12 Proven Ways to Market Your Local Business Online

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1 12 Proven Ways to Market Your Local Business Online As a local business owner or marketer, you know that increasing your online presence is crucial in today's digital market. However, generating brand awareness and increasing your traffic can be a challenging and ineffective endeavor if you invest in unreliable strategies. Here are twelve proven strategies that will help you as a small local business or a marketing firm working with one to promote the company.

2 01 Submit Your Website To Search Engines Though just creating a website is a big step in the right direction when promoting your local business online, attracting customers still depends on where your site appears on a search results page. Which websites viewers see first when searching for a product or service determines an incredible amount of business in your area. To ensure that your business doesn't sit unnoticed on page 3, submit your website (using an XML sitemap) to large search engines like Google and Bing so that your site will be more effectively indexed for rankings. View an online website analyzer to see if you submitted an XML sitemap.

3 02 Establish a Google + Local Business Profile One of the easiest and most effective methods of creating an online presence is by using a Google+ My Business profile, a simple way of making your name and address searchable on Google Maps or Google +. With these easy-to-create local profiles, you will reach far more customers than you ever could through traditional marketing or by just having a website. When setting up a "My Business Profile" on Google, make sure to remember the following tips: Always list your local phone number and an associated with your business domain name. Select categories that define what your business is rather than what it provides. If your business has multiple locations, set up profiles for each location and include the correct corresponding information.

4 03 Get Listed in Local Online Directories In addition to your Google + Business Profile, you can increase visibility online by signing up for other listings such as Yelp, Yahoo, and more. In these pages you can add a direct link to your website, and include information about your business, your physical location, and how to contact you. Most listings are completely free and offer the added benefit of potentially high rankings in local listing search results, even if your business doesn't have a high ranking on Google.

5 04 Create Social Media Profiles Social media is perhaps the most effective way for you to build online viewership and maintain a loyal customer base. Set up business profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn or any other social media site that makes sense for your business, and update consistently with content and promotions that are relevant to customers in your area. If you have multiple locations, set up multiple social media profiles. Social media profiles are also a means by which to positively engage with customers and enhance your reputation, but this requires diligence. When customers leave comments or ask questions on social media, always respond promptly and professionally; if a comment is left unaddressed, it suggests that your business is inattentive or apathetic to its customers. Facebook Tip: A great way to promote your business locally on Facebook is to create coupons and advertise the deal locally to engage a new audience. Click here for more information. Foursquare Tip: A smart move to increase Facebook check ins is to set up a deal on Foursquare.com.

6 05 Be Consistent Though a seemingly minor detail, ensuring that your NAP info (Name, Address and Phone Number) is identical in every way on each listing and web page can markedly improve your local SEO. Make sure that if a word like "Parkway" is abbreviated in one listing, it is abbreviated in every other listing, as well as on your main website. Whether in contact information, spelling, grammar or even writing style, consistency is an important component of effectively marketing your brand.

7 06 Establish Mobile Accessibility Offering easy mobile access to your local business's website is KEY to its success; while mobile traffic continues to increase substantially in all areas of business, a significant portion of this new activity involves quick searches for things like directions and contact information for small businesses. Don't miss out on the opportunity to reach even more customers in your local area modify your website so that it is specifically compatible with a mobile device. Enhanced user experience always equals better business.

8 07 Implement an SEO Campaign In addition to establishing a standout online presence, you'll want to ensure this visibility is truly working to your advantage. This involves creating a smart, whitehat SEO campaign that implements proven strategies like keyword research, proper page design, effective meta descriptions and headings, and linking, among many other elements. While developing and maintaining an SEO campaign can seem overwhelming, keep in mind that a poor ranking can truly make or break a business especially one dependent on local customers. Even more importantly, implementing SEO tactics also enhances overall user experience, which will inevitably drive traffic, increase sales, and in turn you guessed it increase your rankings. A good strategy to target local keywords it to create individual pages around each neighborhood or city you are marketing to. You want to make sure the pages are not duplicates and add unique pictures, descriptions and customer reviews for each location. It s best to have an address on each page too, if possible. Don t forget to embed a local map or driving direction on the local location pages as well.

9 08 Create Fresh Content Relevant to Local Customers As with social media, the content on the website of a business looking to promote local sales should also be engaging, informative and, most importantly, targeted to local customers. What could such content look like? Your blog could focus on topics that are specific to your area, mention upcoming regional events or position you as an industry expert in your region. Effective content can also include more interactive, visual elements like infographics, videos, podcasts, photo slides or links to other resources that your customers will find useful.

10 09 Utilize Google AdWords Google AdWords is a low-key, flexible way to generate additional local business through the implementation of strategic online advertising. After providing information about your ranking keywords/topics relevant to your business, your ad will appear on Google search result pages when users type in one of your listed keywords. The best part about using Google AdWords to get your business local traffic is that you can also target ads to appear when people located in your state or region search for one of your listed keywords. Google AdWords operates on a "Cost per Click" basis, which means you'll only be charged for the number of times an individual actually clicks on your ad.

11 10 Schema Mark Up Google has created back end coding to help search engines identify addresses and local business more easily through back end coding called Schema. You can view your page source by right clicking your website and clicking view page source. From there, you can search for the word schema to see if your site is optimized for local SEO. For additional information, read Google s Schema FAQ s Guide here.

12 11 Solicit Customer Reviews Asking for customer reviews of your business's products and services can be a scary thought; while we all fear that one customer who has nothing but negativity to spread, you should keep the incredible power of a positive review in mind. People trust customer reviews far more than you may realize; in fact, recent studies show that 70% of consumers are influenced by online customer reviews and that 80% of them research products and services online each week. A positive customer review can help validate what you've already made concerted efforts to promote, and is therefore one of the easiest (and cheapest) forms of effective marketing available.

13 12 How do you compare to your competitors? It is always a smart idea to see how you stack up to the competition. Click here to compare your website with a competitor. Review targeted keywords, social media statistics and more!