Your Online Marketing Answer

Small Businesses Move Online

More and more business owners are moving away from the expensive local directories like all the various yellow pages,  simply because of cost vs effectiveness.  When was the last time you used the physical phone book to search out information?  I personally recycle mine as soon as I get them.

More and more people are looking for information Online ~ researching products, services, and companies ~ then choosing to buy local.  With statistics like:

• 97% of Internet users in the U.S. gather shopping information online, and of those consumers 51% explicitly characterize their behavior as “Shop Online, Purchase Offline” (NPD Group)
• New Research by The Kelsey Group and ConStat Indicates 70% of U.S. Households Now Use the Internet When Shopping Locally for Products and Services.
  Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.
• 60% of activity online is one way or another “related to local content” (Google 5/03)- For every one dollar U.S. consumers spend online, another five or six are going to offline purchases that are influenced by online research
  (MIT Technology Review, April 2005, “E-Commerce Gets Smarter“)

Do you want your business to gain from Local Search?

Ways to capitalize on the Local Search Trend for your business

There are basically 2 ways to get your company listed locally ~ pay to have a company do it for you or do it yourself.  For the DIY business owners out there ~ here are a few ideas and strategies that can help you get your business listed locally and start to gain more local clients and sales.
1) Do a search for your main keyword followed by your city and state.  Make sure your business is listed in any online directories that come up in the search.
2) Get a Google Local account, Local Bing account, and Local Yahoo account.  Make sure your site is listed in local versions of all search engines.
3) Participate in local directories that offer consumer ratings or reviews.  Ask good clients to give a positive review at the different Online review sites.  A few examples are:

• Yelp.com
• MerchantCircle.com
• CitySearch.com
• InsiderPages.com
• YahooLocal
• Google Local

Online review sites are becoming very popular and users are checking up on businesses before deciding who to buy from.  This is a must for a local business that is wanting to pull in more Online business.
4) Local events ~ if your business hosts local events then get them listed online at sites for local events in your area.
These are a starting point for getting your business recognized online locally.  As all search engine efforts – this is an ongoing process that needs ongoing attention.  Some effort each month will build to quite a large Online presence over time.

For more strategies for marketing your business online visit: Internet Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses