Rival Solutions Inc. provides effective outreach solutions for customer acquisitions. They serve clients across Mount Airy, Shrewsbury, Manchester, Maryland. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website this week - www.rivalsolutionsinc.com

We wish the team at Rival Solutions Inc. the very best of success!

CANVISAS offers immigration services to clients across Canada, India, Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, South-East Asia, USA and the rest of the world. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website -  www.canvisas.ca

We wish everyone at CANVISAS the best of success!

Hustle Training 360 offers personal training services to clients across West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Florida. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website -  www.hustletraining360.com

We wish everyone at Hustle Training 360 the best of success!

Urban Construction and Development offers residential, commercial & industrial construction, building, and remodeling services across Oakville, Mississauga, GTA. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website -  www.urbancd.com

We wish everyone at Urban Construction and Development the very best of success!

The makeup artists at Michael Fels Beauty | Hair & Makeup provide hair and makeup services across Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, and the rest of the Lower Mainland in BC. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website -  www.michaelfels.com

We wish everyone at Michael Fels Beauty | Hair & Makeup the very best of success!

Clean Energy Experts at Paragon Executives offers the best Renewable Energy Solutions for every business and home across Pennsylvania, New Jersey. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.paragonexecutivesinc.com

We wish everyone at  Paragon Executives the best of success! 

Just Breathe offers hair regrowth solutions across Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford, Cambridge, Mississauga, Toronto, Kitchener ON. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.justbreatheholistics.com

We wish everyone at Just Breathe the best of success! 

Sky Business Solutions is a sales and marketing firm offering business development, direct sales, and marketing services to clients across New York & New Jersey. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website last week - www.skybusinesssolutioninc.com

We wish everyone at Sky Business Solutions the very best of success! 

Everlasting Moments offer wedding photography and videography services to clients across Pickering, Toronto & Mississauga in Canada and Detroit & West Bloomfield Township in the USA. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.everlastingmoments.com

We wish everyone at Everlasting Moments the best of success! 

LA Studios Million Dollar Tan delivers the most personalized spray tanning services across Canada. They ensure a unique experience and bring the finest, newest, and safest product lines available. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website last week - www.lastudios.ca

We wish everyone at LA Studios Million Dollar Tan the very best of success! 

Reviews are an integral part of branding. They not only fuel your SEO for a privileged ranking on Google, but they simultaneously secure trust and confidence in your products and services. Reports suggest that over 90% of consumers consider online reviews before making a purchase decision.

At the same time, the quality of your reviews and the frequency of positive and negative reviews further impact their decision to pursue or abandon a businesses’ products or services. The date and time of your latest reviews also matter, so if you aren’t working to collect new reviews, it’s time you get started.

To help you get right to it, the marketing experts at Webware.io have listed the following tried and tested techniques to collect business reviews online and boost your business through brand reputation management.

1. Set up accounts on trusted review platforms. 
Different people use specific platforms to research businesses. While some prefer Facebook, others choose Google Reviews, Yelp, or BBB. By launching your business presence on different review sites like these, you can ensure your brand receives more visibility.

2. Make it easy for clients to leave reviews. 
One way to do this is to integrate review platforms like Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, etc. with your website. Another is to bring the review platform to your client via email. When you email your clients review invites, you can include links to the review platforms you’re present on.

Similarly, you can request feedback through regular newsletters by including a link under your signature. Other means of communication are useful too, like text messages or Facebook messenger to direct your clients to your reviews page.

3. Time your review requests and reminders. 
If you wait a few days after delivering a product or service, the client will have sufficient time to try it out and identify the things they like most about your products or services. If your brand gets tagged on social media, you can use it as an opportunity to claim a review. In case you don’t get an immediate response from your clients, and you can remind them to review you after a few days. You can also ask for reviews after a repurchase or re-order. 

