Positive Google reviews can buy you big points with potential customers and with Google’s search engine. If you’re looking for a quick, easy, free way to push your business ahead online, this is the way to go. Here’s how to retrieve your review link to share with your customers:
You may already be listed here, so go to this link, click “start now,” and search for your business. Follow the steps to list your business. If you’re already listed, move on to Step #2.
Do a search for your business on this page. Once you find it, you will see an ID below your business name, like so:
You’ll want to add your ID to the end of this url: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=
It will look something like this: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJz96MGayWOxARDR4l_Kruxcw
Now you can send this link to all your favorite customers, lovingly requesting a review. You may feel apprehensive about asking customers for such a favor and might not know what to say. Here’s a link to some ideas for what you could say in the email: https://www.thumbtack.com/blog/snag-more-reviews-with-these-3-templates/
If you have a “Reviews” page, this would be a perfectly appropriate place to add a button that says “Leave a Review.”
Be sure to share your gratitude!
As more people turn away from phonebooks and flock to the internet, your online reviews become increasingly important. If people are passionate about the services you offer, give them the opportunity to shout it to the world!
What does your email address say about you and your business? Maybe you’ve been doing business, getting by with the personal email address you created in 2003 (I’m looking at you, banjoguy04@hotmail.com). If that’s the case and your business is successful, good for you!
Maybe your business is growing. You’re in the process of rebranding, creating a fresh, more professional statement. You’re hiring more employees and investing in advertising too. As you think about the new look and tone of your business, consider setting up business email addresses. Your business email will help promote your brand to your customers. It also reminds them where to go to reach your website. These two things alone help a lot with credibility.
A business email address replaces @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, or whatever else you’re using, with your very own domain name. So, if you own the site coolestbusinessever.com, your business address could be hello@coolestbusinessever.com.
There are several ways to set up your email, but I prefer to use Google.
Google provides a great tool called GSuite. This gives you a custom business email with all the benefits of Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive, and plenty of storage. At only $5 per account, it's a great deal. It's also fairly easy to set up.
If you're working on a tight budget, there's another option: Create an email account with your domain provider and connect it to your personal Gmail through POP and SMTP. This allows you to send and receive emails in your Gmail inbox using your business address. The biggest drawback to this method is that your incoming emails are not updated in real time. They are “fetched” periodically: every five minutes to two hours, depending on how often your use your business email. This option can be tricky to set up if you haven't done it before.
Below are a couple of links that can help you set your business email up in either of these two ways:
https://gsuite.google.com/setup https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-collect-mail-from-other-pop-accounts-in-gmail-1172076
For those running small businesses, you may do just fine using a personal address or Gmail.com address. However, for large or growing businesses, business email addresses will help you gain credibility with your customers. Contact your IT guy or website manager to get started setting up professional email addresses for your business.
Many months ago, I spoke with a woman in the natural healthcare industry. She said, “I want my website to feel like I’m inviting a friend over for a cup of coffee.” Those words have stuck in my brain ever since. Was her desire crazy or insightful?
Connecting with customers in person builds more trust than connecting through a screen. Knowing this, how can you make your website feel as warm as a face-to-face meeting? How can you let your prospective customer know they’re not just a number to you?
Your primary goal when creating a website is probably to “get more customers.” This is great! You’ve set an intention for your website. Now let’s go further. Your product or service may be helpful to just about anyone. However, you’ll be more successful if you are specific. Picture your ideal customer. What do they look like? What is their life like? What are their worries? What makes them happy?
As you write the text, select your images, decide on the structure, etc., make decisions with that customer in mind. Find a picture of what they would look like and post it by your desk. When you come up with questions (Is this sentence necessary? Will this image be helpful? Should I make my logo bigger?), ask yourself what would most benefit this person.
Of all the people involved in your website, your ideal customer is the most important one. Keeping the focus on them and being as specific as possible will not only get their attention but might also make them feel like they’re enjoying a cup of coffee with a friend.
When you're setting up a website, hosting and a domain name are two of the first things you'll need to consider. You've heard the terms before, but it's possible you aren't 100% clear on what they mean.
In this analogy, the TV Network would represent your website hosting. The TV Network gives space for the TV show to be created. It also provides a way for people to see your TV show. Similarly, website hosting provides a space for the website to be created and a way for people to view your site.
How does a "domain name" fit into all this? The domain name is like the title of the TV show. Take a look at the top of your screen and you may see my domain name: websitesbyaubrey.com.
So your website hosting provides a home for your website and your domain is a name for your website. If you don't have either of these and aren't sure how to get started, send me a message or check out wpengine.com.
If you are needing a website soon, I highly recommend working with Andrew Litchford:
