The real reason you aren't getting more leads & customers

When people join the Black Owned in Rochester business directory I have them fill out a form. At least 50% of people say that they are interested in “more customers / leads”. Which is normal. Most businesses want that.

They don’t know that their online presence is what's holding them back from more customers and leads.

Getting more customers and leads doesn’t have to just be through ads or social media.

Honestly, I think businesses focus too much on social media and it takes away from doing sustainable business things.

What If I told you that the number of people looking for your business will spike on specific holidays like Juneteenth, Black History Month, Black Biz Month and you’re going to miss out because you’re focused too much on social media.

When people are looking for businesses, they hit the internet. It doesn’t matter whether you are Business to Consumer (B2C, DTC) or Business to Business (B2B).

Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go will all be used to find businesses like yours, but you probably won’t come up or if you do the info they have for your business will be incorrect or if they do see your business and visit your website (you’ve got a website right?) they might find it challenging or lacking.

That’s why this week’s newsletter will focus on tips to boost your online presence with some website and local seo tips.

Let’s get started.

First the challenge with the websites.

If I’m honest many websites I review when creating the business listings leave a lot to be desired. They’re often missing one or more of the 5 most important things on a website (especially if you’re a local business).

5 Things Missing from Local Business Websites:

1. Your website doesn’t immediately tell me what you do, who you do it for, and why they should choose you.

2. There are no contact details or the location isn’t readily accessible.

3. There’s no call to action. Your website is behaving more like a brochure than a customer-generating machine.

4. It is stuck in the 90’s i.e., it’s slow and/or it isn’t mobile responsive.

5. There’s no attempt at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so it is just floating in the interwebs being an unseen brochure.

6. Bonus: There’s no content like articles or think pieces or anything.

These are just some of the challenges I’ve encountered when doing research for BOIR but this doesn’t mean you’re doomed.

If you work on these 5 6 things, you will dramatically improve the usefulness of your website and get more leads and customers.

SEO is the act of optimizing your business’s online presence so that it can be FOUND when people are looking for it.

One of the best things a local business can do is optimize its Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).

When you optimize it, your business has a better chance of showing up.

Even if you DON’T have a physical location (like BOIR or RSquared Marketing) you can still use the GBP to show up and update your business info and get reviews.

If you don’t have a GBP, click here to get started https://www.google.com/intl/en_us/business/ (you will need a Gmail email address)

Now there used to be a free website included with this but a few months ago Google deleted that function, so it no longer exists. It is time to have your own website if you don’t have one.

Here are 3 ways to optimize your Google Business Profile:

1. Make sure your business info is complete and accurate!

   1. Business name

   2. Address and location (if not a physical location, then “service area”)

      1. There are so many businesses that because I updated their address on Google now have a plethora of customers because their location is correct now. Even being off by one block can cause issues.

   3. Phone number (if applicable)

   4. Website (you’ve got a website right?)

   5. Business hours

   6. Category

      1. If I told you how many times I’ve corrected someone’s business category and boosted their business you’d be surprised.

2. High-quality Photos and Videos

   1. Profile and cover photos

   2. Interior and exterior photos (if applicable)

   3. Product/Service photos (if applicable)

   4. Team Photos (If applicable)

   5. Short Videos

3. Engage with customers and reviews.

   1. Respond to all reviews. Don’t let them wither on the vine. These help your business more than you realize.

   2. Encourage folks to leave reviews.

      1. In the thank you email after booking or using a service

      2. At check out in the store

      3. Even friends and family

   3. Answer questions if people ask them in the Q&A section. People definitely read these (especially for service providers)

Remember GBPs are free which means they might invite you to use their paid product like Google Ads. I wouldn’t recommend it until you worked on the website challenges I mentioned previously.

Another way to boost your business’s online presence is by creating long-term content. This is content that isn’t fleeting like reels on social media.

There are 3 types of long-term content:

1. Blog articles (on your site or someone else’s)

2. YouTube videos (on your channel or someone else’s)

3. Podcast episodes (on your podcast or someone else’s)

Articles help your website rank for more keywords than you might’ve with just the brochure website. YouTube videos help your potential audience get to know you in a better way plus some folks are visual learners. Podcast episodes are like YouTube videos in that they speed up the connection.

All of these can be repurposed to your site and can increase the likelihood that if people are looking for your business or a business like yours, they will find you!

I hope these tips help you gain more customers and leads. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to hit reply, it’s me on the other side.

Let me know what you think about this newsletter.

Thanks for being here

Brittany W.

CEO of Black Owned in Rochester