Google Map Updates-May 2019

27th May 2019/0 Comments/in Google, Google Maps, Post/by Site Default

Google Maps has been the number 1 map application for desktop and mobile devices alike and it is no surprise why. The application has been in existence since Feb 2005 and has been making steady strides to improve its features and integration into our daily lives. Here is why May 2019 updates for Google Maps is such a major improvement. Especially for Singaporeans.

Google Maps AR

AR stands for Augmented Reality and it is a big changer for Google Maps. Instead of getting an overview of what your next turn or direction is going to be like. Google will now switch the view to a live view of the street and augment the direction you should take on the street. No more confusing “head south” when yo don’t even have a single clue where that is. This change is likely going to improve directions for individuals who don’t have a good sense of direction.

How to activate AR?

Right now it only works on walking directions where it is needed more. Usually when you need directions, you need to hit “start”. However, if you have the latest version of Google Maps, you’ll see a new option called “Start AR”. click that and you’ll activate that mode. Do take note that Google will need to access your camera so that it can actually augment the direction signs onto your screen.

large arrows to show the direction planted right in front of you.

While this is still on testing mode, it already looks like a fool proof concept that could make its way onto driving. It will also be awesome if it could work 100% underground or in shopping malls to find stores.

However, that will be an issue due to poor connection to GPS.

Cinema showings and timings

While this is a minor update, to a movie buff like myself, this makes things so much easier. When you search for the cinema location. Not only will you get the usual business information and directions, you can instantly see the movie listings as well as timings on the go. Currently you are limited to just seeing the different movies and listing on different days. And you will still need to enter the website to make a booking. In the future, it will be interesting if they have integrate an API to allow you to book the movie all in the same window and see the pricing and availability on the fly.

You can select the date you need 5 days in advance

a short snippet of what shows are available. according to the latest release

What this means for the future?

Google has already integrated many useful functions within Google my businesses such as adding of products and services, adding of menus for restaurants, make bookings on hotels and not least. Pictures and videos content alongside reviews. With the amount of functionality and user driven information, it looks positive for businesses to start advertising on Google Maps in the future. In fact, you can already start ad listings on Google maps and it acts similarly like Google Ads.

It will be interesting to see how Google is looking to steer Google maps and where the marketing for Google Maps will take us.

Mobile traffic found to consist of 60% of entire traffic

17th May 2019/0 Comments/in Post, Search Engine Marketing/by Site Default

IAB’s annual internet advertising report showed an interesting yet predictable metric: the divide between mobile and desktop revenue is split at 65% and 35% respectively. With mobile revenue with a significant growth while desktop based revenue remains consistent.

Google has long been a large advocate for mobile search and advertising, and they have already forecast significant growth coming from mobile search and YouTube. According to IAB’s report, mobile ad spending 40% year after year. While this might not be the same case as IAB is based in US, It is likely to see Singapore’s market trend following suit in the coming years to come. In many of our client’s analytics, we have already started to see traffic skewing towards mobile. Which is also why all our websites created for our clients are responsive and tailored for mobile searches.

What does it mean for Singapore?

As the demand for mobile-friendly sites increase. more websites that were developed in the early 2000 and 2010 is likely to see a large dip in traffic with the upcoming Google algorithms. Google is taking a serious stance on mobile friendliness and it is apparent through Google search Console. Business owners and developers should take note of this and take a look at their existing mobile sites and ensure that every plugin, dynamic page appears as it should on desktop and on mobile respectively.

For websites that were created in the early 2010 and before, it is time for a new revamp in order to stay relevant with Google’s algorithms and to gain more traffic.

If you would like to know more about responsive website designs or on other forms of marketing to increase traffic. Do contact us!

Search Engine Optimisation Workshop: 26 April 2019

13th May 2019/0 Comments/in Post/by Site Default

Proximacy completed a 1- full day workshop for our two participants. Our participants came from a local consulting firm. They regularly advice Large SMEs as well as MNCs on their website and marketing channels such as Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing.

Proximacy regularly conducts mini workshops for local businesses and agencies who want to level up their consultants on the latest Search Engine Optimisation Techniques. This workshop aims to hone our participant’s knowledge on the latest Search Engine Optimisation methods through the use of technical, onsite and offsite SEO.

Brief on course materials

Through the workshop, we went through a introduction about the following topics

Introduction of SEO
Search Engine Basics
Google and its ever changing algorithms
keyword research
onsite SEO
offsite SEO
technical SEO
tools for greater aid

The key highlight of the event was to create a keyword campaign with free tools such as Google ads and to also identify buying keywords that businesses can use for their SEO/Google Ads campaign.

The workshop also went through the basics of using Google’s own products such as Google My Business as well as Search console to bring more value to their websites.

If you would like to organise a similar workshop for your business or would like us to do an analysis on your website, do contact us.

How you can Grow your Business in Singapore for Free in 2019

15th February 2019/0 Comments/in Post, Website/by Site Default

Singapore is definitely a competitive environment to do business in. There are many “old timers” that have been in every industry and in such a small country as Singapore, it can be difficult to differentiate yourself from these Giants. However, Unless your competitor is utilising everything all types of marketing, there is a way to gain an edge over these big players and grow a name for yourself this 2019. That said, the following methods take time and require a lot of hardwork especially if you are doing this for yourself.

Facebook Pages

Facebook is an essential tool for businesses to get leads and also to inform potential clients of your previous works. It is also a great way to update your exisiting customers of your latest products and offerings. If you want to fully maximise lead generation and engagement, make sure that you have a product that can garner a lot of attention. This of course needs to be accompanied with an attractive pricing as well as good customer service. Service goes a long way and your customers will be sure to recognise that whether it is good or bad on Facebook. Here are some tips on how to mantain an engaging Facebook page.

1.Creating Posts

Creating posts is one of the best way to engage with your exisiting customers and potential customers. This post can be about a recent project you did, a video of the project or even interesting news in the industry. Through these posts, you can also interact with people who leave comments to find out their interest level or even Private Message(PM) them for further engagement. If people are interest to constantly get updates, they can also like and follow the page which is definitely beneficial for you.

2.Reviews

While reviews on facebook has drastically changed, Reviews is still an important factor for facebook to determine your business’s worth. This can be in a form of Facebook ads or even suggesting your page for various keyword queries.

What was it like in the Past

In the past, you could rate a business from 1-5 stars and leave a feedback. Similar to Google reviews.

What is it like now

You only can either choose Yes or No to the following question: “Do you recommend ABC company?”

While this is much simiplier for a visitor to leave a simple feedback, I really miss the old review system as it allows me to read what people are saying about the business.

3.Adding Videos and Photos

Photos and videos connect deeper with your visitors because it stimulates their sight. Photos also convey a direct intention and allows them to visualise what it will look like when they engage your service or purchase your project. Best of all, Facebook has always been great at their photo galleries and video galleries so you can easily customise how you want your visitors to look through them.

Best of all, if you intend to hold a sale, these photos and videos can go a long way in attracing potential visitors.

4.Business Information

Probably the most important aspect of your Facebook page, your business information should be updated to reflect the right information at all times. Some of the information includes your website details, more info such as your mobile number/office number, opening hours(including public holidays) and your location.

5.Events

If you have a promotion or an event, it is extremely valuable to list it as an event. Not only can you understand from your list of followers who are interested to attend the event, you also know who are interested and how well received your event is. From there, you can also directly message those who are interested to find out how you can include them into your event. Thus improving participation.

Facebook Summary

Facebook is one of the best at engaging clients on any social media platform. Not only is it free, it also has the potential to reach more customers through the use of Facebook ads. If you are unsure how to go about using facebook ads or social media marketing, we have a team dedicated to helping clients maintain their facebook campaign and facebook page to ensure your money is well spent.

Website

One of the key aspects of operating a business in 2019 is a website that can fulfill your business needs and future expansion. Websites are now becoming essential for any business due to the vast amount of people on devices that has access to the internet. A recent study in 2018 from the Singapore Business Review showed that 4.83 million Singaporeans are now online and there ar 8.61 million devices connected to the internet. That is more than 30% than the current population.

