Listen to this articleMike Grossman is a partner at Strategic Adrenaline and owns Mike Grossman Consulting. Below is our recent interview with Mike from Mike Grossman Consulting:
Q: Can you give us insights into your services?
A: We offer a full range of digital marketing services for our small business clients. Our services include SEO, pay-per-click advertising, website design and development, mobile app development, and custom software solutions. I work hands-on with all our clients, and we pride ourselves in being able to explain technical concepts in easy to understand terms.
I enjoy opportunities to teach my clients about digital marketing and I’m working on delivering more SEO and digital marketing seminars around Boston. My goal is to educate more small business owners about how easy it is to get started. Boston is a competitive marketplace for Digital Marketing from both large and small firms, and our goal is to stand out.
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Q: What do you see as the role of search engine optimization (SEO) for local companies as we see more small companies embracing social media?
A: SEO is more important now than ever for local companies. If a potential client is searching for your website, and your website isn’t right in front of them in results, they’ll go somewhere else.
Driving traffic to a website, or capturing leads, requires a multi-pronged approach. SEO, pay-per-click advertising, social media, and other channels such as email marketing and print ads, all work together in boosting a website and brand.
When a business owner has a new website or is ready to start investing in digital marketing for an existing site, I highly recommend shoring up their organic search traffic first by making some technical SEO improvements.
After that, a 3-to-6 month campaign would be a huge benefit, but exploring other channels could be appropriate too. SEO and digital marketing, in general, should be viewed as an experiment in which you slightly change the variables over time, continuously measuring results and then diverting funds as appropriate.
SEO can offer an excellent return on investment and can fit into budgets of any size.
Q: What are small business owners missing about the online marketing environment today?
A: Measurable results. I understand the fear that small business owners have that the money they spend on digital marketing is going out into the void, never to be seen again, when in reality, that investment can be tracked and measured. They should expect timely reports and someone to explain the data to them.
Small business owners may not realize that the environment for online marketing is always changing. Search engines tweak their algorithms every day to improve the quality of the search process. An SEO specialist is aware of this and looks for ways to adapt to both big and small changes.
The expertise and time involved can make it unrealistic for small business owners to do their own SEO in addition to all of their other responsibilities.
Q: How, in your experience, has online marketing changed for small businesses that want to reach a local market?
A: A small amount of money can go a long way in Digital Marketing and especially when you consider all the free tools available. Digital marketing efforts can be highly targeted across many platforms.
Local SEO should be part of their overall SEO strategy. Small business owners should tailor their keyword research to keywords relevant to their local customers. They should make sure they are listed in all the local online directories and business listings.
Equally important, they should try to make sure they’re responding to all their reviewers (both positive and negative) in a timely fashion.
When a small business does well targeting their local customers with SEO, they can see a substantial increase in foot traffic and reservations.
Q: How is Mike Grossman Consulting positioned as we enter 2019?
A: We’re looking to expand our services and to grow as a company. Boston is a tech hub with lots of talented software developers being courted by big tech firms like Google and Microsoft which makes growth challenging for a small software shop. We’re positioned, though, to add talented professionals in Boston who align with our small agency values and culture.
We experienced growth last year and see the momentum building for this year, especially through client referrals. In 2019 we will continue to offer our clients digital marketing expertise along with face-to-face interaction and close guidance. Every client is important to us, and we always make time to talk with them and make sure they’re happy.
Recommended: Q: Can you describe your business philosophy?
A: Being upfront, honest and transparent at all times is very important to me. I want to be surrounded by people I enjoy who are great at what they do. My goal is to create positive relationships in which everyone benefits.