4. Respond to reviews - positive and negative.
As we’ve mentioned, before choosing a product or service, most people look through reviews and ratings to ensure they’re making a rational investment. That means your response to customer reviews will be visible to them, too. Many people appreciate a company that’s interactive with clients. It makes them feel valued and encourages clients reading to choose you and review you after a purchase. At the same time, when you get negative reviews, you can use it as an opportunity to show your clients that you appreciate their honesty and offer resolutions to their grievances.

While many business owners are tempted to get rid of negative reviews or reply to them defensively, it’s not the best strategy. To learn How To Deal With Negative Reviews On Social Media, please click here.

5. Share reviews with clients.
When you get positive reviews on different review platforms, you can highlight them as helpful reviews. You can even send them to your new customers by email or via text message asking your clients if they had a similar experience and if they’d like to share it. You can even ask if they are willing to help more people make a choice between you and other businesses. Showing people enthusiastic reviews can motivate them to write similar insightful reviews, and convince potential clients to purchase a product or enlist your services.

How Webware can help!
Your online reviews reflect your reputation in the market. They determine your commitment to positive customer experiences and decide where you rank in the market. That makes reputation management a vital component of your digital marketing strategy.

As a digital marketing expert, Webware.io provides you with different review collection strategies to build your reputation online. We take the time to understand your business and plan actions for fruitful results. Besides reputation management marketing services, we offer an array of other digital marketing services to ensure your online presence is well-established to leverage higher conversions.

To learn all about our services and complete digital marketing tool kit, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here.

Esquire Canada Immigration and Education (“Esquire”) is an innovative Canada immigration and education consulting company serving clients in Hong Kong & Toronto. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.esqedu.com

We wish everyone at Esquire Canada Immigration and Education (“Esquire”) the best of success!

Millennium Strategies Inc. is a sales, advertising, and marketing firm focused on building relationships for clients looking to expand. They serve clients across Cleveland, Ohio. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website last week - www.millenniumstrategiesinc.com

We wish everyone at Millennium Strategies Inc. the very best of success! 

Jennifer McLean Mortgages offers various Mortgage Services to clients across Calgary, Airdrie, and Chestermere, Alberta. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website last week - www.jennifermcleanmortgages.com

We wish everyone at Jennifer McLean Mortgages the best of success!

As a leading website design and web development company in Toronto, we understand that social commerce is a powerful e-commerce technique to promote and sell products and services through social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Interestingly, Yahoo! introduced the term ‘Social Commerce’ way back in 2005. Back then, it revolutionized the way we looked at buying and selling goods and services on the internet. Before Yahoo! made the term famous, social commerce was confined to the setting up of online collaborative shopping tools such as shared pick lists, user ratings, other user-generated content, sharing of online product information and advice based on user reviews to make informed decisions on online purchases on eBay, Amazon, etc.

Today, social commerce has evolved into a more socially interactive concept where users of social networks can directly buy and sell goods and services from their social profiles through social media marketing and a focused digital marketing strategy. Today, social commerce has become more interactive and engaging rather than just being a facilitator of information that aides transactions on e-commerce websites.

How do social networks use Social Commerce to help marketers boost sales?

Pinterest is an excellent example of social commerce done right. It allows marketers to research audiences, competitors, design ‘Buyable Pins’ to facilitate purchases directly from the Pinterest post.

Facebook also facilitates social commerce via Facebook shop. Marketers can connect an e-commerce platform to Facebook or upload their product category manually. E-commerce platforms like BigCommerce help marketers easily sync a product catalog with Facebook. 

Instagram is also emerging as a very popular social commerce platform for marketers. If you are an e-shop or an online products seller, Instagram’s ‘Checkout’ is your best friend. ‘Checkout,’ is a function that enables people to browse images and videos of items in their feed and purchase directly from the app, without being redirected to a website.

Does Social Commerce offer anything else?

There are a plethora of options that social commerce offers and content to conversions are just the tip of the iceberg. Technology has already opened up new and exciting avenues for e-commerce, which help boost social commerce as well.

Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality have also been integrated with social commerce to enhance customization and personalization, allowing shoppers to visualize apparel items on themselves and solicit feedback through social media tools.