A website also acts as your 24 hour salesman that can operate outside of your working hours. This ensures that your business information, services and products are readily available whenever there is a demand. However, not all websites are created equal

Essential Aspects for a Website in 2019

Fast loading speed

One key aspect that should be standard with any site is fast loading speeds. Google has also made it one of the aspect which determines your ranking so you should take it seriously. Slow websites are also the cause of high bounce rates; Bounce rate means the percentage of people that click out after the first page loads. Most of all, slow loading speed is a contributing factor. If you want to find out how you can improve your website’s loading speed, you can take a look at our article.

Responsive

Responsive contrary to what most people think means that the website scales accordingly to the device you are using. For example, if you notice, visiting the same website on your mobile device will render a different experience from your desktop. This means that the website is responsive as it understands that you are using a mobile phone which means a smaller screen. This is why most responsive sites will have a dedicated mobile site where the buttons, texts and navigation are bigger to facilitate a better user experience. Make sure that your website is responsive and that it is mobile friendly.

Clear call to action and good website hierarchy

A salesman is only as good as his/her pitch. Likewise, a website is only as good as its navigation and its content. Make sure that your product/service conveys the right message to sell and also provide clear ways with how your client can follow up with you. This can mean a number on the top left or right of your website or a contact form readily available at every page.

Your content should also be easy to access by just 2 or 3 clicks. Deep seeded pages will not do you any good and only confuses your visitors.

Summary of Websites

Websites are easy to create and there are many free sources out there or affordable developers that can help you with the design and formulation of your website. However, it is important that you fulfill those aspects to ensure you get some conversions and leads from your site. Proximacy also provides website design services that are affordable and are user and search engine friendly to ensure you gain the highest visibility possible.

Google Maps

The biggest maps provider also happens to be the number 1 place to find businesses, food or services. Did you know that you can type what you need in Google maps and they will show you the businesses near to you that fit the description. This brings so many new avenues of targeted leads to your doorsteps… provided that you have a proper Google My Business Listing. Similar to Facebook pages, Google my Business is a Google product that allows you to add your business listing based on your location. You can add photos, videos and customer reviews on that page as well. A new update also allows various businesses to add their products and services into a listing. This allows Google map users to see what is on offer and subsequently buy or find the direction to your location. If you would like to find out how you can use Google Maps to bring your business to the next level. Click here.

Making Videos

I placed this as the last because the term making videos can be multilaterally used in many platforms. Makings videos now one of the hallmarks of digital marketing and is set to become an important aspect. As such, learning how to make videos can be an important asset to grow your business. Whether it is how-to videos, videos about product/project launches or even customer testimonials, all these videos can be uploaded to platforms such as Youtube, Facebook or Instagram.

Videos can go a long way in portraying a visual experience for your clients and can instantaneously boost your business’s sales if your video goes viral. As such, its important to think out of the box for such videos and ensure that the video is captivating.

These are the few digital solutions you can use to boost your business for free. All it requires is some time and effort. However, if you have limited manpower and require some help to do these, there are always providers out there that will be willing to do the work for you. Simply do a search online and you will find various service providers which will be more than happy to assist you in the various tasks.

Google Flights Launches In Singapore

19th December 2018/0 Comments/in Post/by Site Default

As a proud Singaporean, I am proud to say I’m a bargain hunter. Whether be it food, online shopping, travelling or even flights, the price is usually one of the top factors in making a decision. Google, the biggest search engine provider just launched Google Flights in Singapore. The online app is akin to sky scanner, which allows visitors to compare flight prices for any destination and even seek out ideas if they do not have an idea where they want to go next. This is in line with their whole suite of apps which integrates everything into the Google platform and It is more than a welcome sight.

Currently, for travel-related services, Gmail already pulls all hotel/apartment reservations, flight bookings and other reservations from Gmail to provide you with an insight into how your day pans out. And Google trips allows you to plan your holiday and find new things to do.

These two apps are key apps that I use myself and I solely plan on these apps and Google map. With the new addition of Google Flights, It would seem Google is turning whole circle to encompass everything to do with your travels.

Google Flights

As an overview when you reach the website, you are greeted with a few suggestions on various destinations. You can also see your recent destination and also decide if you miss that place too much and would like to have a repeat trip there.

The whole site works like any airline website or sky scanner albeit much faster and responsive. The outlook is also much cleaner and still retains the function of finding you the best prices for your flights or whether you would like to travel by economy, economy plus, business or first class.

If you have no idea where to go, there is also a map view which allows you to see at a glance the prices for each city and country.

