Small business social media automation is the practice of using smart software workflows, scheduled content queues, and automated distribution to maintain an active presence across multiple digital channels without manual daily intervention. Rather than logging into four or five separate networks every morning, automation centralizes content creation, queueing, and analytics into a single command center.

Recent industry research reveals that the average digital consumer now interacts across more than six social platforms each month. For small businesses in competitive markets like Philadelphia, PA, maintaining visibility across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and local directories can quickly consume twenty or more hours each week. Automated publishing workflows bridge that operational gap, allowing lean teams to maintain consistent customer touchpoints while focusing on core business operations.

Key Takeaways

• Time Recovery: Centralized scheduling and queue automation reduce weekly social media administration from twenty hours down to three to five hours.
• Cross-Network Consistency: Multi-channel queueing ensures consistent brand messaging across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and local business directories.
• Measurable ROI: Automated workflows paired with performance tracking help business owners connect content output directly to website traffic and inbound leads.

Key Questions Answered

What is small business social media automation? It is an operational system that uses scheduling software, automated queues, and cross-platform publishing tools to manage multi-channel marketing with minimal manual effort.

How much time does social media automation save? Most small business teams save fifteen to twenty hours weekly by batching content creation and automating daily publishing schedules.

Does automation hurt post engagement? No. Modern automation tools publish native formats at peak audience activity times, which consistently boosts organic reach and interaction rates.

The Rise of Multi-Channel Social Demands

A few years ago, a local enterprise could build a steady digital presence simply by sharing occasional updates on a single platform. Today, customer attention is fragmented. A homeowner in Philadelphia, PA looking for professional services might discover a brand on Instagram, check recent customer reviews on Google, and verify company credentials on LinkedIn before ever visiting a website.

According to HubSpot marketing research data, consistent publishing remains one of the strongest drivers of organic inbound growth for independent companies. Yet more than seventy percent of business owners report spending fewer than five hours weekly on marketing because day-to-day customer service and operational duties take precedence.

When posting is handled manually, consistency drops whenever client work increases. This creates an erratic publishing cycle where feeds go silent for weeks at a time. Algorithms reduce the visibility of inactive accounts, and prospective buyers wonder whether the company is still actively taking on new clients. Automation removes this inconsistency by decoupling content creation from daily distribution.

Core Automation Practices in Real-World Workflows

Implementing an effective automation system does not mean turning your brand into a robotic broadcast channel. The most successful businesses use a structured four-stage framework to balance efficiency with authentic human connection.

1. Batch Content Creation

Instead of scrambling to write a post every morning, set aside a single ninety-minute block once a week or once a month. During this focused session, develop a cohesive series of posts around core themes: educational customer tips, behind-the-scenes glimpses, client case studies, and service highlights. Batching keeps your messaging focused and eliminates the daily decision fatigue of figuring out what to publish.

2. Intelligent Time Slot Scheduling

Audience activity patterns differ across networks. Professional networks like LinkedIn often see peak engagement during morning commute windows and mid-week lunch hours, while visual platforms like Instagram surge in the evening and over weekends. Advanced social media management tools let you define custom publishing queues that automatically slot your batched content into high-traffic windows for each specific channel.

3. Cross-Channel Content Adaptation

Publishing the exact same post format everywhere rarely yields great results. Effective automation allows you to write a central message and quickly tailor it for each platform: adding relevant hashtags and vertical imagery for Instagram, formatting clean conversational text for LinkedIn, and incorporating localized calls to action for local community pages across Philadelphia, PA.

4. Unified Performance Review

Reviewing performance should not require exporting spreadsheets from five different platform settings. A centralized reporting dashboard gathers follower growth, post clicks, and inbound messages into a single view. This weekly review reveals which topics generate real customer inquiries so you can refine future content batches accordingly.

Tailored Solutions for Different Business Stages

Every company has unique operational constraints, available hours, and growth targets. Here is how social media automation adapts across distinct business models:

• Solo Operators & Independent Contractors: Focus on automated weekly queues that distribute 3–4 high-impact educational posts per week, freeing up crucial billable hours while keeping local search and social profiles active.
• Local Service Providers & Retailers: Combine scheduled promotional posts with automated Google Business Profile updates and seasonal review campaigns to capture neighborhood searchers in Philadelphia, PA.
• Growing Agencies & Multi-Location Brands: Deploy multi-profile dashboards with team approval workflows, synchronized cross-channel campaigns, and integrated analytics reporting to manage client accounts at scale.

Common Automation Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

While automation provides immense operational leverage, poor execution can alienate followers. Avoiding these key mistakes ensures your brand remains engaging and trustworthy:

The Set-and-Forget Trap

Automation handles publishing, but human engagement still requires personal attention. Spend five to ten minutes each day responding to incoming comments, answering direct messages, and interacting with local community accounts. Software delivers the content; real conversations build the relationships.

Ignoring Real-Time News and Local Events

Never let scheduled posts run on complete autopilot during major breaking news or severe local weather events. Keep a simple protocol to pause scheduled queues when sensitive situations arise, ensuring your automated messages never appear out of touch.

Why Partner with Social Mermaid for Content & Social Growth

Social Mermaid provides an all-in-one social command center and dedicated blog writing services designed specifically for small businesses and marketing agencies. Based in Philadelphia, PA, Social Mermaid combines powerful software tools with done-for-you content creation to help brands build authority across search and social channels simultaneously.

With Social Mermaid, you gain access to unified multi-account scheduling, automated posting calendars, comprehensive analytics dashboards, and professional SEO-driven blog writing starting from just $160 per month. Whether you need an intuitive platform to streamline your internal team's workflow or a turnkey content partner to handle strategy, writing, and distribution end-to-end, Social Mermaid delivers the infrastructure you need to scale your digital presence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can social media automation handle both text and video content?

Yes. Modern social management platforms support images, carousels, short-form reels, and long-form video uploads, formatting each asset correctly for individual networks.

How far in advance should a small business schedule posts?

Most small businesses find success scheduling content two to four weeks in advance. This provides a consistent foundation of evergreen posts while leaving room for spontaneous real-time updates.

Does automated posting affect how algorithms rank my content?

No. Major social platforms support official publishing APIs, and content posted via certified third-party tools is treated with the same reach potential as content published manually.

What is the difference between social scheduling and full marketing automation?

Social scheduling focuses specifically on queueing and distributing social posts. Full marketing automation connects social scheduling with blog publishing, email sequences, review requests, and customer relationship tracking for a complete growth pipeline.

Summary: Building a Sustainable Marketing Engine

Scaling a modern brand does not require spending every working hour glued to social media feeds. By implementing small business social media automation, local companies can establish a consistent, multi-channel presence that nurtures prospects and drives steady organic traffic week after week. With the right tools and a streamlined batching strategy, your marketing works continuously in the background while you focus on serving your clients and growing your business. Connect with Social Mermaid today to explore how our software and content solutions can simplify your marketing workflow.

Small business marketing automation connects social scheduling, blog syndication, lead tracking, and performance reporting into a single automated engine, eliminating 15 to 20 hours of manual posting each week. Instead of toggling between individual apps, business owners set unified distribution rules that keep brand messaging active across major search engines and social platforms simultaneously.

Key Questions Answered

What is small business marketing automation? An integrated software workflow that schedules posts, publishes SEO articles, syncs directory listings, and tracks customer interactions without manual daily intervention.