The days of actually going to a store and walking around buying things may soon be a thing of the past as virtual walk-throughs are here. Virtual stores and shops are a next-gen shopping platform, where users, sitting in their cozy living rooms, are taken on a virtual tour of a virtual shop - a virtual replica of an actual shop.

Here buyers can click on the products they want to buy, try them on, test them, and get more information and then place an order for it to be delivered to their homes.

Travel companies are also experimenting with social commerce to sell holiday packages. A virtual reality tour of a holiday destination to facilitate a booking can be an exciting new way of enthralling holiday goers with exciting travel deals. Show them what they will experience, on a tropical cruise, or on an underwater scuba diving experience to explore the seas. Holiday goers can also share their virtual experience on social networks and seek reviews or influence other holiday enthusiasts to experience the virtual tour and book one for themselves.

The Bottom Line

If used correctly, social commerce can have a snowball effect on your business and rake in sales and conversions. However, to make the best use of social commerce, and leverage social networks effectively and efficiently, you need the help of a digital marketing company like Webware.io.

With a well-defined digital marketing strategy and targeted social media marketing, you can either leverage our digital marketing toolkit to boost your sales or let us do the heavy lifting for you.

To learn more about our services and how we can help boost your small or medium-sized business, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here.

Caregivers in Canada in association with DIS Canada Ltd. help families find caregivers for their loved ones. They serve clients across Oshawa, Toronto, Guelph, Waterloo, Kitchener & Hamilton, ON. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their beautiful website - www.caregiversincanada.ca

We wish everyone at Caregivers in Canada the very best of success! 

Preferred Carpet Cleaning & Floor Care specialize in carpet cleaning and floor care services in Atlanta, GA. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website last week - www.preferredcarpetandfloors.com

We wish everyone at Preferred Carpet Cleaning & Floor Care the very best!

As more businesses join the online revolution, getting noticed on the internet has become tougher. If you’ve recently launched your website, you’ve probably experienced the same struggle. Besides the competition online, search engines like Google control what’s displayed to internet users. They use a special algorithm that ensures relevant results are displayed to people based on words used in their search queries or search terms.

To hack this algorithm and boost your digital presence, you may have come across search engine optimization (SEO). SEO involves a set of practices that help search engines recognize your content (online presence) and its relevance to specific search queries. The more relevant your content is to a search, and the more prominent your online presence is, the higher your ranking will be on Google.

However, one aspect most businesses fail to consider is that search engines change their algorithm regularly to improve search result quality. As a result, your SEO techniques must be tweaked from time to time to match the new ranking criteria.

To get you up-to-date with the latest SEO practices to help you rank better online, we’ve listed five ways to boost your visibility online.

1. Update website content.

The number one driver behind your Google ranking is quality content. But, to go from showing up somewhere in Google search results to ranking on the first page, it’s essential to enrich your content with keywords. (That is words or a collection of words which people use in search queries.) After researching the best keywords for your business, you need to place them throughout your website strategically. You can then conduct a website analysis to see which keywords get you traffic. Accordingly, you can update your website content through the addition of new pages with these keywords in focus.

While creating content for your website, make sure to avoid using keywords excessively (keyword stuffing), as Google could penalize your site. Adding genuine content that’s helpful to visitors can improve your site’s authority and relevance. Regularly updated website content is also viewed as an indicator of relevancy, and a website’s attempt to enhance the visitor experience.

2. Get listed in website directories.

Another way to improve your ranking is to leverage the popularity of online directories and review sites like Google My Business. As a popular directory, Google My Business helps people find businesses and enables businesses to be found. The website directory goes beyond basic website listing by allowing people to review and rate companies based on their experience. Besides reviews, there are more details that the Google directory puts on display. For example, when searching for CPAs in Toronto, Ontario, the Google results display a list of CPAs registered with Google My Business. These listings include reviews, addresses, contact details, timings, and a link to each business website. That way, people can find your business easily, get the gist of your operations, and communicate with you instantly.

