Scoot Blog

Send Customers Straight To Your Door

It’s all well and good offering discounts and announcing sales to entice customers to your door, but if your online details are incorrect, just whose door will your customers end up at? The rise of online directories has unsurprisingly coincided with the decline in print directory usage, with more people choosing to hide their bulky paper directories at the back of cupboard in favour of a quick internet search for a local business. One thing that IS surprising is the number of UK businesses that have yet to realise just how important it is to make sure that their details are correct and up-to-date across the web, with a staggering 40% of all online business information either incorrect or incomplete.

Appearing in the local search results is an important goal for any business; however incorrect details could result in a loss of potential business. When listing your business on a directory site it is important to remember that the devil really is in the detail. Whether you have yet to list your business, or you are planning an online spring clean, make sure you follow our top tips.

CHECK YOUR OWN WEBSITE

If you’re about to add your details to a business directory the first thing to do is make a quick pit stop at your own business website. Note down the physical address, phone number, URL and even the full name of the business. Ensuring that all directory listings contain exactly the same data is incredibly important and helps promote a business within the search engines. It is easy to make a simple typo but if that typo leads customers to 10 High Street instead of 100 High Street, it could soon prove costly!

DOUBLE CHECK ALL THE ADVERTS YOU HAVE SET UP

The shift from print to online advertising has brought with it several benefits to business, one of which is the ability to press that all important edit button to rectify a mistake. Spending money on an paper based advert is all well and good but when you realise that your phone number is missing an all important digit there’s nothing that you can do. On the other hand, a mistake made on an online listing can be swiftly rectified as long as you take the time to check and double check your listing once it is live!

KEEP CHECKING BACK

Once your online directory listings are live it is important to keep on top of them, make a note of which directories you have submitted your information to and either check yourself or allocate the responsibility to a member of staff. It is rare that all business information will stay the same forever therefore if you do move premises or switch phone numbers, make sure you make the necessary changes as soon as you can. If you don’t have the time to keep track of all of your directory listings NetTrackz is a fantastic way to view and amend all of your listings in one place.

GET SOCIAL

The rise of social media is also playing an important role in making sure that your online directory presence is as strong as possible. If you spend a lot of time tweeting and sharing information on Facebook make sure you check to see if any of your online directory listings include a space to post your profile URL or username. Scoot offers a handy social tab that provides customers with an up-to-date Twitter feed and a Facebook profile view.

Online directories are already proving to be a valuable starting point for anyone looking to search the web for a local business, and are fast becoming a vital asset for small business owners wishing to increase their web presence. With 96% of business owners agreeing that 2012 will see print directory usage among under 50’s plummet to zero*, what better time to get a head start with its online counterpart?

For more information on how to get the most out of online directories why not follow Scoot on Twitter for daily news, hints and tips?

*Touch Local Business Poll 2011

Get involved now and receive a £50 voucher!

It’s safe to say that paper business directories are still proving their worth across the UK. Can’t reach the tops of those dusty kitchen shelves? Simply stand on top of a directory and hey presto, dust be gone! Can’t bring yourself to pick up that spider that’s been tormenting the household for a week? Your paper directory just became your number one weapon. There are countless other ways for people to really get the most out of these once invaluable marketing sources but unfortunately quickly searching for a local business just isn’t one of them.

The decline of print directory usage is in stark contrast to the rise of online directories. In today’s world people want instant information and with more people finding themselves attached to a monitor or mobile phone screen, the internet is the most popular place to find it. As well as being a quicker and more efficient way of searching for a local product or service, online directories provide businesses themselves with a clearer view of their return on investment. It’s almost impossible for a business to find out just how many people have viewed their advert in a magazine or newspaper however an internet campaign enables advertisers to track and measure the success of their ad.
Time and money aside, think about how many chunky directories you have had squeezed through your letterbox or left behind your plant pot over the years. Here is what the print of 75 million phonebooks in the UK costs:

• 680,000 barrels of oil (not including the wasted petrol used for their delivery)
• 2 billion litres of water
• Enough energy to power 112,000 3 bedroom houses for one year

If you have already spent part of your marketing budget on print media advertising do not despair! We’ve decided to make sure that businesses finally get something out of their print media advertising by holiday our first advert amnesty. Simply find your advert in a paper directory, newspaper or magazine, take a picture of it and send it to us via email, Facebook or Twitter. If you prefer you can even rip out your advert and post it to us! In return we will send you a voucher for £50 worth of Scoot advertising*, as one of the leading UK directories Scoot is the perfect platform to really make sure your business gets the attention it deserves!

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Email: Kathryn@scoot.co.uk

Post:
Scoot Marketing
Scoot House
19 Falcon Court
Preston Farm Industrial Estate
Stockton-On-Tees
Cleveland
TS18 3TU

*Voucher redemption is subject to a minimum spend of £100.

Are you making your customers feel special?

Special offers are a great way to get customers to your door but if you find that your ‘free Parker pen’ incentive just isn’t cutting it anymore, it may be time for a change. Here at Scoot we know exactly how effective a good special offer can be which is why we offer every business the chance to publish a free special offer on their listing. If you are running out of ideas as to how to entice more customers to your business, take a look at our top tips for setting up a successful special offer!

