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Whether you are a coffee shop owner, a local hair stylist, or a restaurateur, local visibility ensures the success of your business. While a strategically placed sandwich board may attract more traffic, the real power lies in digital marketing, unlocking the potential to generate traffic on Google and attract customers online.
However, not all online traffic is “good” traffic – especially when it isn’t directed to your service area. You need customers who can physically walk into your office or store and actively search for service providers in their area.
This is where the essence of “local” online marketing thrives. By combining digital skills and community engagement, local online marketing allows you to attract local customers who want to engage with your business.
Local online marketing defined
Local online marketing refers to the strategies and activities used by corporations to attract customers in a specific geographic area. This is especially essential for local businesses that rely on foot traffic or are only licensed to operate in specific areas. The goal is to reach individuals who are close to the company and/or are looking for service providers operating in a specific geographic region.
Grow with local search engine optimization
People use search engines like google and yahoo (i.e. Google) to find restaurants, clothes shops, salons, law firms, coffee shops, and more in their area. A Google search for “burger location near me” brings up a list of Google Maps and free Google results tailored to your location.
As a business owner, you’ll be able to leverage the power of search engines like google and yahoo to get found by local customers. To do this, you would like to optimize your website for the search terms (“keywords”) that your potential customers use to find products or services similar to yours. This is called local SEO (search engine optimization).
This involves using strategic keywords in website titles and content, writing detailed page descriptions, implementing user-friendly navigation, and optimizing your website for mobile devices. Create engaging content that appeals to local audiences, equivalent to blog posts, videos or infographics about local events or interests.
However, Google is not the only search engine in town. Bing, Yahoo!, Yandex and others also can show your business in search results if you follow search engine optimization best practices.
More than simply Yelp
Yelp is one of the hottest online business directories, with a huge user base and a robust review platform. However, there are many directories that corporations can use to find local customers.
One such directory is Google for Business, Google’s proprietary (and free) directory platform. Businesses can find and use an existing listing or create a latest listing to display phone number, opening hours, business description, photos, logo, website link, reviews and other information.
Other directories you need to submit your business information to include Yellow Pages, Bing Places for Business, Foursquare, Better Business Bureau, Superpages, Merchant Circle, EZLocal, and eLocal. It is also value submitting your company to industry directories (equivalent to Avvo for the legal industry or Workbook for photographers).
Make sure your company details are consistent across all directories. Prioritize collecting reviews on your Google business profile, then direct customers to leave reviews on subsequent profiles.
Get ahead with local search promoting
While local search engine optimization focuses on optimizing your website to improve its organic rankings, local search promoting involves paying for visibility through ads that appear next to search results.
Google Ads is the hottest platform for displaying ads in paid search results. With Google Ads, you’ll be able to goal a specific geographic area, designate keywords you would like to “rank” for, write compelling ad copy, and track the performance of your ad spend.
The Meta Ads platform also allows you to goal specific audience demographics, interests and geographic locations to attract customers who are best suited to your business. Search promoting is a way to increase immediate visibility, traffic and leads for your brand, fairly than waiting for traffic from search engine optimization.
Contact your local community
Don’t underestimate the value of fine old networking. Connecting with your local community through Facebook groups, LinkedIn communities, Instagram and the like is a good way to promote your local business.
The best approach is to find local networking groups specific to your industry. Join these communities to comment on existing posts, connect with their members, and post interesting or helpful content of your own.
Make sure you are authentic and avoid overly promotional posts. Work with your community to build trust and credibility, prioritizing long-term partnerships over short-term promotions.
You also can try resources like Meetup.com and Eventbrite to find online and in-person networking opportunities in your area.
Raise the level of your rep and reviews
Positive online reviews are an essential factor in your company’s search engine optimization and status. To increase your business’s local visibility, encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms equivalent to Google, Yelp, Facebook and other online directories.
Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by including links to review profiles in follow-up emails, bills and social media. Respond to positive reviews by thanking customers for their business, and respond to negative reviews to professionally address concerns.
It could also be helpful to offer customers incentives or discounts for leaving reviews (some industries may have restrictions). Earning multiple five-star reviews can improve your website’s rating on Google Maps and ultimately build trust with potential customers.
Remember, local online marketing is much more than rating high in Google. Take a multi-channel approach to get your business listed in local directories, community groups, social media platforms, and even through paid promoting. This way, your business can attract more foot traffic in addition to online customers.