Market Using Both Local Search And National Search In Online Yellow Page Directories
Today if you want to increase business you need to understand your competition is not only the store down the street but also web based locations . You may think you have two competitors within driving distance but you have at least 100 others on line. Twenty from the top 2 pages of Google, Bing and Yahoo and several paid listings that get page one and two positions. I will be using my personal business ventures which include jewelry, bicycles and photography as examples.
- Quality Web Site
- Focus On Local Search Results
- Learning Basic Web Design
Many think everyone with a retail store or products to sell would have an e-commerce web site. If you ask around you may find the opposite is true. A lot have a URL but never take it to the next level, which is selling on line. The main reason seems to be lack of knowledge. Most are afraid to learn how to build a internet site and know the cost to pay a professional web designer is out of their budget . When I build my first site it was for a jewelry store selling platinum wedding bands and within six months knew I no longer had to to pay high retail rent because I sold more on line than from walk in clients . Soon after that I moved to a office that was 1/2 the cost.
I moved away from the jewelry business as it had become difficult to make a profit, but kept the site for when the economy turned around. I began a professional portrait business. At first I focused on old fashioned traditional marketing in magazines and other forms of print. I soon discovered local search using Google, Bing and Yahoo was the better way to be found. Of course this means doing lots of research and learning a few things about web design and promotion.
I would recommend finding a free web editor program such as Kompozer or Joomla. A Google search will give you a lot of free and low cost video lessons that walk you through building your first web site. It takes some trial and error but after you get the hang of the program the rest of the pages are simple to build. Some areas such as form building is a little difficult but you can find free form builders and places like coffee cup software have low cost and free options that work fine. Be sure to search the on line discount coupon sites before you place an order. The main advantage to learning to build a web site is you will never be at the mercy of a web design firm charging for simple modifications for years to come. The hours of study will turn into large savings for every site you make.
As I mentioned before I have more than one business using online marketing. Today they include bicycles, jewelry and photography. I started the jewelry site again but focused on selling wedding bands. This one is a international business selling to clients all around the country. I market it for a wide range of terms but nothing in my local market. The bike company is also national and is marketed to those looking for titanium bike parts. Again nothing for my local market since I don’t have a walk in retail location. My photo business the opposite. It is focused on local search results in the San Antonio area because that is where I live and where my office is located. This business promotes San Antonio photography services. You may not think of photography as an internet business but it really is. Ever since Google and other search engines replaced the printed yellow pages you must have a good online showing to promote your product or business. In the past a business had to have a phone book ad to be found. Today Google is the phone book everyone wants to use.
The most effective use is to focus your efforts on local search. It is easier to be found locally over nationally in the search results. This will help local clients find you by searching a term which includes your city. For example if I want my photo business to be found for convention photography in the San Antonio area I would focus on the term San Antonio Convention Photography. This way a person looking for photography in San Antonio will reduce the search results to only one city. If you are in Dallas then you would include Dallas in the keyword phrase you want to be found for.
The key to local internet promotion is not only getting local clients but attracting new revenue from outside your area. Many business managers will do online research before booking a meeting or convention in your city. They research products they will need and locations.For example, A local Houston Texas tour guide would benefit being found by a client in The UK who is having a meeting in Houston Texas. Same for a local boutique hotel or restaurant wanting out of town guest. Take a few minutes to think about the client you need to be successful and how local internet search results could be a key to that success. Local search is not limited to local residents but includes anyone looking for business or products in a specific city.