Local Business Marketing: How to market your local business online

Every local business simply MUST market online. It is quite known that most consumers rely on the internet to research local businesses before deciding on which one to visit. In most cases web researchers will end up visiting the business websites or local business listings that they find on the first page of their search results.

Every business should have both a business website, even if it is a simple 3 page online business card, a Verified Google Places account and as many relevant business listings as possible.

How to get to the first page of Google and other major search engines when someone searches for your business online.

Google's search engine is the single largest source of online leads, it has captured well over 60% of internet searching and has the largest online marketing and advertising network. Getting to the first page of Google for your business category requires an investment of time and resources but is well worth the while.

When applied correctly the effort of optimizing your business presence on Google will pay off in the form of free leads and traffic from visitors searching for information related to your products and services.

The steps to optimizing your business on Google and other major search engines

STEP 1.

First research your top competitors online by performing multiple searches for the products or services your offer online. Depending on where you are conducting your research the results will be different. This is because Google filters the search results based on the location of the computer that the search is being performed on. For instance if your business is a dry cleaning service in San Diego CA but you search for "dry cleaning serving" from a relative's home in New York then the local business results will display results local to your area in New York, rather than San Diego.

In order to view your competitors for dry cleaning services in San Diego from a location outside if San Diego you will need to search for "Dry Cleaning Service San Diego". If Google does not have any local businesses within the area for the particular category searched then only websites will be displayed in the search results along with some paid advertising.

Take note of the terms that you are using in your search and note which of your competitors rank the highest by making a list of all the websites listed on the first page of results.

Visit each of your top competitors websites and make notes with regard to features they have on their website that you may incorporate in your own business website. Naturally you want your website to reflect your business and not theirs so definitely add a bit of your personality and emphasize the features that enable your business to stand out from your competitors.

Identify techniques that your competitors utilize in order to make their websites a valuable resource to their customer base. Some businesses may enjoy benefits from joining free local business directories such as merchant circle or angies list, others may find success with social networking campaings by using resources such as facebook or linkedin.

STEP 2.

Setup a basic business website using a content management system and register at least 2 business website domains. First, register your actual business name (if available), second register your actual business, such as ChiropractorPhoenixAZ.com. One of the best optimization techniques is to have the actual keyword that someone might search when looking for a business. Be wary as well, however, that this does not necessarily guarantee first page placement on Google, but it does help quite a bit.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to raking your website. The main and most important factor is the quality of your website content. Make sure that your articles are relevant and gramatically correct. Use appropriate titles for your articles and web pages and utilize terms that potential visitors might search for when possible.

You do not have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a website in order to rank well. In most cases you simply need to sign up for a web hosting plan that uses Linux, Apache and Mysql and comes with an application such as fantastico deluxe. This application will enable you to setup your new conent mangement website system and easily apply free or cheap templates to get your website started.

If you use popular business website content management systems such as Drupal, Wordpress or Joomla, you will then be able to easily follow online instructions or video tutorials and learn how to customize your website with your logo, business images and unique content.

Business website hosting should cost approximately $10 per month. Setting up your website with fantastico deluxe is free if you do it yourself, however you can often find an experienced designer willing to setup your website and give you a brief tutorial for about $100.

Should you decide to have a professional developed website for either high end graphic design or functionality you can expect to pay approximately $700 or more. Try to avoid designs that use flash or other technology or configurations that restrict your from being able to easily add content and images to your website. Most content management systems such as Joomla or Drupal will enable you to easily add as much content as you need. This is an important feature if you want to use your website to generate business leads.

STEP 3.

Submit your business to as many free local business directories as possible. Make sure that you only submit your website to relevant directories. Try to avoid using directories that require link back or payments UNLESS they provide a valuable resource for your potential customers. Meaning do not pay to be part of a directory that is basically only a directory, also do not do link exchanges with such types of websites.

Often times they do not get any real or relevant traffic because they do not have any content and are not of value to your customer base. If a website requires you to pay to be listed it should provide content that your potential customers may find useful. If they are doing this then it may be worth your while to exchanges links and even pay for a listing or advertisement on their website.

In addition to submitting your website to as many business directories as possible you should also setup the social networking applications you feel would benefit your business. Remember that social networking is not a very effective lead generating resource unless you pay special attention to each of your connections. Meaning that it is not a numbers game (although it may appear to be).

If you do invest the time to make a ton of connections online make sure that you also try to engane each business and individual in your online business network in a meaingful manner. Don't just spam a bunch of folks on Facebook or Twitter, that is  a good way to waste your time and energy.

While searching for online resources to market your business make sure to stop in at any interesting and relevant blogs and share your thoughts and advice, again, don't just participate by placing a link or advertisement to your website. Guaranteed, offering some valuable advice is much more interesting and professional manner in which to attract business.

Put together insightful articles for your website as well and put together alternate versions which you can try and have published on relevant websites.

STEP 4.

Setup your Google Webmaster and Analytics accounts. These are by far the two most valuable resources you can get online to manage your business website, and they are FREE, compliments of Google. Additionally, setup your Google Adwords campaign if you would like to pay per click to advertise in their search engine results. Many businesses use Google pay per click to drive relevevant traffic to their business website while they work on building their generic page ranking.

STEP 5.

Keep track of your website traffic and make adjustments based on which resources work best for you. Understand that there are many factors that go into determining how effective your online marketing campaign will become. Search engine optimization is a process and does require time to take effect and yield results. Remain flexible and experiment a bit at first, there are some basic techniques involved in optimization however as each business is unique each online marketing campaign should also be uniquely accomodating.