It’s okay to admit it; we’ve all done it: Thrown our name into a little Google search juuuust to see what happens. Maybe nothing pops up. Or maybe too much pops up and suddenly you realize what the world wide web knows about you: your home address, voter registration history, the raffle you won at your kid’s school fundraiser, and that photo from 2007 when you were featured in your hometown’s newspaper.
The same goes for your business. A quick Google search of your business can give you the surface idea of what’s being said about it online and how it appears online, which can help, or sometimes harm, its reputation. Many times, a lot of this dialogue occurs on social media, which is why we recommend looking at the analytics of your business’s social media profiles and setting up topics to “listen” to on a social media managing platform.
Here are few things to take note of:
Topics and keywords
Setting up topics and keywords are critical for tracking what the internet is saying about your business. It will populate messages with the specific keywords for you to view and have a greater idea of what’s being said online.
For example, say you own a carpet cleaning business. You will want to track the names of the other top carpet cleaning businesses in your area to make sure they’re not libeling you in their latest Facebook post. You’ll also want to track your own business’s name so when someone leaves a response recommending your business, you can retweet it and bring in new customers.
Sentiment and post type
Sentiment helps decipher the attitude of how people are talking about you. Have they been singing the praises of your company lately or leaving negative comments? This can help you decide if you need to alter or maintain the tone of your online presence… as well as if you need to respond to any critics.
Post type shows how much engagement the different types of posts you published are generating. Pictures may gain more attention and love than a status without any visuals. Or, your audience may be super into quick, to-the-point status updates over a video post.
Engagement and reach
Speaking of engagement, likes, comments, shares, and retweets show how much your audience is engaging with your post. Are they engaged enough to throw a “Love it!” comment and share the post to their friends or are they scrolling past without even a thumbs up reaction? Impressions shows the total number of times your post has appeared on feeds.
Audience demographics
Keeping track of your audience ensures you’re reaching the target audience. For instance, if you own an eyelash extension boutique and you’re trying to reach women ages 15-25, looking at your audience demographic can tell you if you’re hitting that goal or if you need to start brainstorming methods to fill that gap.
These are a few key items to keep an eye on when you glance at your analytics — likely, there are plenty more options offered to view and study through various social media management systems. Some known and loved systems include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buffer, and Agorapulse. If you haven’t committed to using a social media managing system yet, try getting your feet wet in Google My Business. It’s not a social media management system, but Google My Business can show you insights on how your business appears on Google Search, along with search performance, customer actions, reviews and more. It’s a great start.
Keeping track of your online reputation is important and, ultimately, an effective way to maintain strong relationships with your audience and current and potential customers. Interested in learning more about how Blueprint can help you dig deeper into what the online community thinks about your brand and what your options are? Shoot us an email at info@blueprintak.com.