Listing on other directories like Yelp, Angie’s List, and Whitepages works a bit differently. When people look for businesses like yours online, these directories may get listed in search results, and when clicked on they can lead people to websites listed in your industry.

3. Blog about what matters.

Blogs are a great way to get better listings on Google and stay relevant online. They give you the flexibility to use the same keywords multiple times as you can cover numerous topics related to your business in detail. 

The only challenge with blogging is selecting topics that provide content that is both informative and interesting. With the right topic, you can either inspire your readers or become a solution provider to innumerable people.

Unique and useful information is the kind of content people look for today as there are several blogs online with identical information in different packaging. To create unique content, your blogs should contain actionable details that readers can put into use and benefit from. The way you present your content matters too. Long-form blogs that are saturated with text can increase your ranking but also your bounce rate, which could negate the advantages of blogging.

4. Collect reviews from clients.

People need assurance that they are making the right choices when purchasing products and services, and company reviews and reputations play a significant part in this. Similarly, online reviews communicate to search engines the authority and trustworthiness of a website as Google wants to offer users the cream of the crop in its top results. Reviews from clients also help businesses improve their SEO as reviews contain valuable keywords. For this reason, it is vital to encourage clients to review your products and services online.

5. Understand website reports.

The primary purpose of website reports is to analyze what happens on your website. These reports tell you which keywords are bringing in the traffic, which web pages are performing the best, which blogs have the highest views, and also how visitors have accessed your website. All of these details are crucial as they help you see where to improve your SEO strategy. They indicate which keywords you need to focus on, what kind of content your audience enjoys, and which platforms you audience prefers using to learn more about you. With this information, you can then test new content strategies, AdWord campaigns, and other online promotions to redirect traffic from Google or other search engines to your website.

Setting up your SEO strategy

Now that you’re all caught up with the latest SEO hacks, it’s time to put them into practice to launch your online presence to the forefront of the industry. However, to boost your visibility through these practices, you must understand that they aren’t one time activities. Search engine optimization is a continuous process, irrespective of the methods you use. That means you must regularly dedicate time towards your SEO. To learn more about how to derive success for an SEO campaign, please read our previous blog by clicking here. 

Keep in mind that failing to commit your time towards nurturing your digital growth, will hamper your online visibility. To prevent this from happening to your business, reach out to Webware.io for all your online ranking and visibility needs. As specialists in digital marketing, we are dedicated to helping you achieve your digital goals. Through our all-in-one digital marketing toolkit, we efficiently manage your SEO, online reviews and reputation, blog requirements, and more!

Our services and technology platform are designed to help small businesses like yours easily navigate the digital world so you can focus on what you do best. Moreover, our services allow you complete control over our digital marketing efforts, so you can choose what’s added or removed from your website.

To learn more about our services at Webware.io, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here. 

Panthro Fitness offers strength classes, mobility classes, recovery classes and other fitness classes to clients across Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their beautiful website - www.panthrofitness.com

We wish everyone at Panthro Fitness the very best of success!

YU+ME Design offers interior design and decorating services to clients across Vancouver, Maple Ridge, White Rock, Coquitlam, and New Westminster, British Columbia. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their beautiful website - www.yuandmedesign.com

We wish everyone at YU+ME Design the best of success! 

Le Circuit Quyon offer rental and competitive Go-Kart racing to enthusiasts from Fitzroy, Orleans, Nepean, Pembroke, Ottawa, Hawkesbury, Ontario, Quyon, Gatineau, Quebec. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.lecircuitquyon.com

We wish everyone at Le Circuit Quyon the very best of success! 

Let’s face it, no matter how hard you try, you cannot please everybody, and not everyone is going to love your business. While several clients may leave tonnes of positive feedback, it only takes one harsh review to scare off potential customers.

At Webware.io, one of the critical components of our digital marketing toolkit is reputation management. We understand how vital addressing online reviews are for small and medium-sized business owners, especially if they are negative reviews. 

