How to Stay Connected During the Coronavirus Pandemic

GoSite

May 01, 2020

5 min read

Every business is currently adjusting to the present stay at home orders -- especially those who rely heavily on foot traffic. However, now more than ever is the time to get creative and start reimagining how your business will fundamentally operate and transact in the future.

With the talk of reopening the economy on the horizon, it’s critical for you to take advantage of this downtime to refresh your digital presence with updated business practices in a post-social distancing world and activate contactless payment methods to your customers. Here are a few action items to help get you started.

Update your Google My Business account;
Send review requests;
Refresh your website; and
Promote contactless payments and communication.

Refresh Your Google My Business Account

You can start by updating all of your photos. Take some time to clear out all old and no longer relevant photos from your library on your phone.

After you complete a full sweep of your phone’s photo library, upload high-quality photos of you and your employees performing work. Try to include a variety of different images to give viewers a comprehensive snapshot of the services your business provides.

If you don’t have current ones readily available, upload your most recent photos. Due to the contagiousness of the COVID-19, we encourage minimal contact and advise against taking new photos at this time.

Make an effort to post to your Google My Business and Facebook account regularly. Uploading a post every week is a good habit to get in the practice of doing. You should try to keep your customers updated about closures, hours of operations, cancellation policies, delivery services, and so on. Customers expect accurate and updated information.

In addition to updating your photos and announcements, take this time to make sure that all the information in your Google My Business is accurate and up-to-date (location, services, name, etc.). You are able to make business updates through the GoSite Dashboard and then sync that information across over 70 business directories. All of this will help boost your local SEO and improve your online presence.

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Take Control of Your Online Reputation

During times when business may be slow, it can get frustrating. But the good news is, your customers have more downtime too. Take this opportunity to communicate with your customers and send review requests. Just because your business may be down, your online reputation shouldn’t have to suffer too.

The best way to reach your customers is by reaching out to them on their native device: Their mobile phone. Text them asking for a review. Your customers have more time and are more likely to leave one. If you’re opposed to texting, email, or messenger works fine too!

In your message, direct them to leave a review on Google. Include your Google My Business link and any other relevant information. Your customers have more time, which doesn’t happen often, so take advantage of it!

Reviews will help your business’s online presence and reputation, but it’s also important for you to stay in contact with your customers -- especially during times of crisis.

Once the reviews start coming in, be sure to respond. Thank your customers for their time and positive feedback. A few kind words can go a long way!

Make Sure Your Website is Updated

When business is down, it’s imperative that you take advantage of the situation and focus on aspects of your business you might not usually have time for. For instance, perform routine maintenance on your website. Take a moment to review your current site and note any improvements you’d like to make.

Ask yourself: Is your site mobile optimized? Are you looking for an updated look? Is the information still accurate? Regardless of how great your website may be, there’s always room for improvement. At this juncture in time, a mobile-first website is critical if you want to appeal to a mobile audience.

We can work together to transform your best website builder for small business to attract more traffic and grow your customer base. Even though you can’t bring customers into your physical location, you can boost customer engagement in the digital world.

With a little guidance from you, we can provide a fresh new design, add new features and write new content to give your site a complete makeover. Don’t sit around and waste time, make the most out of the grim situation and focus on what you have control over -- impress customers with your modern new look.

contactless payments

Contactless Payments and Communication

With the growing number of remote workers, businesses closing their doors, and increasing demand for online purchases, it’s essential for your business to accept mobile payments. Contactless payments eliminate physical contact and reduce the risk of spreading the virus. In other words, it’s a safer option.

Utilize Payments, our secure all-in-one mPOS payment processing tool to enable card payments online, via our mobile app, or through SMS. Payments enable you to accept payment anywhere, anytime without exposing yourself to an unsafe environment.

Right now, all forms of communication are imperative. Be omnipresent in the digital world, stay connected to your customers, and remain in frequent contact through Messenger, Facebook, Google, website live chat, text messaging, and email. Send any updates, closures, paused services, and so on to keep your customers informed and up-to-date on everything going on with your business.

The Coronavirus has forever changed the way we do business. Even when ordinances are lifted, some measures of social distancing will still be in place. That’s why you need to optimize your digital presence, take advantage of this time to communicate with your customers, and most importantly, be ready and provide a safe option for your customers when we are given the green light to resume business.

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