There are many recommendation sites online that business owners can use to encourage new customers to use their product and services. Once you are registered with some of these sites, here are some tips in encouraging present customers to write reviews.
Simply ask! The best and most straight forward way to encourage customers to write reviews is simply by asking them to. More often than one might think, customers will be happy to write about their experience with your business. This could be something such as a link to a review site at the bottom of your emails, or a simple statement said at checkout.
Creating a pop-up form on your website is an easy way to encourage customers to leave reviews. If your business has a website, programming can be used to create a pop-up form that appears after customers have made a purchase. Customers are more inclined to write a review directly after they make a purchase, before they leave their computer, which is why pop-up forms are so effective.
Automated messages are a good way to remind customers to leave reviews. For example, if your company provides a service, after their appointment is finished customers may receive an automated message (text, email, etc.) that asks them to leave a review. This is a good tactic to engage with customers to assess the quality of your business while the service is still fresh in their minds.
Create incentives; if you reward customers with a discount code or free product when they leave a review for your business, they are much more likely to take the time to do so. Consider awarding your customers with a promotion as an incentive for leaving reviews.
Customer recommendations are one of the most essential parts of owning a small business. Not only do customer reviews provide important feedback for business owners themselves, but they encourage other local consumers to give your company a chance. We are going to go through places where you can get customer reviews.
Top 5 Places for Customer Reviews
Angie’s List Angie’s List is considered a “higher-end” review site, as users have to pay for an annual membership. This site is geared towards service-based businesses. Reviews can not be anonymous, and are given on an A-F scale. It’s free to set up a page for your company on Angie’s List; once you have yours, encourage your customers who have an account to leave reviews.
Consumer Reports Consumer Reports is a nonprofit organization that product tests to write unbiased reviews and recommendations. With 7.7 million products reviewed in the U.S., this site does not accept advertising, and pays for all of their products themselves. This site is very legitimate, and is a great way to gain exposure.
TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is a review site that caters to the following industries: travel, hospitality, airlines, entertainment, or restaurants. Currently, as the largest travel site in the world, TripAdvisor has over 200 million reviews taken by customers. If your company has any leg in the travel industry, creating a profile on TripAdvisor can boost customer reviews as well as overall sales.
Yelp Yelp is one of the most popular and well-known free review sites. Any business can create a free profile on Yelp, which allows users to set up their own free profiles to review businesses. The great thing about Yelp is as a business owner, you can respond to revieweres that leave comments on your page. Additionally, you can put information on your Yelp page such as store hours and location, so your profile will often come up when people Google your business.
Google My Business Google My Business is one of the most accessible review sites, as the reviews show up when you search Google for a business. Receiving reviews, comments, or pictures on Google can boost your business as it is almost always guaranteed to pop-up on customers’ mobile devices.
If you are a small business owner, creating a domain name gives your business credibility in the online world. It is essential to understand what a domain name is, in order to create your own unique online identity.
What is a Domain? A domain is essentially your virtual address, where customers for your business can visit your website. A domain name is what comes after “www.” in an online web address, and after the “@” in an email address. A URL is a complete web address which includes a domain name, used to access a web page. A website is the content people see and interact with when they visit websites that are associated with a given domain name.
Reasons to Create a Custom Domain for your Business:
Search Creating your own domain name for your company makes it easy for people to find your business when they search online.
Brand Building It is important to stay consistent with your businesses branding. By using a custom domain, you can create a name that matches all of your other company branding.
Professionalism When consumers visit your website virtually, you want to make sure what they see is professional. Custom domains are simple and easy to read for customers, ensuring a level of respectability.
Tips on Creating your Own Domain:
Choose a Domain Name It is impossible to choose the perfect name for your domain, so keep in mind that the goal is good, not perfect. Keep your name short and simple by using keywords and brand names. Short names are easier to type than long ones, so attempt to try not to exceed 2-3 words per domain. Additionally, choose a simplistic domain name that is easy to remember.
Register a Domain Name with Google Domains ( is one option but there are other places where Domain Name can be registered like GoDaddy.com
Get started with https://domains.google
Search for the name you want your domain to be. If you want some assistance in coming up with a name, search “Insights” to help you choose
If the domain name you want is taken, consider making small changes to ensure originality.
