How To Make A Small Business Listing Light Up Online

With the ever-decreasing reliance on paper directories for advertising a business or service

, companies are increasingly seeking ways to maximize that hard pressed advertising budget. When developing marketing strategies for small business, there must be an emphasis on hitting the right target market, namely customers in the locale. There is not much point in advertising your widget in Alaska, if you cannot supply them outside of Springfield. But given the wide reach of online advertising, it may not be as simple to narrow your focus as it would be to broaden your target.

Any marketing strategies for small business should highlight as strongly as possible the location the company serves, as much as the products and services offered. This particular feat, when accomplished correctly, can help the name of company appear near the top of the page when keyword searches are carried out online.

This all starts when applying for a listing with an online search engine provider. The most important thing to get alongside the company name (if it is already not included) is the town or city in which the company operates. So rather than being listed as ABC Widget Providers, try for something like ABC Widget Provider, Springfield. Search engine providers highlight companies by location as a top priority, so this will help move your company to the top of the pile.

Those customers searching for goods and services online will make either an explicit or an implicit search. An explicit search would be for ABC Widget Providers in Springfield, whereas an implicit search would be more like Widgets in Springfield. In either case, location is critical, and anyone developing a marketing strategy for a small business needs to bear this in mind.

The next trick up your sleeve should be to have your business entered into as many search categories as possible. This will maximize the number of potential hits when customers go online, looking for suppliers. So, sticking with widgets, you could have categories like, Widget Providers, Widget Installers, Widgets for Rent, Widgets for Home and Business, and Fireproof Widgets. It is all widgets, but the number of hits can be increased dramatically with keyword additions and multiple categories.

Next comes the task of describing your company. This should not be seen as an opportunity to talk about Serving Springfield for Thirty-Seven years. Search engine listings provide a limited number of characters in which to describe your business. Two hundred characters would be average. Do not waste them talking about who you are. Use those characters to describe what you provide in terms of goods and services.

It is also not advisable to discuss payment terms or options in the listing. The object of the exercise is to generate interest. While it may be important to you that only cash or credit cards will be accepted, it is a waste of space to highlight this in the listing. Once a customer calls, e-mails or makes the drive to your business, those kinds of details can be explained. The trick is to get more and more customers to call, e-mail or drive in.

Finally, consider contacting an SEO provider in your area. They can be found using a search engine, and the first few names you will see on the list will almost undoubtedly be right in your city or town. Imagine that!

by: Rich Reese

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