Everyone loves a freebie!
If you give something away for free you will no doubt catch the attention of bargain hungry customers; however freebies won’t necessarily help your business. This is where offers such as the traditional BOGOF (buy 1 get 1 free) come into play; a good BOGOF using a quality product will increase sales whilst allowing customers to feel that they have come away with a great value deal.

In it to win it!
Awaken the competitive spirit within your customers by launching a competition. Whether you run a small bakery or a multi million pound car dealership, a prize is a great way to grab your customer’s attention. Social media is a fantastic asset when running a competition, why not make the 100th Twitter follower your winner or get entrants to share your competition on Facebook?

Be Child friendly
Holiday companies, restaurants and hotels- take note. One of the most popular special offers for this industry is ‘children eat/fly/stay free!’ and is a great way to increase the number of families choosing you above your competitors.

Roll out the welcome mat
It’s always great to reward your existing customers but how do you go about gaining new ones? An exclusive ‘new customer’ discount is perfect for increasing your new customer levels especially if you capitalize on social media channels to publicize your deal. Whether it’s 20% off their first purchase or free delivery on their first order, everyone likes to feel that they are being welcomed with open arms.

Feeling inspired by our top tips, why not add a Special offer to your Scoot listing today?

Blog your way to a better business

One of the most useful forms of communication for any business is a blog. With over 1 million blog posts written every day, whether you are using your blog to announce new products, keep your customers up-to-date or to just as way to keep in touch, you are definitely not alone! More and more active internet users now read blogs and many businesses now view their blog as their most valuable form of social media. If you have yet to venture in blogging territory why not take a look at our top reasons to start typing.

1. Blogs are now viewed as a mainstream source of communication for businesses and are very search engine friendly! Maintaining a blog is one of the fastest (and cheapest) ways to increase your business’ online exposure.

2. It’s not just customers that you can reach with your blog posts. Research shows that blogs are widely read within the B2B community with even senior management team members visiting company blog sites.

3. More and more companies are replacing monthly email newsletters with regular blog posts as they are easy to create and are instantly interactive. Traditional email newsletters can suffer from low deliverability rates thanks to over cautious spam filters whereas blog posts are easily accessible and sharable!

4. Although blogs don’t tend to draw a large audience, they do attract a highly targeted readership. If your blog contains quality, informative content it will be seen as a valuable resource within your industry.

So what are you waiting for? Start communicating with your business world today!

Data Management Scoot Survey Results

Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date online profile can often be an arduous task for businesses however if you are looking to attract new customers, it is also a vital one! In our latest poll we asked business owners;

Do you regularly update your latest information and check your data on the internet and business search websites?

The results show that 65% of business owners do keep their business details up-to-date whereas 35% don’t check their data on a regular basis. Those that do stay on top of their online business data were asked whether or not they did this themselves or if they allocated the responsibility to another employee or an agency. A massive 89% of business owners took responsibility for updating their profiles whilst just 11% let someone else manage their data.

Business owners who did not keep up-to-date with their online information were asked just what was stopping them from maintaining an accurate online profile. Over half admitted that they just did not have the time to post their latest updates or check that their data profiles are up-to-date. 30% of business owners believed that they did not need to put any work into their online data management as it is ‘fine as it is’ whilst just 14% believe that it is just not important!

Utilising platforms such as social media and directory services enables you to keep you customers up-to-date with your latest news and information whilst also increasing brand awareness and bringing new customers to your door. With more and more people turning to the internet to search for local businesses, there has never been a better time to take control of your online presence!

Is your website turning customers away?

Your company website is one of the first things that your customers will see, so why risk them instantly rushing to click the ‘close’ button? So many companies are guilty of committing at least one of our top ten website turn offs, make sure your business is not one of them!

1. Advert overload

There is nothing wrong with having adverts on your website however there is a not so fine line between carefully selected, relevant adverts and glaring banners offering everything from miracle weight loss cures to cheap holiday deals. When accepting adverts on your site it is important to make sure that they fit in with the tone of the site and do not disrupt the user’s browsing experience.

2. Attack of the pop-up

Is there anything more annoying that clicking onto a webpage only to have your screen bombarded with pop up after pop up? Although most people will (hopefully) have an effective pop up blocker in place, those that do fine their browser full of pop up adverts will most probably head for the hills (well the ‘x’ button anyway)

3. Badly written copy

When you are putting together a website it is easy to get carried away with flashy graphics and stylish videos however the most basic aspect of any webpage is what it actually says. If the copy on your website is badly written, this will immediately give your customers a negative view of the company. Spellcheck is definitely your friend when writing content for your site however it helps to double and even triple check for any spelling or grammar errors before you press ‘publish’.

4. Get to the point

Filling your website content with sales jargon and details of all of the awards the company has won may look impressive however what use is telling potential customers that you are a ‘dynamic, innovative, award winning company’ when they don’t know what it is you do? It is easy to get carried away with the synonym tool however this is useless if you omit the most basic information. Ensure that your ‘about me’ page is crystal clear, if in doubt ask an independent party for their opinion.

