Top Ten Tips for Growing Your Business in 2019
A valuable list to help you reach your business goals before the year is up
By Clay Dellos
What are your business goals for 2019?
A great way to grow your business is to write down clear, measurable and attainable goals for your business
This year is rapidly coming to an end. It is time to reevaluate your business goals and find opportunities for improvement. Before your time runs out we have compiled a top ten list to help you sprint to the finish line and get those goals accomplished.
1. Claim and optimize your key local business listings
- Google My Business
- Bing Places for Business
- Yahoo Local Listing
Pro Tip: Include the keywords you want to rank for in your ‘About’ section on each listing
2. Upgrade your website
- Optimize for mobile
- Improve your website speed
- Make sure your website is secure
- Add testimonials to build social proof
- Optimize for customer experience & conversions
- Embed the map from your Google My Business Page
Pro Tip: Upgrading from a “starter website” or enhancing your existing site will improve your online traffic and offline traffic as many customers often checkout your website before calling you or going to your store.
3. Ramp up your reviews
- Let the customer know that their opinion is valuable
- Over deliver on service and engage with your customers
- Ask for reviews in person when possible
- Request reviews within a week of the business transaction
- Engage your employees to ask for feedback
- Respond to all online reviews you receive
Pro Tip: Create review request templates in text message & email formats with direct links to your key review pages to make the process easy for you and your customers
4. Get more free traffic through Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Identify keywords that your customers are searching for
- Optimize your page titles, content, tags and meta descriptions to match those keywords
- Use schema markup to increase visibility & click through rate
- Add images and use alt text
Pro Tip: Include your location when optimizing for keywords (e.g. Plumber in McKinney, TX)
5. Get better results from Social Media
- Repurpose your content across social media platforms. A single Facebook post can easily be used on Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other valuable platforms
- Post your content and images to your Google My Business page for increased traffic and improved search rankings
Pro Tip: Mix in posts with customer testimonials and posts highlighting the services you offer
6. Make sure customers can find your business on the four main mapping apps
- Google maps
- Apple Maps
- Waze
- Mapquest
Pro Tip: You can optimize these map listings with your website url and business information for for increased traffic and improved search rankings
7. Test targeted digital advertising
Try out different platforms for digital advertising. Each business is unique in turn each platform for digital advertising are too. Depending on what your business specializes in different platforms tend to work better than others. Pay attention to your analytics and look for trends to help decide on the best platform or platforms.
- Google ads
- Facebook ads
- Linkedin ads
- Instagram ads
- Youtube ads
Pro Tip: Create multiple ad types and use A/B tests to determine which ads deliver the most bang for your buck
8. Build your brand
- Find your target audience and determine their needs
- Analyze your competition to gain insights on your advantages and opportunities
- Pick your focus – Don’t try to be everything to everybody
- Choose your look: What are the colors and fonts you like?
- Design your logo
- Create your slogan
Pro Tip: Let your personality and what makes you different shine through in your branding
9. Build your email list
- Try offering different freebies that bring value to potential customers – Like the checklist at the end of this article 🙂
- Add an email opt in form to your website
- Add an exit pop up to your website to capture people’s email before they go
Pro Tip: Keep your email list engaged by providing valuable content instead of constant sales pitches
10. Find Strategic Partners
- If you offer services that are complementary to someone else’s services, look for opportunities to better serve your customers while growing your businesses together.
- Consider joining a networking group and/or your local Chamber of Commerce
Pro Tip: The best way to network and build relationships is to find ways to help people. Taking ten minutes to setup/fix something for someone you meet is an infinitely better approach to building relationships than exchanging business cards and making awkward small talk.
Ready to get started?
Use this top ten list as a checklist to grow your business. It’s best to jot down your strengths first, looking at your strengths before you start digging into all the things you need to do can help you stay positive and more productive. Next, jot down notes you were thinking about as you read this article. Pick the most important item and hit the ground running. Get going and achieve those goals today!
If you would like our free Top Ten Tips for Growing a Successful Business in 2019 checklist sign up for our email list and be the first to learn free business tips from the Dellos Marketing Blog.
If you need to spend less time worrying about growing your business online, give us a call today. Freeing up your time to scale your business can be a game changer. Let Dellos Marketing help you with your local seo so you can create more opportunities for your business.
If you have any additional questions or need help with growing your business online give us a call at (214) 560-4483 or email us at info@dellosmarketing.com.
