As a small business in a lackluster economy, making the most of your marketing dollars is critical to your bottom line. Using a local search engine, you can target customers in a particular region while maximizing your marketing investment.
Local search is more targeted and less expensive than other forms of online and offline advertising, which can translate into more leads and customers for less money. In addition to offering inexpensive, relevant advertising dynamics, local search also provides an audit trail to measure results, and other opportunities to increase revenue. As a result, it has enjoyed steady, annual growth and is proving to be a solid marketing tool for growing small businesses. Here’s what you’ll need to know to get started on the road to local search success.
Before you begin, determine what you want to accomplish when you go online. Are you looking to garner name or brand recognition for your company? Do you want to grow your business or be found by your customers? Once you’ve defined your online goals, stick to them and keep them as simple as possible.
Think about how you want to describe your business and then use this information to develop your online profile page and advertise your business. What do you want future customers to know about your products and services? How are they better than the competition? Determine the methods of payment, driving directions, maps, product photos and other content. To leverage your efforts, you can also embed your category and keywords into product and service descriptions. Adding this specific information about your business will help you reach potential customers, and improve rankings on the major search engines.
Think about who you want to purchase your products or services and what geographical regions you want to serve. Numerous reports cite 80 percent of a person’s income is spent within 20 miles of their home. So there is a good opportunity to reach exactly who you want using the right local search strategy. If possible, consider using market research that supports your industry or have your employees ask their customers how they found your business. Was it an ad or other placement that prompted them to take action?
Put yourself in your customer's shoes when promoting your business. Where would you look for your type of company online? In what category and section of the directories should your business be listed? Think about what keywords you would type into a search engine to find your business. According to The Kelsey Group, 61 million local search inquiries are conducted online every day. This means your business listing needs to be optimized to appear on the first page of results in your region and categories.
With everything in place, it's time to let the world know about your company using multiple platforms, including top-tier search engines. Not every directory has your business information, so be sure to submit to multiple online directories. Also, keep in mind that, according to a 2007 TMP Directional Media survey, 82 percent of online local searchers contacted a business offline and 61 percent of those people made purchases. Therefore, make sure you have as much relevant information on your profile page as possible. The more unique your content, the more opportunities you will have to both improve your presence online and be found by all of the search engines.
When a customer finds you, they will also find your competitors. Positive reviews that validate your company will help persuade them to choose your offerings over the competition. According to Jupiter Research, 77 percent of online shoppers use ratings and reviews when making a purchase. Develop a customer review program by reaching out to satisfied customers and asking them to rate your business or write a review. Also consider providing incentives to your employees who solicit reviews from customers and offer discount coupons to potential reviewers. You can also promote your reviews program on customer bills, your website or even your business card.
To measure the results of your local search campaign, you'll need to track your leads. You can do this by using call-tracking phone numbers, which will tell you how many potential customers picked up the phone and contacted you; profile page clicks; page views on your site; or impressions to the SERP page. The goal is to track how many times people clicked on your ad (clickthrough rate) or were able to see it online (impressions). If you have many impressions but few clicks, you will need to make some changes to your strategy.
If you have more than one location, be sure to promote your business in each of these areas. Don't assume that if you have one location listed they will be able to find all of your locations. They may see a location that isn't near them and move on to the next business listed, likely your competition.
Local search is an effective way to market your local business, especially if you have limited marketing dollars. The low-cost entry point, tracking capabilities and solid ROI have made it a popular marketing tool for businesses that want to cost-effectively target customers in a specific region. There are many opportunities that can help deliver local customers to your website and through your front door.