Once you have come up with your unique domain name, add the selected domain to the shopping cart by clicking “Add”
Select your registration terms, which include a fee, and then press “Check Out”
Review your purchase terms and conditions, and then click “Buy”
If you already have a domain name that you’d like to use, you can transfer it to Google Domains. You would do so by pressing “Transfer” on the left hand side of the menu bar. Simply enter the domain name you already have, and follow the prompts.
Google Ads are a great way to advertise your business and products. Linking your Google Ads to your Google Analytics account helps business owners learn about what happens after users choose to click on your ads.
Why Link to Google Analytics? Google analytics allows you to target specific users based on their previous behavior and patterns on the internet. This means that when you link Google Analytics to your Google Ads, you will be able to objectively promote your ads towards specific types of customers. Additionally, Google Analytics helps you to understand your Google Ad traffic on a larger scale. With Analytics, you will be able to determine if the keywords in your ads are promoting sales, and largely determine patterns in your ad traffic.
How to Link Google Analytics to your Ads:
Create an account for each individual product that you intend to advertise
Once this is done, click the “Admin” tab within Google Analytics
From the “Property” column, click on “Google Ads Linking”
Once this has been clicked, you will then see all of the different product accounts that you made. From here, click on as many product pages as you’d like to link, and then press “Done”
Working with Google Analytics comes with an abundance of features. Below is a brief explanation on two of the advanced features that are offered on Google Analytics so you can best take a look at this data for your business.
Dimensions Dimensions essentially describe your data, as each dimension used can describe a different value. Secondary dimensions are used to view data with granularity, because an additional dimension is being added to your report. You can use Secondary dimensions to tell Google Analytics what you want displayed in a custom report.
Segments Segments are groupings of your data within Google Analytics. Various segments in Analytics can be isolated in order to closely identify the trends in your business. Segments can be used in order to enhance your understanding of the activities of a specific audience, or in order to create marketing campaigns to target groups. When on Google Analytics, use the “explorations” segment to build your dimensions and segments. Within explorations you will find the “Segment Builder” which allows you to create various groupings of users, sessions and events.
A native of Pittsburgh, graphic designer expert Ken Falk has over 50 years of experience working with unique clients from all different realms. Through creating thousands of logos, brochures, campaigns, and more, Ken’s unique perspective on graphic design is valued by many. Starting off as an Art Publisher for Penton Publishing, Ken has grown his professional career all the way to building his own Marketing and Communications company out of Potomac, Maryland. Currently residing in Rockville, Maryland, Ken is still passionate about the importance of good design in our everyday lives.
Ken Falk shares his experience as an EGBI volunteer.
To get started, do you mind telling us a fun fact about yourself? In my free time, I enjoy doing calligraphy.
How did you first get involved with EGBI? So, I recently retired. A former client of mine mentioned that they use Catchafire, a skills-based volunteer match program, to get volunteer design work. I thought this would be perfect as I was looking for short duration volunteer work where my skills could be used. This is actually my first job with Catchafire, so it is an initial experience. It’s nice because I am planning to travel more now that the pandemic is controllable, and I don’t want to take on large long-term commitments, so short-term ones work pretty well.
Why do you volunteer for EGBI? What intrigues me about EGBI is that it helps people learn to help themselves in a sense. People that have skills in one area, like carpentry, need help in learning how to start a business and all those things, which can be somewhat daunting. I like the idea of being able to help people become more self-sufficient and successful.
How has your involvement with EGBI helped you grow professionally and personally? One reason why I chose this project with EGBI is because I like working on annual reports as a graphic designer. I think annual reports are interesting because they encapsulate telling a story about an organization, through highlighting accomplishments at a certain period of time. Annual reports can show transition and transformation of organizations. Additionally, Monica is really easy to work with, and I was able to make suggestions on the project which created a collaborative workspace. I really value working on projects where my input is heard and taken into consideration.
In 2021, EGBI volunteers put in more than 130 hours to help EGBI support and serve over 400 small businesses. Volunteers like Ken make this possible and continue to help EGBI pursue their mission of training, coaching, and supporting aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.
