Businesses can create a free profile on the platform in order to reach more potential customers. Get started at \ncitysquares.com\n.\n28. \nHotfrog\n\nHotfrog touts itself as the freshest local business directory in the United States. Consumers are able to search for businesses by city to find the most relevant places near them. You can easily add your business for free to their online directory in order to increase your online visibility. Hotfrog also has a \nblog\n to help keep you up to date on marketing best practices. \n29. \nShowMeLocal\n\nShowMeLocal houses over 22 million businesses in its online directory, and it also allows users to review your business. The more opportunity for customer reviews, the better your online reputation can become. Visit \nshowmelocal.com\n to add your business for free. \n30. \nBrownbook.net\n\nBrownBook.net allows your business to create an enhanced online profile with videos, images, logos, an about us section, and much more. Over 40 million businesses currently have profiles in BrownBook.net’s online directory, and that is always growing. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. \n31. \nCylex\n\nCylex offers free and premium listings in their online directory with the primary goal of connecting consumers to businesses. With over 1 million unique daily users on their site, this is a great opportunity to list your business and grow your online reach. Get started at \ncylex.us.com\n. \n32. \nChamberofCommerce.com\n\nAlong the lines of #19 above, this listing helps you find and appear in your local chamber of commerce listing, and their optional paid “premium” packages allow you to more easily get exposure to 25 million directory visitors a year, be found by potential customers in your local area, and drive traffic to your business website. Visit \nChamberofCommerce.com\n to get started.\n33. (Bonus) paid business listings to consider\nIn addition to the free business listings above, you might also look into paid services such as \nDun & Bradstreet\n (touted as “the most trusted online business directory”) and \nThumbtack\n (a great resource for contractors, gig workers, freelancers, and other pros, where you pay only when customers connect with you for your services).\nYou’ve claimed your profile on multiple business listing sites. Now what?\nOnce you’ve claimed your local business listing on as many free business listing sites as possible, what’s next? First, make sure you add as much information about your business as possible to each profile you’ve claimed. The more “alive” your listing looks, the more inviting your business becomes to curious customers. For sites that include reviews, make sure you \nreply to every review\n your business gets.\nYou might also like: \n25 free local advertising ideas for small business\n

25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

In this article:\nWhy a website is still vital for small businesses\nHow a website improves credibility with customers\nHow a business website improves local SEO\nExploit your website to improve sales\nLow-cost options for website layout and hosting\nDon’t think your small business needs a website in this social-media-saturated era of FaceGram and InstaTweet? Prepare to be schooled, peeps. Though a crusty GeoCities website may be totally ‘90s, a properly built and regularly updated website still provides tons of value for any business, including small, local, one-person concerns. Here’s why.\nA website builds credibility for your small business\nThe fact is, even though many consumers now engage businesses primarily via social media and review platforms, people still expect every business to have a website. \nThe more, \nahem\n, seasoned among us may remember excitedly asking people, “You have a \nwebsite\n??” when it was a novelty. Now, an incredulous potential customer might ask a small business owner, “You don’t have a \nwebsite\n??”\nA website provides validation to customers that you take your business seriously, and that your business is legitimate. After all, \nanyone\n can set up a Facebook or Instagram or Twitter page for free. Websites, while not expensive, cost time and money to build, run, and host.\nIf you don’t have a business website, or if—heaven forbid—someone else has parked a generic (yourbusinessname).com domain in your place—you may come off as an amateur or not in it for the long haul.\nFurthermore, you’re not just trying to build credibility with potential customers. Which brings us to the next point.\nA properly built website improves local SEO and search rankings\nNot only does a website show potential customers that you’re an established, credible business, but it makes you more visible and legitimate to Google and other search engines as well.\nIt may seem self-evident when talking about websites that it is vital for your small business to show up, and show up well, in local searches. After all, 9 out of 10 people conduct online searches for local businesses, and your website can be an important factor in how you rank.\nThe more touchpoints your business has online—via social media accounts, \nclaiming your pages\n on review sites like Yelp, Google My Business, and TripAdvisor, \nfree business listings\n, and your website—the more important and relevant you appear to search engines, and the higher you will be ranked when people search online for businesses like yours in your area.\nSEO, or search engine optimization, is somewhat of a dark art and very few people truly understand how it works (Google changes its algorithm pretty much monthly and will not tell anyone exactly what they prioritize when ranking search results), but it’s safe to say that maintaining a properly built website with relevant tags, keywords, and correct business info will help improve your local SEO.\nTry this: type your favorite local business into Google or another search engine, and look at the results. It’s likely that the first, or among the first results listed will be their website (if they have one). Don’t forego the potential customer engagement and SEO benefits of having a business website.\nA website is a great small business sales and marketing tool\nObviously, if you have the capability, ecommerce (online sales) is a huge benefit of a small business website. Most of today’s small-business-friendly web-hosting service providers (such as Wix and Squarespace) also offer shopping cart/ecommerce options for businesses who want to sell online.\nHowever, even if you don’t want to sell your goods and services online, or aren’t ready yet, your website can still be a valuable sales tool, and not only because it can drive more customers to your store via improved SEO.\nYou can use your website to feature weekly sales, coupons, offers, and web-only specials to drive traffic to your store. You should blast these out on your social media channels as well, but don’t forget to link them back to your website. (You should also include your website in your business profiles on Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, and every other relevant review platform and business listing.)\nAdd icing to this marketing cake by adding a simple email capture form-fill to your website to collect contact information from your most enthusiastic customers. Even better, you can use a popular promotion as incentive for people to provide their contact info. After all, actually having correct customer contact information is 90% of the battle when talking about effective customer loyalty programs.\nGo deeper: \nThe 6 elements of an effective loyalty program\nControl your messaging and aesthetics \nYet another advantage of a website is it’s 100% controlled by you. In other words, unlike review sites or social media accounts, random people can’t just post whatever they want on your website. \nYou\n control the message, the look, the images, the font… everything. You can really craft the feeling and messaging you want to convey on your website.\nEven basic websites have real business value\nIt’s cheaper and easier than ever to create a website, thanks to the aforementioned website building and hosting companies like Squarespace and Wix. For around 20 bucks a month you can have a clean, professional-looking website that shows your business in its best light. For a little more money you can add \nemail campaigns\n, offers, apps, shopping carts, and other useful features.\n(Pro tip: if you haven’t submitted your brand/s for trademark registration, be sure to buy all the related website domains on somewhere like GoDaddy or Register.com before you submit your paperwork. There are people who watch the lists of approved trademarks and will automatically buy those domains if you haven’t already… and it may end up costing you a pretty penny to buy them back.)\nEven if all you have the resources and time for is a clean, simple web page listing your correct business hours, location, email, phone, and a quick description of your company vision, products, and services, that will still be valuable to many customers, can drive potential buyers to your location, and, as discussed earlier, it gives search engines one more reason to rank you higher in results.\nBottom line? Yes, you need a website for your small business. \nAs part of any \nsmall business marketing plan\n, a website is invaluable and provides benefits on multiple levels. 

39 articles found in “Seo”

17 free local advertising ideas for your hair or nail salon

The simple (and free) method small businesses are using to climb local search rankings

How to create a LinkedIn business account

Local SEO: 15 free tips for better search rankings

25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

Why every small business still needs to have a website (including yours!)

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25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

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