Tap Your Local Market on the World Wide Web

In real estate, the mantra is "location, location, location," but that is true for many local businesses. How can you use the internet to pull in more business to your service area? If you have an ice cream store in Saskatoon, what good does it do you if internet searchers in Akron, OH are drooling over your sundaes? Even if your business can be conducted virtually, at least in part, you might still want to target a local customer base. So, how can you channel the internet for local marketing?

The phone book is no longer the major source of local listings for businesses, as customers are more likely to look online than in a paper directory. One way to find you now is through a Google search. To make sure you come up first (or at least near the top), make sure your website is optimized for the search engines (SEO). Your location, including your city and postal code, and what you do, should figure prominently in your website text and be included in your keywords. If you offer a service, make sure that you include enough content that searchers can call you with confidence that you can help them.

Google now offers a map at the top of the page that shows business locations. You can access Google Places, as this feature is called, by setting up a business profile. Make sure you fill it out completely and include photos for best results. You can rank higher in the Google Places if you have positive reviews from customers, so make sure to ask customers to stop by Google Places to review your services. If you want your rankings to move up, you can check out paid advertising through Google Boost.

Using paid ads to improve ratings with Google Boost, Google Adwords, pay per click, or other paid services can be effective, but can also be costly. Improving the general search engine ranking of your site by improving content and writing for keywords can yield better results over the long term. By concentrating on search engine optimization, you will develop a better website with better local pull too.

Facebook and Twitter are popular ways to spread the word about your business. You should develop a Facebook business page to stay in line with Facebook rules and concentrate on your business in your content. You can include videos, descriptions of your services, announcements of specials, and lots of pictures to make your business sound very inviting. If you ask questions, you can start a dialogue with those who like your page. You can even use features like groups and discussions to further tailor content to customers.

To create incentives that pull people back to your site, you can set up daily deals, offer contests and coupons, and even be part of Groupons and other local advertising services that offer people a chance to buy your services at a discount. Even people who don’t buy today will be more aware of your services.

The goals of internet marketing are the same as for other marketing ventures. You want to attract visitors, convert them to customers, grow your customer base, and measure the results so you can improve your efforts in the future. By using a combination of SEO techniques, free tools like Google Places, social media, and local coupons served up on the web, you can effectively use the internet to market to your local area.