subject: Local Internet Marketing For Small Business [print this page] Small business owners must understand that Internet Marketing is the key to adding new customers and growing their business. There has been a major change over the past several years in how people find information about proucts and services in their local market. This transition from traditional off-line advertising like Yellow Pages and newspapers has left many small business owners scratching their heads wondering what exactly they need to do when it comes to effectively marketing on the Internet.
What is local search and why as a small business owner do you need start using it right now.
Chances are you have used a search engine like Google to find information or do research. Local search is simply the act of typing in geographically constrained keywords with the hopes to find businesses or products in your local area.
A good way to look at it would be... someone searching for a plumber in Phoenix would type into the search engine "plumbers in phoenix". Many people will be even more specific by including a zip code or area code. Many people are using mobile phones or computers to get this information. The search engines then bring up a page with a list of local businesses in your local area.
The Local Web has replaced the World Wide Web!
This evolution towards local internet search did not happen overnight. We did not wake up one morning and suddenly everyone was searching for local businesses online.
The move towards local online search happened as the number of people using the internet grew and stopped looking in traditional marketing mediums to find local businesses. As more local businesses created websites and put their businesses online the results got better.
As the number of local searchers and the number of local businesses marketing online grew, it led to the birth of local search.
Let's face it, local search much quicker and easier to do then the old way of searching through a 10 pound yellow book. This major shift in consumer behavior is hurting the results small business owners once received from the Yellow pages and newspaper ads. In fact, the big fat books won't be around much longer!
Newspaper advertising, once the main source for small business owners needs to be addressed next. It is a fact that newspapers no longer have the numbers anymore and it is only going to get worse.
First of all. people are no longer satisfied with getting their news the day after it happens. Why should you pay a newspaper when you can just go online and get the news as it happens?
Unfortunately, small businesses are having trouble justifying the cost of newspaper ads when they don't pull the customers anymore.
As a small business owner you must understand that thesepotential customers are still looking, just not where they used to.
How can your small business get in front of these local Internet searchers?
Let's keep it simple. Why? When explained in simple marketing terms it is very easy to understand. To reach these prospects you must first find out where they are searching for your type of business and get your message out there where they can see it.
Here are the 3 most important areas to get started.
1. Local Search Listings - This is the new Yellow pages! People use local search listings when they want to find a local business. Local search listings include the local sections of Google, Yahoo, and Bing. But, they also include numerous local directories that Google uses to validate your business listing.
You do not need a website to appear in the local listing results because it uses a listing of your business with all the important information about who you are, where you are, and what you do. If you have a website you can provide a link to it in your local listing page.
Regardless of how small your advertising budget is you need to get into the local search listings. With the Yellow pages dieing a slow death local search lisitngs is the new place to go when you need to find a local business.
Dominating your local search listings is the fastest and cheapest way to start attracting new customers.
2. Free Search Engine Results Section - Also called the organic results on the search engine results page. You cannot achieve good results without using SEO. The free search engine results is the most popular place for searchers and receives the most clicks. If your website does not appear on page one you should not expect to receive much if any traffic.
There is no excuse for every small business owner for not having a website because it can be your most powerful marketing tool. It allows potential customers to see what you have to offer and learn more about you and your company. Unfortunately, many small business owners paid a website designer that had no experience in SEO and ended up with a website that does not show up in the search engines.
Make sure the website designer you hire understands how to use SEO beofre you start building the website. Your website must be optimized to conquer the keywords people are using to find your business in the search engines. Finding a website designer that knows search engine optimization is your first priority.
google will also place business listings in the free results, which is why it is so important get your business listed in as many as possible.
3. Understanding how it works is the biggest obstacle and reason ost small businesses don't use it. Why? Social media is really new and most people have very little useful information on how to make money using it. The fact is, social media is exploding and cannot be ignored. With over 500 million members Facebook cannot be ignored any longer. Video viewing on Youtube has surpassed TV viewership and Twitter is exploding as a way to connect with people instantly.
You must realize that social media is not the place to blast out your sales message to unsuspecting members. Social media is not where people are looking for sales pitches, so don't do it. People do not want to be inundated with sales pitches.
However, you can engage with people by creating Facebook fan pages, Youtube channels, and reach Twitter followers by offering interesting information about yourself and lead them to your business without the sale pitch.
Social media is huge and is getting bigger everyday so start slow and learn how to use it right.
Local internet search has come a long way from 10 years ago and is changing the way small business owners attract new customers. As traditional media outlets continue to disappear there will only be 2 types of small businesses left. The businesses that use local internet marketing will be around for years to come and the ones that don't will not!
Before I end, I want to also help you understand that Mobile search is the next big giant for small businesses. As more and more people are using smart phones, they are also taking their local searches offline and doing them from their phone. Google has already gotten into mobile search in a big way because they see the future.
Your potential customers are driving around and searching from their phones and are ready to buy right now. If you target the under 30 crowd you better get moving!
