Local Marketing

Five easy ways to help your local business dominate the search results

A local business search is the process of your ideal customer entering their town, postcode, or address into the search engines to find a local service/product they need.

As a local small/medium sized enterprise (SME) it is important you focus on developing easy ways to help your local business get found by this potential customer not just once but by dominating the search results! To do this you need to have a local presence on the internet by focusing on local search marketing.

To succeed you need to develop web properties such as

• a blog
• a website
• social media web properties
• video web properties on video sharing sites
• online profiles on business networks

This will give you an opportunity to be found on the front page of the search engines not only once with your blog or website but also by using other online sites and tools to help you dominate the first page search results.

Once you have your web properties up and running there are a few things you can do to really enhance the chances of you being found by someone conducting a local business search quickly.

Your link has more chances of being clicked if your business appears three or four times on the front page of a local business search results instead of just once!

How do you make this happen? By setting up a one page business profile on your own site and on other sites too.

1. Set up a profile page on your website and blog based on a high ranking keyword.

You have your website up and you have followed our local marketing keyword phrase suggestions to ensure your site is full optimised. You can help your site come up in the top 1% of a local business search by setting up a local business profile page on your own website.

As an example let's say you are a florist based in Chiswick and your shop is called "Flowers Are Us" (hardly original I know but bare with me!)

You set up your site http://www.flowersareus.co.uk and you set up your Site Build It! website. Now create a profile and name your page CHISWICK FLORIST

You then have the page http://www.flowersareus.co.uk/chiswickflorist or you could use "chiswick-florist", "florist-in-chiswick" or "floristinchiswick"

(IMPORTANT NOTE : it is important to know which is the best keyword phrase to use based upon what people are searching for - you are not guessing - you are naming your page based on actual search engine results so that YOU appear in a local business search. Watch our CPTM video click here)

On this one page profile you can include your name, photo, original content that describes your business product and/or services along with a local map of where your business is located (important for shops) and any content information you want to add that is relevant. If you have customer testimonials and maybe a video of your business - it all helps to add credibility.

If you have been in the press you might even want to include a few press releases. This is like having an ABOUT US page but with far more substance and relevance.  It will help to enhance an already highly optimised site so that you appear at the top of the search results for your keyword when a potential customer performs a local business search.

2. Use social networking

We are all aware of the power of the internet and social network sites like Facebook. Facebook now appears in search engine results and can help you get found in a local business search. You can set up a Facebook fan page and profile your business.  These pages on Facebook are found not only inside Facebook itself but they also appear in the search results when local people are looking for you!

Also knowing how to use Twitter to attract clients to your business is also key. You can no longer ignore this amazing tool - Dell made millions using Twitter in 2009 and your business can benefit from using it too. Plus, Twitter search results are now coming up in the search engines and you can't ignore it any longer! Spend some time getting to know Twitter, what it is and how it works to enhance your local business presence.

3. Use local business directories and networking sites

Are you familiar with “the best of” directories? Search for them and you will find a local online directory that brings up local businesses. Adding your website to local directories will provide you with additional opportunities to dominate the first page of the search results along with a valuable one way link from their site to yours.  A great networking site that will help you get found locally is called Business-Scene. Add your business there to increase your local search profile. Another great place to add your business to is Ecademy. A UK networking site Ecademy will help your profile get to the top of the search engines so it can be worth having a business profile on there for that reason.

4. Claim your business on Google Local Center

Google Local Center may already have your business listed but it has not been claimed.  This is another opportunity for you to create a business profile that can also include videos and photos so use it to your advantage.  Google lay out everything for you and make it easy so visit Google Local Center and claim your business or add it if it is not already featured.

5. Use video sharing sites like Youtube

If you are brave enough to stand in front of a video camera you can create a 1-2 minute long infomercial about your business or better still provide regular videos and show your expertise.  If you are a dentist why not make a few videos on how to look after your teeth. Or a local proprietor who makes wedding cakes can show how the cakes are made and put together. If you are a local personal fitness instructor get some tips on video and add them to these sites.

Always make sure you use your local-ness in your title when you add them – e.g. “Croydon’s personal trainer Matt Damon shows you 5 tips to get fit in a hurry”
Have your website domain name stay on the video throughout and at the end include your full contact details.

So there you have it, four easy ways to help your local business dominate the search results so that you appear more than once on the front page and get found when someone conducts a local business search.

It is important that you make full use of all the resources available on the internet to enhance your local business presence. If you don't have the time to do it yourself consider using our internet business outsourcing service and let us do it for you.

Optimising your site to appeal to local business searchers really isn’t difficult and if money is tight and you need to do this yourself we show you how using our local marketing toolkit

Adding these additional enhancements will help you get found quicker and by more people – you really help yourself to help your business.

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 If you want help with using the internet to create an online presence call Diane on 0208 242 4339 to find out how we can help.