Online Marketing For Local Business A BEGINNER S GUIDE

Transcription

1 Bernadette Coleman (CEO) Advice Interactive Group Online Marketing For Local Business A BEGINNER S GUIDE

2 Online Marketing for Local Businesses A Beginner s Guide The complex world of online marketing can seem like a dizzying maze for local business owners who want to take advantage of digital advertising. The benefits of bringing your business brand online, however, often outweigh the initial challenges. This guide will not only teach you why your company needs online marketing, but will also help you create an easy plan for leveraging the Internet to reach a wider audience and compete more effectively in the modern business landscape. Recent statistics illustrate why local businesses need an online presence. APPROXIMATELY 95% Approximately 95% of consumers research products and services online before making a purchase. According to Compete s 2010 Online Shopper Intelligence study, almost two-thirds of people were using search engines to find online shops and marketplaces, a figure that continues to grow as Internet access becomes more mobile, efficient and widespread. ALMOST 2/3

3 Why is Online Marketing Important? Far from benefiting only businesses that operate entirely or predominantly on the Web, online marketing serves as an extremely important tool for traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. Local online marketing supports small businesses of various types, in numerous ways: Restaurants, cafés, bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues can provide digital reservation systems, contact and location information, images, event calendars and other useful resources for current and potential customers. Retail stores can offer online shopping experiences while sharing useful information about their products, services, hours and more. Tradesmen can reach out to a wider audience within their local service area by providing service menus, online estimates, reviews and other information that people often search for on the Web. All brick-and-mortar companies can use Google Places, Bing Places and other online mapping services to ensure that Web users can locate the business easily using a computer, tablet or mobile phone. Small businesses can use the Internet to build up brand awareness and trust. Businesses that do not establish a significant online presence often end up being left behind in an increasingly competitive, increasingly digital world.

4 Building a Web Presence for Your Business The Internet offers ample ways for you to establish your company s brand online. Local SEO The following sections outline key areas of search engine optimization (SEO) that can help you maximize your efforts as you put your business savvy to work on the Web.

5 Search Engine Marketing Seach engine marketing (SEM) includes two key principles: search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search engine advertising. SEO refers to the practice of adapting your website and other online resources to draw in visitors from search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo, which serve as the primary entry point for most first-time site visitors. Common SEO strategies include using certain keywords and design features to make a website more visible to search engines as they scan the Internet to index and rank content. SEARCH Paid search engine advertising refers to sponsored ads that accompany search results. For example, the highly popular Google AdWords service allows business owners to advertise using pay-per-click (PPC) ads. The PPC ads appear above the search results when someone enters a pertinent query, as well as on relevant websites that use Google AdSense, the publishers component to the AdWords platform. With PPC advertising, marketers typically set a daily advertising budget and pay a small fee each time someone clicks on one of their ads.

6 An Introduction to Google Ranking Factors in Local Searches Even if you ve just joined the world of online marketing, you ve probably heard of search engine optimization, or SEO. In a broad sense, SEO is about creating content that the search engine robots can read and categorize appropriately. As a business owner, you can apply SEO to optimize your content and marketing campaign in such a way that search engines rank your results highly for relevant audiences. While some companies operate exclusively online for a broad Web audience, businesses with physical locations, including many retail stores, skilled trade services, restaurants and hotels, tend to target the local market in a particular geographic area. Such traditional brick-and-mortar businesses can profit immensely by appearing in local searches on Google, Bing and other search engines. With data showing that more than 50 percent of searches made on mobile devices are related to local queries, this is an opportune time for business owners, skilled workers, and others providing local services to leverage local SEO. The following section explores some of the most important ranking factors for local Web searches. While we focus on Google here, many of these factors also apply to other search engines.

7 1. Business Category When you list your company on Google Places, make sure to choose suitable business categories. Google will usually suggest a primary category based on the name of your business and any information already available online If you own a Japanese restaurant, for example, use Google s guidance and your own business acumen to select a category that will make your venue appear when a user searches for Asian dining options in your area. After selecting a main category, the most important designation for online marketing purposes, you will be able to choose up to nine additional ones from a series of pre-defined options. Each category should describe your business rather than the products or services you sell. To find the most relevant business category, use Bluementhal s local category search tool: 2. Consistent Contact Details Google conducts local searches by using IP addresses of computers or mobile devices to approximate a user s physical location and provide geographically relevant results. Specifying a particular location in a search query will override the IP address information. To ensure that Google and other search engines identify your company as a relevant result for local seach queries, you must include a physical address for your business on your website or other online platforms. The address, as well as any other contact details, should be consistent across all digital profiles for your business. When you set up your Google Places listing and Google Local profile, you will need to share and verify all relevant location and contact details. Because Google s local results rely heavily on physical location, local businesses with wider service areas should also practice more general SEO strategies to maximize their online visibility. Business physical address and contact details.