Want to get involved too? Contact us to find out how you can volunteer or donate.
In our previous blog, Google Analytics for Your Business Website , we explored the basics of Google Analytics. In this article, we are going to dive into how using Google Analytics data can help you to complete your business goals.
Step 1 = Outline Goals It is important to outline goals in order to clearly target what you are trying to achieve. Without an outline, the process of completing goals can get confusing and muddy. One great method of outlining goals is using the SMART goal method. Check out our recent blog post for more information on how to create your own SMART goals .
Step 2 = Ask Questions Google Analytics provides an abundance of data about your business. It is important when planning out a goal to think about what types of data you need to support your intention. There are four main questions that are important to ask …
Reach: Who is your audience – What are people searching for? How do they find you online?
Convert: Do leads become customers – Which channels drive conversions? What calls-to-action drive conversions?
Engage: Can visitors find answers – What do people do once they find out about your business? How do people interact with you online?
Sustain: Are customers loyal – Do people continue to engage with your business online? Do you respond quickly to customer inquiries? Step 3 = View Reports This step involves looking at all of your Google Analytics data, and determining how you can find the answers to your questions from step 2. Without a plan of how to find the data you need, you will likely get overwhelmed. There are a few different types of reports that you can drawinformation from:
Realtime= This type of report allows you in real time to monitor site traffic from new content that you post. This allows you to watch goal completions as you try out different changes to your site.
Acquisition = Acquisition reports allows you to understand how visitors arrive or your site. For example) mobile app, website, tablet, etc…
Engagement = This report gives you information on what consumers are doing on your site. Engagement reports show you data on how long sessions are, the pages and screens customers have open, and the conversions that individuals use.
Monetization = Measures the amount of revenue that your business generates. This includes seeing how users interact with various items, and measuring purchase and advertising funnels.
Demographics = Demographics tell you the types of people who are visiting your side. Information is organized by age, location, gender, and language.
Retention = the retention report measures the loyalty of your customer base. In other words, how frequently and for how long do people engage in with your site after their initial visit.
In the modern age of technology, there are hundreds of technological tools that exist for small business owners to utilize online. One of the greatest programs currently out there is Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides basic statistics, as well as tools for search engine optimization (SEO). Google Analytics is free to anyone with a Google account.
To begin, it is important to highlight the reasons why analytics are important for small businesses:
The use of Google Analytics can be used to track website traffic, and collect visitor insights. This means that as a small business owner, you will be able to see how often and how many people are viewing your website.
Google Analytics can track the success of marketing campaigns, through discovering patterns and trends in user engagement. For example, if your company is doing a marketing campaign on your website for a new product, Google Analytics is able to determine how often consumers are buying this product.
It is important to understand the demographics of the type of customers that your small business is catering to; Google Analytics contains software that collects the demographics of visitors. How does Google Analytics Work? Google Analytics collects user data from website visitors through the use of something called page tags. Page tags are inserted into the coding of website pages through JavaScript software. Essentially, the tag that is coded into the webpage collects data and sends it to Google’s data collection server. Through this server, Google Analytics is able to report data of all kinds. For consumer safety, Google Analytics relies on cookies … the system can not collect data for users who have cookies disabled. Things to look for in your Google Analytics Report:
Dimensions = Dimensions in Google Analytics are categorical variables. Some examples include colors and names. Below are some examples of important dimensions to look out for on your Google Analytics Report.
Browser: the specific type of browser your site is being viewed on. Examples include safari and chrome.
Location: the geographic location of where consumers are viewing your site.
Landing page: the first web page that users see when they get onto your website.
Device: the type of device your website is being viewed on.
Customer type: this determines if your customer is a new or returning viewer.
Metrics = Metrics in Google Analytics are quantitative variables. Some examples include population and age.
Sessions: the total amount of time that a user is active on your site.
Pageviews: total number of pages that are viewed or loaded when someone visits your website.
Conversions: determines if visitors are engaging with marketing and design efforts throughout your website (moving through the expected steps of creating a sale).
Bounce rate: the percentage of times on your website in which users only viewed a single page before closing out.