Price Tracking

If you have a limited budget or are tracking a destination, you can use the “Tracked Prices” to track down your tracked destination for the lowest price. Simply toggle the track prices option and anytime you are logged on you can proceed to the Tracked Prices to see all your tracked flights and even the price history.

What I want to See

Although this is a welcome sight to see especially since I’m so heavily invested into Google, plus our services such as Search Engine Optimisation and Google Ads services are more or less intertwined with Google, It would be pleasant to see some integration with their existing services such as Google Maps in starring locations and even some sort of link to Gmail. integrating the web interface with Google Trips will also be a welcome sight so I can conduct all my planning into one single application.

see the amount of starred places I have just for one city.

Google My Business Now Allows Adding Products & Services to Listings

23rd October 2018/0 Comments/in Post, Website/by Site Default

Google My Business is one of the most popular tools for businesses to automatically have a presence on the Internet. Users can suggest a listing in place for you and you can generate free views and business just through Google Maps. Using Google My Business is a good complementary tool you can use alongside your website to provide your potential clients applicable and constructive content which they are looking for.

Claiming Your Business

Google Maps is integrated with Google My Business. This allows users to automatically see businesses as well as attractions on Google Maps. Users can also add reviews, content and suggest business listings if it isn’t available on Google Maps. As such, there might already be a listing for your business. You just have to claim that listing to let Google know that this Business establishment belongs to you.

Info

Once you have successfully claimed your business. The next thing you want to do is go to “info”. The panel “info” allows you to edit how visitors view your listing. From there, you can change the keywords visitors can use to find your website, operating hours, contact information, website, and your products and services. From there, you will want to click on services so you can add them.

Services

Services within Google My Business is a great platform to showcase your services available. This allows clients to directly see what you offer without even going into your website. In this section, you can add different categories as well as sub-services. For instance our website, We have several services but different sub-services to offer them such as hosting, speed optimisation, website migration and website design under the large category of website design/development.

The next time your listing is viewed by customers, they have a clear understanding of the services you offer, information about your business, and reviews from other people. All done without leaving Google Maps.

How Much Does a Website in Singapore Cost?

13th September 2018/0 Comments/in Post, Website/by Site Default

Websites are a must have in the 21st century if you want to target the majority of the population of Singapore and the world. Gone are the days of brick and mortar methods such as directory listings and newspaper advertisements. When you are looking at creating a website, there are two trains of thought that can come to your mind: Free website builders and Paid Website Designers. Alternatively. if you already have an existing website, you might want to look at keeping up with the latest website design to make your website relevant. When we are talking about a free website, it does not entirely mean free but rather doing it yourself using platforms such as Wix, Squarespace. While it is easy to use their platform to drag and drop elements that you need for your websites, you usually need to pay a monthly fee from 20 SGD and above for the more premium plans. Those plans allow you to remove the platform ads which in turn makes your website appear more professional for your business. Over a few years, this amount can chalk up to a big sum so always conduct your own checks before diving into these free options.

Paid Website Designer

Probably the most sought after and easiest solution for your website, Paying a website designer to make to handle your website project is a great option especially if you do not have the skills and time required to do a website. Website Designers tend to handle all processes from domain purchases, hosting as well as the overall performance of your website.

Charges

For the sake of fair comparison of free website designing platforms and paying a website designer to handle your project, we will not be factoring the hosting charges and domain name annually. The charges of a website can be often categorised into different types of websites and the number of pages required for the project.

Corporate Websites

The most common form of websites is corporate websites used by business to advertise the products and services they have. Corporate websites usually require clean design and functionality. Corporate sites usually consist of about 10-20 pages and can cost anywhere from $2000 onwards depending on functionality. Advanced functionality such as user registration and member portals will cost additional. often more than $2000 for that functionality alone. Additional costs such as graphic design for banners and corporate images as well as photography are not included.

E-commerce Websites

E-commerce websites are basically basic websites with the functionality of a member portal and e-commerce capabilities. These are a great option especially if you are selling products. Most e-commerce stores can also help you manage inventory stock and shipping which adds a lot of bonus for the end user. However, e-commerce site’s backend is difficult to manage and you will probably need some experience with inventory management as well as managing the backend of the platform in order to upkeep the website. Such stores usually need a team to update the inventory, product listing and promotions. The cost for E-commerce stores are usually above $4000 for basic e-commerce capabilities and can cost above 5-figures for full fledge commerce capabilities. Some examples of such sites are Lazada or Shopee.