8 3. Consistent Citations A citation is any mention of your business on the Internet. All citations should include your business s name, physical address and phone number. You can use online directories to secure structured citations for your business. BUSINESS NAME ADDRESS PHONE NUMBER As with all SEO strategies, make sure that your citations are consistent by providing each directory with the same details, including your company s address, URL and exact business name. If you relocate, rename or otherwise change your business, be sure to update any such listings. Inconsistent citations can prompt Google and other search engines to distrust the authenticity of your business, which can damage your rankings in local search results. To check your local citations for consistent name, address, and phone number, use Local Site Submit Google Plus Local Google Plus Local, a social media platform second in popularity only to Facebook, offers local business owners a valuable opportunity to boost their online brand. To leverage Google Plus Local, log into your Google account and create a unique page for your company within the Local Business or Place category. As part of the process, you will need to specify your business s name, physical address and phone number before verifying your page by postcard or phone. Once verified, your Google Plus Local page will integrate with your Google Places listing. As with Facebook, you can use Google Plus Local to share news and updates about your business while building up your customer community.

9 5. On-Site Keyword Optimization With both general and local SEO, much of the work takes place on a company s website. While some small local businesses do not have a webpage, a site can play a key role in helping you reach out to new and existing customers while ensuring that your company appears in relevant ocal search results. Service Areas + Business s Physical Location To optimize the content on your site, focus less on using general keywords than on referencing your business s physical location and the geographic areas you serve. Such strategic references are particularly important to include on the landing page, the first page users see when a search engine directs them to your site. 6. Reviews If you have ever searched on the Internet for a restaurant or a hotel, you have probably read through customer comments and ratings before making a decision on where to eat or stay. Good customer reviews represent an invaluable resource for local businesses. The most important reviews are those associated with your Google Places listing, which will appear alongside your rating when your business pops up in local search results and on Google Maps. Third-party reviews can also serve as valuable backlinks and citations directing people to your business s website. 7. Description and Title Tags Your meta description and title tags, which accompany search engine results, play a central role in local SEO rankings. By referencing your location and service area in the meta tags for each page of your website and in the URLs you can ensure that search engine robots and human users alike recognize your company as a local business. You can use the same strategy to optimize images or video content on your website or on platforms such as YouTube or Google Picasa. Finally, be sure to add your business s contact information, including the address and telephone number, to the footer of each page on your site.

10 Social Media Marketing In the past decade, social media has exploded in popularity across the globe. Today, approximately one in five people worldwide uses social media on a regular basis. Social media marketing (SMM) refers to the process of using social media to promote a business or service. As a local business owner, you can use social platforms to engage with potential and existing customers and to provide details about your products, services, events, contact information and more. Key social media platforms for businesses include: Facebook: With 1.28 billion active users, Facebook is usually considered the most important social media platform on the Internet. Businesses can create and use free Facebook pages to engage their target audience directly by sharing relevant information and news updates. Facebook offers more flexibility than most other social media services, allowing users to upload and share video, audio and image content. Facebook also provides an on-site contextual pay-per-click advertising system. Google Plus: Google Plus,the world s second-most popular social media service, boasts 540 million active users and direct ties to the world s largest search engine, making it an extremely valuable platform for businesses. In addition to enjoying a similar level of functionality to that of Facebook, users can link Google Plus with Google Places so that their businesses appear on Google Maps. Twitter: With 200 million active users, Twitter stands out as one of the world s most popular microblogging and social networking websites. Twitter makes marketing easy with SMS-friendly 140-character limit and extensive use of hashtags to identify Tweets on a particular topic. Like Facebook, Twitter provides a sponsored PPC advertising program. LinkedIn: Unlike the three other major social networking services, LinkedIn, a popular platform with 277 million users, caters specifically to businesses and entrepreneurs by allowing entities and individuals to create professional profiles. Local companies can use LinkedIn for hiring, business-tobusiness (B2B) marketing, lead generation and targeted product promotion.

