How’s Your Online Visibility?

We are well into 2018 and I have a very important question:

How’s Your Online Visibility?

When was the last time you did an overhaul of your website?  If it’s been more than 18 months, your business is hurting.

I sell a variety of radio and digital advertising solutions and there are times when I tell people before we can send people to your website, you need an update.

Here’s a few key items to keep in mind in 2018:

Mobile has overtaken laptop and desktop.  This means instead of sitting down with our computer to look for stuff, we are more likely to grab our phone. Your website has to be more than “mobile friendly”.  Think Mobile First.

Responsive websites are the new norm instead of having a separate mobile site and a more robust desktop website with the exception of e-commerce sites.  When I say Mobile First, assume that the first visit someone is going to have to your website is that tiny screen on their phone, not the big desktop monitor.

So design your website for the best UX (that’s User Experience) on Mobile First and then include a full experience for the minority of folks who will use their computer to visit your site.

Next up, is Voice Search is taking over the world.  All the Apple Fans thought it was cool that they could have a conversation with Siri until I showed them how I could also get what I needed by talking to my phone with the “Ok Google” technology.

But that was just the beginning of voice activated devices. With Alexa and all the others battling it out to be our best buddies in the artificial intelligence world, is your website and company up to the latest standards?

Search Engine Optimization is part of it, but if you are only using methods that were the gold standard in 2015 or before, you risk getting lost online.  Searches are based on so much more than keywords these days.  Search is personalized to each of us.  Your previous browsing and search and your location is all known and while that helps you find what you are looking for when you are browsing, it has also changed the rules for a business to be found online.

Google continues to penalize old and outdated websites and web-pages and is always looking for the best content to serve you and I as consumers, not you and I as business owners and marketers.

How are you using Social Media for your business?  Are you using Facebook Live?  Do you know how to create engaging content? Do you know the differences between Likes and Engagement?  Is your LinkedIn profile set up properly?

When was the last time you Googled yourself?  Do it.  Also on Bing, Yahoo, and YouTube and Facebook.

Are you listed on the review sites?  Are you monitoring and responding to reviews?

I know this is a lot to consider but it really is important stuff.

Some of these things you cannot do yourself, you will need to pay professionals to do it.  And even though I’m a professional at some of this, and I can help guide you, most of my recommendations will involve hiring people and companies besides myself.  I have contacts and connections to people and companies that are good at these things and stay on top of it so you can focus on what you do best in running your business.

Remember my original question: How’s Your Online Visibility?

Need some help or guidance on what we’ve talked about today? Reach out to me.

And here’s a study just released about the smart speakers that are growing in popularity.