When you run a service-based business it can be a struggle to know when and where to advertise and how to get people viewing your website. A lot of people depend on word of mouth advertising which can be great, but depending on your service and location can bring up some errors. We are here to show you how to increase traffic to your service-based small business.
Define Your Service-Based Business?
Your business might be providing online services like web design, online tutoring or writing. However, it may offer face-to-face services like child-care, plumbing or garden design. Perhaps you need to use both, like accounting or animal behaviour services, were you might be able to offer some of your work online but not all of it.
It is important that you have a firm idea of what you can offer people. Last year, more businesses went online than ever before. People found they could work from home in the most unlikely of roles, and the majority of the workforce found a way through the chaos and pushed through the problems of the pandemic. There are more businesses than ever before offering services online and customers that want to use them. Try and offer something of an online service if you can, whatever you do. This is the first port of call to drive traffic to your business.
Get a Good Website
If you run a service-based business that ran mainly on word of mouth advertising before, chances are you have an outdated website. This kills sales.
Take a good look at your web provider and make sure you are getting the most from them. If you can, install a plug-in and optimise your search engine visibility by adding keywords and a certain format to your site.
Find some great UX tools to improve user’s experience on your site, for example, use beautiful and eye-catching images from a royalty-free image site.
Rebrand
Design a logo that represents your service-based business and post it on your website and social media pages. You do not have to do a full rebrand but try to put yourself forward as something refreshing or new. A new logo and some great graphics can do this.
Remember, the customer is always right, and be friendly when you are speaking to them online. Have an exciting voice for your brand and be the person that customers love to interact with.
Social Media
Sign up to the social media sites that other businesses of your ilk are also on. Check out how they work and do some real research into how to use them if you don’t already know. Post a lot of new and interesting content through your website blog and onto your social media sites. Post other visual content directly onto your socials and try to keep your pages as active as possible.
Links
Put links to your website everywhere. People can’t visit your site if they can’t find it. Be sure to add a link to your website on every personal page, social site, email and poster you put up. Put it on your business cards and tell your loyal customers about it too. Let them know it would help you out if they shared it with their friends.
Competitions
Create some competitions and giveaways that entice people to get to know your business. You don’t have to give away anything expensive and work whatever it is into your yearly budget. People love to get things for free and to win at competitions. They will often promote your business a lot and will draw people to want to share their personal information with you. This means you will end up with more of a way to advertise.
Being a service-based business does not mean that you don’t need an online presence. Everyone does these days. Get started and each day it will get easier as you make new jumps in understanding.
