Why You Need To Use Google My Business

If you want to do some SEO but is having a hard time with all the technical stuff, then Google My Business might be your best bet to start with. It is an easy way to get more exposure for your business.

Interestingly, a lot of companies overlook this and go ahead with the more popular SEO methods. Which is a shame, because according to Moz, Google My Business ranks number 1 when it comes to local finder ranking factors.

So before we go to more specific details on why your business needs to be in Google My Business, let us first find out how you can harness the marketing power of this tool

How to Create a Google my Business Account

1. Log into your Google Account (Make sure this is the account you want for your business)
2. After you have logged in, type google.com/business and on the top right corner of the page click on Start Now.
3. The next step will be filling in details about your business. You will need to write things like your business name, address, delivery area, business category, phone number, and website.
4. Google will then give you a variety of options on verifying your business. Choose one that suits you
5. After the verification process, go to your Google my Business Account dashboard and start editing the details of your business. Here you can also put your business’ profile photo and other photos and videos you wish to share.

The Best Reasons To Get Into Google My Business

It’s like a calling card on the web

As you can see from above, Google My Business allows your business to have a formal and proper listing on Google. While Facebook and other social media sites are great when it comes to business profiles, Google My Business just gives off a much professional feel compared to those.

It also allows your potential clients to have easier access to your contact numbers, website, and location. It is more of a quick view option rather than searching contact pages on websites and social media profiles. In a nutshell, Google My Business is one of the best and most user-friendly business directories online.

Gets you on the map

Google Maps is fast becoming the go-to database when it comes to finding and navigating through different locations. As technology gets better and the internet gets quicker, the use of GPS and maps is slowly becoming an essential need in today’s world.

Not convinced about this? Then here is some food for thought, according to Statista, Google Maps has over 154.4 million users each month. That figure will almost assuredly keep climbing up over the next few years. Quite rapidly, people are relying on GPS maps to find locations, look where to eat, find services, and locate the best shopping hubs. It is, therefore, ludicrous to skip this when doing online marketing.

Google My Business puts you on the map and allows potential customers to spot you there. Definitely, a winning situation for your online marketing.

Be visible across multiple devices

Google My Business is web optimized for viewing across all devices. Now that is a tough thing to do when it comes to personal websites. Optimization over a broad range of devices is very critical in a highly competitive business landscape.

Did you know that according to ImpactBND, 57 percent of users say they won’t recommend a business without an excellent mobile-optimized website? Also by 2019, internet use with mobile devices will surpass desktop by a significant margin.

Having a great business page with Google My Business already gets you one step closer on having all your profiles optimized for all devices.

Make your customers know you are active (chat and video function)

If you think that Google My Business is just a static profile site for your business, then you might have to think again. Google My Business has a wide array of features that is undoubtedly going to delight a lot of potential customers.

First is the fact that you can do posts that promotes your various offers, products, news, and other updates. This will be seen in Google Maps as a more interactive way for customers to look at what you have to offer. Just imagine your customer looking at your location and seeing what promos and wares are currently in your store? Now that is real-time advertising!

Next exciting feature is the ability to post videos. Keep in mind that people are more engaged when watching video content than seeing a static post. Keep in mind though that videos are kept only at 30 seconds each, so make those very short and impactful for customers to know more about your business.

Another great feature of Google My Business is the ability to chat with customers. Your account has a messenger feature that you need to activate, and your customers can instantly communicate with you for more info about your business.

Lastly, Google My Business has a nifty new feature in store for those in the restaurant business. They have a slot that allows customers to view a restaurant’s menu. This is great as more and more eaters and foodie like to look at menus before deciding on which restaurant to go to.

Best of all it won’t cost a thing

Want to know what the best part of Google My Business is? It’s absolutely free! So if you are a little tight on the budget for your online marketing, then you should definitely put Google My Business on top of your list. The risk and reward favor you, and it will be a big mistake to skip this one.

Take your business to another level

Google My Business is a one-stop and streamlined way for customers to get to know your business. Imagine the customer journey from searching online, to pinpointing your exact location, to knowing more about your store, and even directly communicating with. All this before they have even left their couches.

It is just a great way to promote your business. Oh, and did I mention that this is absolutely free? No doubt about it, sign up now for this fantastic marketing opportunity!

10 Forms of Online Marketing

As an online marketing company in Denver, one thing that we hear a lot is that many business owners just aren’t aware of what online marketing opportunities are out there. The online marketing world changes so often that it can be hard to keep up – which is why we do the hard work for you. Here are ten types of online marketing that we use to help your company succeed.

