Many people use LinkedIn when they are in “business mode,” and if they see you on another social media platform, they are likely to check out your LinkedIn profile before getting in touch. Below, we reveal nine strategies you can use to start generating more leads from LinkedIn.

1. Connect with High Net Worth Individuals

Building a network of high-value properties can be a game-changer for those in commission-based businesses. Start by connecting with people in the sphere of the high net worth individuals you want to reach. Once you have a few mutual connections, you can add your target and open the door for them to see your content and message you directly.

2. Find Common Ground With Potential Leads

While some buyers or sellers may be more interested in working with people who share the same interests, many are more interested in relating to you on a professional level. Consider joining LinkedIn groups with alumni or supporting common causes to find common ground with potential leads.

3. Increase your visibility with less noise 

One of the challenges of other social media platforms is getting your content seen amidst all the other posts. LinkedIn tends to have a lower level of noise, so your content is more likely to stand out and get noticed.

4. Promote your open houses and events

Posts about open houses and events tend to do well on LinkedIn, as there is less competition for attention compared to other social media platforms.

5. Take advantage of the LinkedIn algorithm

The LinkedIn algorithm is made to put you in touch with professionals who can help you move up in your career, such as potential buyers and sellers or people who can put you in touch with them. The algorithm looks at who you send emails to and who visits your website, and it may suggest these people as possible connections for you.

6. Use hashtags

As with all social media platforms, LinkedIn allows you to use hashtags to reach a specific audience. But it’s best to use no more than three to five hashtags per post so you don’t look like you’re spamming.

7. Engage with your network

Make sure to engage with your growing LinkedIn network through likes and comments on your connections’ posts. Sharing insights, and experiences, or congratulating a connection on an achievement is a great way to stay top of mind.

8. Leverage LinkedIn Premium Insights

If you start to see an increase in your LinkedIn engagement, you may want to consider upgrading to a LinkedIn Premium membership. While this does come with a monthly fee, it provides additional insights, such as who is viewing your profile and the ability to send inmails to people you are not yet connected to.

9. Increase reach with sponsored posts and LinkedIn Ads

To reach a larger audience, consider using sponsored posts or LinkedIn Ads. With these paid options, you can reach out to specific groups and make your content more visible on the platform.

Conclusion

LinkedIn is a social media platform specifically designed for professionals and businesses, making it an excellent place to generate leads. To get the most out of LinkedIn, consider connecting with high-net-worth individuals, finding common ground with potential leads, increasing your visibility by posting content that stands out from the noise of other social media platforms, promoting your open houses and events, taking advantage of the LinkedIn algorithm, using hashtags, engaging with your network, leveraging LinkedIn Premium insights, and increasing your reach with sponsored posts and LinkedIn Ads. By following these strategies, you can effectively use LinkedIn to generate leads and build your business.

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What is duplicate content?

According to Google, duplicate content refers to substantive blocks of content shared on the same website or to different websites that either completely matches other content or is similar to other content. This content is not deceptive or designed to be malicious. Essentially, duplicate content is content that appears on the internet in more than one place. That one place is defined as a location with a unique website address or URL. If the same content appears at more than one URL, it is considered duplicate content. 

While Google does not punish you for having duplicate content on your website, it can still sometimes impact search engine rankings, just as any unique content would. When there are multiple pieces of similar content on the internet and Google finds that similar content in more than one location, it can be difficult for search engines to decide which version of that similar content is more relevant and therefore, which should be ranked higher. All content that is shared on the internet competes for higher search engine rankings in the same way. The more relevant the content is, the higher it will rank.

So, what is Google actually looking for in content? 

Google’s main focus is to deliver the highest quality search results to internet users. This means it has to sift through content that is closely related and uses the same keywords users have searched for to determine which is the most relevant result to display first. Google is also on the lookout for deceptive practices. Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results (Google, 2020). 

Duplicate content can look deceptive to Google if your website begins to appear like a spam site. To avoid that, it’s important to make sure your brand credibility is protected by only sharing duplicate content that is relevant to your business. Many big websites, especially in the news and media industry, share duplicate content and continue to rank highly in search engines. This is because the duplicate content they share adds value to their website, rather than distract from their main message or purpose. 

How Google ranks duplicate content

Google will still rank your duplicate content, as long as it includes the appropriate keywords. The higher the quality of the content, the higher it is likely to rank. The general rule of thumb for digital marketers has always been to make the content more unique in order to rank higher than the similar or same content on another website. One of the ways to do this would be to use geographic modifiers to specify the location of your business in the content. When it comes to duplicate content, Google will rank the website that has the higher authority highest. This authority is determined by the other content on that website and the brands’ credibility or reputation. So keeping the duplicate content within your brand’s message and purpose is vital. 

Won’t Google rank my website lower for duplicate content? 

Google is looking for reputable websites to rank highly. Duplicate content isn’t going to affect you in that area as long as you’re meeting your SEO requirements. If you share content that your audience is looking for and the content is high quality, written well and considered valuable by those who visit your website, you’re going to begin ranking higher. Google wants to reward you for rich, relevant, informative and helpful content that your potential clients will want to see.

How to improve your rankings with duplicate content

While Google won’t punish your duplicate content, it wants to reward unique content with added value. You won’t be punished for downloading an article from Partica and uploading it straight to your website or social media pages, but you should always edit it to suit your website and unique needs anyway. Doing this will make the content more unique, as well as benefit your brand awareness, reliability and credibility by suiting your unique audience and your tone of voice. Your audience is already used to the way you speak so make sure you’re editing the content to maintain consistency. It’s also beneficial to include links to other pages on your website within the duplicate content to help keep readers on your website for longer. You can read more on how to edit an article to make it your own here. 

Remember, a huge percentage of the internet is made up of duplicate content. Google knows this. Their bots are visiting websites every day, making note of where content first appeared and when it’s appearing now. All you need to know is that Google won’t punish you if they find that content on your website too. They simply move on. So, instead of worrying about whether Google approves of your duplicate content or not, focus your energy on sharing relevant and informative content to your potential clients. 

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The most powerful marketing tool any business has access to is a happy client or customer. The reviews or testimonials you receive from these happy clients can add credibility to your brand as well as increase your brand awareness, organically. Having reviews as part of your overall digital marketing strategy can give you an edge over the competition by making your brand more credible and trustworthy in the eyes of the client.

Where should I direct my customer reviews?

Social media users use their preferred platform to read reviews of a brand or product. 

Research has found that most people research on social media before making a purchase so it’s important to encourage your clients or customers to leave a review on your social media pages. When you create your social media strategy, you should have a specific plan for each platform to get the most out of its unique features. For example, if the majority of your clients visit your Facebook page before making a purchase, direct them to leave a review on your page using Facebook’s built-in reviews. 

What types of reviews can I collect?

Facebook reviews 

If you find most of your audience traffic comes through your Facebook page, direct your clients to your page to leave a review. Facebook has reviews built into the platform itself and if you have a Facebook Business page, you’ve probably already started collecting reviews organically. When a prospective customer finds your Facebook page, they can easily scroll through the reviews your past customers have left. But you don’t have to limit yourself to the review function built into the platform. You can also use video testimonials recorded with your past customers in your Facebook ads to target your audience and improve your engagement.

Instagram reviews 

Unlike Facebook, Instagram doesn’t have a function that allows you to generate testimonials organically. But that doesn’t mean you can’t capture customer reviews and turn them into content to improve your brand value and credibility through the app. One way to highlight customer reviews is to share what they say about you in their stories, on their page or in the comments to your Instagram stories, with their approval. Stories only last 24 hours but you can create an Instagram Story highlight and compile all of the customer reviews you’ve posted on your story so anyone who comes across your profile in the future can still see them. 

Another way to harness customer reviews on Instagram is to create your own stories that feature your happy customers or clients, either by creating the content yourself or asking a user to take over your stories for the day to share their thoughts on your brand. Takeovers like these are great ways to get organic testimonials as it gives followers the ability to share their own story.