How does automation improve organic search reach? Coordinated posting across social channels and blogs signals authority to search engines, boosting discoverability across local search and AI answer engines.

Can small businesses afford automated systems? Modern platforms provide accessible tools starting with free trials and modular monthly plans, removing the need for dedicated IT staff.

Key Takeaways

• Manual social posting and disconnected blog updates waste valuable operating hours and lead to inconsistent customer engagement.
• Centralized marketing platforms allow small teams to prepare multi-platform campaigns once and distribute them across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and WordPress automatically.
• Adopting automated publishing creates compounding organic visibility across local search engines while reducing overhead costs.

The Shift Toward Coordinated Marketing Systems

For years, running digital marketing as a small company meant logging into five separate dashboards every single day. A business owner wrote an update on Facebook, navigated to Instagram to upload an image, opened LinkedIn to share industry commentary, and manually pasted a draft into WordPress. This piecemeal approach caused burnout, skipped publishing schedules, and fragmented customer data.

Recent research from the Precedence Research automation study reveals that the small and medium enterprise sector accounted for 40% of the marketing automation market in 2025, with adoption growing at an annual rate above 14%. Companies that automate lead nurturing, cross-channel publishing, and customer journeys capture higher engagement while maintaining strict control over their operating budgets.

In competitive regional markets like Philadelphia, PA, local businesses need consistent digital touchpoints to capture customer attention. Whether managing a professional service firm in Center City or a retail brand in the surrounding neighborhoods, automation ensures your audience receives fresh content regardless of how busy your daily operations become.

Core Marketing Automation Methods in Practice

Setting up effective marketing workflows does not require complex engineering. Successful small businesses focus on three foundational automated workflows that deliver compounding returns.

1. Unified Social Media Command and Scheduling

Instead of creating custom posts in isolation, build content batches organized around weekly themes. An all-in-one social command center lets you write a single announcement and adapt it instantly for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile.

Industry data summarized in the Buffer marketing analysis emphasizes that visual scheduling, drag-and-drop calendars, and automated queue optimization prevent publishing gaps during peak audience hours. Setting posts to release during high-engagement windows guarantees maximum impressions without requiring manual clicks at night or over weekends.

2. Search-Optimized Blog Creation and Syndication

Search engines and AI answer engines reward websites that publish detailed, well-structured articles on a predictable schedule. Publishing two to four in-depth blog posts each month establishes domain authority and captures high-intent organic search queries.

Automated blog workflows handle keyword mapping, metadata configuration, featured image alignment, and direct-to-CMS delivery. When combined with automated social syndication, each new article immediately fuels snippets, story updates, and discussion threads across your social network profiles.

3. Directory Listings Sync and Reputation Management

Local visibility depends heavily on consistent business information. If your business phone number, operating hours, or address differ between Google, Yelp, and regional directories, your local search rank drops. Automation platforms sync core business details across 70+ online directories with one click, while aggregating incoming customer reviews into a central dashboard for prompt replies.

Tailored Solutions for Different Business Needs

Marketing automation adapts to your specific team structure, customer volume, and growth targets. Here is how different operational models apply automated tools effectively:

• Solo Operators and Founders: Focus on pre-scheduling weekly social batches and maintaining consistent Google Business Profile updates. Set up auto-responders to capture leads while you work on client deliverables.
• Growing Local Service Providers: Combine automated social queues with monthly blog posts that target local neighborhood keywords in Philadelphia. Sync your directory profiles to ensure accurate contact information across maps and mobile navigation tools.
• E-Commerce and Boutique Brands: Coordinate product highlight reels, customer testimonial shares, and multi-channel promotional calendars around seasonal product drops.
• Agencies and Multi-Location Teams: Use white-label client dashboards, role-based approval queues, and automated monthly performance reports to demonstrate clear marketing return on investment.

Why Philadelphia Businesses Choose Social Mermaid

Based in Philadelphia, PA, Social Mermaid specializes in software and marketing services designed specifically for small business owners and agency teams. Rather than forcing you to purchase five separate subscriptions, Social Mermaid delivers a unified command center that manages your entire digital footprint.

• Unified Social Command Center: Connect Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile into a clean, drag-and-drop calendar with queue optimization.
• Hands-Off Professional Blog Writing: Receive professionally written, SEO-optimized articles with custom images starting from $160 per month, delivered directly to your site.
• Directory and Review Management: Keep your business listings accurate across dozens of search directories while monitoring and responding to customer reviews from a single screen.
• Clear Analytics Reporting: Track engagement growth, audience demographics, and click attribution through easy-to-read client dashboards.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time does marketing automation actually save each week?

Most small business owners save between 10 and 18 hours per week by replacing manual logins with centralized scheduling and batch content creation. This time shifts directly toward serving clients and growing business revenue.

Will automated posts reduce engagement compared to posting live?

No. Major platforms treat API-scheduled posts identically to manual posts. In fact, automated scheduling often increases engagement because content goes live at times when your audience is most active rather than when you have free time.

Do I need technical skills or a developer to set up marketing automation?

Modern platforms like Social Mermaid require zero coding. Connecting your social profiles and blog takes less than five minutes through secure, guided authorization steps.

How does regular blog posting support social media performance?

Publishing authoritative blog posts creates foundational content that can be repurposed into social graphics, key takeaways, and short video concepts, keeping your social feed educational and authoritative.

Take Control of Your Digital Growth

Consistent digital marketing does not require endless hours of daily screen time. By establishing an automated publishing system, your business stays top-of-mind with prospective customers while building long-term search visibility. Social Mermaid provides small businesses throughout Philadelphia, PA and beyond with the all-in-one software and content services needed to scale without burnout. Start your 14-day free trial today or book a personalized demonstration to see our platform in action.

The advertising world is full of jargon, and new phrases are always popping up. One you may have heard in the past couple of years is “programmatic advertising.” So what is it, and why does it sound so technical? Take my hand and come with me to the world of advertising, where we’ll venture further in to discover the kingdom of programmatic advertising.

If you’re a complete newcomer to the advertising world, let me set the scene for you. The way ads make it from your business to a little 300×250 box on your screen is that a media buyer from an advertising agency bought that space at that time for that specific ad. The way the media buyer decides on that specific part of space-time to buy for the ad is much more complex, involving the consideration of price rates, target audience demographics, formats and more. If some of you thought “is there an easier way?,” you’re not alone. The advertising world wondered the same thing, and programmatic advertising was developed as the answer.

The programmatic advertising kingdom & RTB

Programmatic advertising is when software is used to purchase digital ad space instead of humans. Move aside human media buyers, robots are taking over! Swapping out humans for machines is a win-win for advertisers. Creating ads and choosing the right space takes a lot of manual labour. The complex considerations that went into each bid and purchase of ad space can now be done in milliseconds by efficient, calculating machines. The bidding of ad space can be automated, and by telling your programmatic software exactly what kind of audience you’re trying to reach, the ads can now be targeted more efficiently than ever. Welcome to the programmatic advertising kingdom.

