Get online and alive!

Today’s tradie cannot survive or thrive without the Internet!

Whether you want to be a household name or just known in the local area, in today and tomorrows growing digital age, you need a good online marketing strategy that helps you stand out from your competitors and be a customers preferred and trusted choice.

Here are 3 tips to help you do that.

Tradies online marketing tip 1 – You must have a website

Gone are the days when word of mouth, a well-placed newspaper ad, and flyers were enough to get your name out there. Today, with information technology at everyone’s fingertips, consumers expect to see you online. And the first place they start, is your website.

Your website doesn’t need to be fancy, but you do need it be appealing, engaging and informational.

Most importantly, you need to make it stand out from your competitors. How? By letting your website say to consumers “I am a business you can trust”. Tell them about YOU, explain how you value customers, and why you are the better choice.

The benefits of having a website include enhanced visibility, 24/7 access to your business information. It is also a great opportunity to engage with potential customers by sharing your useful tips and showing you are the go-to business with the expertise to solve their problems.

Tradies online marketing tip 2 – Embrace social media

We get that many tradies probably hesitate when someone mentions “social media”. Even I find it all very overwhelming… Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google, and who knows what else is around the corner. However, by not embracing social media you could end up falling behind your competition that are.

Our tip. Just pick 1! Find the one that best captures the audience you want to attract and focus on building that with regular activity, even if it’s only once a week. It’s that simple- 5-10 minutes of your time a week! And who knows, you may really enjoy it.

Facebook is an ideal platform for very visual trades like builders, carpenters, painters and landscapers, where you can share before and after images of your jobs.

 Tradies online marketing tip 3 –  Build a strong online reputation

Why you ask? Because consumers are trusting the internet every single day to form an opinion about you. Based on how well you present, it can impact your ability to get them in your door and generate revenue.

Just check out some of this data:

• 65% of Internet users see online search as the most trusted source of information about people and companies.
• Over 1 billion names and businesses are Googled daily.

If it feels like Google is defining your reputation for you- it is!

Everything you do online from your website, social media activity and what is said about you on other websites influences the online perception customers have off you. And with trends showing more and more online users, having that strong online reputation will become one of the most important competitor differences tools for any business in the future.

What can you do? Take control now! Start building and managing a great online name for yourself. Infact we recently wrote an article on this called, “Just Google Me!” and Convert More Customers Today!

If you are looking for a great competitor edge in helping you do this, you can explore online reputation directory sites like Tradebusters Connect that help reputable local businesses (including trades) do just this.