Below are several crucial techniques for promoting your business
regionally:- Listings in local search engines and directories
- Pay
Per Click advertising in Google and Yahoo
- Email marketing
- Search
engine optimization
Local Listings
Even if you do not
have a web site you can still promote your local business online. For example,
you can list you business and contact information with the local search engines
of Yahoo and Google. It takes an hour at the most to get a free listing on the
two most popular search engines. Your listing will include an interactive map
that can direct customers right to your front door.
Another important resource
that accepts free listings is Verizon's Superpages.com, as does the local version
of AOL.
And don't overlook regional and industry specific directories.
Many accept free listings, or charge a nominal fee. Once again, for most a web
site is not a prerequisite.
Pay Per Click Advertising
If you
do have a web site, than you need to promote your local business through Pay Per
Click on both Google and Yahoo. With Pay Per Advertising you bid on keyword terms
that your potential customers would use in a search. An example is "Tacoma
Wedding Photographer." The cost per click depends on how competitive the
term is. You only pay if a prospect clicks on your text ad and goes to your site.
This is referred to as performance advertising, where you only pay if the ad performs.
The appeal of PPC is you can get it going within an hour. You set the budget,
you determine what keywords are relevant, and you determine your price per click.
You can also turn it on or off in an instance. The general consensus is that PPC
generates a higher return on your investment over traditional offline advertising.
Search Engine Optimization
For those that like a challenge
there is search engine optimization. SEO is the ability to optimize your web site
for high search ranking. If you can optimize your site properly, you can benefit
from an endless stream of free, targeted search engine traffic. It takes time
and effort, but the results can take your business to a whole new level.
If
you are selling nationally SEO can be cutthroat. For a local business it can be
relatively easy to rank for terms that relate to your business and location. (ex.
Richmond Wedding Photographer)
Local Email Marketing
Another
tremendous marketing tool is email. For virtually nothing you can communicate
with both prospects and your existing customers. Email is an excellent method
to convert prospects to customers. It can also significantly increase the
lifetime value of your existing customers by simply alerting them to upcoming
sales and promotions.
Knowing the power of email communication, I find
it hard to believe how few use it to promote their local business. Now listen
up, start collecting your customer's email addresses today. I can guarantee they
will respond favorably to joining your list. We all like to be informed on upcoming
bargains and special offers.
The future of your local business will depend
on the Internet. It is estimated 25% of searches online are local in nature. The
Internet is the perfect resource for finding local products and services, that
is why your customers are searching online.. Now is the time to get your business
positioned to reap the rewards.
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