Local Online Marketing has become the focus for most small and medium sized businesses. Whether you are a franchisee or you run an individually owned business, local marketing strategies should be a focal point to your overall plan.
-82% of local searchers follow-up with a phone call or show up at your business
-73% of all online activity is related to local content
Randomly picking someone to run your local online marketing will not serve you well. Having someone in-house attempt your local online marketing may be even more costly. Be careful of all of the misinformation and companies/consultants that are marketing experts that do not specialize in local marketing…Local is a special animal. There are two major issues to be aware of:
- Traditional SEO and Local SEO are quite different. Traditional search ranking includes getting backlinks(quality and quantity), keyword relevance, achieving low bounce rates, multimedia content, fresh & frequent content, and a few other off-page and on-page factors.
- Local ranking strategies and pages require an array of methods that continue to evolve. Your local search ranking can benefit from good traditional search ranking but there is a lot more to it such as geo-modifiers, directory listings, reviews, geo-social, and more…
For a list of questions to ask when seeking local marketing assistance, fill out the contact form on our contact us page and add “local questions” in the section – Reason for contacting us.
Your local marketing strategy may include offline methods.
Direct mail, print publications, strategic alliances, and on-location activities should complement your local online marketing. Offline and local online marketing should work synergistically so that one strengthens and enhances the other while expanding the relationship and communication with customers and potential customers.
Several things to consider for your local advertising:
- Is your business located in the same area as your target market?
- How far can you expand your boundaries and still be profitable?
- Do you have a Local page? Is it optimized?
- Is your website optimized for Mobile?
- Is your NAP (Name, Address Phone Number) listed exactly the same in potentially hundreds of places online?
- Reviews play an important role. Have you read yours lately? Are your happy customers writing reviews for you…because your unhappy customers will?
- Is your business a fit for Social Media? Geo-modifiers and a local fan base can be powerful.
Warning
Do not create fake reviews of your business and be very careful of stimulating online reviews in a way that even leans towards trickery. There are companies and individuals selling so-called reputation management, that use tactics that are either illegal or unethical. They do this without your knowledge but your business can still suffer. They will call you and promise to clean up or boost your online reputation and it may work briefly. Eventually, Google and other search engines put a stop to it and your business can get black listed so it is never found online.
Any company offering reputation management should not set over-the-top, unrealistic expectations. Ask about the reputation system being used and get specifics. Specifics for our reputation builder are not explained on the website because our online review system is unique and proprietary. Ask about our system and we will be happy to provide you with the details as to why it is the effective, ethical, long-term solution.