11 Other important social networks, such as Yelp and Foursquare, help businesses create online profiles and secure customer reviews. As a location-based platform, Foursquare is particularly useful for local businesses. Sites such as Digg, Reddit and Delicious enable businesses to leverage social bookmarking and link-sharing in order to promote their websites.. Marketing Even with the rise of social media, remains one of the most cost-effective forms of online marketing available. An marketing strategy might include e-newsletters sent directly from your business, sponsored advertisements attached to communications from other sources, or a combination of the two. When you need to boost your e-newsletter recipient roster, resist the urge to buy lists doing so will result in most of your messages going straight to spam folders. Instead, use your own website, social media profiles and other on and off-line resources to gather addresses for your business s mailing lists. A successful newsletter should be solicited, relevant and engaging. Many businesses segment their audience to customize content delivery based on demographics, past purchases and other factors. Mobile Internet Marketing In the past few years, smartphones have become ubiquitous. According to a survey conducted by the public relations firm Walker Sands Communications, approximately 28 percent of all Web traffic was mobile in November 2013, a usage increase of more than two-thirds over the previous year. 28% Web Traffic was Mobile. + 67% NOVEMBER, 2013

12 Through mobile Internet marketing, businesses can provide customers with personalized promotional information based on factors such as location and time of day. Mobile Internet marketing is a form of mobile marketing, a broad approach that leverages a range of tools, including SMS, MMS, QR codes, apps and games, to create effective digital advertising strategies. Mobile Internet marketing largely refers to Web-based content designed for mobile devices. With low screen resolutions and predominantly touch-operated displays, smartphones are not optimized for traditionally designed websites. In order to reach the increasingly large mobile audience, many businesses are creating mobile-friendly websites using methods such as responsive Web design, which builds websites that automatically adapt to the device on which they are displayed. Other popular practices include designing an entirely separate version of a website specifically for mobile users or creating a mobile app that can interface with an online store or other service. Tracking Your Online Marketing Progress Online marketing is far easier to track, analyze and adapt than traditional advertising. Whether you use paid or free digital advertising strategies, online marketing tools generate a huge amount of data that you can use to assess progress and refine your approach. Most businesses rely on website analytics and/or customer feedback to gather accurate, useful information about the effectiveness of online marketing programs. Website Analytics: Popular tools such as Google Analytics capture data that allow you to see how customers find your website. You can use this information to find out which of your social media profiles, paid online advertising campaigns and other Web resources provide the best return. Such data will also help you go beyond measuring sheer visitor numbers to determine which marketing tools send high quality traffic to your site. Ultimately, analytics can help you increase site visits from users within your target audience who purchase, review or otherwise engage with your products and services. Customer Feedback: As with traditional forms of advertising, customer feedback, in the form of reviews, satisfaction surveys or even direct contact, plays a crucial role in online marketing. Whether positive or negative, customer feedback helps you piece together a more comprehensive picture of what s working in your marketing strategy and what isn t. Such candid feedback enables you to identify and address opportunities and challenges that might not emerge from website analytics. Neither of the two above methods of tracking your marketing success cost anything, and they will give you an invaluable insight into your targeted audience. Website analytics and customer feedback allow you to track the success of your Internet marketing efforts and learn about your target audience easily, effectively and affordably. Both methods are readily available online, at no cost to you or your business.

13 A Roadmap to Online Marketing Success - The First Month Like traditional advertising, online marketing takes time to produce measurable results. While neither expensive nor difficult, the numerous and dynamic digital advertising options available can make online marketing seem daunting at first. The tips outlined below will help you define your marketing goals, establish and commit to a long-term plan, and begin implementing a successful Internet advertising strategy. Start with your website: As a first step to Web marketing success, you need to build a strong foundation for your campaign by establishing an online presence for your business and defining your target audience. With that groundwork completed, you will be able to move on to the more promotional areas of online marketing. Find a suitable Web hosting company and register your domain name. Changing your Web host or domain in the future can be expensive and complicated, so be sure to research your options early and select a name that truly reflects your business brand. Choose a content management system (CMS) for your website. Popular CMS options include Magento, Joomla and WordPress, among many others. Many systems come with numerous templates and add-ons, allowing you to design and update your site with ease Next, build your online brand: If you are a local business, claim your location in Google Places and Bing Places. Both sites will typically require a few days to verify your business s location. Once verified your business will appear in Google Maps and Bing Maps. Establish free social media profiles for your company on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. At no cost, you can also register with social bookmarking services such as Digg and Reddid, and with place-based sites such as Yelp or Foursquare where you can highlight your local business and create channels for collecting customer reviews. Along the way, start to learn about and engage your audience: Research your competitors to get a better idea of who your target audience is and how you can reach potential customers most effectively. Read online reviews to see which of your competitors are delivering the best products or services to their customers. Offer a promotion to draw in your first customers. For example, if you are a local business seeking to draw in new customers through Internet marketing, consider offering a discount for those who buy online. Finally, take care of some nuts and bolts: Choose an online payment system to help you sell products and services on the Web. PayPal, one of the most popular and convenient options available, provides an easy-to-use system that takes care off all the transaction details so you don t need to worry about processing payments through your own website. If you plan to use PPC advertising, visit the Google Display Network to get started with creating your ads. You may create text, image, video and interactive ads.