RTB: real time bidding

Before we dive too deep, let’s take a quick detour into RTB forest, where ad spaces grow on trees for the robots to harvest. The phrase RTB (real time bidding) is often used interchangeably with programmatic advertising, but RTB is actually only one part of the process, and the skeleton on which programmatic ad buying is built. Ad space is bought and sold in a digital auction, where the winning bidder gets to display their ad in that space. This happens in real time (hence real time bidding), and it’s what programmatic advertising software uses to purchase ad space. To clarify, RTB is the auction, and programmatic advertising is the full automatization of the bid, purchase and ad displaying process. Okay, let’s get back on track to programmatic!

In the programmatic advertising kingdom, it’s the machines that do the work, and the advertisers who rule from campaign castle. It’s the human advertising professionals who are the kings and queens, ruling from campaign castle, and they set the laws of the land. The advertisers determine the rules and scope of the campaigns, while the programmatic software handles all the menial tasks. They will set the prices and strategies, carefully select the channels on which to promote, develop meaningful campaigns, and more. No technophobia necessary, humans are still deeply involved in the process.

Why programmatic advertising?

Here’s the rundown of why programmatic advertising is the best kingdom to be a part of in the world of advertising:

Efficiency

We all know humans, right? No matter how many great qualities they have, there’s always a degree of unreliability and room for fault. Robots don’t get sick, don’t need vacation time and can’t break the rules. While I’d much rather have a human coworker and friend than a robot, when it comes to buying and selling ad space, these things matters. Programmatic advertising removes slow-computing humans from the equation, making the ad buying process hundreds of times faster, and less likely to involve error. Plus, the programmatic advertising software can make tiny, instant adjustments to campaign variables that humans may not consider, or have the time to change.

Optimization

Robots are far better data analyzers than humans, and programmatic software can adjust dozens of variables within your campaign outlines to optimize the campaign and get your desired ROI. The human side of marketing can set budget, goals, network reach and more, and the programmatic software will run with it to get the best bang for your marketing buck. Say hello to delivering hyper-relevant, cross-channel experiences that increase brand awareness, reduce churn and convert users at break-neck speeds.

Cost

Why hire an expensive, potentially unreliable human to buy and sell ad space when you can get a machine to do it better, and for less? Adopting programmatic advertising will result in a tangible cut of media buying costs, as well as let you budget out your (less-tangible) brain power more efficiently. Not to mention, with a machine at the helm, your campaigns will achieve better ROI than would be possible with campaigns run by their human counterparts.

Campaign Quality

With the tedious tasks handled by programmatic software, your marketing team has the time and energy required to develop strategic tactics, and plan sophisticated, effective marketing campaigns. Each of these complex campaign plans will be carried out by the programmatic software that has the ability to rapidly change tiny variables to get you the best bang for your campaign buck. After each campaign run with programmatic advertising, you’ll also receive detailed, data-filled reports so you can better plan your next campaign.

Who needs programmatic advertising?

We all know that you don’t bring a human to a robot fight. In the digital ad buying world, it’s machines vs machine, and ad space is bought and sold faster than you can blink an eye. Programmatic ad buying can offer hyper-relevant, hyper-targeted display ads to the audience you want to reach. If you want to run display ads online, you’ll want to use programmatic ad buying. Besides, human interaction is so 20th century.

Programmatic advertising is big, and it’s not something that will disappear in the next few years. According to a study from eMarketer, US programmatic digital display ad spending will reach $22.10 billion in 2016. The kingdom is expanding, and overtaking new advertising territory every day. Digiday even called programmatic “the future of ad buying,” so maybe a world of robots and humans living in harmony is more plausible than Terminator had us believe.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a term you’ve most likely heard before. As digital marketing continues to rise, so does the contest for web visibility. If potential customers can’t find you online, you’re missing out on a huge demographic. That’s why we’ve narrowed down five important reasons to use SEO.

1. Website traffic

Traffic is the most important focus of a website other than web design. Up to 64% of website traffic comes from organic search, so if you’re not using SEO tactics, you’re not getting found. The internet is a sea of information; it’s easy for customers to get lost and distracted.

Search engines find your site using crawlers that identify key phrases, then index them for users’ organic searches. If these crawlers can’t find your site, neither can potential customers. And if people don’t find your site, they’re not going to sign up for your newsletter or see your sales.

2. Competitive edge

SEO isn’t new. Most businesses are familiar with it and its importance. It’s very likely that your competitors are already using SEO, which is all the more reason for you to get on board with a strategy of your own. And if you’re focusing on local SEO, the playing field is much smaller.

Local search is becoming more and more important, and finding your niche can put you ahead of competitors focusing on a broader scale. Now’s the time. The longer you wait, the more you risk other businesses cementing their positions and keywords.

3. Better rankings

When over 70% of clicks happen on the first search results page of Google, you don’t want to be past page two. That means that over 70% of users find what they’re looking for on that first page, which is why you need to use SEO to get there.

Using local keywords and having up to date location information are two important steps to take to get Google to notice your site. Be aware of bounce rates, too. If your site doesn’t offer a good user experience, it won’t rank as well.

4. Mobile

Speaking of the user experience, one of the most important factors of website success is whether or not it’s mobile responsive. Responsive web design keeps your HTML and URL the same on web and mobile devices. Google favors websites that are mobile responsive, so take that into consideration when forming your SEO strategy.

5. Inbound marketing leads

SEO and inbound marketing work hand in hand. And while some inbound strategies require lots of attention, SEO requires initial setup, but can then work on its own for awhile. It’s an affordable method of bringing in business. What’s more, effective SEO brings customers to you. You really can’t go wrong.

SEO for ROI

You know why SEO is important for the success of a website and your business overall. Being found in search is one of the best ways to find new customers when they’re seeking out your products or services.

While SEO is increasingly important, maintaining rankings and working to constantly push out competitors is an arduous process. If you don’t have time to stay up-to-date on Google’s algorithm changes, cleaning up meta data, keyword research and link building, consider outsourcing to someone who has this as their main focus.

In the heyday of traditional marketing, attracting and retaining customers was an intimidating task for local business owners to accomplish, especially when the inflated budgets of larger businesses made it difficult to compete. Today, there are many different avenues for business owners to interact with consumers, and social media makes it easier than ever for business owners to reach potential customers through strategic tactics like content marketing.

Content marketing, also referred to as inbound marketing, involves the creation and distribution of relevant content that provides value to your business’s target audience. Content marketing can be shared with consumers in numerous forms: infographics, ebooks, white papers, case studies, how-to guides, etc. The main purpose of content marketing is to offer consumers value by presenting a solution to their needs, thus influencing the buying cycle.

Content marketing and the buying cycle

The main difference between traditional marketing methods and content marketing tactics is how each strategy affects the buying cycle for consumers.

The benefits of pull vs. push in marketing

Traditional push marketing methods like flyers, billboards or commercials seek to influence the comparison and purchase stages of the buying cycle by promoting or offering incentives that make a product or service seem superior to alternative solutions. Content marketing, or pull tactics, aim to increase consumer awareness and provide helpful information about the product or service your business offers as a solution. The beauty of content marketing is that it may lead consumers to recognize a problem or need in their lives that they would have otherwise been unaware of. This will draw them into your business when they are ready to buy, rather than knocking on doors or cold calling to try and convince someone to buy something from you now. Utilizing content marketing tactics in your business’s strategy also introduces several benefits, many of which are long lasting.

