How can local Maintenance and Repair Business improve their Digital Presence?

Today more than 2.92 billion people worldwide use the internet to find products and services, including maintenance and repair for everything from cars to homes and appliances. The key to successfully tapping into such a huge resource is creating a digital marketing strategy that will help you find and communicate with your target customer in the local area to show them why your business is the best choice.  
Establish your brand with your website 
Your website is your online storefront and should immediately tell the customer what your business does, while giving the impression of expertise and professionalism. It is also a business tool that will be instrumental in defining your image, as such your design should be consistent with your core message.     Make sure you have a website that is SEO optimized, up to date with current information, license numbers, services, hourly rates, hours and works well on mobile devices. Since your primary business is offline it is very important that you encourage potential customers to take action by adding direct call-to-actions, like ‘Call Us’ or ‘email us for a free quote’ on pages throughout the entire site.  Furthermore, a website establishes an online presence so that potential customers, industry professionals, and even potential employees can easily learn more about your business. 

Maximize your exposure with local directories
To increase the likelihood that more local customers will find your business and use your services, add a listing on the local online business directories like Google+ Local and Yahoo! Local.  It would also be a good idea to get your business accredited and listed on the Better Business Bureau directory.  While it is best to add your business to more than one directory do some research to determine which ones are ideal for your business.  Some are automatically generated lists that you can add your business to, which help you get more inbound links to your website. Others allow users to optimize their listing by adding content, pictures, and even video, which improves the initial perception of your business.  Many of these are also community-based websites that mean visitors can rate and review your business.  
 
Dynamic Repairs and Renovations, LLC Business listing on Yellopages.com
Build Your Reputation by responding to reviews
Leverage the viral effect of online review to build a positive reputation.  Online reviews are a great influencer for consumers and play major role in the decision and purchasing process.  Moreover, customers seeking your services do not want to interact with you more than absolutely necessary. So, reading a review about how reliable your work is can set you apart from other local maintenance and repair businesses.  Reviews most often posted on general rating and review sites like Yelp and YellowPages.com but they can also be posted on social media pages as well.  Regardless of where they are posted you want to respond to these reviews in a personal and professional way in order to help you build relationships with your customers. Positive feedback can make the difference in a customer calling your business over the competitors when a problem arises.  Thank people for their positive feedback. Conversely, look at negative reviews as an opportunity to engage and learn how you can create a better experience for them. Customers will appreciate your proactive approach to resolving problems.  
 
Use social media to increase your referrals 
Word of mouth advertising coupled with social media networking can go a long way in building trust by allowing you to personalize your interactions, both of which influence customers’ decision when searching for a maintenance and repair business.  Set up a Facebook page for your business and start actively promoting it through your website, marketing materials, and in store on signage or customer receipts. You may even consider offering rewards or coupons to return or frequent customers that ‘Like’ your page. Encourage satisfied customers to share their experience on their Facebook page as well.  The point here is to build trust that will translate into recommendations to family and friends that need these type of repair services.  It can also be beneficial to create a LinkedIn company profile for your business in order to network with other professionals in the industry. 
Final Thoughts
Create a digital marketing strategy that makes it easy for people to do business with you.  When people find a reliable business to maintain and repair their home, car, or etc., they generally will maintain that relationship for years, as a result finding new customers can require some creative strategies.  A good digital marketing plan that includes a variety of techniques to enhance your online presence will keep existing customers coming back and win over new ones. 
 

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