10 Ways Brick-and-Mortar Business Owners Can Improve Their Online Presence

1. Document Real Interactions in Your Store

Local businesses have a huge advantage in that they have authentic interactions with their local community. Use photos, videos and testimonials from your brick-and-mortar location and share those on the web. The customers you feature will share with their friends and family, while prospective customers will feel like they’re part of the community even though they might be across the country. – Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

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2. Use Facebook Location Advertising

You can use Facebook advertising to promote local neighborhood deals to people who actually live close to the business. Nobody knows your business better than your neighbors. Use the Facebook location marketing tool that will allow you to share your deal with people within a certain distance from your location. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

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3. Make Use of Personal Shoppers

A personal shopper is someone who is assigned to an online customer and is made available to answer questions, make recommendations, and provide information on new styles and product lines. One way of implementing a personal shopper experience is via real-time chat. Note the chat module should be integrated into the shopping experience and a consultant should always be available. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

4. Make Your Brand Feel Familiar

For larger companies, it’s easy to seem distant. Make your brand feel familiar and approachable by using copy that comes off as friendly rather than cold and cookie cutter. Speak to your audience as if you already know them and are on their level through social media and your website itself in a way that makes everyone feel comfortable with you, even as a large company. – Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

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5. Ensure That Familiar Employees Have a Presence on the Site

For brick-and-mortar companies with an established customer base, the staff who shoppers interact with during their time in the store are an important part of the experience. Leverage that familiarity by having employees write blog articles, present product videos, make product recommendations and answer customer queries. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

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6. Invest in Analytics

Many brick-and-mortar businesses forget a simple rule when venturing into the online: ask your customer. We have more opportunity today than at any other time to truly engage with and understand our customer. There are tools to fit all budgets, so invest in analytics, invest in treating data as an asset, and use the data to understand what your customers are already telling you. Then optimize. – Matthew Gellis, Keystone Solutions

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7. Use Snapchat

Snapchat is the most humanizing social network available. While it’s trickier to gamify and attract followers, it can allow your customers and fans to see a completely different side of your business’s personality and engage in more meaningful and ephemeral ways. – Nicholas Haase, Startup Drugz

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8. Publish Your Work in the Local Community

As a business owner in a community, you probably are involved in various other local activities outside of your business. Broadcast this on your website to show how your business is part of the community. This will make your website far more human and familiar. – Mark Daoust, Quiet Light Brokerage, Inc.

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9. Tell Stories

We like to approach this question by helping our clients to consider the purpose behind what they sell. If a business sells hiking gear, they can ask customers for stories about their next trip, turning that into a photo/content piece to be shared on the site and through social channels. No matter the business, there’s a good story to tell if you put in the time. – Jeff Jahn, DynamiX

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10. Avoid Stock Photos

If you want to portray a real genuine brand online then you need to use authentic photos of your business, not stock photos. Include photos on your website as well as your local and social profiles. Display pictures of your business, your customers using your products, your friendly staff and pictures that portray the emotion you want people to have when they are at your store. – Kevin Getch, Webfor