The benefits of content marketing

Content marketing serves as a means for your business to attract, inform and engage with consumers. Here are some of the benefits that can accompany an effective strategy:

Brand awareness

Publishing valuable content will lead consumers to discover your business and product offerings as they search for solutions to the problem they are facing. By making content available to consumers, your business will communicate an awareness of consumer needs, humanizing your brand with a personality that is friendly and helpful, as well as creating the opportunity for customers to form a relationship with you.

Brand equity

Content that is relevant to the needs of consumers and offers them a valuable solution establishes your business as a thought leader in your industry, which helps build a trusting relationship with consumers. Attaining this level of credibility will lead consumers to prefer your goods and services over alternative solutions, since they are aware of the unique value proposition offered by your business: that you are the knowledgeable experts in your field.

For example: why do avid cyclists go to smaller specialty bike shops instead of a big box store that offers bikes? Because of the level of knowledge and expertise that the smaller shop offers is something that cannot be easily replicated by the bigger box stores.

This is example is similar to how content marketing can work to increase thought leadership and brand equity for your business. By sharing your expertise in the form of content, you will boost your credibility with customers. They know that they can come to you for solid advice because you have provided them with relevant, helpful information in the past.

Effective long-term results

If the content your business releases is designed to be a mix of time-sensitive and evergreen pieces, your business’s content library will still be relevant to consumers as time passes. High-traffic content will also improve search engine rankings, and the consistent release of content can serve as a continuous source of interested consumers.

Content marketing: the main sell

Content marketing is an effective strategy to interact with consumers and introduce them to your business’s brand. By providing consumers with value before they even visit your store, you are building positive relationships and connections to your brand, resulting in long-lasting customer loyalty and brand equity for your business.

So, you’ve got your Facebook Business page setup and you’re posting regularly. You’ve even got some likes and shares. That’s great! But why stop there? With over 1.79 billion users active on the platform every day, there’s a lot of real estate to cover, and your content can only reach so far without a little help. That’s where Facebook Paid Ads come into play.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is a Facebook paid ad?

According to Facebook, “With Facebook Ads, you can create targeted ads to reach different audiences and meet your business goals.” It seems pretty straightforward, but let us elaborate.

Facebook Paid Ads are a simple and cost-effective strategy for your business to reach a specified demographic. You can promote your custom ads and content to reach an audience of your choosing. What’s more, you can use the ads to collect data that will help you improve the ads to increase their efficiency.

How to build an effective Facebook ad

When you’re building your ad, there are a few important factors to consider:

Choose your audience

Deciding which demographics you want to target is one of the most important parts of optimizing your ad. Choosing a broad range is effective for some businesses, but you’re more likely to see results by narrowing your terms. For example, if you’re selling video games you might want to target men and women between the ages of 15 and 40 with interests in video games and entertainment, since that’s where your customers are likely coming from. If you’ve optimized your audience to your business, you’ll reach people who will want to follow your page.

Create a compelling message

Your Facebook Ad has limited space, so make sure you’re saying exactly what you want to. Are you offering a deal? Hosting an event? Showcasing products? Make your message relevant to your audience and give it a call to action! Don’t forget to add an image, too. Ads with photos are much more likely to attract attention than those without.

Switch it up

Why make only one ad when you can make two? Creating more than one ad gives you multiple sets of analytics so you can determine which ads work and which ones don’t. If you find your ads are working well, it’s still important to switch them up every so often so the message doesn’t stagnate. People get tired of seeing the same thing over and over again, so keep it fresh!

You’re all set to get started! Facebook Ads are a great way to get your products and services in front of potential customers. Facebook has some great resources to help you get started. Even a low ad budget each month can help you attract new customers and find new business. Although Facebook advertising is extremely important, creating and running ad campaigns can be a time consuming project. Consider using our Digital Advertising, and with our reporting, you’ll be able to clearly see the ROI and what you’re getting for you $$.

A business’s reputation used to be what they said about themselves in their advertising and the reach their customers had via word of mouth. Now, consumers are pushing out a company’s reputation and image collectively by providing real-time feedback online through review sites, social media, forums and other channels. Basically, if it is an online source and a consumer can say something about a business on it, then it is a channel where your business’s reputation should be managed.

Digital marketing and online reputation management for businesses

Online reputation management is a part of a greater digital marketing strategy that works alongside review management, business listings, paid search/ads, social media management and SEO to help your business stay competitive and relevant online. While your business should be managing each of these segments of digital marketing to maintain your online presence and, consequently, offline reputation, many businesses are not. They really should: four in five consumers surveyed use search engines to find local information from multiple devices to find store address, business hours, product availability and directions.

Online reputation management: your business has options

Your business’s reputation can be affected at anytime on just about any source across the web. You can use products, such as SaaS, services, such as outsourced support, or people, such as an outsourced or in-house digital marketer, to cut down on your reputation management time expenditure. Even if your business tracks and constantly checks on social media, there may be sources that your business is unaware of such as a new review site from a listing that your business never knew existed.

Your business should weigh the pros and cons of conducting online reputation management in-house or outsourcing, but there are definite best practices when responding to reviews that your business should be aware of. Maintaining your business’s online presence is one of the most worthwhile services a digital agency or local media company can provide your business and is one of the most worthwhile services you can invest in.

Why your business’s online reputation matters

An online reputation needs to be backed by reviews and ratings by consumers. Without them, there would be no reputation to manage and quite frankly, it would appear as if no one ever visited the business.

Ready or not, consumers are talking about your business

Whether a business chooses to manage their reputation online or not, consumers are talking about their favorite and not-so-favorite businesses. If a business simply ignores their reputation online, the consequences can be detrimental.

Unmanaged negative responses can create an angry mob mentality and bad word of mouth spreads like wildfire. While a business may not realize how exactly one instance can affect their online reputation, it is possible that only one negative post on a highly ranked site can actually be what shows up near the top of a search results page when a consumer searches for that business’s name.

Consumers control the conversation and everyone’s feedback matters

Social media is a two-way conversation — businesses can no longer broadcast the message they want people to see. There is a democratic nature to social, with brands, consumers and everyone having an equal voice in a shared space. Customers can rave about a business or let everyone know they had a terrible experience. Social networks have dramatically changed the way businesses communicate. Today, consumers can converse with brands and vice versa as if they were talking to a friend. As a result, businesses have had to become more personable than simply a business entity and manage their social presence in a manner that reflects as such.

Reputation drives conversion

What people see online matters. Approximately 74% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations—this is a huge shift in thinking that has become more prominent as time goes on. This trust in reviews translates to dollars, as customers put their money where their trust is. A Harvard Business School study found that a restaurant that sees a one star increase on Yelp will see revenues increase anywhere from five to nine per cent.

As discussed previously, many businesses find that cultivating their digital profile on their own is too time consuming. There are reputation monitoring tools that make keeping up with customers way easier, saving time and money. Whatever your business does, it is essential that you are not perceived to be ignoring your customers online. The worst thing your business can do is appear unresponsive.

What makes a good online reputation?

Being present and having a good reputation go hand in hand. Not being listed on a reference site customers use is just as bad as having bad reviews on that site. Building a consistent online presence and a positive reputation is important for both consumers and search engines. Some of the most important aspects of the online footprint include:

• Number of business listings
• Consistency of business listing information, including name, address and phone
• Overall sentiment in reviews
• Frequency or current velocity of new reviews
• Overall volume of reviews
• Social activity and engagement, especially with reviewers

Customers now view social recommendations and reviews as more authentic, expecting reviews to be a mirror of the actual customer experience that they would experience themselves. This means that maintaining your business’s online reputation is gaining importance as each review is a perceived snippet of what your potential customer expects to experience.

Online reputation management: the main sell

According to Google, 9 out of 10 of local searches lead to action, with more than 50% leading to sales. If businesses have a good web presence, customers will go to them rather than the competitor. Once they’re in the store, 79% of customers use their smartphones inside to look at reviews or compare prices and 74% of them end up making a purchase. Those numbers alone make the opportunity clear: online reputation management is essential for your business to get consumers in the door to make the sale.

Websites are important for every business. In today’s digital age, having accessible online information is crucial for success. Just having a website isn’t enough, though. What matters is what’s on your website.

Website content needs to be geared toward making the consumer want to interact and engage with it. So, let’s take a look at what not to do when creating an appealing website, and I’ll show you what you should do instead along the way.

You’ve read this far for one of three reasons:

• You want to learn how to optimize your website for the best consumer engagement and interaction.
• You’re worried that your website is ugly and came here for peace of mind that it isn’t.
• You had nothing better to do and the catchy title of this article made you blow a little air out of your nose, which, in today’s digital age, translates to one “lol.”

No matter the reason, you’re here for a solution, so let’s dive right in. Before we discuss any more, take a look at this website: http://thebiguglywebsite.com/. Don’t worry, it’s safe for work!

…

Are your eyes bleeding yet? I wouldn’t blame you.

We know your website can’t possibly look this bad, and we also know that this website is trying to look bad. Now, what are the chances you scrolled down to see what was listed on this site? If they gave out a million dollars at the bottom for clicking a link, chances are that you wouldn’t have walked away with a penny.

Why is this? Consumers don’t want to engage with unattractive content. Think of your own website content for a moment. If somebody looked at it and felt the same way you just felt, do you think they would stay and interact with it? Probably not.

Start by thinking of all the things you’ve hated on websites you’ve visited in the past. Chances are, one or more of these was on your list. If they weren’t, they will be now.

1. Ugly domain

Do you find it easier to go back to a website with a simple domain like website.com, or do you prefer to type in randomwebsite123.org/data0=184/net%/? You may be saying, “But hey, I just Google the name and click on the link!” Sure that might work for you usually, but would you be happy having to find your favorite and most visited websites by Googling them every single day? You’re better off having a website that people can remember if they choose to.

A consumer’s first impression of a website is largely design-related, so don’t you think some of the people in that category want to see a neat and tidy domain? Of course they do!

2. Long loading times

I considered leaving a bunch of blank space here so you would have to scroll down and waste your time to prove my point, but I decided to make you read this sentence instead.

Consumers hate waiting. This is the digital age of instant information. It takes consumers only a split second to form an opinion about your website. That tiny amount of time shouldn’t be spent on a blank loading screen! Even worse than that, if there is a long loading time every time a consumer tries to interact with your website or navigate the different pages, they are going to get increasingly annoyed.

Here is the worst case scenario: You have a consumer who is ready to buy from your online shop, they start gathering up products into their cart, then they get fed up with waiting and instead buy from your competitor. Want to avoid the tragedy? Keep it fast!

3. Complicated or overwhelming interface

Does your website have too many buttons on it? Are people being bombarded with information? People are being trained to ignore huge amounts of website content due to websites crawling with ads. Keep it simple and focus on important topics or focal points that they can engage with.

With plenty of consumers abandoning a site due to poor design, you can’t afford to hide your crucial information in text-garbage. Don’t lose consumers because they can’t find where you hid the crucial information on your jumbled page.

4. Automatic music or videos

Many people listen to music while they work or surf in their free time. If you’ve ever noticed a little speaker icon on the right side of your internet tabs, it means that sound is coming from that page. Many people’s first instinct is to kill that tab because it’s forcing disruptive sound onto their experience, and autoplaying audio or visual content can cause valuable consumers to leave your site.

If you have videos on your main page, great! Just make sure you let people click the play button on their own. At the very least, it will give consumers a chance to silence their other music and video sources before they listen.

5. Website doesn’t scale

Do you always look at a website on your computer, or do you sometimes use your phone or tablet? Don’t you hate it when you’re interacting with website content on your phone and you have to scroll all the way to the right to read the full line and then scroll all the way back for the next line? It’s terrible!

Make sure your website bends and twists to fit every screen—this is called responsive web design, and it’s very important. If people don’t realize your website actually operates differently on their smaller screen, you’ve done something right.

Your website content is one of your most important marketing tools. Whether or not people engage can mean the difference between one dollar and one million dollars in revenue. It’s worth it to take the time to make your website beautiful.

Customer service is about solving the problems of your customers. Now, companies have to manage customer service across multiple channels. When people have a negative experience online, they blame the company. Not responding to customers on review sites and social media is worse than having a phone line that goes unanswered, because there are thousands of people witnessing the neglect.

Whose job is customer service? The truth is, customer service is the responsibility of everyone in your company. Building a brand means delivering on a promise again and again. It means consistency and maintaining effective customer relationships.

The 10 cornerstones to success in digital customer service

1. Respond to reviews quickly

When customers take time to leave a business a review, it’s essential to respond in a timely manner. Nearly nine in ten consumers read online reviews to determine the credibility of a business, and it’s important they see that the business has an active, responsive voice. Not only will other people who visit the review site see the response, but it’s possible those people could share the review and response with their own networks. All reviews should be acknowledged by your business. The only exception to this is star-only rating reviews. These are permitted on Facebook and a few other top review sites.

2. Provide a consistent experience

Depending on the type of product or service that you offer, customers may interact with several people at the company before the final transaction. Your business needs to make sure that throughout the entire experience, that your customers are having positive interactions. The same story should resonate throughout your customer service efforts, and that story should be customer-centric.

Apple is an example of a company that provides a consistent experience throughout their customer funnel. From their website with its sleek, minimalist design to the simple and elegant phone you take home, Apple products and website offer a cohesive experience.

3. Experience your customer journey

Most businesses have put together their online presence somewhat piecemeal—create an account on one social platform, add chat integration to the website, build a blog, expand offerings, etc. While this is the most common way to build out a business, it doesn’t always equal the most seamless customer journey. Go through your buyer’s process. Search for yourself online, look at the website content, sign up for the newsletter, etc. Note any bumps and bruises you find along the way and how you can make the whole experience more cohesive.

4. Use social media as a two-way street

Perhaps the best thing about social media is that it means a sort of democracy for customers and businesses alike—everyone is on the same playing field. While social media can be tiresome, let’s be sure we don’t ruin one of the best things about it—the fact that consumers can have conversations with businesses. Share helpful content, engage with consumers and occasionally share promotional info about your products or services. Asking questions, holding competitions and sharing content relevant to your audience are all good ways to engage with consumers. Don’t just talk, listen.

5. Have a high performing website

People visiting your website are not patient so your business needs to have a webpage and assets that load quickly. Nearly 50% of consumers expect a page to load in two seconds or less, anything longer than that, consumers start dropping off. The abandonment rate for viewers waiting to start up a video is a steady curve up and to the right. When website visitors have a poor experience on a company website, they blame the company, not Google, wifi issues or whatever else may be the problem.

