Home > Local Internet Marketing Strategies
Local Internet Marketing Strategies
Local business owners have inexpensive and unbelievably effective advertising opportunities ... some even FREE ... by using the internet to their advantage. These are things you can do yourself ... and it is a process ... so BOOKMARK THIS PAGE! Projects Plus can also assist you as needed at the most affordable rates, personal service, and customized solutions available.
1.) Think like your neighbor.
Where would your friends and neighbors look for information about the service you provide? And even more importantly, who will they trust for reviews, recommendations and coupons or promos? Make sure your customers can FIND you where they look. And make it easy for other companies, websites and people to talk [positively] about your business. It is always more credible if someone else says how great you are than if you say so yourself!
2.) Don't think "World Wide" ... think Local.
How much is a basic advertisement in your local printed yellow pages directory? Pick a big number and add a few ouches to the end of it. Equally hard to swallow is that most small business owners can't even tell you if its working for them or not. Printed advertising is very difficult to track.
Contrary to the popular belief that the internet is too big and vast a place to serve the advertising needs of local small businesses who can't compete with their larger competitors ... you can FOCUS in on your local customers for FREE! And not just free for a limited time ... but free forever! It's called Local Search. Google and others are putting more energy and more tools into Local Search than almost anything else. Your free profile can includes things like photos, your logo, a link to your website, coupons, hours of operation, methods of payment you accept, a description of your products and services, and even reviews. Yes ... for free! And you can track every click!
Want to get started?
Google Maps
Yahoo
Local
MSN Live Search
And don't stop here. Your business should be listed in all of the top search engines, online directories and internet yellow pages.
Your business listings should also be enhanced with specific information your customers are looking for ... and optimized with carefully researched keywords and phrases your customers are typing to find your products and services. Learn more about Online Business Listings.
3.) Find the keywords and phrases people are using.
You need to make sure your website, or your online business listings, will be found in the SERPs (search engine results pages) WHERE your customers are looking. And in order to do that, you must find out WHAT they are typing into all of those little search boxes.
First, get into the mind of a customer who wants or needs what your business offers. Remove from your mind all industry jargon and other intimate knowledge you have about your products and services.
Consider that this customer has no history with your business. They do not know your company name or location. But they have a problem, a question or interest that you can solve, answer or fulfill. Initially, the customer wants information and you are just the expert authority they need.
Second, make a list of a handful of keywords and phrases you think of. It is also helpful to type them into Google or other search engines to see what kind of competition comes up. Remember that you will add geo-targeted words like a city, county or zip code to these keywords. Here is an outstanding FREE keyword suggestion tool.
4.) Choose your Geographical Target Market
In order to focus your business on local customers, you need to add geographic indicators to any content you publish on the internet. For example, each keyword should include a city, zip code or other local notation. The text on your website pages should include the same.
Below is a handy tool to help you quickly determine the exact cities and zip codes you wish to target. After you've submitted your criteria using this tool, scroll to the bottom of the page for your results. You can copy and paste into another program, such as WordPad (PC) or TextEdit (MAC) for later use.
5.) Develop an Online Presence
The more quality, one-way links to your website, blog or other main online page, the more the search engines will notice you, the higher you will be ranked, and the more traffic you'll get. If you don't have a website, or some other main page that represents your business online to link to, than skip this step until you've created one (Note: In step 6, we discuss creating a blog).
Your online presence should be a professional one with helpful information ... not junk. You should weave relevant keywords and geo-targeting from your list into these posts. If needed, you can break down your keyword list into category groups and create different postings based on those groups. All posts should link back to your website or main online page.
Be sure to read through the guidelines or FAQs of each posting system to maximize the power of your posts. Add photos, testimonials and other enhancements whenever possible. Look at examples of your competitors, using your own keywords, to give you ideas. Below are some systems to get started with.
Google Base
Google Profile Page
Tumblr
Swiki
Flickr
YouTube
6.) Create a simple BLOG
Blogging is popular because it is easy to do ... but also because of the incredible marketing potential. Every time you post to your blog, it automatically PINGS (talks to) a multitude of other websites, search engines, and your subscribers to spread the word about your latest and greatest entry. And blogging is FREE!
The leading search engine for blogs is Technorati, which collects, highlights and distributes blog posts in real time to millions of internet users. You can join Technorati for free and claim your blog once you've created it. Be sure to visit Technorati support to learn about using good tags and other details in your posts for maximum exposure.
Set up your blog and then add a new post every 7 to 10 days, at least. If you can post more often, do it. Below are two excellent blogging providers.
7.) Create or Update a Website
If you don't have a website for your business, I am convinced you are losing business. Or maybe you have a website, but it has been set up has a glorified advertisement and doesn't bring any real value to its visitors - your prospective customers.
Many small business owners I talk with share their distaste or distrust of owning a website:
a) "I spent big bucks with a web designer on a fancy site - and it sits in cyberspace doing nothing but looking pretty. Very few leads."
Quite often, web designers are fantastic at design ... but not so good at SEO (search engine optimization). If your website isn't getting very much traffic, it needs to be optimized. See our Search Engine Optimization Service.
b) "The site is getting traffic, but I'm not getting any leads."
Internet users crave free quality information before anything else. If they are searching locally for a product or service, their first priority is research. They can't do research with a printed yellow pages directory. And they will research nationally, or even globally, before making a decision and finding a LOCAL proprietor to buy from.
Another problem could be that the website does not give the visitor any value. Add a photo, some testimonials, articles with helpful information, links to other resources and even internet-only promotions or coupons. And make sure your site provides a way to capture leads. A sign-up form of some sort is ideal to collect email addresses or other contact information. You can offer a free, downloadable report; an email newsletter; a special discount or other valuable items.
or worse yet ...
c) "I don't sell anything on the internet ... I barely need the internet for my own business ... so I don't see any benefit to marketing my business on the internet."
Yikes! The fact is, anywhere from 74% to 86% (depending upon the date of the study) of consumers use search engines to find local businesses. The majority do research nationally or globally, make a buying decision, seek out a local business that will serve their specific need ... and CALL that local business. And 54% of them REFER that local business to family and friends!
The statistics speak for themselves. Talk about very targeted, prequalified, ready-to-act leads! If your small local business doesn't have a website, at the very least, you should have enhanced and optimized online business listings.
Projects Plus can help if you don't have the know-how or time to
complete the necessary enhancements.
Contact us for a free consultation and estimate.
From Local Internet Marketing Strategies to Search Engine Optimization Service