Staten Island marketing and public relations firm with nationwide reach spotlights SCORE data supporting importance of strong ‘Search Engine Optimization’ to local businesses

NEW YORK – With the 2019 winter holiday season quickly approaching, businesses across the U.S., from Staten Island, N.Y., to Chicago, Los Angeles, Anchorage and Honolulu are gearing up for their busiest, and potentially most profitable, time of year.

In order to sell your goods and services, it’s obvious you must have buyers to sell them to. However, what may not be as obvious is the barrier that prevents new customers from discovering your enterprise: A poor ranking on search engines, which translates into weak “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO).

Ignoring the importance of strong SEO is a HUGE MISTAKE that can lead to potential customers — in your own community — passing your business by because they don’t know it exists.

If the growth of your local business or professional practice seems stunted, weak SEO is a likely contributor.

Whether you’re running a business-to-consumer or business-to-business operation, it’s essential that buyers easily discover your enterprise when searching online for the types of products or services it provides. If they don’t find you, they will find your competitors.

A strong SEO strategy can boost an online search ranking for a brick-and-mortar business’s online search ranking, getting the commercial enterprise in front of more eyes and increasing foot traffic.

SEARCH-ENGINE DATA

Staten Island, New York-based Relevant Public Relations LLC points to data gathered by SCORE, mentors to America’s small businesses, showing that 46 percent of all Google searches are local. The data additionally indicates growth of more than 900 percent in mobile searches for local businesses, 2016 to 2018.

SCORE found that customers who search for local businesses via mobile devices frequently follow their searches with in-person visits and purchases. In fact, 76 percent of nearby mobile searchers visit a related business within a day, with 28 percent making a purchase.

If you still think your business’s level of SEO is something you can ignore, consider that the SCORE research also revealed:

• 70 percent of mobile searchers call a business directly from search results.
• 54 percent of consumers search for business hours.
• 53 percent of consumers search for directions to a business.
• 50 percent of consumers search for a business’s address.
• 86 percent of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
• Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before they trust a local business.
• 89 percent of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews.

CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS

For optimal SEO, SCORE advises small business owners to include their business name and contact information on their websites, social media pages and local directories. However, the survey found that many businesses neglect to claim their online directory listings:

• 84 percent of retailers have not claimed their free listing on the Better Business Bureau’s website.
• 82 percent haven’t claimed their Bing listing.
• 81 percent haven’t claimed YP.
• 79 percent haven’t claimed Yahoo.
• 66 percent haven’t claimed Yelp.
• 56 percent haven’t claimed Google My Business.

Barton Horowitz, president of Relevant Public Relations LLC, advises a strategic mix of digital marketing tactics to enhance SEO results even further.

“Having a website, social media activity and online directory listings are essential components of an effective SEO plan, but a business may need more than the basics to achieve a desired ranking,” said Horowitz, whose firm counts the Staten Island, N.Y., chapter of SCORE among its clients. “Online search results may be improved by implementing additional elements, such as keyword-embroidered content marketing, blogs, well-placed online news articles and digital advertising.”

About Relevant Public Relations LLC

An award-winning multimedia public relations and digital-marketing company with local and national reach, Relevant Public Relations LLC. exists to tell your business story in the right way, to the right audience.

Relevant PR works on behalf of banking and financial experts; law firms; medical practices; insurance companies; real estate agencies; restaurants; professional and trade organizations; nonprofits; technology firms, and other businesses within a wide range of industries.

As “America’s Journalist-Empowered PR & Digital Marketing Firm, Relevant Public Relations is among the leading real estate PR firms in New York City, and the predominate media liaison of the real estate industry in Staten Island, N.Y., where it serves as the exclusive public relations representative of the Staten Island Board of Realtors® (SIBOR) and the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service. 

Relevant Public Relations is available online at www.RelevantPR.com and may be reached at 718-682-1509, or via email: info@RelevantPR.com. “Like” Relevant Public Relations, LLC on Facebook.