It’s important to remember that your marketing matters for lead generation. Let’s look at cleaning up your online presence and sprucing up what you are doing online to make your business thrive and grow. It’s really a good idea for every business to spend time bi-annually or quarterly tidying up their online presence and monitoring their online reputation on a daily/weekly basis.

With all the jobs you have lined up that may seem like a daunting task, but it is an essential cog. Try these simple tips for spring cleaning your business’s “online house” and make your business shine!

CraftJack can help you find leads in your area. Sign up with Craftjack today and connect with homeowners near you.

Search Yourself Online

Google your business and find out what comes up when you do. Find out if your NAP (name, address, phone number) across various locations including Google Business, Facebook, Yelp, ImproveNet, and other review sites are formatted the same way as they are listed on your website. Make sure that your business’s information is consistent all the way across the board because search engines need that uniformity to find you and so do your customers. If you are James & John’s Electrical, make sure that on other sites it isn’t listed as James’s & John’s Electrical, or J&J’s, or J&J’s Electrical. Each listing needs to be the same, even down to the apostrophe.

CraftJack makes it easy to monitor your online presence. Ask your account manager about the new Reputation Manager tool.

Analyze Your Website

Our first go around and even our tenth go around with our website may not be perfect. Continual evaluation and upgrades to your website are a good spring habit for maintaining a positive online reputation. Try these upgrades:

•  If your website consists of a landing page, consider adding an informational FAQ page or a help page with tips for basic problems that many homeowners experience. 
• Use your website to build relationships by offering information and content that will build trust and endear you to your future and present customers. If you talk to a customer who has a basic DIY problem that can be handled with a few easy tips, why not post that on your site? The next time that customer has a big problem that only a professional can remedy, guess who they will call!
•  Checking out your direct competitors’ websites and even better yet, people in your industry that are killing it, are good ways to improve your site and build your online presence in positive and effective ways. 
• Also, take a look at the aesthetics of your website. Does it look outdated? If your website is outdated, customers may wonder about what else is outdated? Think about the impression your website gives to online visitors. 
• Consider updating pictures, fonts, graphics, and even your logo on a routine basis. Again, take a look at the competition and leaders in the industry. Compare their websites to your website. A professional, well-maintained site gives consumers the impression that you care about your reputation and the quality of work that you do!

Manage Your Online Reputation 

One of the most important ways for you to manage your online reputation is to respond to reviews about your business and services. 

• Regardless of whether they are positive or negative, they have to be addressed so that you can provide context to the situation and address and fix mistakes that may have been made. 
• Address bad reviews right away. Consider that sometimes a bad review and the changes that are made because of it can be more of a reputation builder than even positive reviews. Owning up to a mistake or problem and letting readers see how you rectify the situation says a lot about your professionalism. Let’s face it, we are humans, and humans make errors. Say something like, “I am really sorry things could have really have gone better, and thank you for letting us fix it.”
• Some bad reviews aren’t legitimate so addressing them sooner than later is key! Some businesses have been impacted by trolls who are trying to sabotage your reputation, and you need to address those concerns immediately. Sometimes, there may just be a case of mistaken identity, so addressing that review early is important.
• Address good reviews too! It takes effort to leave a positive review; you want to thank those customers who do take the time!
•  Also, it is very important to make a concerted effort to solicit positive reviews from people who are happy with your services. They are your greatest marketing tool.

Email Is Still Relevant

In fact, according to HubSpot, 99% of people still check their email at least once a day! It is still an effective tool for building your online presence and managing your reputation. Here are a few tips:

• Give them what they want! Send an email with important tips and information that your loyal customers have asked for in the past.
• Don’t overdo it with too many emails– once a week at the most (we all know what it is like to get a daily email from a business)
• Use it for promotions– 10% off service, an Independence Day promotion, a new product, etc…
• Make it entertaining– build trust and relationships by sharing funny pictures and stories that your customers can relate to and helps make you and your business human and real. 
• Don’t use a caption that isn’t real There is nothing more annoying than to read and click on a title that sounds intriguing and then find out that the email really has nothing to do with the title. It is frustrating to customers and won’t do anything to improve your online reputation.
• Try an email platform– There are email platforms that you can use, many that are free, that will help you to plan your emails and send them on a consistent timeline. Most even provide analytics for how many people opened the email, how many clicked on the promotional button, the website link, or booked an appointment.
• Annual Contracts and Inspections – use email to remind clients that it is that time of year for an air conditioner inspection or it is time to renew their landscaping contract for the following winter.
• Pandemic News – Let them know how you are managing during this time. Inform them of new business practices, safety precautions, new hours, and even give them some encouraging words about the future and how you are here for them.

Let CraftJack Help

You can manage your online presence on your own, but sometimes it is a good idea to ask for help so you can do what you are best at, your trade! When you use CraftJack to manage your online reputation, we send your clients an email at the end of a project and solicit feedback. You do your part by letting your clients know the email will be coming and asking them to complete the review as well as share your business with friends and family.

Don’t worry if this all seems like too much! Monitoring your online presence doesn’t have to be done all at once. Start small and tackle a little here and a little there and in no time, your business’s reputation will be spick and span.