6. Open communication and transparency

Consumers can detect sales-y language from a mile away. It’s best to be direct about your offerings, and even your shortcomings. Nail your sales approach and provide consumers the information they’re looking for. Even if you are unable to solve every problem your customers have, they’ll appreciate your honesty and will be less likely to leave. Set your brand voice, share your truths. Being honest with consumers, even if it appears to be a negative, usually pays off.

7. Get your listings right

Having a thorough understanding of listings is essential in the digital space. Getting business listing information accurate (name, address, and phone number) across the web, though, is one of the most important things your business can do to create a better digital customer service experience. There are many important directory and listing sites. Also, having correct listings with the four major data aggregators (Factual, Acxiom, Neustar-Localeze, and Infogroup) is one of the keys to disseminating accurate listing data across the web.

8. Positive attitude

The power of a positive attitude and its influence on customers should never be underestimated. Optimism is a cornerstone of customer service. Small changes in language and wording can make a huge impact on customers:

Option one: I’m sorry, we won’t have that product in our software this month.

Option two: That functionality will be available at the beginning of next month! Our development team is hard at work on a few other features that are useful to you, as well….

Abrasive or abrupt language is very off putting in customer service, even if it is not directly rude or negative.

9. Use email effectively

Make sure when you email your customers, that you have something to say. The communication should be timely, relevant and helpful. Having an effective call to action is essential—give them a reason to read and engage with the email. An automated newsletter is fine and can be a good piece of communication, but never have a do not reply email.

The heart of digital customer service (number 10)

Your customers may say they want the best product, and that they want it at the best price. While that is true, what they want most is authenticity. Authenticity is delivering on a promise. Authenticity is consistency. Authenticity is digital customer service.

Amazing customer service may seem like a lot of extra work on a short-term basis, but it does improve your brand image and goodwill, which means a lot in the long run. No matter how big or small your business is, you must focus on making your customers happy. There are many ways to do this—with the strength of your product, with free incentives that you can offer or with amazing customer service experiences.

With all the competition out there, succeeding with your business nowadays is a matter of wills. Are you willing to provide the best possible value? Are you willing to offer your customers the perfect customer experience? If you are, then it’s time to get started at improving the customer service experience your company provides. Here are a few important tips to help your company provide your customers the perfect customer service experience.

1. Know your products and services inside and out

No matter the business or industry you’re in, knowing your offerings (products or services) inside and out is absolutely necessary. Customer service is, after all, all about helping your customers succeed with your products or services. Therefore, your customer service should focus on offering the proper suggestions, tips and solutions to ensure that success. Each and every employee (not just customer service) should know the ins and outs of what you’re selling. Helping your employees succeed by providing the proper training (regardless of their job description) is the first step in helping your customers succeed.

2. Be more accessible

If you want your customer service department to strive for success, here’s what you should know—customer service must be readily accessible to all of your customers. One easy way of accomplishing this is setting up more communication channels in which customer can connect with a customer service member when they have a question or issue. The minimum that you can do is to provide a phone number, an e-mail address and a mailing address. If your business can afford it, and really need it, develop an online support desk that can be instantly reached 24/7. This communication channel is usually required when the company reaches a big number of requests and website visitors.

3. Speed up your response times

Customers love quick answers. According to a recent report performed by Frost, 41% of customers suggest that their biggest frustration regarding customer service is when they’re put on hold. They want to be respected, and your company must give your best to solve everyone’s issues quickly.

4. Focus on the customer, not on the sale

Customer service is all about the customer’s feelings and experience. You must focus on their well-being and you must avoid thinking about combining customer service with sales or other aspects of your business. If you want to leverage your customer service system in order to make more sales, I’m sorry to disappoint you: it’s not that effective! The selling side of your business is totally different and you should focus on it separately. Continually work at ways that you can improve the customer experience to keep your customers satisfied and coming back for more.

5. Clear communication

Keep communication simple and ask straightforward questions when communicating with your customers. The truth is that we all communicate differently, so be prepared for communicating with your customers in different ways to ensure that they will understand whatever information you are trying to relay to them. If corresponding by email or online, grammar and spelling must be perfect or your credibility as a professional company will slowly vanish.

6. Over-deliver whenever possible

Over-delivering can help create loyal customers. On average, loyal customers can be worth 10x more than their first purchase. If someone gets treated right, they’ll often come back. They’ll perceive your company as a trustworthy authority or provider; therefore, over delivering from time to time helps your company’s reputation to grow positively. Find a way to reward your customers with a customer service issue for being patient. It could be anything. Nothing costly or hard to obtain. Ideally, this small attention should also deliver some value.

7. Find and fix your mistakes

Mistakes are a part of any business, after all we are all human. Nevertheless, do your best to make things right with your customers. When we’re talking about mistakes, we’re talking about a customer that hasn’t been treated right. Your business can make it right by offering them solutions, returns or future guarantees. Pay attention: if you’re not fixing your mistakes in time, your company’s reputation will suffer. People will start talking, reviewing, and sooner than later you’ll realize that your sales are dropping.

8. Test, fail, test again and ultimately optimize

Before reaching success in a customer service program, every business goes through a trial-and-error process. The marketplace and the customers within any industry tend to become more complicated as an industry ages or becomes more fragmented. If you try out a new product, service, or customer service initiative, don’t be afraid to fail. Know that “failure” isn’t failure, it is merely feedback—it lets you know what not to do so you can start focusing on things that might work. After you find something that works, begin the scaling process. Optimize everything until you find the balance that you’re looking for.

Conclusion

Businesses are always looking for new ways to make a name for themselves and an excellent customer service experience is one of those ways in which a business can afford to get a great reputation in. Competition is almost always growing in any industry and new strategies and actions must be implemented to keep up with the constant flux. Providing the perfect customer experience is just one way for your business to stand out from the crowd, win customers over and keep them coming back. It’s never too early or to late to create a customer service program that turns your customers into repeat customers, or ambassadors of your brand.

Search Engine Optimization—or SEO—is a term that may sound scary at first, but is simple when you break it down. It’s the process of optimizing your online content (website, blog or otherwise) for search engine algorithms like Google’s. Search engine algorithms are what look at all the content on the web, and lay it out on the search engine results pages. This is where your business will get found, or be lost in the world of “second page and beyond.” Your business’ SEO efforts are what determines your SERP (search engine results page) ranking, and consequently, determines how “findable” you are online to your customers.

Still confused? Basically, SEO is the process of tweaking your website, blog and other online content so that Google, Bing and other search engines will put you at the top of the search results page when customers start looking for you online.

Basic SEO terms

SERP

Stands for Search Engine Results Page. The list of results that search engines formulate and present to the user after a search is made. Your SERP rank is where your website/content appears on the list of results.

Backlink

When one webpage hyperlinks to another website; very popular in blogging and creative writing. The more backlinks your website gets, the better your SERP rank!

Keyword

A word or phrase that a consumer enters in search. Your website and content should be optimized to draw in the consumers who are searching for specific keywords. E.g “best hairdresser Texas”

Metadata

Data that tells the search engines what your web page/content is about. This helps the search engine algorithms know if your content is relevant to what the consumer is looking for.

Why does SEO matter to my business?

If you’re thinking “well, that doesn’t matter for my business,” then you’re wrong! Optimizing your website and blog content with the right keywords, meta data and other SEO factors will be hugely beneficial to your business.