As specialists in digital marketing, we’ve faced a fair number of negative reviews, but instead of letting them drag us down, we turned them into a positive outcome by addressing them quickly and professionally. To give you the same ability, this week, we’re going to talk about how to deal with negative reviews on social media.

 “I’ve received a negative review, what should I do?” 

It’s every business’ worst nightmare - the negative online review that is turning away customers. Negative reviews can drastically hurt your business, and surveys show that almost two-thirds of customers form an opinion of a business after reading just about four reviews.

However, how you respond to a negative review will make all the difference. When you receive a less than favorable review, here’s what you must do: 

a. Listen carefully for feedback.

Stopping a problem in its tracks and building lasting relationships with customers starts with social listening.

Unfortunately, an angry customer won’t always speak directly to your business. To ensure you don’t miss valuable feedback, you should track all mentions of your brand, branded hashtags, and branded URLs shared on social networks - whether they include an @ mention or not.

Once you find the feedback, with a calm mind, understand what the client is saying, why it is being said and what led to the client to address it publically instead of coming directly to you. 

b. Respond quickly.

Responding to the review comment as soon as possible shows that you are interested in solving the problem that the reviewer has. 

When responding, don’t let anger and frustration take over. Apologize, if needed, and explain how this is unusual in your business. Consider offering a special deal or a discount on the purchase, if applicable.

Responding to negative reviews will not only work to appease a disgruntled customer, but it may also help grow your business and present it in a new light. 

While replying, it’s essential that you do not use stereotype replies. You must humanize your response, maintain transparency, and not be negative. It’s important that people see that you respond to every inquiry and you’re interested in your customers’ opinions. 

“Should I hide a negative review?” 

Never remove or hide negative comments! If customers take their time to post about you once, they will post again. If you remove a real comment, you can be sure they will come back: louder, angrier and more frustrated. Secondly, negative comments show that you’re a genuine, honest brand.

Think about it this way: customers enter your profile and see only good opinions which could make them think that you’ve made all these comments up. They probably start digging for other opinions on forums and review sites. Sooner or later, they’ll find negative feedback, and they might choose your competitor because they feel you’re not honest.

Don’t forget to follow up! 

Once you address a complaint, don’t forget to follow up and ensure that they are satisfied with the product or service as if they are dissatisfied with the solution or the fix you provide, they are likely to post a second negative review, which is more harmful. 

Make the client feel valued!

People like to see that businesses care about their opinions. The best way to put out the fire of negativity is by handling the customer and the situation in a professional manner. As a business owner, you can take control of the situation by responding helpfully and genuinely. Never respond negatively or defensively.

Ensure your customer feels listened to, and don’t be afraid to apologize for any inconvenience or a less-than-stellar experience to help diffuse a negative situation.

As a business, you’re likely to receive a negative online review sooner or later, but with these tips, you can use the negative review to make your business even better. 

As experts in digital marketing, at Webware.io, we offer an array of digital marketing services to ensure your online presence is well-marketed and leveraged to find customers, keep customers, and earn referrals. Our key digital marketing services include email campaign management, newsletter communications, SEO, Google AdWords, social media advertisements, content marketing, lead generation, online reputation management, and more.

To learn more about our services and complete digital marketing tool kit, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here.

Stealth Marketing Group provides marketing & sales expertise to clean energy, telecommunications, and home improvement brands across Philadelphia and Princeton, Pennsylvania. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.stealthmarketinggroup.co

We wish everyone at  Stealth Marketing Group the very best of success! 

As specialists in digital marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the many tools we offer our clients as part of our digital marketing toolkit. And often, one of the first questions that we’re asked is, “How much time will it take for SEO to show results?”

The answer to this question isn’t straightforward as the SEO game is in a perpetual state of flux and is continually changing. 

