Local Businesses by Joost de Valk
Marketing a local business via the Internet requires very specific approaches in order to be accomplished quickly and profitably. Generally speaking, because all searches on the Internet are global, local businesses often find themselves competing with international corporations for search terms. To remedy this, local businesses have to very narrowly define their promise and they must very tightly target their customers.
Understanding Google Places
A local business sells and delivers its product to individuals and/or businesses within a small geographic region. From Google’s perspective, local has a great deal to with your postcode and your city name. Chances are good that if you have a business license, a business web page, or have been trading under your own name for any length of time, Google already knows about you. If you look up your business on Google, you may find that it is already listed and it’s location is identified on a map. You may also see a link that says “Claim it”. That functionality is provided by Google Places. If your business is listed, you should claim it immediately. If you don’t, one of your competitors might.
Google Places is absolutely key to marketing your local business online, because when someone in your area searches for the service or product you provide, Google brings up a list of related businesses.
“If your business is not listed, your competitors are getting your traffic.”
If Google does not bring up your business when you search for it, you need to manually create an account for yourself on Google Places. To do this go to www.google.co.uk/places.
- Enter your phone number.
- Provide your company name, contact information, and specify the kind of business you run.
- Upload a profile image which can be of you or the business.
- Submit the request.
Google will call you to confirm that your business exists, and that you are associated with the number it has.
You can return to this listing at any time to add videos and other data as required. The more data you have, the higher Google will rank your listing.
If you have more than one office for your business, claim or create business entities for them all through Google Places. You’ll have to fill in the form multiple times.
Creating a Google Place will allow people to review your business. Many positive review will result in more traffic to your your site over time. Negative reviews may drive traffic away. You need to ensure that your customers, directly, write reviews for your business. Don’t post old reviews people may have given you because new laws in the UK make that “impersonation” which is a criminal act.
Name Your Business and Your Domain Correctly
In a perfect world, your legal business name will incorporate the name of the location you work in. The search engines, and customers, both like to see city names in local businesses. Sheffield Dry Cleaners will get more traffic from the Internet than City Dry Cleaners, and both will get more traffic than Clean Clothes R Us.
The impact of having a business with the right name is huge. Google finds you more quickly, customers contact you more frequently, and your business generates more revenue. If you do not want to rename your business, consider filing a ficticious business name statement which allows you to “trade as” another enterprise. This allows you to operate your business under two names. This ensures your existing customers remain undisturbed and new customers will be able to find you quckly because of your new name.
Make sure your domain name reflects the name of the location you work in. A website called www.SheffieldPlumbers.com is going to get more traffic than something named www.wefixyourpipes.com. Never be clever with business names or domain names. What you might gain from being cute or memorable you will probably lose in sales. This is particularly true for a local business.
“Your key mission in naming a business or a domain is to incorporate the terms your customers will use to search for it on and offline.”
Building Your Website
Incorporate the location name into the titles and subtitles of your pages. Include an About Us page that describes your service or sales areas. Incorporate a Location page that lists all your locations. You need to ensure that Google can spider your site and find all the data it expects a local business to have.
Create blogs on a regular basis that feature issues important to locals who use your products or services. Incorporate keywords relevant to your area. This maximizes your connection to your customers when they visit your blog pages.
Social Media Marketing for Local Businesses
One significant advantage local businesses have over larger companies is their ability to do effective social media marketing. Your business should have a twitter account that incorporates the location name and the product or service you provide. SheffieldHats, YorkshireToys and LondonPlumber are great twitter names.
Twitter articles from your blog with hash tags relevant to your town or service. This will help you find and retain followers over time. Follow the same strategy in creating location and business specific content for Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube and other social media services.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?