As we all know there are dozens of online business directories. Some encompass all types of businesses (eg; https://www.yellowpages.com.au/) whist others are industry specific (eg; https://masterlocksmithsmemberdirectory.com.au/).

A business listing on these directories is called a “Citation” and is a key factor in the way that search engines like Google and Bing identify a business’ bona fides. It’s also an IMPORTANT and indispensable part of “off site” SEO.

Below you will find a link to a tool which helps you search your your business listings ( Citations ) and also identifies which ones do not display the correct NAP (https://nobsseo.com/business-website-seo-nap-essentials/).

We strongly recommend that you use this tool to help your business display more prominently online.

https://www.brightlocal.com/free-local-seo-tools/local-listings-health-scanner/

Helpful Tip:  Don’t put this off…. do it today.

For over 100 years Eakin McCaffery Cox Lawyers have provided a wide range of professional legal services to individuals, businesses, government bodies and large conglomerates. The combined experience of the Eakin McCaffery Cox team is unparalleled in legal circles so when we had the opportunity to publish their latest “Issues to Think About if Starting a Business” notes we knew we had to share with our own clients.

Below you will find a downloadable PDF of notes from a February 2020 seminar delivered by senior EMC lawyers at their Sydney offices which was attended by people who were interested in setting up a new business.

In our opinion this advice should be taken very seriously not only by prospective business owners but also by existing entrepreneurs at all levels of business.

Our thanks again to the Eakin McCaffery Cox team for making these notes available to our readers.

Click on the document below to download a copy of the pdf.

Believe it or not most of your customers/clients will visit your business website before they visit or contact your business. So the image that your website projects is in most cases the first impression customers have of your business. BUT FIRST THEY HAVE TO FIND YOU!

So let’s assume that you have a well designed website which represents your business in its best possible light. Now what?

Well now you have to make it easy for people to find you online when they search for the product/service your business provides. This is what we call SEO (search engine optimisation) which by definition is the art of optimising a website to display prominently on search engines (eg Google Bing) for relevant searches. So if your business is a pizza restaurant in Crows Nest called Mario Brothers then your website needs to be displayed prominently when a potential customer searches for “Pizza Crows Nest”. If it doesn’t the customer/user may well patronise a business which does.

Below you will find a list of “essentials” which need to be included as part of every business website’s online marketing strategy. Each point on this list is “essential” meaning that for each item your website doesn’t have completed your online presence suffers. Go through these points in detail and if you need extra clarification contact us via the form below.

1. Https: Your website must have a current SSL Certificate
2. Hosting: Your website hosting should be with a trusted hosting provider
3. NAP: Your business Name, Address and Phone number should be consistent across every directory listing where your business appears
4. Speed: Your website needs to load quickly (4 seconds or less)
5. Phone Friendly: Your website needs to display perfectly on mobile phones and tablets https://ready.mobi/
6. Google My Business / Google Maps: Your business needs to have a completed listing on Google My Business
7. Bing Maps: Your Business needs to have a Bing Maps listing
8. Meta Data: Your website should reflect your targeted search terms via its Meta Data
9. Images: Any images on your website need to be labelled correctly via Alt Text
10. Content: All the content on your website MUST be unique. Don’t copy and paste from other websites.
11. Social Media: Any social media accounts associated with your business must be kept up to date.

Maintaining a high online profile for your business is not easy but also not that hard. It involves time and knowing what to do but it is also essential if you want to keep attracting new customers.

1. Don’t use public Wi-Fi for BANKING or other financial services . It’s too risky and often leads to disaster. Try to only use public Wi-Fi for general browsing or streaming purposes.
2.  ALWAYS install a reputable antivirus program on your mobile device. It should scan for spyware, malware, phishing and other nasties.
3. ONLY connect to SECURE WEBSITES !!!!! Look for the HTTPS and avoid HTTP .
4. Remember to turn OFF the Wi-Fi function on your mobile device when you are not using it. Wi-Fi can provide an easy pathway into your mobile device and its data.
5. PROTECT YOUR PASSWORDS!!!!! There are several versions of security software for your mobile device. Get one!!!!
6. ALWAYS pay attention to the name of the Wi-Fi you are going to use. Hackers will often broadcast a “Free” Wi-Fi to encourage you to use. If you see the word “Free” in the name of the Wi-Fi service avoid it if possible.
7. Enable the “Forget This Network” feature on your Wi-Fi setup. This will stop your mobile device automatically connecting to a Wi-Fi network you have used before.
8. Where possible use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when you are using an external Wi-Fi network. A VPN will process all your data via a secure network regardless of the free Wi-Fi you are using.

If you have a business website you will no doubt receive many emails from so-called SEO “experts” offering you a range of packages which will promote your website to page one of the major search engines (Google, Bing, etc) overnight. And if you’re like me you will have decided long ago that 99.99999999% of these emails are complete and utter bullshit and deserve their place in your junk folder. I mention these junk emails because they all have one thing in common, they all offer to procure thousands of backlinks to your website for a ridiculously low cost.

So let’s talk about links and backlinks.

The difference between a link and a backlink is a link is a random url usually found in an email. A backlink though is a url on a website which takes you to another website.

Question: Are backlinks important?

Answer:    Yes they are, but there’s a catch!

Backlinks are a very efficient way of going from one website to another when researching a subject or shopping for goods and services. For example if you were searching for a voIP telephone system for your business and you landed on this page https://mybusinessmaps.com/products/business-telephone-voip-systems/ you would find a number of backlinks to the Cititel website which has a wealth of information on voIP and voIP telephone systems. In this case the Cititel website greatly benefits from the backlink for 2 main reasons:

1. The page with the backlink is all about voIP and business phone systems.
2. The landing page it is pointed at on the Cititel website is has voIP relevant content.

Given that an important factor of SEO is how much time a user spends on your website the fact that the above user may be looking for information / suppliers / prices / availability etc on voIP it stands to reason that they may well take the time to read the Cititel voIP page and perhaps even contact the business for a quote.

On the other hand if the very same backlink to the voIP page on the Cititel website was on an unrelated website (say http://www.suburbanskips.com ) then the chances of someone clicking on it would be remote at best. And IF they did click on it chances are they wouldn’t find it relevant and they would quickly leave the Cititel website thus increasing their bounce rate and potentially harming the perceived importance of the Cititel site which could harm Cititel’s overall SEO.

In summary it’s true that backlinks ARE important but they MUST be relevant and they should ALWAYS be from a reputable website.