SEO today is increasingly driven by what is called ‘phrase’ or ‘instruction’ search, as people now use questions, phrases, or instructions rather than two to three keywords. One of the primary reasons for this change is down to people using tools like ‘Siri’ and Google ‘voice search’ to speak their searches, rather than typing them in. In addition, people have also begun including more details in their typed searches as they want to find what they’re looking for faster. 

These keywords are much easier to rank for as they’re not as competitive and are much more relevant because they include more detail. As a result, traffic from these keywords converts at a higher rate. In aggregate, the number of searches in the long tail often adds up to many more searches than you would get from your “golden keywords.” Therefore, the objective, when it comes to search rankings, is not to rank for a few top keywords that remain the same over time but to focus on a much larger number of phrase or instructional searches that are growing and changing rapidly.

How long does it take for SEO to start working? Don’t stop too soon!

Earlier, the strategy was to identify those keywords that were the most relevant to a business, got the most traffic, and weren’t very competitive. We used to figure out ten to fifteen keywords that were called the “golden keywords” and would bring in the majority of the traffic. That keyword strategy is now evolving, because with rarer and rarer exceptions, there is no one keyword, and no small group of keywords, that is going to drive a lot of traffic to a website. Instead, a long tail of search is the new mantra for SEO. 

Do search rankings really matter? Output v/s Outcomes!

Search rankings matter, but they’re not the metric you should be focusing on. If, by asking “How long does SEO take to show results?” you mean “How long will it be before I get top rankings?” then you’re mistaking outputs for outcomes. Getting rankings is an output SEO firms can easily sell because they’re emotionally satisfying, but they’re worthless unless they generate the outcome you want - Leads / Activations / Sales / Service Requests, etc. That’s why you should only hire SEO firms or SEO professionals who focus on outcomes, rather than outputs.

The question you should be asking about SEO!

Now that you know how SEO has changed and that you want leads and sales from your SEO firm rather than just rankings, the question you should be asking is “How long will it take for SEO to start generating leads and sales?”

Now that we’re ready to answer the right question, the answer is - SEO success depends on a few factors. Factors such as how long has your website been around, how much SEO has been done on it previously, what shape the website is in, how much content is on it, its link profile, and others, all contribute to answering the question you’ve asked. 

Professional SEO firms or individuals will tell you that it usually takes four to six months to start seeing results. That’s usually an accurate assessment, but keep in mind that this is when the results will start coming in, and SEO results grow over a period of time. Whatever results you’re getting at six months should be considerably less than what you’re getting at twelve months. At some point, you may see your results slow down a bit, and then it may be a matter of maintaining results rather than growing them.

Many companies underestimate how much time and money it takes to be successful with SEO. SEO success by any standard rarely comes within the first three months, even with a healthy, substantial budget. 

We’ve experienced companies getting started the right way, but quit after two to three months saying, “We just weren’t getting the ROI we needed to justify the spend.” This experience highlights that these companies went into the SEO exercise with unrealistic expectations, mainly fuelled by knowledge gained from unprofessional and unreliable sources (and there are plenty of them in the market these days).

If you can’t budget for six to twelve months of SEO, you might be better off putting that budget somewhere else as paying for just a couple of months of SEO activity is no better than throwing your money away. SEO is a long-term marketing tactic, and shouldn’t be seen as a way to generate sales quickly. If companies make the proper investment and plan it for a long time, then SEO will get them the best ROI on their spend.

If you’d like to take your SEO to the next level, reach out to the digital marketing experts at Webware.io. We specialize in optimizing websites and content for improved search engine results and provide small businesses with the right tools and supporting services to nurture and manage their online presence. 

Our head office is located in Toronto, and we serve clients across Canada and North America.

To learn more about our services and complete digital marketing tool kit, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here. 

Renée Bourget Makeup Artistry provides professional makeup services across Vancouver, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, Port Coquitlam, White Rock, and Pitt Meadows, British Columbia. To help them reach a wider audience, we launched their new website - www.reneebourgetmua.com

We wish everyone at Renée Bourget Makeup Artistry the very best of success!