We don’t need to tell you that your business goes through booms and busts. Just like everything else in life, there are highs and lows. But when the highs keep coming and the lows are signaling something needs to change. It could mean that you should consider expanding. But … how do you know when it’s time to make the leap?
There’s no prescribed amount of time or revenue you need to earn to expand. Obviously, if you’re bringing in money hand over fist, it’s a good time to expand. On the other hand, if you’re struggling in some areas, that could be a sign you should change things up with a move or an expansion, even though it might cost you up front.
Whether it’s a good time to expand your business is up to you, but there are a few signs you should look out for. Here are some clues you should think about expanding your reach.
1. Do you have to turn away customers?
Nobody likes turning away customers, but if you’re beginning to bring in more business than you can handle, you could be in a position where you have to turn down work.
If you find that your business has a growing waitlist, will you need to expand your team and put your revenue towards new employees? Maybe, maybe not. Another solution could be to outsource tasks that are outside your business’s main scope, like your digital marketing. By delegating tasks to third parties, you’ll free up time to serve more customers and take on more work.
2. Are you relying heavily on one or two accounts?
You’re familiar with the saying “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” Similarly, don’t put all of your stock in one or two big spenders.
If you’re making money from only one or two accounts, that’s a bad sign. Although your bottom line might say otherwise, depending too much on one account or another can leave you scrambling if they reduce business with you or take their business elsewhere.
3. Are customers asking about new products or services?
If there’s a growing demand for one of your products or services, that’s another clue it’s time to expand. “The customer is always right,” and if your customers want to see something new or different, seize the opportunity and make it happen.
Not only will the expansion satisfy your existing customers, prospective customers who are looking for said product or service will now have a reason to look your way.
With this type of expansion, it’s also possible to attract new demographics and people in new locations along the way. If that’s the case, you could also be finding yourself expanding your marketing.
4. Is your target audience in a city where you’re not marketing?
Let’s say that your business is in Novi, but you discover that a lot of your customers are from Ann Arbor. You might want to consider marketing your business to more customers in Ann Arbor. Also, consider the towns along the way from Ann Arbor to Novi. Could you also tap into customers from Plymouth or Livonia?
An affordable and reliable way to expand your reach is through targeted landing pages on your website. Targeted landing pages are personalized web pages that drive traffic from a target location or demographic to a product or service you want to show them.
Part of the goal is to bolster your SEO if you’re depending on organic traffic or pay-per-click if you’re paying to play. Another part of the goal of these pages is to reach people from specific areas or those interested in certain services. For example, if someone in Novi googles restaurants near me, they’ll be directed to pages about restaurants in Novi. If you’re trying to garner business from Novi, but you’re in Farmington Hills, your landing page would be geared to Novi customers.
And … you don’t have to stick to one town. You can have multiple landing pages geared towards surrounding towns. That way, you’ll stand out in your area, no matter what specific city your customers are living in. You can also test the market before you decide to go into full marketing mode. Create some landing pages, and see if you realize additional business from that area. Businesses like yours use this technique to help them decide if they should expand with a physical location in the prospective market.
Our final but most important point on landing pages: Google only likes original unique content. Stay away from using duplicate content because it could ultimately make your search ranking go down!
Building targeted landing pages is like building any other page. For the best results, it needs to fit your brand, inform and engage the reader, and be designed with best SEO practices in mind to bring searchers to you. If that sounds like a lot of work on your plate, we’re happy to take it off!