14 After creating your website, establishing your social media profiles and starting to research and connect with your target audience, it s time to dive into active promotion. With a few simple steps, you can begin boosting your business s SEO while drawing customers to your new site and other online resources. Use a resource such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to choose keywords for your SEO campaign. The best keywords are typically distinctive three to-five word phrases. Google s tool can help you select keywords that strike an optimal balance between competitiveness and popularity. Adapt your website and content to maximize visibility to search engines. Tweak your site s design to make it more easily navigable for search engine robots and for human users. Create a sitemap and subtly integrate your target keywords into titles, meta tags and bodies of text. Start blogging to demonstrate authority in your niche while engaging visitors with relevant, current content. Commit to a regular posting schedule, whether that means updating the blog daily, weekly or even monthly. Integrate Google Analytics or a similar tool into your website so that you can track your performance. Use your social media profiles to share interesting updates and announcements, such as details about a new product launch, a special event or a promotion. Set aside a small amount of time every day to work on your social media marketing campaign. After segmenting your target audience, publish different banner ads and create personalized landing pages for each one. As your cusomters first impression of your site and business, landing pages are a key tool for capturing and holding your audience s attention. Segment your marketing audience so that you can provide personalized communications based on factors such as demographics and past purchases. Create engaging online newsletters, start seeking out subscribers and explore options for joining an marketing program. Once you have a solid structure for your Web marketing strategy, you can ensure the continued growth and success of your business s new online presence by establishing a regular schedule for monitoring, updating and refining your website, social media profiles and other Internet resources. Throughout the day, keep an eye on your inbox and answer any queries from current or potential customers as soon as possible. For minutes every day, preferably in several minute bursts, visit your social media profiles to respond to comments and post any relevant new content. Every 1-3 days, publish a new blog post. Review current online trends and evaluate your customers purchase habits to ensure that your blog content is always relevant and interesting for your target audience. Every week or two, send an newsletter. Use your best judgment in determining whether and when to reach out to your mailing list. As a best practice, only send an newsletter if you have fresh, relevant content to share. Every few days to a week, post new content on other online resources. For example, you can use YouTube to provide video product reviews, demonstrations or tutorials. Another popular option is guest blogging. At the end of every month, review the progress of your online marketing campaign to find out where your most valuable traffic originates and, if applicable, which of your paid online ads deliver the best return on investment. Use web analytics to adjust your online marketing strategies as needed.

15 Conclusion While online marketing can seem like an impenetrable industry at first, a few easy steps can help you bring your brand to the Web, boost your customer base and enhance your local reputation. Ultimately, online marketing offers a major return on a minimal investment: Unlike traditional forms of marketing, using the Internet as an advertising tool is largely free. By following our roadmap for planing and implementing a long-term online marketing strategy for your local business, you will see results from your efforts within just a few months.

16 Bernadette Coleman (CEO) Advice Interactive Group Bernadette Coleman is the CEO of Advice Interactive Group an award winning Inc 500 digital agency. She has been actively involved in SEO and Internet marketing since Bernadette is passionate about all things digital including content, search, social and local. Her knowledge and experience have made her a leader in the industry and her passion for innovation and growth has led her company to become one of the leading online marketing and technology firms. As the company founder and CEO, her responsibilities include working with our team leaders to develop and manage the overall growth strategy of the company, developing marketing strategies for our clients, and uncovering business opportunities for all. She writes for multiple blogs and actively shares on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn. In her little bit of spare time, Bernadette enjoys audio books and the company of her amazing husband, Tom Coleman and their blended family of 5 children. Together Bernadette and Tom spend time advocating for brain injury awareness and promoting their nonprofit, Try- Munity, a social network for survivors and supporters of traumatic brain injury (TBI)