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Online Local Search Marketing Gets Results

Time:2010-09-02 19:00:14 Source:Ezinearticles Author:Roelof Kiers

Online local search marketing is a relatively new term that local business owners who want to succeed will have to become familiar with and more importantly, put into practice.

Why Traditional Marketing Efforts Are No Longer Sufficient

To attract new customers many small business owners generally rely on word of mouth referrals, a Yellow Pages listing and the occasional buying of advertising space in one or more of the local media channels. Depending on the type of business, a location that relies on walk-in or drive-by traffic may also be a factor. In addition, many small businesses have a website. Unfortunately a majority of these websites are often not optimized for local search, so while the websites exist online, they fail in generating traffic, prospects or sales.

What most small business owners don't realize is that their biggest source of new prospects are online using the search engines to find a local provider for the product or service they want to buy.

Prospects using the search engines for local search use search modifiers such as town, neighborhood or postal code along with a keyword. i.e. "toronto plumbers" or "ottawa immigration lawyer".

In fact, online local search is growing fast. Studies by ComScore Networks reveal that approximately 43% of search engine users are seeking a local merchant, so they can make their desired purchase offline. In addition 54% of search users rely on internet search results, rather than using a phone book.

These numbers will only continue to grow, as the search engines provide better results in the search result pages. Additionally smart phone usage is driving local search marketing demand.

For the local business owner, it's critical to begin the process of optimizing their website, Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local listings so that when a local search is made for their product or service, their website ranks near or at the top of page 1. Being on page 2 or lower is similar to not even "existing" in the mind of the prospect.

Page 1 listings get 95% of the search traffic and the prospects. Very few people go beyond page 1 to find the info they are after.

Getting Your Site to Rank on Page 1

Optimizing a website for local search marketing and getting it to rank in the search results does take time, especially in large competitive markets. If your business is located in a medium to large size city and has 30, 70, even 100 or more competitors in your niche (consultants, lawyers, painters, plumbers, etc.) you've got some savvy marketers among them, and their websites are likely on page 1.

Getting your website to rank on page 1 starts with analyzing the competition and taking a comprehensive approach. Applying proven SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing which includes social media) strategies will start the process of getting your page to move up in the rankings.

Automating Your Sales Funnel

Have a look at your website. Does it effectively compel a visitor to want more information from your company? So instead of just being a visitor they become a prospect. Are you offering something of value (i.e. a free report) to entice the visitor to leave their email address so you can follow up? Is there a call to action on each page? These are the beginning steps of automating your sales funnel. It's an important step to take, if you truly want your website to be an effective marketing tool.

There's much more to a website than creating a "digital brochure" for your business services or products. Be aware that every day, a majority of your prospects are "ready, willing and able to buy". They are searching for your products and services online. But does your website show up on their radar?

Are you ready to learn what online local search marketing can do to increase sales and profits?

To learn more download my free guide Secrets of Local Search Marketing"

Roelof Kiers is a Local Search Marketing expert. For more information on how to get your small business website attracting high quality prospects and generating sales, visit => http://www.ontargetlocalsearch.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roelof_Kiers

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