Building a Business's Digital Presence: A Local Guide was taught by Caitlin Boroden & Jacques Bouchard at SUNY Ulster. The class dived into the ins-and-outs of getting found online and guided you through the necessities of any digital presence. These topics included: * Your Website: website content essentials and user experience * Social Media: the importance of a social presence and how to build it * Business Listings: Google My Business, Bing Places, Yelp, and more.

1. Building a Business’s Digital
Presence: A Local Guide
Presented by: Caitlin Boroden & Jacques Bouchard

2. @DragonSearch
Today we will discuss:
Your Website
Social Media
Business Listings

3. Your Website

4. @DragonSearch
Keywords
• Use Google Keyword
Planner to learn how
people are talking
• Reference local
towns/cities
• Use keywords in content,
url's, image file names,
metadata, and menus.

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Contact Information
• Make it easy to tell who you are,
what you do, and how to contact you.
• Add to every page, in easy-to-find
locations
• Make sure it's in text format, not
images, so Search Engines can read it.

7. @DragonSearch
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title Tags: 55-56 characters long. Appear
in the tab in browsers and in the top line
of search
Meta Descriptions: 156 characters long.
Appears only in search results.

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Title Tags

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Meta Descriptions

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Panda and Your Content
• Google Search runs by an
algorithm.
• ‘Panda’ is part of it, and
evaluates quality, length, and
duplication.
• Make sure your pages have a
good amount of quality
content.
• Don't ‘stuff’ keywords!

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When Is ‘Thin’ Content Length OK?
Not So GoodAppropriate

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Blogging
• What will be interesting to your audience?
• What do they need to know about your
niche?
• How can you make your blog about them,
and get them involved/participating?
• How can your blog mean business?
(Follow the 80/20 rule.)
• Share your space & write for others!

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Calls to Action
Examples
• Phone Number
• Contact Form/Email
• E-mail signups
• Blog subscriptions
• Social media shares/follows
• Print/E-mail of page
• Trackable Sale
Best Practices
• Always ask for business
• Present multiple paths to
conversion
• Present logical paths to
conversion
• ‘Soft’ conversions

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Google Analytics
• Free to anyone
• Easy to set up - especially with
WordPress websites
• Tracks traffic and user
behavior
• Can track by traffic type
• Can be used to track
conversions
• We'll have a GA class in the fall

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19. Social Media

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Selecting a Platform
• With so many social media platforms out there, choosing
one that match your needs and audience can be
challenging.
• Don’t spread yourself thin. Start small and then move into
other platforms as needed.
• Choose a platform you enjoy using personally. If you are
active on the platform on your own, you are much more
likely to be active for your business.

22. @DragonSearch
Facebook
Cons:
• Very little organic reach. You essentially need to
pay to play.
Pros:
• Lots of users! Over 1 billion, in fact.
• Users have the ability to engage in multiple
ways + comment.
• The ability to message and post on company
pages gives users a very easy way to connect
with you for questions, comments, or concerns.
• As a business you have the ability to @-mention
other businesses (not individuals) in your posts.
• A comprehensive and highly targeted
advertising platform (more on that later!).

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Twitter
Cons:
• Very fast pace. Updates fly by and you need to be
highly active and agile on this platform to stay
connected with news and trending topics.
• Users expect quick replies on Twitter. If a user
asks a question and you don’t respond in a timely
matter, it will be noticed.
• Like all platforms, Twitter is very public. If a user
has a number of complaints, they are out there
for all to see.
Pros:
• The ability to connect with anyone, anywhere,
at any time.
• Very easy to share relevant updates, news,
images, videos, GIFs, and more.
• You have the ability to @-mention other
individuals or businesses in your posts. They
will be notified of this inclusion which can lead
to engagement and networking connections.
• There are lots of great conversations happening
on twitter chats.
• Features an advertising platform.

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Instagram
Cons:
• Instagram recently introduced an algorithm that
has the potential to reduce views (a la Facebook).
Considering how recent the change, the effects
have yet to be seen.
Pros:
• Visual! You have the perfect outlet to share
images of your business, people, events,
products, and the list goes on.
• Incredibly popular - especially with younger
audiences.
• A great way to get involved with your local
community. Follow your communities hashtags
and engage.
• Lots of #hashtags to get involved in!

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LinkedIn
Cons:
• On average, it has the most expensive advertising
options when compared to Facebook &
Instagram.
Pros:
• LinkedIn is ideal for business to business
connections. However, there are still
opportunities to connect with consumers on
here, as well, depending on the business.
• It is an ideal platform for professional
networking and outreach. You may even be
able to find your next employee on there.
• Typically rich in quality content. LinkedIn has a
publisher platform that allows you to share long
form posts. These posts, however, must come
from an individual’s page and not a company.

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… and many more.
• Social platforms come and go.
• It’s easy to jump onto every
platform out there.
• It’s better to be highly
involved on a few platforms
then spread yourself thin on
too many.

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What to Post?
• The platform's style and audience will
influence what content you post.
However, remember these main
pointers:
• Stay visual. No matter the platform, aim to
include imagery with your work. It grabs a
reader’s attention.
• Don’t be overly promotional. Get involved
with your community and industry and
show some ‘social love.’

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Reputation Management
• It’s important to monitor your
brand name for both good and
bad mentions.
• Respond to negative feedback
in a timely and professional
manner.
• Whenever possible, take
negative conversations offline.

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Advertising Opportunities
• The three primary social
advertising platforms are:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• However, there are others
such as YouTube, Snapchat,
and Pinterest too.

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32. Break :)

33. Business Listings

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Local Listings

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Google My
Business
• Very visible in Google search
• Listings can be claimed &
developed
• Collects reviews and builds your
online reputation - increases
traffic and conversions.
• Helps your website rank better
• Drives traffic

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Bing Places
• Very visible in Google Search
• Listings can be claimed &
developed
• Shows reviews from Yelp,
Foursquare and other third-party
sources.
• Helps your website rank better
• Drives traffic

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Yelp
• Loyal, invested community
• Listings can be claimed &
developed
• Reviews show in Bing, Google
Search results, and many others.
• Helps your website rank better
• Drives traffic
• For a restaurant, one star can
mean a 5-9% increase in revenue.
- Harvard Business Review

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Chambers + BBB
• Real-life networking
opportunities
• Helps Google understand that
you have a brick-and-mortar
business
• Helps your website rank better
• Drives some traffic

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42. Questions?

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Thank You!
Caitlin Boroden
Twitter: @caitlinboroden
Email: caitlin@dragonsearch.com
Jacques Bouchard
Twitter: @jacquesbouchard
Email: jacques@dragonsearch.com
DragonSearch
Twitter: @dragonsearch
Phone: 212-246-5087