1. Video Marketing

Video content is quickly becoming the most powerful way to reach an audience online. Videos can be anything from education to entertainment and can help establish your brand’s persona in just a few seconds.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing involves giving a third party a reason to refer people to your product. This often means giving them a discount code to share, or offering them a small paycheck for every click their affiliate link gets.

3. Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing means to use your content on your website to draw in readers, and then convert them to buyers.

4. Referral Marketing

Referral marketing happens when a customer is happy enough to tell other people to buy from you. Reviews are a form of referral marketing.

5. Email Marketing

Sending out emails to an invested list of buyers and interested parties is a great way to market your products and services.

6. Pay-per-click Marketing

PPC marketing means that you pay to have your website link displayed prominently in ad space on various Internet pages, primarily on Google or other search engines. Every time someone clicks, you pay a small fee to the hosting website.

7. Social Media Marketing

Using social media to market your business can mean a huge range of things. Primarily, social media is a great place to grow your brand’s persona and connect with customers or fans.

8 Display Marketing

Display marketing involves having a space with artwork and words, such as a banner on another popular website. Think of it as a digital billboard.

9. Search Engine Optimization

Getting your product in front of customers by using the right keywords and links is called search engine optimization. This makes sure that search engines display your content on page one of a search.

10. Search Engine Marketing

Using SEO, as well as PPC advertising, social media, and more, all together, is called search engine marketing.

Learn more about these tactics from your trusted online marketing company, Online Marketing Media.

How Do Pay Per Click Ads Work?

Are you familiar with the term PPC ad? It means Pay Per Click advertising and is one of the most commonly used forms of online marketing. Naturally, not everyone understands how the ads work (apart from being clicked!). Let’s take a bit of time to discover how this form of paid advertising works and help you determine if it is a good fit for your goals.

The Mechanics of PPC

So, how exactly does a Pay Per Click ad operate? Essentially, it is an ad in which you, as the advertiser, pay a few whenever someone clicks on the advertisement. In essence, it is a way to purchase traffic to visit your site. It is not the same as organic traffic that visits specific pages based on things like links in blogs or backlinks from other sites.

Getting the Clicks

Of course, there is also the matter of how the PPC ads appear where they do and what it costs. To keep it as simple as possible, most buyers will bid for the placement of their ads within a search engine’s (i.e, Google’s) sponsored links section of SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). As an example, you pay for your ad to appear when someone types in a specific collection of words in a search engine, such as organic chocolate brownies. If you paid for those terms, your ad appears at the top of the SERP, and if it is clicked, you pay a fee and are likely to get a lead or sale out of it.

Is It Worth It?

Most of the time, you will opt for a PPC ad once you have done a lot of keyword research and discovered which terms are the most competitive and likely to generate buying traffic. As a simple illustration, the terms above might cost you something like $2 per click, but that click could lead to a $30 or more sale each time. That is a nominal fee against the potential for profit and return business.

Getting Started

Naturally, you have to have well-written ads and the right terms. That is where expert help is essential to your Pay Per Click success. If you are eager to see what this approach to marketing has to offer to your Denver, CO business, get in touch with Online Marketing Media and discuss all of your online marketing, PPC, and other goals.

Top 3 Reasons to Add an FAQ Page to Your Website

When new visitors arrive on your website, chances are they will have questions. And because no business, no matter how unique, can operate in an unique way from other businesses, chances are that those questions will be pretty similar to commonly-asked questions of all businesses. People are interested in finding out up front how you handle things like shipping, returns, gift cards, and so on. But there are other great reasons to include an FAQ in your website design. Denver, CO business owners, could all benefit from including this page on any website right from the start. Here’s why:

• Immediately address common customer concerns and fears with an FAQ. Your customers may have some concerns about trying out a new product or a new supplier that they haven’t worked with before. Giving them information up front helps them feel more comfortable about working with you.
• Be ranked better by Google’s search algorithm. Did you know that an FAQ page is a great place to put keywords for your SEO? Not only are you educating your users, but you also have the opportunity for some natural keyword usage for the search engines. That is always a big plus for your visibility and growth.
• Take back your time to focus on your business by eliminating certain customer service tasks. There are some things that can be automated, like answering the same questions that most of your new customers have. You can spend your time focusing on your business and products, and less time focusing on providing the same answers over and over.

