Ok, so you’re a small, local business with a marketing budget to match. You may be small, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t compete!
There are several marketing opportunities that small and medium sized businesses can tap into within the Search Engine world on a local level that will make a difference in your visibility online – regardless of the size of your business.
I’m hoping you have a website or blog online. If not, don’t despair because local search can still work for you. Take into consideration the fact that 40% of searches have local intent – and that number is growing daily. Even if your customer doesn’t enter a local search target when searching for a business like yours online, Google, Bing and Yahoo are intelligent enough to return local search results to them. And considering the time of year, there’s no time like the present to make sure they find you!
The first step is to create your business listing in some of the top local business online listing services – some of which are FRE.E. This can be a time-consuming process, which is why many companies choose to have us set this up. But let me assure you – if your budget can’t accommodate that – we’ll show you how to do it here and now. Grab some coffee or tea, your laptop, and let’s begin.
Here’s a site that I love, and the perfect place to start. Get Listed ==> http://getlisted.org Why do I love this site so? First of all it will check the major search engines and report back if you are listed locally, and if so, where. If you’re not listed, it gives you the options and links to “get listed” on some of the top search engines. Very cool feature. It’s time consuming, and repetitive, but worth every minute.
If you don’t have time for that right now, let’s at least get you listed in two of the top directories.
Google Local ==> http://Google.com/ Local/Add
This is where you can list your important business information in Google’s Local Business Center. Follow the link above, and add your business info (name, town, phone, description, web URL, if you have one, etc). Also add your logo, images and video if you have it. It’s important to make sure you put your business in the right category. It will be tough to be found in the appropriate category, otherwise. The more accurate your information, the better chance your company has of ranking well for local searches.
Also, Google just released an excellent user guide that will help you get started. ==> Google Local Business User Guide
If you don’t have a website or blog, or you need help with an online marketing, contact us for a free online marketing or website repair consultation.
Here’s to your business getting online exposure, your business and sales increasing, and empowering small business to succeed.
