5 Easy Ways to Know if Your Brand is "Open" for Business

Long gone are the days where you can hang an open sign, and expect people to beat a path to your door.  This is just as true with your online presence as it is with a brick and mortar location. The following are 5 Easy Ways to know if your business can be found by potential customers.

#1 - Can customers view your website whenever, wherever?

It's not just important to have a website anymore, but that customers can view your site whenever and wherever they bring it up. This means that your site has to be viewable and functionable whether they are viewing it on there desktop, laptop, mobile phone or tablet device.

There are a couple of options you have here. One is to have a site that is mobile frienldy, meaning that your site's content is still viewable and functions correctly even if your customers aren't viewing your site on your desktop. The other option is to have a site that has a "responsive" design meaning that it will change the design of the site to match whichever device a customer is viewing it on.

So, is your website mobile friendly or "responsive"?


#2 - Can customers find you on a Google Map?

There was a day, not that long ago, where if a customer was looking to find out where your were located they would open the phone book or give you a call. While I'm sure there a still some people that keep phone books in their home, business, or car that's not the method that most customers are using to try and find you. Either they are checking your website for a map link, or more likely typing in the address on their mobile device on the way to your office.

If you haven't claimed your place on Google then your customers may not be "your" customers much longer.

So, can your customers find you on a Google map?


#3 - Can customers find you when they are searching?

I'm sure that I'm not the first one to tell you that if your website isn't listed on the first page of Google, then it isn't being found. Here's some statitics from "10 Facts Reveal The Importance of Ranking High In Google" just to make my point.

The first ranking position in the search results receives 42.25% - of all click-through traffic
The second position receives 11.94%
Third position on the first page obtains 8.47%
The fourth placed position on page one receives 6.05%
The others on the first page are under 5% of click through traffic
The first ten results (page one ) received 89.71% of all click-through traffic
The next 10 results (normally listed on the second page of results) received 4.37%
Third page receives a total  of 2.42%

So, can your customers find you on Yahoo!, Google, or Bing?


#4 - Can customers find you when they are being entertained?

If I asked you what the #1 search engine was, most of you would be correct in guessing Google, but if I asked you what the #2 search engine was, what would your guess be? Yahoo? Bing? How many of you would guess YouTube?

For a number of years now YouTube has been recognized as the #2 search engine that your customers are going to when they want to find out information about a topic. And next to every video that plays on YouTube is a list of other related videos for your customers to view.  Not having videos in the mix on topics that relate to your business means that your customers are finding other answers to their product and service needs when they are in a buying mood.

So, can your customers find you on YouTube?

#5 - Can customers find you when they are being social?

Wondering if your customers actually use social media in their buying decisions and whether you should even bother with social media at all? Take a look at these statistics...

• Consumers are 71% more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals (Hubspot)

• 15,100,000 consumers go to social media channels before making purchase decisions (Knowledge Networks)

• 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions (SproutSocial)

So, can your customers find you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest?


If you've answered no to more than #2 of these five questions, or if you would just like to find out more about how your business can be accessed by prospective customers just email us at info@pardimanproductions.com.