NOTE: This post has been migrated from my graphic design business site, Gainesville-designer.com.
Happy New Year to all of my fellow small business owners!
We are a couple weeks in now, and this is a great time to remind you that by now, or as soon as possible, you should be taking an hour or so out of your week to update all of your contact information and important business details across the web!
Where Do I Start?
This may or may not include:
- Your business website,
- Your business Facebook page,
- Other social media pages such as Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, etc.,
- Any industry groups you have registered with,
- Any advertisements you have running.
You should also check with phone directories used locally, and Google your company name to see what references are coming up online. Make sure that all of those are displaying current information if you have access to edit them.
Every Year, Really?
Maybe you are wondering why this is important, or doubting the yearly necessity. Let me remind you, with small businesses especially, we have a tendency to alter and tweak how things are run until we reach a comfortable set up. And then, we can maintain this for years on end, usually. This may regard your organization policies, your employee rules, your hours of operation, your contact information, your web domain address, or even your physical location.
As small business, you are even more reliant on your local neighbors and word of mouth. So, if word spreads about your business and people attempt to find you online, you must be reachable. Having a domain change without forwarding from the last address, or a phone number change or change in hours of operation can result in annoyed potential clients and lost potential income, which is a terrible way to start a new year!
At minimum, always keep your basic business information updated and
don’t risk losing potential income to a neglected 10-minute issue!
