Can Your Customers Find You In The Search Engines?
How Search Visibility Ensures Your Business Isn't Invisible Online
Hello! I'm Kevin from the Online Visibility Agency and 99quidwebsites.co.uk. in this post we're diving into a crucial aspect of business success —ensuring your customers can find you in search engines. This isn't just about SEO tactics or paid advertising; it's about making sure that when someone looks for you specifically, they actually find you.
Why Is Search Visibility Important?
Consider this: You meet someone, perhaps at a networking event, and you exchange business cards. They intend to learn more about your business later. You'd hope they remember your business name correctly and find your website easily, right? However, reality often differs. Misspellings are common, and without proper search visibility, your potential customer may end up frustrated or worse—finding a competitor.
Search visibility is crucial because:
It ensures customers can verify and trust your business before committing.
It allows you to showcase your credentials and associations prominently.
It helps capture potential leads who are specifically looking for your services after hearing about you.
How to Check If You Are Visible in Search Engines
The best way to check your search visibility is quite straightforward:
Open an Incognito Window: This step is crucial to avoid personalised search results based on your previous browsing history. Whether you're using Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser, make sure it’s in a 'clean state'.
Search for Your Business Name: Type your business name into the search engine and observe what appears. Ideally, your business should top the search results if your name is unique enough.
What if you don't find your business listed? If your business doesn’t appear, it’s a sign to take action. Ensure your website is submitted to search engines and optimised to appear even when slight misspellings are typed. You can ask your web developer to help set up your site map and ensure it's submitted to major search engines like Google.
Tips to Improve Your Search Visibility
Optimise Your Website: Make sure your website contains all relevant keywords associated with your business name and services.
Set Up a Google My Business Account: This free listing improves local SEO and enhances your visibility in local search results.
Monitor Your Online Presence: Regularly check how your business appears in search results and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly.
Use Social Media: Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can boost your online presence and help your business appear in search results.
Bullet Points to Remember
Check search visibility using an incognito browser mode.
Ensure your website is optimised for common misspellings of your business name.
Regularly update your content to keep it relevant and search-friendly.
Engage with customers on social media to enhance online visibility.
Call to Action
If ensuring that your business is findable online has seemed a daunting task, or if your website seems to be lost in the digital age, it's time for an update. Whether you need a brand new website or just a refresh to meet the latest standards, getting professional help can make all the difference. At 99quidwebsites.co.uk, we specialize in making businesses shine online. If you're struggling to make your mark in the search engines, get in touch with us. Let's make your business not just visible, but unmissable.
Have a fantastic day, and remember, I’m just a message away if you need advice or assistance with your online visibility.
Full Transcript
Can your customers find you in the search engines?
My name is Kevin from the Online Visibility Agency, and 99quidwebsites.Co. Uk.
And today we're going to be asking
the question, or you're going to be asking yourself the question,
can your customers or potential customers find you in the search engines,
then how do you even know whether they can or they can't?
When you meet someone and they decide that they may want to find out a little
bit more about you, we may give them a business card,
You may assume that they'll remember how to spell your business name,
and they'll try and put your URL into a browser, and it probably won't work
unless it's something really easy to spell.
Often people make typing mistakes or anything like that.
So we have to rely on making sure that our websites,
even if they put in a slightly incorrect name, can find our business online.
It's really important because often people
want to check you out before they want to commit to doing business with you.
And they'll do this through finding your
website and having a look and seeing that you're actually an existing business.
It's a great place to be able to put your
credentials and to put all of the associations that you're involved in.
Now, this isn't about search.
This isn't about going in and saying,
I want to find an electrical contractor in Rainham in Essex, or I want to find a
business coach in West London or anything like that.
This is about actually finding if they've met you and they know of you or someone's
mentioned your company to them and they want to go and find you.
The first thing you need to do,
and it's the way that we always test everything that we do when we're looking
at search is we go into a brand new incognito Chrome window.
If you're using Chrome,
normally what happens is stuff gets cookied, even the search engines get
cookied, and then it gives you false results
because if you type your name and even if you do it completely wrong,
it will still find you because it's used to you maybe looking for that.
So we want to do it from the point of view
of the best way we possibly can of doing a search where there's no history.
And we can do this by going into a new incognito Chrome window.
If Chrome isn't your thing, you can use a different browser
altogether, maybe Firefox, Internet Explorer, whatever,
and making sure that you're using a completely clean version of that browser.
And then you type your business name in for your website.
It's that simple. And see what comes up.
Now, hopefully, you'll come up in first place because they've typed your name in.
It's an exact match for what you're looking for.
It's probably unique to you.
And therefore, you'll come up in the first place in search,
in which case your customers will find you, and that's all good.
But what happens if you don't come up?
Well, in a previous video, I talked about getting your site submitted
into the search engine, specifically into Google, to start with,
to make sure that we've got our site set up so it can be found.
Your web developer will be able to help you do this.
They create your site map, they submit this into Google,
and therefore, when people are looking for you, then they will find you.
It will also do a close match search as well.
So if you've set up your domain names properly, then it will find...
If there's a slight typo in there,
like one letter, it will probably show you as well.
So it's really important that you know this information, because if you are being
referred to, if you're being recommended and your business name isn't the easiest
to remember, or they've never found your website
before, and I've done this so many times where I've looked for people and their
site just doesn't exist online unless I have the actual link to their website.
But if I go to search and try and find
them, they don't exist and it's frustrating.
You're also missing out on potential opportunities for your your business.
So it's really important that you get this bit right.
It's very basic, but you need to know with knowledge
whether you're there or whether you're not there.
If you're not there, you need to get there.
And you can follow the steps in a previous video that I've done.
If you are there, then well done.
You need to then work out what else are
you found for under your business name, because it will have social links.
It will have links to trade directories you
may be involved in, or other business directories you're involved in.
And make sure that you're being
represented the best way you possibly can within the search engines.
If you need any help or advice, you know where I am.
If you're looking for a new website
because yours is from the dark ages, or it's not working properly, or indeed,
it's never found, then you know how to get a hold of me.
Just go and have a look over here,
and you'll be able to make an inquiry with us.
Have a great day. I'll see you on the next video.