If you play your SEO cards right, it will get your business found when customers ask Google and Bing about things relevant to your business. If you’re a Texan hairdresser, SEO can help you be found whether local Texans are searching “www.yourhairdresser.com (you)” or “best hairdresser Texas,” or even “where should I get my hair cut?”!

Here are the four biggest reasons you should care about SEO, no matter what your business is.

Traffic

If one person types in “best hairdresser in Texas” into Google, and your business is at the top, then they’re likely going to click on your name. But there isn’t just one person Googling that term—there are thousands. Each person who clicks on your name from Google is another boost to your website traffic, and more potential business and sales for you! Hello SEO, hello more traffic, hello higher revenue!

Offering helpful solutions for customers

Optimizing your content for specific keywords like “hairstyle tips” or “best hair for my faceshape” means that when a customer goes to Google to find answers to their questions, they’ll find you. Creating a name for yourself in your industry as a helpful, informative brand will improve your reputation, and get more customers flocking your way!

SEO makes marketing easier (and cheaper)

If a customer can find you at the top of Google by typing in “best hairdresser Dallas,” then why would you need to pay for ad space at the top of the page? SEO is what determines where your business appears on Google, so optimizing your content for the search engines just makes sense when it comes to where you spend your marketing bucks.

Don’t give business to your competitors

Still not sure why you should use SEO? Well here’s a big one—if you don’t implement SEO tactics for your business, then it’s your competitors who will be found when local customers go looking. Someone has to be at the top page of Google, right? If you’re not employing SEO tactics for your business, then it will be your competitors who show up when your potential customer turns to Google for advice and answers.

Search Engine Optimization is important to consider when creating and publishing any kind of online content—whether it’s your business website, blog or otherwise. The better your business gets at optimizing your content for SEO, the more likely you are to be seen online, and the more business you’ll get to your storefront!

Telling a small business owner to “assume the perspective of your customer” is one of those classic easier said than done problems. It’s not for lack of trying, but owning a small business isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. And when you put that level of passion and commitment into something, your unique familiarity with it can be tough to shake.

Yet this is the simplest way to quickly optimize your website. By deeply considering your customer’s perspective and buying journey, we can make decisions that put everything in the right place for the customer to easily and quickly complete their interaction with your business and maybe even leave a nice review to boot.

While it’s absolutely essential to have each of these elements be part of your website, the specifics of their presentation need to be in consideration of your specific customer demographics. Most notably will be the difference between information on an online store, where the priority is to drive sales, versus a traditional brick and mortar business, where the priority is to get them to visit you.

The must haves

Contact information

Much of your web traffic will be coming from customers looking to use your website as a tool to communicate with you. Whether by email, phone or in person, the information that helps them accomplish this needs to be a top priority. Placing an easily found “contact us” link in the top right corner of your website is never a bad move. But if your customers aren’t web savvy, consider putting your address, phone number and hours of operation right on the home page. Additionally, if your business location is a little off the beaten path, consider using a map application on your website to help people better understand your location.

Product information

This is a growing priority for small businesses online, as a huge number of searches now happen on mobile with the intent of “in the moment” product research, sometimes even in-store. This means that the more specific information you can have online about what you sell, the better. This may even lead to customer conversions while they are in a competitor’s store.

Keeping an up-to-date and functional product catalog online can be a lot of work, but it is most certainly worthy of consideration given the potential value. This is particularly important if your demographic skews younger and more web savvy.

Business description

Give a quick, easy-to-find snapshot of your business and history available for people interested in learning a little more about you. Keep in mind, if people are looking at this part of your website, they are likely close to buying. Make sure you put in a little marketing effort here to help seal the deal. Make it concise but include things like business history, location, relevant achievements and philosophy. It’s also not a bad idea to include customer testimonials if you have them.

Quicklinks to social channels

Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all great tools to help foster a direct line of communication between your business and its biggest fans. Your website should prioritize getting those follows and likes as easy as possible by installing a quick link widget into the footer or header of your website. That way, no matter where you customer goes on the site they are always one click away from connecting with you on Social.

Content/media

It’s becoming more and more common to see small businesses feature active content strategies and it’s easy to see why:

• Content is authentic – No one likes being sold to, and content is a great way for a business to build a relationship while leaving the hard sell on the shelf.
• Content is made for local – A good content strategy can help a business establish itself as grounded in its local area through authentic stories that are for and about their community.
• Content is hyper-targeted – Based on how you answered the first three questions your website, at least a little, is likely targeting customers at a specific part of the sales funnel. Having a fully realized content strategy allows you to add balance to your site. For example, if your site is designed to drive new sales, perhaps the content can be targeted towards customer retention by adding value to those people already in the fold.

Easy content strategy win = how-to videos

These can be extremely effective and easy to produce. Plus, creating how-to videos gives you the platform to demonstrate your expertise. Double-win if it’s related to your business.

Putting it all together with design

When considering design and layout, it’s completely appropriate to look at it as an opportunity to infuse some of your business’s personality into your website’s look and feel. But heed this warning: design is where it’s most critical to consider the customer’s perspective. Too often small business owners create a website that works perfectly for themselves while failing to consider how it will work for their customers.

Here are two top level considerations when choosing a design.

Mobile functionality is king

This has to be top of mind at every stage of design. While most modern design templates are mobile functional, it’s worth taking second looks at the ones that do it best. And if you haven’t updated your website since the inception of the smartphone, you might want to think about a redesign.

Keep it simple

You may have noticed that this article really pushes the need for priorities. With that in mind, consider putting only the most crucial information on the home page. Your home page must include easy links to: contact info, product info and business description. After that, it becomes really dependent on your goals and objectives. But when considering the perspective of your customer, oftentimes less is more.

Build for speed

By keeping things simple and prioritizing mobile functionality you are likely also building for speed. But this point is critical enough that it bares repeating. Your site needs to be fast! According to a study from Forrester Consulting 40% of shoppers will wait no longer than 3 seconds of load time before abandoning a retail website. As well, Google uses load time as factor in determining your search rank so a slow site might even be keeping customers from finding you when they look online.

Final thoughts

All in all, it’s a pretty swell time to be building a website for your business. Hosting is cost effective and secure, design templates have never looked nicer, and there is plenty of great content out there to help guide you through the process. But if you are ever curious if your website is serving you well, just follow this tip from Kevin Lao at Google: take out your phone, pull up your site and ask yourself “do you like what you see?” Now go to your closest competitor’s site and ask yourself the same question. Your answer will tell you all you need to know.

In the table below, U.S. Ranking, % U.S. Traffic and Average Monthly U.S. Traffic (unique visitors) data are sourced from Alexa. Businesses should strive to get business reviews on business review websites that are going concerns, review sites that people know about and go to, and that are relatively friction-less because consumers already have logins or can easily leave a review.

Getting to Know the Top 10 Review Sites

No 1 review site: Google

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 158.03 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1
Business reviews for: any business

Google My Business is a free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. Google My Business puts business data on Search, Maps and Google+. Google customer reviews show up in search and are known to bolster SEO, so they are essential to the credibility of all businesses. Your business should aim to be on Google’s snack pack in order to be readily found when consumers perform a local search.

No 2 review site: Facebook

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.57 million
US ranking (Alexa): 3
Business reviews for: any business

Facebook is a social networking platform where users can create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and follow their favorite businesses and brands. Since customers are connecting more with brands online, it is pertinent that your business is actively monitoring your social media mentions on social media platforms at all times. Facebook is gaining momentum toward being one of the most popular business review sites. Most users on the site already have a Facebook account, so the process to leave a business review is relatively friction-less.