Google reviews

Most Australians still Google a brand or product when they begin their online research. Having a Google account will not only allow you to collect customer reviews but also allow you to have a clear map of your business location, clear operating times and contact information available. The reviews you collect on Google can also be screenshot and shared to your social media platforms or in an email newsletter. Such as with Facebook reviews, Google uses a five-star rating system and allows you to respond to the reviews you receive while logged into your business Google account. 

User-generated content 

One of the most effective ways to collect organic customer reviews is to curate user-generated content. This can be an incredibly effective marketing strategy on visual platforms such as Instagram. While users may post photos or videos of your product, service or business premise and not necessarily provide a review of that in the post, it’s still a great way to build your brand credibility organically as the user hasn’t been asked to post that content. To help you find the user-generated content your past clients have posted, you might want to create a brand hashtag. This way, everything you collect will be in the same location. Just remember to use the hashtag yourself and remind your clients to use it when posting on their pages. 

Influencer marketing 

Influencer marketing continues to increase in popularity as many brands use influencers to promote their products or act as brand ambassador. If you are going to use influencers to promote your brand, you’ll need to remember that you might not have complete control over the message they send or what they say about you. Especially as more influencers are becoming more transparent about sponsored posts and their partnerships so fewer people are trusting those paid opinions. Alternatively, you can find who is already talking about your product on social media and reach out to them for a review. 

Tips for collecting testimonials on social media 

Simply asking your customers or clients to leave a review on your social media pages at the end of their transaction can help you collect testimonials. However, it’s not the only way. A follow-up phone call or email to check in with your client can double as a tool to collect a review. One of the biggest struggles you will face will be making sure that you haven’t missed anything and that you’re tracking all of your company’s social accounts, handles, and hashtags. This way, you can start making a note of which posts you want to use and promote. When you do find posts that you’d like to share as user-generated content, always reach out and ask if you can use that content for your marketing. 

If you don’t incorporate customer reviews and testimonials into your marketing strategy, you could be missing out on the opportunity to attract new customers and build your brand credibility. But when you do start incorporating reviews into your strategy, remember that you won’t be able to control the messages you get from your customers. Always use caution before requesting your customers to leave feedback so you can avoid negative reviews, but don’t leave the negative out completely. They too play a role in shaping your brand credibility as you can use them to showcase how you handle customer complaints. 

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Whenever a person does a Google search for a professional in their area (i.e. “real estate agents in [your local area]”), if the business has a Google My Business page, the search results would bring those businesses near the top of the search results page. 

When used correctly, it can significantly boost your real estate business’ visibility and draw many more leads and prospects your way.

And the best part? It’s free and only takes a few minutes to set up. 

SETTING UP YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PROFILE

STEP 1: GO TO BUSINESS.GOOGLE.COM AND CLICK ON “MANAGE NOW.” 

STEP 2: ADD THE NAME OF YOUR AGENCY

Use your exact business name as it shows up in the real world. (business cards, website, etc.)

STEP 3: CHOOSE THE ADDRESS THAT WILL SHOW UP WHEN CUSTOMERS ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Similar to step 2, enter an address that is consistent across the board. 

STEP 4: CHECK TO CONFIRM THAT YOU DO SERVE CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE OF THIS LOCATION 

There are 2 reasons it’s important to set up your profile to serve customers outside of your address location:

1. As a real estate agent, you serve a number of local areas, not just the suburb you operate in
2. Being set up to serve customers outside of your office address gives you the opportunity to rank for searches outside of your city address. 

There is one caveat to note. If individual agents also set up a google my business profile, they’ll be competing with the agencies in the rankings. Whether or not you decide to do this is at the discretion of each agency principal. 

STEP 5: ADD THE AREAS YOU SERVE.

There is no limit on how many suburbs or postcodes you want to add to your areas served list, so you can be as hyperlocal as you’d like. 

STEP 6: CHOOSE THE CATEGORY THAT FITS YOUR BUSINESS BEST. 

If you are a real estate office, enter ‘real estate agency’ and if you are an individual agent, enter ‘real estate agent’. 

STEP 7: ENTER THE CONTACT DETAILS YOU WANT TO SHOW CUSTOMERS.

For the phone number, it’s best to enter a local number that’s the same as that which can be found on your site. A single number used everywhere is a positive signal to Google that demonstrates consistency. 

