It is almost impossible to build a local presence on the search engines with the outdated search engine marketing techniques. There is more involved in internet marketing than building a few links and posting some ‘made for SEO’ blog articles. This doesn’t mean a small business cannot compete. It means that they must make some smart choices and focus on meeting search engine’s guidelines.
Our team at http://www.webmasterforhire.us collected 10 strategies that can be used to market your company.
1. Don’t Use Free Websites
Nothing is free. If someone offers you a free (under $5 a month) website then they have something to sell. If they don’t have anything for sale then they are probably going to siphon off resources, or advertise to your customers. The biggest trap is creating your free website, on low cost hosting. Then as your business grows learning that you cannot move your website.
These websites also cannot be optimized beyond adding a few meta tags. They are heavy in ‘out dated’ code’ and locked into over loaded servers.
2. Make Use of Good Citations for Local Marketing Solutions
Set up a free listing for your business in search engine local directories (also known as citations). The more places your business is listed, the better. Try not to copy and paste the same description in every citation. Find directories that people use. Don’t worry about lists and link farms. Try to find websites with high Page Rank and traffic.
3. Maps Marketing
Make sure that you include all the map tools, especially Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If there is traffic in a directory, then there are potential shoppers. You want a citation there.
How to test a directory or maps site:
When testing a map make sure that you test more pages than the home page.
4. Market Yourself as a Product
Online selling is all about building trust and establishing a good relationship with potential consumers. Websites like LinkedIn and Google+ will help make you real to the consumers. They will know you before they are ready to buy. When building online profiles make sure that you visit the sites weekly to build relationships with your potential customers.
5. Become Part Of The Community
This includes both onsite and offsite communities. Pay memberships if needed, but most important build relationships. Don’t lurk, and don’t promote, just attract followers and build a relationship with the other members.
It is a surprising ‘twist’ in marketing, but the less you market, and the more you give away, the higher your sales.
6. Analytics
Knowledge is power, especially when trying to run your own marketing campaign.
7. Give Away
There are several ways to attract people online by giving away:
8. Focus
When small business owners try to run a marketing campaign they often try to manage everything. After a few months of being spread too thin they start to believe that internet marketing doesn’t work. This is not true.
Instead of trying to do everything, take the time to do some tasks well. Get to know people.
9. Find a Mentor – Be a Mentor
Find people who are succeeding and then learn from them. Successful people work with successful people. They are always learning. They are always watching.
Mentoring other people is one way to build your reputation in the local market. It creates a network of people who will help advertise your product and service. This can be time consuming in the ‘brick and mortar’ market, but can be quite easy when done online.
10. Local Marketing = Leads
Focus on local marketing, local page and maps marketing. When done right these are powerful marketing tools. Take the time needed to learn how to do local marketing correct, but watch everything carefully. If you are off, even a few words, you can end up optimizing for the wrong neighborhood.
Schedule time to connect and discuss your specific needs.