No. 3 review site: Amazon

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 4
Business reviews for: e-commerce related transactions

Amazon is a popular go-to business review site for e-commerce products. For companies who do any amount of e-commerce, Amazon is a key source of information. While Amazon as a review website is more targeted and fitting for Amazon marketplace partners, it is a worthy site to note, especially for retailers about what customers like about certain products and how the service aspect of transactions were handled.

No. 4 review site: Yelp

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 40.47 million
US ranking (Alexa): 52
Business reviews for: any business

Yelp is a review website where users can publish reviews about local businesses. Yelp has become a name synonymous with business reviews, as the site has over 102 million reviews and counting. As the world’s largest outlet for online customer reviews grows, it might be time for all small businesses to start caring about what consumers are saying online; and more specifically, about their Yelp reviews.

No. 5 review site: TripAdvisor

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 28.27 million
US ranking (Alexa): 88
Business reviews for: any business

TripAdvisor is a travel website company where users can leave business reviews of places they’ve visited. Users can also book rooms, find flights, discover things to do, and reserve tables at participating restaurants. TripAdvisor operates websites internationally in over 25 countries.

No. 6 review site: Yellowpages

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 10.5 million
US ranking (Alexa): 402
Business reviews for: any business

YellowPages is an online internet yellow pages directory owned by YP. YP is a local marketing solutions provider that focuses on helping local businesses and the communities within grow. Companies can manage their reviews on the review site after claiming a free business listing on their page.

No. 7 review site: Better Business Bureau

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.15 million
US ranking (Alexa): 824
Business reviews for: any business

The Better Business Bureau aims to help people find and recommend businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. Based on a business rating review system, BBB educates consumers and assists people in finding trusted businesses. The Better Business Bureau tries to protect consumers from fraudulent businesses or scammers. Company profiles on BBB contain a short company bio and a history of complaints made about the business, as well as an A–F rating.

No. 8 review site: Manta

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.48 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,002
Business reviews for: any business

Manta is an online small business service directory, search engine, and review site that provides small businesses with the information to network. The site helps small businesses connect and grow through their community where users can buy from, partner with, and connect to companies.

No. 9 review site: Angie’s List

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 5.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,150
Business reviews for: service related businesses

Angie’s List is a service listing and review website that offers user-based rankings and reviews of service professionals in local areas. Because Angie’s List is a paid review site, it is known to be less filled with rambling reviews from customers and spam. Members grade companies using a report card scale from A-F on price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality, and professionalism. Angie’s List is divided by categories such as house, auto, health, pets, and services.

No. 10 review site: Foursquare

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 3.67 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,561
Business reviews for: any business, mostly restaurants

Foursquare is a local search and discovery service mobile app. The app helps users discover new places and businesses through other Foursquare business reviews. Users can let friends know where they are and find out where their friends are. In any case, with 55 million monthly active users, Foursquare is a powerful force to monitor customer loyalty and feedback.

Customer reviews are one of the most trusted signals people use when deciding whether to work with a business. That trust depends on honesty. When a company removes or filters too many reviews, potential customers often notice, and the business can lose credibility before the sales conversation ever starts.

Why Your Business Needs to Stop Removing Reviews

1) People can tell your business is filtering the reviews.

68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, according to Econsultancy. Customers are more review savvy than ever and can spot when things look too good to be true. Reevoo research found that 95% of consumers suspect censorship or faked reviews when they do not see any bad scores.

2) It looks fishy, like your business has something to hide.

30% of consumers assume online reviews are fake if there are no negative reviews. BrightLocal also found that only 8% of consumers expect a business to have a 5-star rating before they will consider using it. If there are only five-star reviews on a review site, customers may assume the business is grooming reviews because it has something to hide.

3) Reviews that are removed will only anger customers trying to share their experience.

If your business does not allow or encourage reviews, customers who have something to say, good or bad, may find it odd that they cannot leave feedback. Customers can still leave reviews for unverified listings and profiles, so just because your business cannot see the bad reviews does not mean they do not exist.

4) It looks like your business does not value customers enough to win them back.

If your business does not allow feedback, it can appear that you do not really care about customers or value customer service. Customers like to see businesses that are open to feedback, especially businesses that listen closely enough to try to win customers back.

5) It does not give your business an opportunity to win back trust.

If a review is not published, it can be infuriating to customers. If your business did fail the customer, the review gives you a chance to respond, make the situation right, and possibly win them back. Because your response is public, other customers can also see that you care about how people are treated.

6) Businesses miss out on valuable feedback to improve.

While customers can sometimes have unrealistic expectations, many reviews provide helpful feedback about possible oversights. Oversights happen to the best of us, and there is always room for improvement.

Situations When It Is Okay to Gate Reviews

There are situations when it is acceptable for your business to filter out which reviews are published or to flag a review for removal.

1) When the review contains graphic material or inappropriate language.

If the review contains explicit language, graphic material, or inappropriate content, it is reasonable to flag it as inappropriate. Many review sites already monitor this type of content, but if they miss it, your business can report it.

2) When reviews are irrelevant to your business.

If a review does not mention or provide context about your business, products, or services, it may not be a true review. Sometimes customers leave reviews when they really want to ask a question. If it does not add meaningful customer context, it is acceptable to suppress or report it.

3) When reviews are spammy or someone is plugging another business.

If a review is unrelated to your business, is obviously spam, or is promoting another company, it should not remain published as a legitimate customer review. This can also happen when a reviewer mistakes your business for a direct competitor.

4) When the review is fake or planted by a competitor.

In the case of review fraud, it is acceptable to suppress, dispute, or remove the review. Unfortunately, reviews are sometimes used as blackmail, and this behavior is one reason why reputation management software and active review monitoring are so important. If you need help determining whether a review may be fake, tools like Review Skeptic, backed by research from Cornell University, can be helpful.

Again, Please Do Not Review-Stuff

Review-stuffing happens when a business owner or related party promotes the company as if they were an ordinary customer. These reviews often include unusually specific detail and may be much longer than a normal customer review. Many readers skim over them, and worse, they can make the business look less trustworthy.

How Can Your Business Practice White-Hat Review Management?

Here is a simple, ethical process your business can follow:

• Provide exceptional customer experiences.
• Ask customers to leave a review through in-store signs, surveys, email follow-ups, or direct requests.
• Read and analyze each review.
• Decide whether the review meets valid criteria to suppress, flag, or remove.
• If the review clearly violates guidelines, remove or report it and document why.
• If the review does not violate guidelines, keep it published.
• Respond to the review.
• If the review is positive, thank the customer for their feedback.
• If the review is negative, try to move the conversation offline, remedy the situation, and win the customer back.

White-Hat Review Management Visual Guide

The high-road approach is simple: encourage honest feedback, evaluate reviews fairly, respond professionally, and only remove content when it clearly violates acceptable standards.

Why It Is Best to Take the Review Management High Road

At the end of the day, people can often tell when a business is grooming its reviews and only allowing overly positive feedback to appear. From a consumer perspective, it is better to see a healthy mix of reviews: mostly positive, with some negatives as well. As long as a business responds to customers and follows proper review management protocols, that openness can say more about the company than a perfect wall of five-star ratings ever could.