Enter your current website URL linking to your trusty real estate website.

STEP 8: FINISH AND VERIFY YOUR BUSINESS.

Google will automatically set up a page for you if you don’t already have one. 

There may be an option to verify your business by phone or email, but more commonly a code will be physically mailed to you within a week. Once you receive it, login in to the web address you receive with the code to verify your page. 

STEP 9: DELETE ANY DUPLICATE PAGES

If you happen to have duplicate Google My Business pages, (maybe you changed your name or set up a page, but never finished) delete all of them. 

As a general rule of thumb, Google does not want to see duplicate content. 

If your business has multiple locations, it’s ok to have multiple Google My Business real estate pages for each location.

STEP 10: ADD PHOTOS TO YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS REAL ESTATE PAGE. 

From your Google My Business Dashboard under “photos,” you can upload your logo’s image, a cover photo to showcase the personality of your business, a video if desired and photos of your business’ interior and exterior. 

When it comes to your logo, the smallest size you can use is 250 x 250 pixels, but keep in mind that bigger photos will look better. This photo will show up in search engine results pages, so make this look the best you can.

STEP 11: WORDSMITH YOUR BUSINESS DESCRIPTION.

Not only should you go into detail about your business here, but your description should be SEO optimized (pay attention to keywords) to further help with overall visibility and traffic. 

A business description of 250-400 words is ideal, but don’t cut and paste your website. Even though it’s your website, it’s still duplicate content.

STEP 12: GIVE PEOPLE A REASON TO VISIT YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE

Make sure that you post content on your page (you can re-use your blog content) and respond to any comments. 

You can also encourage activity on your page by liking and commenting on other local business pages. They are likely to reciprocate and Google rewards ‘active’ those pages.

Properly setting up your Google My Business page and optimizing it with the tips above is a free and easy way to generate more quality leads and ultimately increase your bottom line. 

While it’s not a ‘set and forget’ activity, it is a low effort high ROI activity your agency can reap the benefits of. 

The post How to boost the visibility of your agency with google my business appeared first on Server Nation Staging.

Which is right for your business? The answer depends on your technical expertise, your budget, and the goals you’ve set for your eCommerce website. Below we’ll be providing an in-depth guide on WooCommerce vs. BigCommerce so you can decide which one is right for your eCommerce site. 

eCommerce Essentials for Every Online Store

Whether you’re selling a physical product, downloadable digital goods, or services, your store needs to have some essential components. Like traditional “brick and mortar” businesses, you’ll need a way to showcase your products, as well as procedures for customers to select and pay for them. You’ll also need to give customers a way to contact your store. Because your online store reflects your brand, it needs to be highly customizable with options for adding more features as your business evolves.

The web’s top store builders and hosting providers aim to include these and related core eCommerce functionality features, with more options available via additional apps, themes, and extensions. Beyond those essentials, leading eCommerce platforms varies widely in terms of cost, ease of use, and scope. WooCommerce provides flexibility and virtually unlimited options for customizing your storefront on a self-hosted WordPress site. BigCommerce is a hosted service with an array of built-in features and round the clock technical support for those looking for a scalable, all-in-one site-building solution.

WooCommerce: Free and Flexible

Looking to run a successful eCommerce store with Woocommerce? WooCommerce powers nearly half of all online stores worldwide, but it isn’t a standalone store builder. It’s a free, open source plugin that’s designed to work on any self hosted website powered by WordPress. Learning how to use WooCommerce is simple. In order to access its many eCommerce functions and features, you’ll need to set up web hosting with a provider of your choice and install WordPress to build your site. This arrangement is called “self hosting,” since your site can be migrated at any time to any provider you like.

Once you’ve installed WordPress, you can install the WooCommerce plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory, activate it, and start setting up your store. The basic WooCommerce plugin includes all the essentials for creating and managing an online storefront, including product display pages, shopping cart functions, and payment gateways. Using WooCommerce provides options for customizing the look of your online store, and it’s compatible with just about all of the many WordPress themes available both from WordPress.org and from third-party developers around the world. But a number of WooCommerce-friendly WordPress themes have also been designed to work specifically with the features and functions of the WooCommerce plugin.