Event management Softwares/Content Management Systems

If your business is a service/event oriented. This will be the website type you are looking for. These EMS and CMS helps you to handle ticket management for events or handle membership registration. These website includes member portals and also event management functionality; allowing you to create events and also handle the attendees. Such websites are similar to e-commerce sites and will cost upwards of $4000 and similarly can cost above 5 figures for a more complicated solution. Likewise, such websites require a team to manage the functionality of the website and handle miscellaneous requests.

Blog

Probably the most basic type form of website designs, blogs are still one of the most common types of websites found on the internet. While they have the most basic functionalities such as adding daily posts. They are still one of the most loved sites for information. They can also be used to earn affiliate income by selling other people’s products. The price for such a website is usually above $1000 on its own and will not include other additional services such as photographs and banner design.

Free Website Builder Platform

Free website builders are becoming a more popular option due to the flexibility of building the website yourself and also affordability. However, most people do not account for long-term use which can actually rack up thousands of dollars over a 5 year period. In addition, you also have to spend hours and hours finessing the site to make sure it functions and looks professional. As such, it is important to weigh the time spent building such a website and outsourcing the website to a professional web designer. However, if you are on a low budget and do not mind having simple functionality, Wix and Squarespace might be the solution for you.

Both platforms are fairly similar as to the drag and drop building function. They have also enhanced capabilities to allow to build simple e-commerce sites and Content/Event management systems. However, do note that the customisability of these platforms are usually limited and you usually need to purchase their higher tier plans to enjoy these functions.

To conclude, Wix and Squarespace is a great option if you are still unsure about forking out a few thousand for a website designer but if you intend to be serious about your online presence, you should still turn to a website designer. These “free” website builders have fairly limited capabilities and often do not allow you to scale as your business expands.

Conclusion

If you are interested to find out about how Proximacy can tailor a website solution for your business/corporation, contact us for a non-obligatory meeting. We would like to understand how your business works and offer you a customised solution. We are also having an $1111 website promotion till the end of October 2018 for anyone looking to build a new website.

Signs Your Website Needs a Revamp

3rd September 2018/0 Comments/in Post, Website/by Site Default

A website is one of the best assets that any business can own. It acts as a 24-hour salesman which can help your business generate leads and sales even when you are sleeping. In fact, some businesses only operate through a website, not needing a storefront. This saves a lot of fixed costs in renting a storefront or even manpower costs. The benefits of owning a website cannot be understated and this is why all businesses in the 21st century must have a website in order to succeed.

While there are a lot of existing businesses that own a website, not all websites are created equal. At Proximacy, we have seen countless of businesses with websites that were built in the early 2000s that have become obsolete. While it was beneficial to be an early adopter of websites in the early 2000s, websites need to be constantly upgraded to ensure that it is in line with today’s mobile and desktop requirements. A lot of these old websites are not mobile friendly and they have outdated pictures, media, and layouts. This can be detrimental to your business reputation especially if a potential client is looking for a business that takes pride in their digital assets such as a website or social media domains. In this post, we will take a look at the clear signs that you need a new website in order to stay relevant in today’s ever-changing digital landscape.

Mobile Friendly Site

More than 50% of today’s users only have a mobile phone as their device and it is not surprising to see why. Mobile phones have become an all-in-one device that almost all people own and it is easy to browse the internet with that device. A recent report from Hitwise on the mobile users in the US found that more than 50% of search queries are coming from mobile devices throughout all niches and categories. This finding alone is sufficient to tell you the impact a mobile-friendly site has in today’s landscape. A mobile-friendly site has the following characteristics throughout all its pages.

Responsive Design

Having a responsive design is an important aspect when it comes to website design. Screens come in many different sizes and having a responsive design ensures that web pages render and load perfectly no matter what screen size the person is using. It also means automatically detecting when a person is using a mobile device so that the font, call to action buttons and media elements are tailored to a mobile view.

