Digitally Rebranding a Business
Our latest client, Sliders Food Mart recently launched a new website https://www.SlidersFoodMart.com built by the team at Strategic Sway. Their website was constructed from the ground up with all new images and content in 6 weeks. We incorporated a video header on their Deli page and dynamic areas to be updated frequently with fresh content including a blog, food service menu, in-store specials and core headlines on their homepage: What New, What's Hot, What's Happening; to deliver impact messages at the point of entry. Parallel to their website construction we optimized their local SEO, increasing their visibility. In less than 2 weeks from launch their locations were showing up in the first page of search for select keywords.
Strategic Sway is proud to announce that we have been contracted to continue to manage the website content and local online presence for Sliders, including review sites for Sliders Food Mart.
Obstacles of the project
The new owners of the convenience store chain faced a mammoth task in rebranding their recently purchased convenience store chain and after a year with their new logo and looks the digital footprint hadn't corrected itself on its own. It just got more confusing for customers and negatively impacted their digital presence.
Sliders had gone through multiple rapid transitions in just a few years. They had changed brand names, fuel brands, foodservice brands, franchise agreements and ultimately, ownership. The three (3) Sliders Food Mart locations had gone from a successful franchise agreement with a reputable chain that managed their digital presence to being an independent operator who elected to name each store uniquely from the next; shortly after that rebranding ,they were purchased and rebranded as Sliders Food Marts.
What happened to their online presence?
A few years have gone by since they exited their franchise agreement, but all across the internet the Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes name still existed attached to their address. To make matters worse, there were multiple spellings of the name generated by internet users on various platforms who had created various map listings with different names and categories: gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc. But wait; there's more! After NNE they became Beaches Bridge, Harrisville Convenience and Croghan Convenience each being around just long enough to have users created listings across the web, on social media and maps. None of which were high-quality listings contributing to poor search ranking.
How do old Google listings, duplicate and incorrect places on the internet negatively affect a business?
Sliders montage of new, old and incorrect listings had many problematic impacts on their business. Their store hours were incorrect, if listed at all, and images associated with the listings carried the old branding; they no longer had a website and the Nice N Easy listings redirected to a large competitor's website who had purchased them. Online reviews would go unseen, unanswered and could still be made on listings that Sliders did not own or control on major platforms on Facebook, Google, Yelp, Foursquare, YP.com etc.. You can see how this digital history could be problematic for a fledgling brand who now had a third identity on the internet.
How does a brand go about fixing their incorrect listings on the internet?
Sliders initially contacted Strategic Sway about building a website. We quickly identified the need to clean up the old listings and correct their local SEO problem and included this in our proposal. Before constructing their website we cleaned up their online presence; first by updating NAP, securing or creating Sliders Food Mart listings for each location, on all major platforms, social and maps such as Google, Apple and Mapquest. We permanently closed old locations, closed obsolete nearby competitors, merged duplicate locations and added updated interior and exterior photos and food photos by Jared Sturtevant Photography
NAP and stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. NAP is critical for businesses wishing to rank well in the local organic search results, because search engines like Google take the data into account when determining which companies to show for geo-targeted searches.
Sliders Food Mart website successfully launched on schedule. They were very please with the design, copy writing, and their visibility in search. If you are considering a new website, revised website, social media management, or an assessment of your local SEO health contact: Jared@StrategicSway.com
