By Bob Manard of Faces That Work

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the single most important part of a successful digital strategy.  Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that lets you customize the way you appear to customers searching for something you provide.  GMB lets you create a profile for your business to help you get in front of the people most likely to do business with you.  You can add photos and videos to establish a good first impression and help you stand out from the competition. 

Be Found…  with Google My Business

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the single most important part of a successful digital strategy.  Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that lets you customize the way you appear to customers searching for something you provide.  GMB lets you create a profile for your business to help you get in front of the people most likely to do business with you.  You can add photos and videos to establish a good first impression and help you stand out from the competition.  You can help people connect with you by specifying your location and service, area, displaying your business hours, and providing a phone number.  You can even create posts to promote products, offers, news, and events.  GMB is like having a free advertisement in Google search results.

Be Seen…  with YouTube

People watch videos.  Whether they’re looking to be entertained or informed, more and more people are turning to YouTube.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is easily worth ten thousand.  You can reach a larger audience with video -- and you can have a much deeper impact on that audience.  Videos can help you build credibility, providing a free service and promoting your business at the same time.  If you’re ready to start producing video content, then YouTube is the most logical place to start.  It is the place most people turn to when searching for videos and you can integrate it with your Google My Business listing.

Be Powerful…   with G Suite

G Suite is the perfect tool for running your business.  With GMail, you can send professional emails and build trust with your customers by giving everyone in your organization an email address like bob@facesthatwork.com -- or create group mailing lists, like sales@facesthatwork.com.  Drive makes it easier to collaborate with remote teams, enabling access to your files from anywhere, at any time, and on any device.  This can help you make decisions faster and focus more on the work -- instead of the process. Most common file types are supported like Docs (Word), Sheets (Excel), and Slides (Powerpoint), along with extended capabilities such as Forms, which can be used to generate surveys on the fly.  Google Calendar offers an integrated way to share calendars, allowing you to schedule meetings with ease. With one click, you can turn your meeting into a Google Meet video conference and make decisions on the spot

Be Better…   with Google Analytics

If you’ve ever wondered how many people are actually visiting your website, then Google Analytics is the tool for you.  You can find out not just how many visitors you’re getting, but what time they visited, how long they spent there, and how they found your website in the first place.  If they got there through a search result, you’ll see what search terms they used, so you can adjust your website content accordingly.  You can also learn a great deal about your visitors, at least the aggregated demographic and psychographic info Google is able to share with you.  You can find out what kinds of visitors are just “lookie loos” and what kinds are actually converted into customers. This can help you tailor the website experience to appeal to the people who will help you achieve your goals.

About the Author

Bob Manard is a Digital Marketing powerhouse at Faces That Work.  A past president of RPCN, Bob is also active in several local organizations, including App Rochester, Google Rochester, and WordPress Rochester. He is also a member of the Tech Committee for the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors and the Chair of RPCN's Digital Marketing committee.

Bob holds a BS in Computer Science from St. John Fisher College and an MBA in Electronic Commerce from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.

Find more from Bob at:  https://facesthatwork.com/blog/

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