Creating an FAQ Page is Easy

Website design for Denver, CO businesses is what we do best at OnlineMarketingMedia. FAQ pages are easy to create and only take a few quick steps. First, you’ll need to gather the questions and answers that you are most frequently asked, and determine how you want to organize them on the page. Then you’ll need to choose how to present the answers and make the page look nice! Be sure to consider social media sharing and SEO so that you can easily utilize this page on around the web, and always add your contact information in case a customer has questions you didn’t include.

If you are ready to get your FAQ up and running on your website, contact us today by calling 720-432-1736.

5 Compelling Online Marketing Strategies to Transform Your Business

You might think that you’re doing everything you can to market your business…

… but what if you’re not?

The explosion of the Internet, social media, and mobile has changed all the rules of marketing. If you are not using the latest digital Marketing strategies to transform your business, you might be losing out on:

• New customers
• Increased sales
• Your future growth and expansion

You don’t want that to happen to you. And you might be wondering what online marketing strategies you should be implementing to make sure it doesn’t.

Here they are.

#1: Optimize Your Website for Online Search and Mobile

This most fundamental digital marketing strategy might seem obvious but a lot of local businesses don’t bother doing it. That’s because they have a limited understanding of the potential marketing power of their website.

Having a dynamic website might not be a necessity for a large business that relies on expensive paid advertising. But for small and mid-sized companies, website marketing is the most effective and affordable strategy to reach out to potential customers.

There are two types of digital optimization you need for your website:

1. Optimization for local search
2. Optimization for mobile

Both kinds of optimization are designed to help you attract organic search traffic to your site. For the former, you’ll need to audit your site, choose the right keywords, and use tags and content to get your site to rank.

For mobile optimization, the key is to use a responsive design that allows mobile users to view all your content easily regardless of what device they use to access your site. Google ranks mobile-optimized websites higher in its search results as more users today view websites on mobile devices than they do on a PC.

#2: Claim (and Standardize) All Online Listings of Your Business

Your website is important, but it’s not the only way people find you online.

Unclaimed listings may be incorrect. The last thing you need is a misleading listing that has the wrong URL, contact details or business hours.

The process of claiming your listings should go like this:

1. Do a Google search for your company and identify all online listings
2. Claim each listing according to the instructions on the site
3. Standardize all NAP listings (that’s name, address, phone number) so they’re identical. Everything, from street names to abbreviations to the format of the telephone number, must be the same.

If you do this, you can be sure that you’re not diluting your online presence with a slew of inaccurate or unclaimed listings. It might seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference to Google. Google search crawlers determine the authenticity of a website using NAP Consistency as one of the key factors.

#3: Include an Opt-In Form on Every Page of Your Site

Building an email list is a must for every local business. It lets you communicate with both existing and prospective customers, announce new products and events, and turn leads into sales.

It all starts with an opt-in form. If your form is appearing on only one page on your site, you’re not capturing as many subscribers as you should be.

The solution? Place an opt-in form on every important web page. On some pages, you may want to include an offer, such as a tip sheet or a short eBook, to attract subscribers. On others, the presence of the form on the sidebar or as a pop-up may be enough.

The bottom line is that anybody who lands on ANY page of your site is a potential subscriber – so treat them that way.

#4: Be Smart on Social Media

For some local businesses, social media is an afterthought. They might have a Facebook page or a presence on Instagram, but they post sporadically and don’t do much to build or engage their audience.

With more than a billion active users on Facebook alone, there’s no denying that social media looms large on the marketing landscape. Here’s what you should be doing:

• Creating and adhering to a content-posting schedule so your followers know when to look for you
• Posting content that’s entertaining and valuable to your audience
• Varying your content so it’s always interesting
• Answer questions from customers

Don’t let your social media accounts stagnate. They’re the perfect place to engage current customers and show new ones what they’re missing.

#5: Pay for Advertising Strategically

There’s an awful lot you can do to market your company online for free, but sometimes, it pays to pay.

On Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, you can boost a post – often for just a few dollars. Boosting greatly increases the number of people who see your content.

Here are the types of things you should post:

• Content that gets a lot of organic engagement
• Product announcements and event information
• Content that’s designed to attract email subscribers
• Content that you think is particularly relevant and useful to your audience

There’s an art to boosting content, and it’s your job to master it. Even if you spend only a dollar a day on boosted content, you’re likely to see a significant increase in your engagement.

Google AdWords program is another powerful way to promote your business online with paid ads. These ads will show up to targeted users who are searching for content on Google that is related to what your business offers. You can choose the PPC (pay-per-click) model of advertising on Google. Google will only charge you each time someone actually clicks on your online ad to learn more about your business or to visit your business website.

