It seems that every month I get a new phone book. Yet, I haven't opened one in the past few years. Of course, if I need to find a local business, I'll go to Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).
I'm definitely not alone. Just look at the carnage in the yellow pages business.
If you're a business owner, it's become necessary to get on board local online marketing. Not only will you find good customers, but you'll be able to measure results (how many clicks you are getting), target segments (you can focus on various demographics), and help build your brand.
OK, let's take a look at some helpful tips to get started:
Use a Third Party Service: While Google has the dominant market share in local search, there are still other important players, such as Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), MSN, Ask, and so on. However, each system is different and requires a certain amount of marketing expertise. In fact, if not managed properly, your online advertising could turn into a fiasco (such as by busting your budget).
As a result, it's a good idea to use a third-party service like Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW). Such a service will not only build a solid foundation, but also provide ongoing maintenance. And, the packages are affordable for small businesses.
Optimize Your Web Site: Even if you have a strong online marketing campaign, you still need to make it easy for users to buy your offerings. This means having clear marketing copy. That is, what are the key benefits to your goods or service? The cost advantages? What are the latest promotions/discounts?
You should also try to optimize your site to help increase your rankings on the search engines. Basically, this helps to improve traffic and conversion rates. For more information on this topic, you can check out one of my recent posts.
Leverage Business Directories and Review Sites: There are a variety of free business directories. So why not sign up? Examples include: AskCity, Google, and TrueLocal.
It's also a good idea to participate in online review sites. For example, one of the largest review sites is Yelp.com, which gets 20 million unique visitors every month. Make sure you claim your business, and then you can post photos, show the latest special offers, and even advertise on the site.
Test, Test, Test: Online marketing is far from a science. Rather, it likely will take a few months to start seeing results. What's more, you will need to keep trying new things. But, so long as you keep at it -- and learn from your experimentation -- the benefits should be well worth it.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-11-2009 @ 5:01AM
al coholic said...
There is no longer a great need to be the prominent ad in the yellow pages. They have become irrelevant. Web pages and e-mail addresses are more useful than phone numbers these days. About 80% of my customers request an e-mail quote and tell me that they found us on the Net.
What's really telling about that is that we are not some kind of technology company but rather simply a roofing and sheet metal company.
Office phones don't ring much these days either. Most people call their contacts directly on cell phones or text.
This is a pretty dramatic change from the way business used to be done only a few years ago.
5-11-2009 @ 10:14AM
Cindy said...
I was spending over $1,000 a year on telephone book ads. But most of my clients said they found me by searching online. I have saved money by keeping my free ads in the telephone books. I will concentrate on more online ads. Maryland Secretarial Services, Inc.
5-11-2009 @ 12:55PM
Dan said...
I have been using the internet for nearly 8 years to advertise my law practice http://www.SuffolkCountyCriminalLawyer.com and I have found the response very positive. As most business's are local in nature, it really helps to have a local geographical domain name. I use local names in all my web-sites, such as http://www.NassauCountyDWILawyers.com and http://www.SuffolkCountyAccidentLawyers.com
5-11-2009 @ 2:47PM
Royce Keller said...
Be careful when using Adwords on google. A couple of years ago an email circulated the globe a few times with a pictures of what were supposedly marzipan babies. We are Biermann marzipan at marzipancandies.com and the email said we made them. We don't and they aren't even made of marzipan. We were billed thousands from google as many people looking for the babies clicked trough to us...at a fee.
5-11-2009 @ 9:46PM
Stevie Starr said...
www.LilHookster.com we make designer purse hooks. got any ideas that will help grow the business? let us know, contact us on our site,
Thanks Steve & Lily
Wholesale to boutiques. retail online
We sold 100 last week after featured on local tv news
Designs sell very well, when people see them
Lil Hookster is on Yahoo/free search
5-15-2009 @ 1:29AM
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