WooCommerce is free and open source, so users can freely modify its source code and share it widely. Although the basic version includes all the essentials for building a functioning online store, it may not include all the features you want. Users can choose from among hundreds of free and paid extensions and secondary plugins to add a variety of additional functions such as currency converters, SSL certificates, abandoned shopping cart management, and tools related to specific niches and business types.

BigCommerce: A Multifaceted Hosted Solution

BigCommerce hosts more than 100,000 business sites worldwide, including familiar brands like Kodak and Toyota. It’s a fully hosted platform that offers an all in one solution for setting up an online storefront with all the essential tools built into the basic version.

BigCommerce claims to offer more features than any other eCommerce platform, but these features are all proprietary to BigCommerce itself, so that users typically can’t install functions and features from other sources. BigCommerce includes a number of free and paid theme choices that can be fully customized using its drag and drop Store Builder tool, and users with development experience can also work with the theme’s code and style sheets for even more customization. 

The basic BigCommerce site builder includes an array of advanced tools such as abandoned shopping cart recovery, integration with widely used social and eCommerce sites, such as eBay, Amazon, and Pinterest, and SSL certificates for secure payment processing. For users who want additional specific features, the BigCommerce app store offers more than 600 additional tools and extensions. 

With this general overview in mind, here’s a closer look at how WooCommerce and BigCommerce stack up in terms of a few essential features: ease of use, cost, and scalability.

Store Set Up and Customer Support

Both WooCommerce and BigCommerce make it relatively easy for new users and those with design and coding experience to get an online store up and running in very little time.  Because WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, it’s integrated into your existing website and can be customized from the site’s admin dashboard with no need for coding—but experienced developers can work directly with its source code to make highly customized changes too. Users of all experience levels can mix and match the many additional WooCommerce plugins and extensions to achieve exactly the functions and features they want—and more can be added as a site grows and evolves.

BigCommerce is a hosted provider, so its theme and extension options are proprietary, but store owners have considerable flexibility in customizing the look and features of individual storefronts. BigCommerce says that users can set up a basic site in just 15 minutes. Additional customizing can be more challenging, but all BigCommerce WordPress hosting plans also include around the clock technical customer support and a variety of tutorials, FAQs, and videos to help out.

Cost, Plans, and Pricing Plans

Calculating the cost of setting up and running an online store with WooCommerce can be tricky. The basic pricing plans of buying a domain and setting up hosting can vary widely, and although WooCommerce itself is a free plugin, you may also want to buy a custom theme or add premium extensions to get the features you want. Once those features are in place, the cost of your site is largely under your control—and it can be scaled up as needed to accommodate your site’s growth with no additional costs.

Because it’s a hosted service, BigCommerce has more predictable pricing plans, with packages starting at around $29 USD per month for a basic storefront and ranging up to custom “enterprise” packages that require a price quote. But BigCommerce pricing also depends on the number of sales your site has—and revenues that exceed your plan’s cap can push your site into a higher tiered plan. Because BigCommerce is a hosted site, scalability can become a challenge as a site begins to grow and place more demands on the host’s resources.

Which is Right for You?

WooCommerce and BigCommerce both offer tools for creating stunning and fully functioning online stores. WooCommerce can power sites ranging from single page blogs to complex corporate sites, with a long and growing list of options for customizing every aspect of a store, and so can BigCommerce, with features to support a store’s growth and expansion. Choosing the right platform for your eCommerce venture depends on your budget, your comfort zone, and your vision for the future.

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Here’s a look at five of the best WooCommerce themes for creating an attractive and fully functional online store on your WordPress website.

WooCommerce and WordPress: How Does It Work?

More people now use online shopping than traditional retail stores, and that number continues to grow. Today, just about anyone can create a virtual storefront for selling all kinds of physical products, digital downloads, subscriptions, and services. Large hosted eCommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce provide space and resources for setting up your online store, but customization options can be limited, and if the site runs into problems or goes down, so does your store. 

