Once your local profiles are up and running, you may notice that users can add their own reviews. Reviews are more important than many people realize. Businesses with ample online reviews see a higher click through rate, an SEO boost, as well as higher credibility. It is also imperative to respond to user reviews, both positive and negative. Develop a review generation strategy to bring as much engagement to your local profiles as possible.

Websites 360® website owners can take advantage of built-in review generation if they subscribe to Growth, Promote, and Maximize packages. The review generation tool allows you to send a review request to customers by entering their email address and phone number right from the reporting dashboard.

If your goal is to show up in search results immediately, a Google AdWords campaign is a great choice. When you start an AdWords campaign, your ads can appear at the top of search results, instantly driving immediate clicks to your website. This can also increase your brand awareness by having your website link displayed prominently on users’ screens.

How does AdWords work? The practice is known as pay-per-click, PPC for short, which works just like the name suggests. You choose which search keywords you want your ads to appear for, and only pay when a user clicks on your ad. The more popular the keywords, generally, the higher the price will be.

Google AdWords lets you narrow down your audience by their location, time of day, or device. Your AdWords analytics will tell you which demographic of users clicked your ads the most, which keywords received the most clicks, and which ad drove the most leads. This can help you understand what part of your strategy worked and what needs some retooling.

Websites 360® offers expert AdWords campaign management in our Promotion and Maximize marketing packages. Keep in mind, while PPC is a great way to see instant results in the short term, you must not forget to also have a strong SEO strategy for the long term.

Retargeting ads are advertisements that display to users who have already visited your website. After the user lands on your site, they are tracked by cookies. This type of advertisement can be an effective method to reach interested prospects. Because the people who see the ads have already visited your site, the chances they’ll click through and make a purchase are greater.

Marketers who take advantage of retargeting ads see an average click-through rate of 0.7%. With retargeting ads, you also have the potential to increase your brand awareness. Even if the user does not click on the ad, your brand name will follow them as they browse the internet. Your brand will always be lingering in their subconscious even if they don’t explicitly look at it.

Are you are looking for a simple (and free) technique to increase your website’s authority in the eyes of search engines? Consider creating a blog or news page. Google’s search engine bots like websites with lots of unique content, as well as sites that are updated frequently. Posting consistent blog pieces or news updates is an easy way to kill two birds with one stone.

A separate page just for blog posts is an easy way to bring that fresh content that Google’s bots (and people) like. In addition to posting new content, you should also update old blog posts. When you post a new blog, you should consider adding an internal link to the new article in older posts, if it’s relevant. This not only updates your old posts, but it also gives your new blog post an instant SEO boost by having an internal link pointing to it. Even minor changes have a benefit - it will update the date that is attached to that blog post’s search result in Google, so your content will look more up-to-date (even if you originally posted it years ago). Also,

A blog is also the perfect place to capitalize on your long-tail keywords. When thinking about what to write, craft the piece with your targeted search terms in mind. But don’t over do it - you still want your content to be engaging and natural-sounding. Another good practice is to always end your content with a call to action, whether it be to schedule an appointment, visit another page on the website, or call you. Also, consider linking internally to other website pages or past blog posts. These internal links provide an additional SEO benefit, because Google’s bots like sites with lots of inbound links to other website pages.

Besides the built-in SEO benefits, blogging also builds brand positivity. On average, companies who blog receive 97% more backlinks from other websites (What are backlinks? We’ll go over that in the next section.) Also, when you write an interesting blog article, readers will be more likely to share it on social media, which gives you free exposure.

Another way to enhance your brand and website is by having an active social media presence. A robust social media marketing strategy can drive more traffic to your website, enhance your brand image, and bring you closer to potential customers on a personal level.

Before getting started, try and get a feel for your audience and who you are trying to reach. Look at what your competitors and others in your industry are posting. Also, social media channels are a great way to showcase your blog posts and special offers from your company. Need help getting started? Check out a beginner’s guide to marketing on social media.

As you can see, there are many things you can do on your website to improve its performance. However, there are also many ways to improve website traffic and engagement without even changing anything on your site.

Consider creating a link building strategy. Link building is described as the “process of securing a link on another website that directs back to your own”. Generally, by increasing the amount of reputable websites that link back to your site, you may be able to improve your organic ranking.

A link on another website that points to your site is called a “backlink”. There are two different types of backlinks:

• Natural links, sometimes referred to as “editorial” links, refers to creating strong content that people want to link to. This is another great reason to embrace blogging on your website.

• Manual, or “outreach” link building involves manually reaching out to sites to create a backlink back to your site. This could include contacting the website owners directly or by reaching out to influencers in your industry.

When link building, make sure you are reaching out to authoritative websites. Also, make sure you are not breaking any rules. Google penalizes websites who pay for links, engage in excessive link exchanging, or using automated programs to generate links to your site. You can read about Google’s rules against link schemes.

There countless ways to boost your website’s performance online. However, there are ample opportunities to promote your brand without using the internet. Be sure to include your website address on all of your promotional materials such as business cards, company clothing, work vehicles, and any other place where you showcase your brand.

Aside from your own promotional materials, you can get your brand seen by more eyeballs by engaging in networking events. Try to attend conferences and networking events in your relevant industry - or better yet, speak at them. If you can’t find a relevant networking event near you, you can start your own. Consider holding a workshop or seminar at your place of business. This lets people have the opportunity to experience your company or brand firsthand. This makes another good opportunity for attendees to link to your website on social media or their own blogs.

In addition, you can increase your brand exposure by supporting local organizations. If you have the opportunity to sponsor a local event or charity function, you may have another opportunity to market yourself. The organizers of these events may show your logo on their banners or promotional materials or link to you on their website.

With the help of Websites 360®’s marketing solutions, you can start growing your business online. Our marketing packages give you the option to take advantage of local directory listing management, review monitoring and generation, potential AdWords planning, and more. Check out our marketing packages and see how you can start growing traffic to your website.