5. Slow loading

With so many people paying for fast internet, having to wait what can often feel like an age for a webpage to load can have many people instantly reaching for the ‘X’. Experts state that the ideal load time for a webpage should be no longer than 1-2 seconds, if your site is taking longer make sure you take the time to check what is holding it back.

6. Out of date information

Any out of date information on your site could be detrimental to your company. For example, if a customer uses your site to find an address for your store yet you have actually moved premises this will not go down well with the potential customer stood staring into an empty shop window. If your business details change it is vital to update your website as soon as possible. Similarly if you have a special offer or a price section on your site, avoid red faces at the till by keeping them up to date.

7. If you’re not on the list…

If you have ever been stopped on the street and asked for your details to sign up for a catalogue or a charity donation you will understand the frustration of a web user being held back by a ‘registration form’. A web page that requires a user to enter their details before even viewing the home page may gain valuable email data however it will also lose frustrated potential customers.

8. X marks the spot

If you do decide to allow full page adverts on your site, make sure that you do not forget the number one rule! Many companies design their full page adverts to make it as difficult as possible for users to actually close them and see the site that’s hiding underneath. If a customer ends up playing a game of ‘Where’s Wally?’ with the ‘X’ button, chances are they won’t be in a buying frame of mind when they finally get past it.

9. Colour clash

You may think that changing your font colour to neon yellow against a bright white background is ‘cutting edge’ however when your customers have to squint to read about your latest special offers the only thing they will come away with is a headache. Stick with colours and backgrounds that complement each other and are easy to read, there’s a reason why black/white is a classic!

10. Bored now…

Your company could sell self lacing trainers or trees that actually grow £50 notes however if your website is about as interesting as a paper bag your customers will soon lose interest. Keep your content short and snappy, complimenting it with relevant, high quality images. Engage with your customers through a regularly updated blog and communicate with them through your social media profiles.

Your website is your online shop window so clear away the dust, get out the Windolene and make sure your company really shines through!

Tweet Tweet!

It seems like everyone is tweeting nowadays, celebrities, politicians, local authorities and most importantly your customers. If your business has yet to embrace the world of ‘hashtags’ and ‘retweets’ you are missing out on the millions of customers that are already finding local businesses and services through what is fast becoming one of the world’s largest social networks. The value of Twitter for a business of any size is immeasurable, the micro-blogging site enables businesses to interact and engage with customers whilst generating a buzz about the company through 140 character updates. Here at Scoot we absolutely love Twitter and our team are always on hand to help out with anything that you need plus all of the latest news and updates from the world of business.

Join the social media revolution

As a business it has become almost impossible to ignore the impact that social media has had on how we choose to reach our customers. With the whole word seemingly tweeting, liking and now +1(ing) everything from customer service to special offers, viewing social media as a fad is one of the biggest mistakes a business can make. If you have yet to even dip your toe into the world of social media, here are our three top tips to getting started!

1. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!

Although it may be tempting to set up your profiles and dive headfirst into tweets and status updates, take the time to think about what you want to achieve from social media. If you are looking to increase brand awareness why not research some of the key issues in business and join the conversations about them on Twitter? If you are looking to attract new customers why not advertise an exclusive special offer on your Facebook page or Tweet out a promotional code to your followers. The most basic aspect of social media is sharing so make sure you take the time to share information that your customers will actually want to read. Blog posts, funny viral videos and or even pictures of new products will soon get the ball rolling and the followers pouring in.

2. Keep going!

If after a week or so you haven’t got the 1000’s of followers that you expected, try and resist the temptation to close the laptop and never speak of Twitter or Facebook again. In order to grow successful social media profiles you need to dedicate time and resources. Sharing out the responsibility is a great way to get more of your team interested in social media and will ensure that there is always a steady stream of information being posted.

3. Spread the love

Whether you are Team Twitter of a Facebook fan, one of the most important things to remember about social media is that you need to cover all of your bases. There are programs available that will send a post to all of your social media platforms however it is best to cater different posts for different sites. Utilise #hashtags when using Twitter to get the maximum effect and take advantage of the extended character limits on Facebook to give your customers all of the information that they need.

Scoot, the UK Business Finder, has announced a raft of new ways for their users to find the information they need. Using the popularity of the best social networking platforms Scoot has developed a range of exciting new products and avenues for businesses to advertise their products, services and special offers to a whole new demographic of customers.

These new innovations now allow users throughout the UK to find businesses on a multitude of new websites as well as the already popular buisness directories. It also allows businesses to access other methods of advertising which may have been beyond their know-how or budgets at a reasonable or even free cost. Innovative products such as the new Video Montage will push businesses onto the major video sites such as Youtube and Metacafe. The Special Offer add-on to the in demand listing product will advertise businesses on Twitter.

Scoot also has profiles on many other social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace. For more info and descriptions of the Social Network Advertising products please visit our site Social Network Advertising.