Stop Worrying about Missing Out and Implement those Marketing Strategies to Transform Your Business!

If you worry that your business might be missing out on the power of digital marketing, get in touch with an experienced online marketing company with proven expertise.

They can help you achieve targeted or localized online visibility to boost your business prospects. Partnering with a reliable and dedicated digital marketer could be the single most vital decision you might make to put your business on a high growth path.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Website Design

Building an online presence is no longer optional. Every business, no matter how large or small, whether focused on ecommerce, or operating a brick and mortar location, needs a website to ensure visibility to their customers. With that being said, it is vital that you know a few things about choosing a website design for a Denver, CO, business.

Responsive

One of the first considerations you’ll need to make is whether the website design company you’re considering is capable of offering responsive website design. Responsive design simply means that your site will automatically detect the visitor’s device and screen size, and resize and reorder to fit that device. It ensures that every visitor enjoys their experience, whether they’re using a laptop or desktop, or browsing on their smartphone.

Local Optimized

While the Internet was once considered the great leveler, allowing small businesses to compete with large ones, and eliminating geographic barriers, things have changed today. More and more, consumers are demanding access to local companies, and Google and other search engines have responded. Make sure that your website is local optimized so that you’re visible to those who matter most – the customers in Denver, CO.

Customized

It’s important when considering website design in Denver, CO, that you ensure you’re not being saddled with what amounts to a cookie-cutter website. Too many web designers, take a template, make a few adjustments, and deliver that to their customers. You deserve better than a template – make sure the web design company you choose can offer true customization to meet your specific needs.

In-House Graphic Design

Web design includes a wide range of other disciplines. One that you might not think about immediately is graphic design. You will need custom graphics designed and developed for your company, so make sure that the company you’re working with can offer that. If they have to outsource the graphic design portions of the project, it can add to your cost, and increase the time to completion, as well.

Other Collateral

Your website may not be the only collateral that needs to be developed. Make sure you’re working with a web design company that can help you with all other collateral you need, including:

• Business logo
• Social media cover photos and profile pictures
• Custom icons
• Custom Facebook apps
• Ecommerce applications and solutions

With the right web design provider, you can build a website that invites in your target audience, delivers an ideal experience, and builds your success.

5 Smart Ways to Generate More Positive Reviews

Who doesn’t love a positive review from a satisfied customer? Every business owner knows the value of positive reviews – and they’ve never been important than they are right now.

Did you know that more than 80% of all consumers say that they trust a product review from a stranger as much as they would a personal recommendation from a friend. Not only that, people trust user reviews more than the official descriptions of products.

If you’re thinking of customer reviews as something that you can’t control, think again. Business owners can do a lot to encourage reviews – and of course, you can increase the chance that most of your reviews will be positive by providing excellent quality and service.

Still, those things aren’t enough. You can’t afford to sit back and hope that customers leave reviews of your business.

Fortunately, you don’t have to take a backseat to your customer’s whims. Here are six smart ways you can get more positive reviews online.

#1: Email Customers After a Purchase

Do you send customers an email after they make a purchase?

I’m not talking about the confirmation email where you send them an order number if they order online. I mean an email where you specifically ask them how they like your product and request that they write a review.

This is a practice that’s become increasingly common – and for a good reason. Some people automatically leave reviews for everything. They’re the well-known Yelpers who have thousands of reviews.

Many people need a reminder. They’re not going to leave a review of their own accord – but they just might if you ask them nicely. This is the review version of the call to action on your website. It’s a specific request to take a specific action.

Try sending your review request email a week to ten days after the purchase. That way, the customer will have had a chance to use your product and may be ready to offer an opinion.

#2: Empower Your Employees to Ask for Reviews

Sometimes, making the right request at the right time is all it takes to get the reviews you want. That’s why it makes sense to have your employees ask for reviews.

Some Uber drivers do this. Just before they arrive at their passenger’s destination, they ask about the review. The simple request puts the idea of leaving a review in the customer’s mind and greatly increases the chances that they’ll comply and leave a review.

Why ask at the point of service? When a customer has just made a purchase or used your service, the experience is fresh. A cashier who provides a friendly checkout and some banter is ideally placed to ask for a review because they have an opportunity to build rapport with the customer.

If you decide to use this method of getting reviews, consider printing cards asking for reviews and putting links to your review pages on your website. You don’t want customers to be confused about what to do – so eliminate the guesswork and you’ll reap the rewards.