Session duration: measures the average length of how long a consumer spends on your website. Tips to Improving Analytic Numbers:
Before checking into Google Analytics, ensure you have specific action items that you want to address. Checking data aimlessly can be a waste of time, and make things more confusing than needed.
Have your top reports emailed to you … oftentimes Google Analytics takes a long time to extract data that is actually useful. Instead of browsing through Analytics for hours, you can create custom reports of the information that you actually want to see. Then, this data is emailed directly to your inbox.
Don’t let yourself fall into a marketing rut! Consumers love exciting changes; make sure that you update your website at different points throughout the year to keep customers on their toes.
Google Analytics can be confusing and overwhelming at times … don’t hesitate to ask for help. Google Analytics has a 24 hour support website that will answer your questions about anything and everything.
Rosemary is a native Austinite, born and raised in East Austin. She is the giving coordinator at Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and her role goes well with her passion and desire to make the world a better place. She works in the philanthropy department and handles the monetary donation process for all national giving and assists nonprofits with their support they provide in the community. Rosemary completed the Hispanic Austin Leader program in 2009 and Leadership Austin in 2020. She is a former board member of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and GAHCC Foundation board of directors and has held various leadership roles in the Hispanic Austin Leadership program. In 2015, she received the GAHCC Chairs Award; in 2016, she received the TAMACC Women of Distinction award; in 2019 she received the HAL Alumni of the Year award; the HABLA Outstanding Community Leader Award in 2020 and Con Mi Madre Mariposa Award in 2022. She is a past advisory board member of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Advisory Board, appointed by Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza and a past committee member of Somos Austin. In her spare time, she enjoys day trips and spending time with her family, especially her young grandson.
Rosemary Banda shares her experience as an EGBI supporter.
To get started, do you mind telling us a fun fact about yourself? Native Austinite and have lived in Austin all my life. I love to coordinate gatherings where women can come together and mingle and socialize and leave behind their day to day tasks for just a little while. It’s important to build each other up and just share sometime together.
How did you first get involved with EGBI? I first heard about EGBI in 2008 when they presented at the Hispanic Austin Leadership class. My HAL classmate Barbra Boeta, went on to become Executive Director and it was a great opportunity to learn more about EGBI and become a wholehearted supporter.
Why is it important to support organizations such as EGBI? EGBI is important to small companies and entrepreneurs to get the training and coaching to start up their business and keep thriving. Offering their services in Spanish is a must for the Hispanic community.
How has your involvement with EGBI helped you grow professionally and personally? As giving coordinator, it’s important to me to support organizations that provide a great service to the committee. Seeing the members of EGBI and how they are thriving, reassures me of my commitment to EGBI.
In 2021, EGBI supporters help EGBI pursue their mission of training, coaching, and supporting aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.
Want to get involved too? Contact us to find out how you can volunteer or donate.
Google Ads son una gran forma de promocionar tu negocio y productos. Conectando tu cuenta de Google Ads con tu cuenta de Google Analytics ayuda a los propietarios de negocios a aprender sobre lo que pasa después de que los usuarios deciden dar clic en sus anuncios.
¿Por qué conectarse a Google Analytics?
Google analytics te permite dirigirte a usuarios específicos basándose en su conducta y patrones anteriores en el internet. Esto quiere decir que cuando enlazas Google Analytics con Google Ads podrás promocionar objetivamente tus promociones hacia cierto tipo de clientes. Además, Google Analytics te ayuda a entender el tráfico de tu Google Ads a mayor escala. Con Analytics podrás determinar si las palabras clave en tus promociones están fomentando ventas y determinar en gran medida patrones en el tráfico de tus anuncios.
Como vincular Google Analytics a tu Google Ads:
Crea una cuenta para cada producto que pretendas promocionar.
Una vez hecho esto, presiona la pestaña de “Admin” en Google Analytics
En la columna “Propiedad” da clic en “Vinculación de Google Ads”.
Una vez que se ha dado clic, podrás ver entonces todas las cuentas de todos los productos que has creado. Desde aquí, da clic en tantas páginas de productos que desees vincular y después presiona “Listo”
Traducido al español por Daniela Ariza. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.