Building your store with WordPress avoids many of the problems associated with setting up a store on a third-party host. You’ll need to arrange your own domain name and account with a hosting provider, but WordPress is free to install and customize as you like. The basic WordPress source code contains all the elements for a generic website, but you control its appearance and functions with a combination of themes and plugins – additional bits of code that can be installed into the WordPress source code to add additional functions to your site.

WooCommerce is one of those plugins. Install it for free from the WordPress Plugin Directory on your site’s admin dashboard, and it adds a set of eCommerce related functions to your existing WordPress sites, such as product display pages, shopping carts, and payment gateways. These features are integrated into your site’s theme so that they display with the theme’s overall look and layout – but your current theme might not support all the WooCommerce features and functions that go along with a dedicated theme designed with WooCommerce in mind. 

What to Look for in a WooCommerce Theme

WooCommerce themes are available primarily from third-party developers with WordPress experience, although some WooCommerce-friendly themes are also available from the official WordPress Theme Directory. If you’re thinking of switching out your current theme with a WooCommerce focused premium theme, it’s important to keep not only your own goals in mind, but also the experience potential customers will have on your site. The best WooCommerce theme for your WordPress site is the one that looks good, reflects your brand, and offers your visitors the best shopping experience possible. To achieve those goals, look for a theme that includes: Clean, uncluttered design. Your theme should be customizable to reflect the look of your brand, but also make it easy for visitors to find what they need and contact you for questions and issues. A quality WooCommerce theme should showcase your products with minimal distractions. Mobile responsiveness. A majority of online shopping is done from mobile devices, so a quality WooCommerce theme should be mobile responsive for display on devices of all sizes. Compatibility with other plugins. The functions of WooCommerce can be extended in a variety of ways with WooCommerce extensions – additional pieces of code that give your online store a variety of highly specific functions. Your WordPress site may need other plugins too, and a good WooCommerce theme should support the other plugins that add the functions you need. Social media integration. A number of free and premium plugins can add social media functionality in a variety of forms to your WordPress site, but quality WooCommerce themes and compatible plugins should offer features that integrate your site and product displays into your preferred social media sites. Easy navigation and search functions. The best WooCommerce themes also include user-friendly navigation to provide your customers with the best experience in your shop. This can include options for menu placement, easy to find search bars, and other navigation aids. Quality WordPress themes are available from a variety of online asset marketplaces and third-party developers. Some WooCommerce themes are free, but premium themes provide full support and all available features at a variety of prices ranging from less than $50 to hundreds of dollars. Here’s a look at five of the best for storefronts of all kinds. Flatsome This premium WooCommer ce theme from ThemeForest features a trendy flat design that can be fully customized to suit your brand. Flatsome has a clean layout with a featured offer section and multiple product page layouts. This theme includes a custom page builder and can be translated into multiple languages for a global reach. Shopkeeper The shopkeeper is a fully responsive premium theme from Envato Marketplace that can be customized with multiple product pages and blog layouts for a variety of different eCommerce purposes. Shopkeeper comes with YouTube video support for its product galleries and is compatible with Gutenberg, the new page builder and text editor included in the latest version of WordPress. Artcraft is a quality premium theme from Template Monster for art, craft, and boutique storefronts. This handmade theme features a clean, responsive design and easy navigation with multiple page layouts. Artcraft is compatible with Elementor, a visual WordPress page builder with drag and drops functionality for creating custom pages.

DIVI

Divi is a fully responsive, versatile general WordPress theme that integrates well with WooCommerce. The Divi builder includes multiple page layouts and extensive social media integration that fully supports the basic WooCommerce plugin features. This premium theme also includes clean, intuitive navigation and can be translated into 32 languages.

Legenda

With multiple demos and layout options, Legenda from Theme Forest can be customized for a variety of niches and product types such as clothing, sporting goods, or toys. Legenda comes with a visual page builder for creating individual pages and a set of clean dropdown menus for easy navigation. Legenda also includes multiple language support and a clean black and white design.

WooCommerce can add essential eCommerce features to any WordPress site, but a premium WordPress theme designed with WooCommerce in mind can support all its features and functions – and make your online storefront look its best.

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