#3: Try to Get a Google Local Guide to Review Your Company

Google Local Guide is a program owned by Google that designates certain reviewers as local experts.

The process of getting a local guide can be a complex one, but here are some tips to help you do it:

• Make sure your Google My Business listing is up-to-date and active
• Join Google Local Guides on your own – you can write reviews of local businesses and raise your visibility provided you don’t use the platform to promote or favor your business
• Attend local events with other guides
• Invite other guides to come to your business

This isn’t a quick fix, but the nice thing about Google Local Guides is that when a local guide reviews your business, their designation shows up in the review and that gives it more weight than it would have otherwise. Another benefit is that Google requires guides to use their real names, so there’s less of the anonymous ranting that shows up on Yelp.

#4: Automate the Asking Process

If there’s a way for you to automate the process of asking for reviews, why wouldn’t you do it?

Automation means that there’s no worry that a stressed-out employee will forget to ask. It turns the process into part of your customer service – a hands-off way of encouraging customer feedback and garnering the kinds of reviews you want.

Here are a few suggestions to help you automate your system:

• Set up an autoresponder to send an email requesting a review. Instead of manually sending those emails, link the date of a customer’s purchase to their email and have it go out on schedule. If you link customer purchases to your email marketing provider, you can rest easy knowing that every customer will get a request for a review.
• Print up review request cards and put them in the customer’s bag at checkout. This method eliminates the need for your cashier to ask for a review, and makes it simple to do even at times when you’re busy and have a line at the register.
• Put review links on your product pages. That way, when a customer makes a purchase they can easily read reviews of it – and it may help to remind them to leave a review after their purchase.

Automating your review request system makes good business sense because it eliminates the guesswork.

#5: Set Up a Review System in Your Company

Even if your business is small, you shouldn’t fly by the seat of your pants when you’re requesting reviews. The method you use to ask for reviews should be part of your company’s standard operating procedures.

Your review system should:

• Specify whose job it is to ask for reviews
• Specify the language to be used when requesting a review
• Specify methods to be used (email, conversation, links and printed cards, to name a few)
• Specify the timeframe for requesting reviews
• Lay out procedures for responding to both positive and negative reviews

If you codify your system for requesting and managing reviews, you can be sure that there isn’t any confusion and that customers always get the request you want them to get.

Don’t Sweat the Negative Reviews… 

We’ve focused here on garnering positive reviews for your business, but don’t get too stressed about negative reviews. If you handle them properly, they can help your business too!

Respond quickly and graciously and offer solutions. Don’t get defensive. Many businesses use negative feedback to demonstrate that they care about their customers.

If you’re getting so many reviews that you’re having trouble keeping up, you may want to consider using an online review management system to help you – and having too many reviews is the problem you want to have! That’s how businesses grow.

Services Offered by Online Marketing Company

Do you think of your website as a key component in your current business strategy? Do you think of it as the majority of your strategy? We agree with the latter notion and encourage you to look into the top services offered by our online marketing company in Denver, CO to discover just how and why your site is also the backbone of your entire business strategy.

What Is Your Business Strategy?

If you use standard business logic, you know that you must always (and that has to be read as ALWAYS) market and look for new customers. Even if your database of leads and converted clients is huge, it must always be growing. This is the only way to sustain a company and ensure longevity. That is far more challenging than it sounds, but if you work with a fully faceted, online marketing company, you can ensure that your site is a lead generation machine and so much more.

The Elements of Lead Generation

How do you generate leads with your website design? You turn to experts who will:

• Analyze your site’s statistics to determine where visitors come from, what they do upon arrival, when they leave, and more

• Assess the goal of the site (is it to sell, build a client list, something else?)

• Ensure your site is SEO or search engine optimized. Without this key step, you don’t appear on those first two pages of SERPs (search engine results pages) and might as well be invisible. This means identifying keywords, looking for links pointing the site and building a marketing strategy from this data.

• Design a content strategy that can include everything from blogs and social media to PPC ads

• Build a social media strategy using the right site

• Consider other options such as email marketing, mobile marketing and even offline options

Developing a Competitive and Effective Website in Denver

As you can probably see, all of these steps might be far outside of your capabilities in terms of skill, understanding or schedule. Yet, they are steps that must be done if you are to see your site gain the audience and success it deserves. That is why working with Online Marketing Media is a savvy choice. To request a free quote or speak with an expert designer, simply phone us at (720) 432-1736 or send a quick message to info@onlinemarketingmedia.net.

