Do I need a Facebook page for my business?

Facebook currently has over 900 million active users worldwide. The growth of this social media platform gives small businesses access to consumers for a low cost and offers the opportunity for interaction and analysis of marketing techniques. But does your business really need a Facebook page? Will your customers benefit from “liking” your page, therefore receiving all updates from your page in their newsfeed?

An important way to determine the value of a Facebook page for your business is to know your customers. Is your primary target audience active on Facebook? If you market to young children, older adults, or a small niche market, there will probably be fewer customers who will see your Facebook page.  Second, think about whether or not a Facebook page will be useful for your customer. What value would your Facebook page bring to your customers? It may differ depending on if you are a clothing store, restaurant, insurance company, or marketing firm. Finally, before you launch a Facebook page, be sure you are committed to maintaining it. You need to have a plan for posting regularly, deciding what to post, and monitoring positive and negative comments from your customers to respond appropriately. If you don’t have the time or resources to manage a Facebook page, you may want to hold off on it.

A Facebook page can help you build a community through posting useful links, asking fans of the page to contribute comments, organizing contests and promotions, providing a place to leave feedback and offering incentives for customers who are active on your page. It will help your SEO because it will provide another venue for your company to show up in search results. If your close competitors already have a Facebook page, you may want to have one as well to maintain credibility and stand apart from them. Ultimately, the choice to have a Facebook page or not is up to you. Remember there are other social media networks (Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Twitter) that can provide unique features. It’s a good idea to explore them all and determine which social networks will be the most beneficial for you before creating these pages.

If you already have a Facebook page or know you want to create one, Beyond Custom Websites will create social buttons on your custom website and link your social media pages to your site. You can also put a link to your website on your Facebook page. In addition to social media integration, we offer real-time technical support, complete SEO strategies, unlimited updates and changes to your website, and so much more. Beyond Custom Websites can offer entrepreneurial expertise and help you decide what to post on your social media pages. Visit our website to learn more and start working with us. 

Engaging Customers on Your Website

Once you’ve set up an expertly designed custom website, you can sit back, relax, and let the leads pour in-right? There is a bit more to the success of your website than the initial creation alone. You need to find ways to engage your customer and keep them coming back to your website over time. If there is no attention getter or interactive feature, your customers may get bored or put your website on the back burner after the first visit or two. What are some features you can incorporate on your small business website that will bring people back in the future?

One idea is to offer downloadable content. This can be a news article, products report, coupon, checklist, or list of usage tips relevant to your company. Having something they can refer to offline not only helps them remember you, but makes them feel valued because you offered them a resource that helps them solve problems and make decisions.

Another engagement feature could be inviting visitors to subscribe to your blog or newsletter. This will give them the option to receive weekly updates on the latest happenings in your business. Creating a short survey to better identify a customer’s need will show you value their time and can handle specific requests.

Offer website visitors a free sample, gift, or coupon. Everyone loves free stuff. Choose something appropriate to the products and services you offer such as a $10 gift card, 30 day free trial, or small gift with purchase.

Other ideas to engage your website visitors include allowing customers to zoom in on products to view details up close, including promotional videos on your site through YouTube, and engaging visual features in your photo galleries. Finally, providing a submission form for testimonials and feedback is sure to let customers know they are important to you.

If you want a website that has features that will keep your customers coming back, Beyond Custom Websites can create a custom website that will incorporate as many of these features and more as you need. Our intuitive navigation, modern, colorful graphics, relevant keyword content, and excellent customer service will compliment these features created uniquely for your business. Find out more on our website. 

Do I need a Google+ Page for My Business?

Whether you are a new business or you’ve been around for awhile, we’ll bet you’ve heard a lot about Google Plus pages for business even if you aren’t using one. If you’re wondering if you need a Google Plus page, the answer is yes! It is a must for any small business competing in today’s business world.

So many marketers create their Google Plus page as an after-thought. While your website is your primary source of online marketing, you should set up a Google Plus business page as soon as you set up your website.  Here a few reasons why.

First, a Google Plus page will increase not only the number of times your company name appears in search engine results, but it will bump you up in the rankings faster. When Google sees that you are registered with Google Plus as a legitimate, active business, it will find your website more easily and put your Google Plus page in Web, Map, and Shopping results. Second, a Google Plus page gives you and your customers a forum to communicate one on one. You can share promotions, links to relevant articles, business and personal updates of interest to your customers, and more. Your customers can comment on these posts, ask questions, and provide feedback that will help your business grow.  Once customers and colleagues begin noticing your Google Plus page, they can add you to their circles and follow you to be notified of every new post you create.  When you have a link to your Google Plus page on your website, you can display your logo, company contact information, link to your website, industry, and hours all in the profile photo at the top of the page. Because Google Plus business pages are completely separate from personal pages (unlike Facebook business pages), you can maintain a totally distinct and professional presence on your page. A well-maintained Google Plus page is sure to bring more people to your website, increasing leads and boosting your website’s ranking position in search engine results.

Beyond Custom Websites integrates Google Plus pages into all of our sites. A sleek button on every page will take visitors to your site directly to your Google Plus page. We will even help you set up a new Google Plus page and offer advice on how to maintain it.  Google Plus and other social media integration is part of our services in addition to a custom website with dynamic images, keyword driven text, easy navigation, and unlimited text and image changes for as long as you work with us. Find out more about what we do on our website and build a website with us to find out more about all the benefits of Google Plus.