Fast Loading Speed

In today’s blazing fast fiber optic connection. Users are more demanding on the loading speed of websites. A research from Google also found that websites stand to lose 10% of visitors for every second that a website takes to load. In addition, some people are still not able to achieve fast internet speeds due to their location. As such, it is important to ensure that your website loads fast and uses less than 2mb of data to load. Another method that you can use to achieve blazing fast speeds is to use Google Pagespeed insights and other tools to improve your website’s loading speed or to use Accelerated Mobile Pages, a initiative by Google that makes it easy for web developers to create near instant loading pages for their websites.

Legible Font and Buttons

Ever visited a website and found problems clicking certain buttons or text because of the size of the font? Ensuring that your font and buttons are legible and touch-friendly is an important aspect for a mobile-friendly site. Always make sure that you test and test your design so that it is responsive and garner the click that you want from your visitor.

Cross-Platform Integration

Customers are always looking for alternative means to find the things or service that they want. Whether is it a review, directions to your store or to find out what other people are saying about your business. It is always important to integrate multiple platforms into one seamless experience for your users. Whether is it adding a link for users to share your post on Facebook, allowing Google to capture your address so it can use Google Maps to direct the customer to you. Or using Google my business to find out your operating hours and the reviews about your business. Remember that there is no one methods that works online. Always distribute your eggs (digital resources) into multiple baskets (YouTube, Facebook, Google). And lastly, always track your website so that you know where all your traffic is coming from. One free tool I use extensively is Google Analytics.

Location Grabbing

For businesses with a store front or requires customers to go to you. This should be on the top of your list. Integrating Google Maps should be a must for you. Using Google’s API for navigation is a good start so that Google can easily grab your potential customer’s location and lead them to you. As such, it is also important to put your business on Google My Business for the most exposure.

Application Experience

Most visitors using a mobile device to conduct a search usually achieve a specific task. As such, a good mobile application is one that allows your visitors to accomplish the most used feature of your website through a seamless experience. For example, Amazon’s website to track your packages, order items and to configure your account settings. Likewise, your website should emulate the best features of your desktop view. This means amplifying the aspects that the customer uses the most and make it stand out. Most websites today can emulate that of an application. Make sure that your website is properly optimised so that visitors can get what they want quickly.

Low-Quality Media

Ever clicked on a website and was greeted by a picture that was taken with a potato? I know I have. The quality of media elements has come a long way since the early 2000s. A well-optimised image below 1mb can look the same as a 5mb photo and a high-quality photo that was taken in the early 2000s now is visually wose worse than a photo taken with an iPhone. The practices and norms of today’s websites are much different than the standards of an old website. If you are still using a website that was built in the early 2000s. Perhaps its time to engage someone to redesign your website.

Broken Websites

Broken websites happen when a website using a platform such as WordPress, Adobe Dreamweaver, or other similar platforms is not updated regularly to support the current standards of a website. What happens is a website will lose its compatibility and as a result, cause the formats or certain functions to not work. Other scenarios include a user inputing data into the website and cause the website to crash. If your website sounds exactly like this, perhaps its time to get someone to take care of your website. Always remember that your website is like a sales associate, it can only flourish if you provide it some resource. That is why sometimes hiring a web admin for a low cost of 200-500 a month can sometimes be beneficial for your website in a long run. The web admin will ensure that data, user experience, and compatibility is up to date at all times and can help you fix or update pages as and when needed.

New Functions and Capability

Probably one of the most obvious factors, Websites can help you accomplish many functions and capabilities. If your business is exploring new functions that your current website is unable to achieve, perhaps it is important to do a fresh revamp. Talk to a web developer about the functionality you need for your website and they will advise you on the estimated cost and whether it is the best solution for your business.

Making the decision to revamp your website can be difficult. Not only does it cost a lot to completely change the website’s functionality, design and look. It can also take up a lot of your business time and take many months to complete. However, Making that decision means you are forward thinking and making sure that your website is up to date with the current standards. In today’s digital age, it is important to not only rely on traditional methods but on online media platforms to increase your lead potential.

If you are interested in finding out what Proximacy can do for your business, Contact us today or chat with us through our Facebook page.