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SSL Certificate & why Google needs your website to have one

What is an SSL certificate? Does my website really need one? How come I’ve never heard about this and why is it important now?

If any of these questions run through your mind, you’re on the right track to protecting your website and online presence. A website needs to be secure at all times, and an SSL certificate is what makes your website safe to begin with.

When you run a small business or a well-established brand, the safety of your customer’s data becomes a priority.

Selling your products or services online or even collective sensitive info, such as phone numbers or names, puts your customers’ privacy at risk. Unless you have valid SSL certificate installed on your website, it’s likely that Google will point out that your website is unsafe.

If you were wondering why Google has decided to play the ‘unsafe’ card, and what and SSl Certificate even is, here are some facts every business owner ought to know.

What are the dangers of not having an SSL certificate installed?

Although not all websites need to install a Secure Socket Layer certificate, small business owners who collect data from their clients could benefit a great deal from adding an extra layer of protection.

Here are the main dangers of avoiding doing so, though:

Google will mark your website as unsafe. Although your website will still be accessible, visitors being warned about an unsecure connection will most likely leave.

Clients will trust your brand less. Speaking of trust, the lack of a secure encrypted connection could influence your clients in a negative way. People like to feel safe when they browse the online. And if your websites doesn’t offer a sense of security, your visitors will most likely think your brand is not to be trusted.

You’ll lose customers to your competition. Turning visitors away and having them think you’re not a trustworthy business results in you losing your clients to your competition. Every visitor on your website is there for a reason. But if they can’t trust you, they’re going to find what they need somewhere else.

Google will favor indexing safe websites. Although you shouldn’t expect a serious boost in rankings, Google has expressed the intention of favoring the indexation of websites that help the online become a safer place.

You could lose your credibility as a business. Your website and your brand act as your business card online. As a small company owner, turning customers away is the last thing you want to do! If you’re storing credit card information of other sensitive data, it’s best to let your customers know your website is safe and can be trusted.

What is an SSL certificate?

You do not need to be an internet guru to see that all website addresses begin with a specific syntax. Some websites begin with “http://”, while others begin with “https://”.

An extra letter might not seem important. After all, your website works just fine! But in reality, the “S” stands for Secure!

Each time a user enters their credit card information or any other kind of personal data, like their name and email, they need to make sure the website is safe first. This is where an SSL certificate comes into play.

The term SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s a technology developed back in the 1990s, that helps to safely encrypt your data.

Whenever you see the syntax HTTPS, you now know it stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. The “S” is an extra precaution, known as the internet standard for secure communication online.

The SSL security layer makes sure only your browser and the server accessing your data are able to decrypt the information. Although you can’t literally see this, what goes on behind the scenes is what protects your visitor’s sensitive data.

SSL certificates are no longer just a trend. If you care about your data and your clients’, you should definitely aim to make your connection secure.

Once your SSL certificate is installed on your server, you and your customers can be sure your website is safe. This not only will protect your visitor’s data, but it will help them trust your brand even more.

Why is a SSL certificate important for a website

Today, the internet plays an important part in all our lives. It’s crucial that all our data is safe!

From virtual attackers to intrusive internet service providers, anyone can sneak a peek at our sensitive data we share on the World Wide Web!

Since many small businesses communicate with clients online, having a safe environment to do so is important for both parties.

A professionally designed website allows visitors to become familiar with your business. But when it comes to encouraging your visitors to take action, you need to let them know they can do so, in a safe way.

If you run a small business and would like to build your brand, you need to find a way to communicate and interact with your clients.

Some businesses sell their products and services directly on their website. Small online stores are well known for allowing their clients to safely purchase the products they need.

But when it comes to entering your credit card information, can you guarantee your client their data is safe?

SSL certificates don’t just affect e-commerce websites. Any information you may collect from your clients is subject to risk if your website isn’t safe.

From phone numbers and your customers’ address to simple email databases, all information is subject to risk. Securing your web forms is always important, even if think your website’s too small to be hacked.

But privacy, data integrity and security is not all.

An SSL certificate can, potentially, determine your website’s search engine ranking within Google search.

Any small changes in your website’s structure can have an impact on your SEO factor. While there’s only a small percentage of websites that haven’t made the switch, others are already ‘milking’ some SEO benefits!

Although not all websites are required to install SSL certificates, those that do should expect a small boost in rankings. With Google adding HTTPS as a possible ranking factor, it may be safe to say installing that extra layer of protection should definitely be made a priority.