Internet Marketing for Small Business
Having worked with many small businesses in the market, the number one problem being faced is how to market themselves online. Traditional marketing is not yielding the same return on investment the way it used. Frankly, demographics change and customers are looking in new places, using new media to locate products and services, leaving traditional businesses to flounder.
Small businesses must be competitive online and embrace the new media challenges that many traditional businesses face. The good thing is that it’s not too late, small businesses are still traditionalists and acting swiftly will go a very long way in dominating the local market space.
Here are some tips for leaping ahead of your competition:
1) Google Places
a) Make sure you have created or claimed your Google local business listing online by going here: http://www.google.com/local/add (if you don’t have a Gmail account, create one and you’re set by going to http://mail.google.com – it’s free)
b) Visit us for some Google Places optimization tips on internet marketing for small business and if nothing else is done other than creating your business listing for free, make sure to use a syndication service like Universal Business Listing to skyrocket your rankings to the top of Google Maps.
2) Website Keyword Optimization
a) Make sure if you have a website, to do basic keyword optimization on the content of the website, also known as On Page Search Engine Optimization.
b) A good resource is an article I wrote on Meta tags, this will be a great start to getting the edge over your competition, ready my guide on How to Use Meta Tags.
3) Blogs
a) If you don’t have a website, then creating a WordPress blog should be very easy (http://wordpress.org) , or we can help you set it up in a flash. You could also register a free blog (http://blogger.com) to start sharing your knowledge and content, remember to link back to your main website.
5) Video
a) Create a simple video about your business and submit this to http://youtube.com. This could be a webcam video of you introducing yourself to your market, sharing some slides of text or before and after pictures of your work. This will help you with credibility and trust and increase repeat traffic to your website.
6) One Last Golden Tip
a) Internet marketing for small business is easy when you do the above. Very important! Make sure you use the correct keywords in your copy and in your headline, this is very important. An example would be using the keywords or keyphrases that your local customers would use when searching for your products or services. For instance, referencing my local area, I would type something like, “dentist in jupiter florida” , or “plumber in jupiter” or “jupiter lawyer”. A very cool tool for researching your keywords can be found here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?forceLegacy=true
b) Again, make sure to use the keyphrase you want to strengthen in your content title and in your text body.
This is only a start and should already give you 10x the exposure you are currently experiencing online, and if you don’t get any traffic to your website, then this will ensure that you will definitely start building a loyal customer base that will find you online.
Remember, the internet is not going away, and internet marketing for small business will become more complicated and more competitive in the months to come, you have a chance to dominate your market starting now.
Profitworx is an online mentoring program to help you market yourself online, join our newsletter for more tips and advice. We will be sharing knowledge and how to videos online and hope to see you visit us regularly. Ensure you dominate your market locally for years to come.
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