GOOGLE REVIEWS CAN GIVE A BUSINESS A BIG CREDIBILITY BOOST, WITHOUT YOU HAVING TO SPEND A PENNY!

Nowadays nearly everyone’s got a smart phone or at least some kind of access to the internet, and for the majority of people, if they want to know something or find something they turn to Google for the answer!

If you want to know more about a business you check them out on Google, and their Google reviews form an important part of that. Hearing what people think about a business can support you in making the decision of whether you are going to use them or not.

Think about it, if you were looking for a local gardener, you’d more than likely Google it.

More than one Gardener will show up in the search results but who will you contact to help you with your current jungle? Steve who has over 30 positive Google reviews, or John who has none?

GOOGLE REVIEWS CAN ALSO HELP:

• Improve the click-through rate to your website.
• Organically increase your SEO.
• Gain trust with new clients or customers.
• Increase your businesses exposure online as well as with your local SEO.
• Convert more customers.
• Give you an insight into what you are doing right (or wrong!)

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Google reviews make up part of Google My Business which is a free tool to help you get your business a presence online, whether or not you have a website.
Google rules the search engine world with over 70% of the search market share so it’s a great place to get noticed!

What is Google My Business?

• An online portal where you can promote your business free of charge.
• Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and visibility
• Manage how your business appears on Google⁠
• Add opening hours⁠
• Update map information ⁠
• Respond to google reviews of your business⁠⁠
• Update map information ⁠⁠
• Respond to google reviews of your business⁠
• Add details on your services or products⁠
• Create posts products or services you sell or events that you are hosting.

To get started go to google.com/business

5 TIPS ON HOW TO GET MORE GOOGLE REVIEWS:

1. Ask them! It’s that simple, “if you get a minute would you mind leaving me a review on Google?” If you send them the link too they’ll be even more inclined!
2. Offer an incentive – a free cup of coffee, a discount, the choice is up to you.
3. Send an email. Ask them for a favor, say roughly how long it will take them to do it and what a difference it will make. ‘It will just take two minutes of your time, and we’d really appreciate you taking the time to leave us a review’.
4. Keep it simple. Could you provide a template with some questions to tick or to rate, with an overall comment at the end!
5. Include a link in your email signature to you Google review page.

Have any questions or want to see if I can help you and your business online why not book a FREE 30 minute consultation?

WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME?

In the simplest of terms, a domain name is your online address.

As well as looking professional, it can also be used to secure your brand in the online world.

Before we go further, let’s get back to basics…. a domain name consists of two parts: the SLD and TLD

SLD (second level domain)
The SLD can be anything you choose (as long as it’s not already registered by someone else).
Every domain name is unique (just like a fingerprint) so selecting the right domain name can be crucial to your site and brands success.

TLD (top level domain)

The TLD refers to the last segment of the domain and is used to identify the objective of the company or organisation it’s registered to.

.com – Commercial businesses
.org – Organisations (often non-profit)
.edu – Educational facilities like universities or schools
You can also have country-code TLD’s
.co.uk – UK
.th – Thailand
.ca – Canada
.au – Australia

Industry specific TLD’s are also now available to register, for example:

. accountant
.builders
.cafe
.cleaning
.florist

WHAT DOES A DOMAIN NAME DO?

A domain name is ultimately used for finding and identifying devices on the Internet.

The internet uses IP addresses (a bit like a postal address) to find different locations. As an IP address consists of a series of numbers which, for most of us humans are difficult to remember, domain names were developed and used instead.

Domain names are looked after by hosting companies but you, the client, ultimately owns your domain name so you can move it from one provider to the other as and when you wish

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WEBSITE AND A DOMAIN NAME?

As mentioned, a domain name is a bit like a postal address.

A website is a collection of pages that are uploaded onto your domain. When people type your domain into an internet browser they find your website.

WHERE DO EMAIL ADDRESSES COME INTO THIS?

Your domain name can be used across your brand, tying your company emails into the equation for a complete professional look.

Any email address you want can be associated with your domain and would just appear before the @ symbol.

Here’s a little example:

A lady called Kate has made cakes for peoples special occasions for years. She decided to turn her hobby into a business and has just opened a her own bakery called Kates Cakes.

Kate has registered the domain name katescakes.co.uk and wants to set up different email addresses for the different departments in the company.

She decides to have info@katescakes.co.uk for general enquires, orders@katescakes.co.uk for the new orders and kate@katescakes.co.uk for her own, personal email address.

WHAT SHOULD I CONSIDER WHEN LOOKING FOR A DOMAIN?

SHORT & SWEET
If your domain is long and complicated it will be harder for people to remember and ultimately find you.
Keep it short and sweet!

AVOID NUMBERS AND HYPENS
Numbers are difficult, the number 5 can be displayed as the numeral 5 or the word five.
Hyphens are also complicated and are often missed out when typing a web address – meaning the people looking for you won’t be able to find you.

ALWAYS GO FOR A .COM OR .CO.UK (WHERE POSSIBLE!)
There are many domain name extensions available but the .com or .co.uk are your safest option. According to W3Techs.com 46.9% of the worlds websites use the .com extension, the stats can’t be wrong!

PROTECT YOUR BRAND
To help protect your brand you should also consider registering different variations of your domain.
If you currently have a .co.uk domain why not see if the .com is still available?

LOOK AT KEYWORDS
Look at keywords that define what you do. Lets go back to Kate and her cake company. She brainstorms a few ideas around the keywords he would use to describe his business and also decides to register katescelebrationcakes.co.uk as well.

WHAT NEXT?

If you’ve already got an idea of the domain you would like or don’t know where to start, just get in touch and I can help guide you on your new online journey.

Website security was historically aimed at complex sites that took online payments or gathered personal information.

As the the worlds online footprint has increased, so have the security measures you need to take to make sure you and your visitors are protected.

Google have recently launched their new browser Chrome 68, which will alert users if your site does not have a secure connection. With Google Chrome now far surpassing its competitors as the most popular internet browser, with 59% of the online population now using it, if you decide not to upgrade your site the chances are it will be having a negative impact on your audience.

WHAT IS HTTPS?

Simply put both HTTP and HTTPS are what’s used to transmit data between the user and your website.

The difference with HTTPS is that you are providing a high level of security for your visitors, ensuring that the connection between your website and their device is secure, so should anyone tried to access the data that was being transmitted between the two parties they won’t be able to. This helps protect your site against online attacks as well as assisting in ranking you higher in the search engines.

IS MY WEBSITE ALREADY SECURE?

You may not know if your website is already secure or not.

One quick way to find out is to view your website in Google Chrome. If you look at the left hand side of the address bar and see a message saying: ‘Secure’ then you can sit back and relax! However if it says ‘Not Secure’ we would strongly recommend you get it sorted.

A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF WHY YOUR SITE NEEDS TO BE SECURED WITH AN SSL CERTIFICATE

FOR YOUR WEBSITE USERS
Securely transferring information from your website to their devices (and vice versa).

FUTURE PROOFING
The steps the search engines and internet browsers expect you to have taken.

POSITIVE RANKING FROM THE SEARCH ENGINES
The majority of first page results displayed on Google have a strong correlation with sites that have HTTPS.

INCREASED CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE
A website showing as insecure can have a negative impact on your visitors.

HOW DO I GO ABOUT GETTING A SECURE SITE?

All that you need to do, is drop me a message.

Our premium level hosting includes HTTPS as standard as well as faster loading times, firewall protection and much more.

We can advise on whether or not your site is already secure and the process involved in getting it there. It’s as simple as that!