Google My Business 2018-Free Views and Leads

28th August 2018/0 Comments/in Post, Website/by Site Default

Google My Business

Google maps is among the top 10 applications used on both iOS and Android and it’s not surprising why. It’s the number 1 maps application in the world closely followed by Apple’s Map app. Google maps was launched on February 8, 2005, and has continued to develop ever since. From merely providing directions to providing business listings for the favourite things you love. The key feature that allows Google Maps to thrive in such a competitive environment with Google is due to the vast information it has in on both directions and stores all around the world. You can literally search for any business listing, activity and Google Maps will lead you with directions to that location. You can also easily edit your business listing so that it provides the customer with a whole slew of information that can help them make a better decision. In this post, I will be showing you how to take control of your business listing and take it to the next level to get free leads and views for your business. If you would like to follow this post, please visit the page by clicking the following link: Google my business

Google my business home page

as the business tool of Google Maps, it allows businesses to register their listing and also to make changes to their listing to show the products, services, opening hours and even ratings from real customers. The process to claim your business is simple and just needs some time for Google to Send you a verification physical mail.

Add Your Business

Hit start now if you do not have a Google account or Sign into your Google account. Your personal Google account can also access the listing.

Once you’ve signed in, you will be prompt to input your business name. This name will be what Google map shows its viewers. As a tip, choose a short and simple name, as much as possible, avoid adding the type of business. For example Pte Ltd, LLP.

input what the name of your business is

Next, add the street address and postal code and select the region you are located. There is also an option to select if you deliver goods and service to your customers. If you are a home based business, do not select that. If you are a brick and mortar store serving customers at that location, you’ll definitely want to tick that.

Google will ask you a series of questions if you ticked the option “I deliver goods and services to my customers”. Once that’s done, Add in the Business Category, This will allow Google to help people searching for your industry find you. As much as possible, try to select the category that you can relate to.

category of business

Probably the most important part, add in your phone number and website that will be listed on Google Maps. As much as possible, you should make sure that you have a website. In today’s day and age, having a website is paramount to your business success if you want to target the newer generation. contact details

Choose whether you want to stay in the know with Google updates. As a rule of thumb always pick yes. Google regularly gives you insights on how to improve your listing which will be beneficial in the long run.

updates from Google

Thats all! Click finish and you’ll have to wait for Google to send you a verification mail. This mail will be sent to the address so make sure that the address you’ve input is correct.

After verifying your business, you can make changes to your listing such as pictures, opening hours, description of service and manage reviews.

Control panel of Google my business

Make Important Changes

Reviews

Manage reviews

Probably the most important part of your Google Business Page is your Reviews page. Reviews is usually the deciding factor for a customer when looking for similar products and services. As such, it is important to not only address the bad reviews but also the Good reviews. This tells your potential customers that you are continually looking for feedback and that you are managing the online properties you have.

Photos

Upload and manage photos

As the saying goes, A picture is worth a thousand words. Visitors want to know all about your business before making an effort to step into your premise or visit your website. Make sure that there are appropriate photos that have proper title tags and captions to help visitors understand more about your business. Google has made a the photos section a lot easier to navigate and allows you to manage both photos uploaded by you or your client.

Info

Business information

probably the most important part of your listing, info allows you to add specific contact information and opening hours to your business listing. You can also add specific keywords that best describe your business. Use this wisely as you can only put a few at a time and Google uses such keywords to identify your business when a user queries this.

Conclusion

Google my Business is just one of the many tools that you can use to improve the visibility of your website in Google’s products, as the elading search engine provider, it is important to get onboard with all of Google’s tools in order to give your business an edge. If you would like to learn more about Google’s other products, please visit our other pages about Google Search Console or about Analysing the visitors to your website by Google Analytics.

How to Make a Landing Page

20th August 2018/0 Comments/in Post, Social Media Marketing, Website/by Site Default

A sales page or landing page is often the most important page to get leads or conversion. You can either utilise a sales page through a Google ads campaign to lead visitors to your page or through Search Engine Optimisation methods. Either way, once you’ve gotten the visitor to your website, your landing page should make the customer convert. Either by means of emailing you or calling you directly. If your landing page is not convincing, whatever efforts you use for marketing or organic visitors won’t mean a thing.

The structure of landing pages is often an art and it takes a lot of tweaking to find out the best format that converts best. It is not a guesswork and should be backed up with data and if possible, A/B testing to find the best format or headlines.

As such, I would like to share the 10 checks you should use for your landing page before launching.

10 Checks Before Launching Your Landing Page

Headline Text

Whether you are getting traffic from Facebook, Google Ads or organic searches, it is important to grab the attention of your potential clients with a catchy headline. Your headline determines how hooked the client is to your product/service. If you are using Google ads or organic search engine pages, make sure that your title tag properly defines your product and service and the description should support your title tag. This is the same for your Facebook post or ad, the first sentence should describe your service and the subsequent sentence giving support to the product or service. For our campaigns, we found that using numbers to support your service makes a great impact on our campaigns. Headlines such as “Professional Cleaning Services with Over 10,000 concurrent cleaning contracts” Or “save 20% on our services with every 1-year contract” numbers usually reach out to the analytical business minds of individuals and it usually works wonders in almost every industry.

Above the Fold Content

“Above the fold” content refers to the content that the visitor is presented with the moment he enters your site. Below the fold content, on the other hand, refers to content that he needs to scroll down in order to see. The above the fold content should match the title tag and description tag that enticed the visitor to click. This will match their expectations with reality and make them stick to your page read on. Not click out, or bounce.

Avoid Unnecessary Links

Your landing page should not have any unnecessary links for visitors to click away. Always remember that your landing page is there to sell your product. Giving them something else to read about will distract people from what you want them to do and cause a delay from your objective… which is converting them into sales.

Distracting Content

It might be tempting to add elements that can beautify or improve the experience for the visitor but are often counterproductive to converting. Always remember that too much information, images or video content can discourage a user from making the next step in your marketing funnel. If that information is not necessary for your sales, don’t put it in.

Call to Action

Assume you managed to convince the visitor to take the next step and fill up their information or credit card details. A good call to action is needed. Ask yourself if you need the customer to call you or send you an email. If an email is needed. Make sure only necessary details is required. I’ve seen so many calls to action contact forms fail because the visitor was uncomfortable with the number of fields and details was required. With the number of security lapses going on, people are less willing to provide key information and this can lead to poor conversions. In most cases, you should only need the following information: Name, Email. Other forms of information such as contact number should only be required after some follow up through email correspondence.

Proofread Your Content

The one thing that ticks me off when I read a sales page is a poor use of vocabulary and sentence structure. It gives me a sense of how much work was put in and the conscientiousness of the writer. And it isn’t just me too. Studies have also shown in an A/B testing scenario that a poorly written sales page with grammatical errors and poor sentence structure tends to have a lower conversion rate than one that has generally no mistake.

It is good practice to proofread your content after you have written it, get someone else to read your content and finally, read it once through after a few hours.

Does my Sales Page Fit the Needs of My Client?

Often times, businesses are too focused on selling their product and service without understanding more about the customer. Customers and visitors visit your website because they have a problem. Not because of how great your business is. Instead of focusing on your product or service. Put yourself in a client’s shoes and structure your sales page around what they need. By doing so, you are able to meet their needs first making them more inclined to lock in with your service/product.

Testimonials

Testimonials are a common sight on almost all websites but are an intangible resource that most visitors are looking for. Most people want a perfect service without any hiccups and testimonials are a great way to assure them that you know what you are doing. If you have testimonials, place them before your call to action and in order of importance. People are more likely to convert when they see a company which they recognise that has used your service or product and have something good to say.

Mobile Optimisation

Mobile users contribute to over 40% of visits for all 100+ of my client’s websites and websites that we own. This growing trend is an indication of the growing trend of using just a mobile device as their sole device. Optimise your page and test to ensure that all elements are mobile-friendly and can load quickly. Remember that not everyone has the same access to fast 4G/LTE connection. One suggestion will be to use Google’s AMP for lightning fast speeds.

Test

Before launching your sales page/campaign, it is always wise to test every single element. This means opening the page in different browsers, testing on Android and iPhone platforms, testing the loading page, content forms and proofreading your content once more. You will be amazed at how much money it will save you instead of finding costly mistakes after launching.

Conclusion

After 10+ years in the industry of internet marketing and launching sales pages for our clients, I find that these 10 fundamentals never change. To this day, I use these 10 checks to ensure that my sales page has these essential elements, and it has proven beneficial in most cases.