How Redhill Businesses Have Beaten Lockdown

Few businesses in Redhill have remained unscathed during the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. There are many that have found it difficult, with premises closed and people confined to their homes. Even now lockdown restrictions are being lifted, businesses simply don’t know if or when any form of normal service will resume.

We’ve also seen businesses diversify their services here in Redhill. Many others reassessed their business models and invented new ones to help ensure business survival. We are experiencing fundamental changes in the way many of us do business. Therefore, it is important to use this time (and your budgets) to maximum effect and work on some of the key digital marketing aspects of your business.

Marketing your businesses in Redhill and strengthening your online presence begins with a review – a detailed one – regardless of which sector you’re operating in. As operations resume all over Surrey, many local businesses will be looking at hitting the ground running.

Start with a full review

It isn’t easy to focus on your marketing right now. Some local Redhill businesses still have concerns about how to adapt to uncertainty and have been anxious about marketing as a result. However, there are steps you can take to lift your business out of the stagnation of lockdown. We’re encouraging our clients to take a deep breath and a full review of everything they have online – and you can too. This is a time to focus and stay connected with your clients while you prepare your business for its return to operational levels you can call normal again.

Use our COVID-19 Strategies to help you and your business, whether you’re in Redhill or not. We’re here to support you wherever you are and can guide you through what you need to do if you want to take your new digital marketing plan further.

Start now to get organic SEO working for you

It takes a while for organic SEO to start showing results for your efforts. So, starting now can help you lay the foundations for new connections and clients. There are a few types of SEO that are important, and we’ve picked out four of the best to get you started.

Start local – is your business on the Google map in Redhill?

If not, then this is the perfect place to start. Setting up Google My Business (GMB) is simple, but business verification happens by post, so sign up and get the verification code on its way to you. Detailed instructions guide you through, but you can find more GMB info here.

Do think of GMB as another social media platform and make the most of it. Use it to communicate your business-during-coronavirus processes, precautions and protection you’re implementing or your contact info if you’re staying close. The geo-targeting feature is often overlooked by businesses, so instead of just adding ‘Surrey’ to your service area, add as many details as you can. This can help when your potential clients are looking for you. For example, local search is often on the ground, so if consumers are looking for us, they might use ‘digital marketing Redhill’, ‘marketing agency Caterham’ or 'software designers in Reigate'.

Get technical with your website

Technical SEO is all about performance. Often, website owners don’t think about the technical side of website maintenance. It isn’t anything you can see, but errors in technical SEO can have an impact on both the visitor experience and your search ranking.

Some of the most important aspects to review are:

• Site loading speed
• Site structure, sitemap and menus
• Indexing and pagination
• Mobile responsiveness
• Domain preferences

Get in touch with your agency or website developer to conduct a technical review if you are unsure of what to do.

Get on social media

Regular posting on social media and checking in on your clients and colleagues can go a long way at the moment. Social media platforms have never been so busy than recently, and this isn’t going to diminish any time soon. These connections can help you to build a new kind of business relationship and reach new audiences. Join local community pages in Redhill to share what your business has been doing to beat the lockdown and how you’ve prepared for resuming your service.

Refresh your content and create some more

During your website review, take some time to read the content you have there. See if it is still relevant and update it if it isn’t. It is also a good time to create new content – write new pages, make and post videos, plan an app, create a webinar and post on social media regularly. Linking to your website pages from social media posts is a good SEO exercise, but if you do, make sure the links go to relevant pages.

During the current crisis, making your SEO work for you can help minimise the long term impact and boost your online performance. With uncertain times ahead, start now and give your Redhill business a digital ‘once-over’.

We’re here for our clients when times are tough as well as when they’re good. The J&L team is at the end of the phone during working hours for businesses all over Surrey in all sectors. Call us if we can help guide you through your options.

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