It sounds like a joke, and often in television shows it is, but do you Google yourself? Your potential clients or customers are, so why aren’t you doing it?
When you Google your own personal name or your business name you may find that incorrect information comes up. There are a number of ways to potentially fix that information, many of them don’t take a lot of time and are free, but if you aren’t aware of the error then they won’t get fixed.
You may find that instead of your business, a competitor’s business comes up, or you may find that a negative review of your business comes up. Now this may not have a quick or easy fix, but you don’t know to fix it if you don’t look for it. If you need to raise your social media profile or your website’s profile then this just might be the kick in the pants you need to do it. While you are doing it you should be Googling any employees, because potential clients or customers are Googling you and the person you have referred them to and so you should know what they are seeing. It may be that your employees don’t Google their own names and so they don’t realise what is there, they won’t want negative stuff about them online either.
You will see that certain sites (like Linked In if you are working in a profession) rank more highly in a Google search than other sites, and this might prompt you to update that particular information. Perhaps a blog that you didn’t think was all that exciting will come up because lots of people are reading it, and that will prompt you to go and review it and update it. Certain sites or pages have a higher Google ranking than others, you might be investing your time in the wrong stuff.
Lastly, you should also be Googling the phrases that you think your potential customers might Google. If you have a properly prepared marketing strategy then you should have a good idea of who your ideal client is (hint, the correct answer is not everyone, or all women, or all people in this suburb). You should also have a clear idea of what this ideal client wants. What problem are you trying to fix? What would that person Google if they needed that problem fixed? When you Google that what comes up? Have a look at the sites that come up (not the ads, the organic stuff), why is that coming up? It might come up because your competitor is large and just gets more foot traffic than you, and you can actually work on foot traffic even as a small business. It might come up because it uses slightly different words (like divorce instead of family law) and this might prompt you to use these synonyms more on your site or your social media profile. It might come up because it has a better Google ranking due to positive reviews from clients or customers.
Sometimes the reason that your competitors are getting more Google traffic is actually really obvious, don’t assume it is all some great big secret, have a look for yourself.
You can learn a lot by simply investigating things yourself, and you can do it on your phone quickly while you are waiting to pick up the kids, or waiting for a friend who is running a little late. You don’t know what you don’t know, so go ahead, Google yourself, cause your clients and customers are.