As a small business owner with mostly local customers there are a lot more things you can do to market your business in addition to your website. Over 70%, I have seen figures over 90%, of customers find a business using the Internet.
In any case if you are ignoring or or not working constantly to build and improve your Internet presence, you are throwing away valuable business. Your business website is only one part of an Internet marketing startegy.
Here are a few ways to market your business on the web in addtion to your web site.
1. Facebook Pages
This one is simply a no brainer! You need to be on Face-book because your customers are. If you have a personal Face book page, create a separate business page. It is very hard to maintain a professional demeanor mixing your latest business posts with aunt nellie's latest vacation adventures.
2. Google Places*
Google Places is the ultimate listing online! This should be considered a top priority. Google continues to dominate the Internet everyday, with more and more people using Google than finding you in the Yellow Pages Book. When someone searches “Your Industry in Your Town” your business will show up on map inside Google. Set-up is quite simple, head to http://www.google.com/places/ and click on where it says to get your business found on Google. It will ask you the basics about your business and allow you to add extras. Make sure you take the time to fill out as much details as you can about the entry. Add as many pictures and any You Tube videos you have for your business. The more complete your profile the better your potential for better rankings.
Once your business listing is complete Google will complete your listing by either mailing you a letter or giving your business a call. If you have more citations or listings in other directories, the more likely you are to receive a call.
*Google Places is converting to Google Plus Local.3. Bing Business Portal
http://www.bing.com/businessportal/ is similar to the google places local directory and at the time of writing was still in beta test. Click through to http://www.bing.com/businessportal/ and claim your business and follow the directions. It will take several weeks for your page to be approved and visible so start now.
3. Yelp
Yelp is an online community where people can add your business and write reviews about your company. You should take the proactive approach and list your business yourself. First, head over to https://biz.yelp.com/ and search for your business. If your business is already listed claim the listing and make any corrections. If your business hasn’t been listed, go ahead and list it. Yelp will simply send an email to your inbox and you just can verify with a click. This listing is by far the easiest to set-up. Once Yelp approves your listing you’ll receive notification. One cool thing you can do is run Yelp Deals. These are similar to offerings like Groupon and Living Social. You set up a deal, “Save 50% on Marketing Plan”, Yelp will collect the money and keep 30%. The nice thing is this form of advertising doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket, it’s free to set-up and you only pay when someone buys. Note you are at the mercy of customer reviews and Yelp has had a troubled past in this regard.
4. Manta
Manta is a listing service that is designed to help small business owners grow. It is a little newer so I will explain this one in a little more detail. I found Manta by searching for a local optometrist in my area. That optometrist ended up being listed in Manta. I decided to list my business and really liked the Manta service. Manta has premium listings you can pay for or you can sign up for free. Setting up this listing begins at http://www.manta.com/ and clicking on add your business. This process involves you calling Manta to activate, they will try to sell you the upgrade of course, and then it’s done.So why do I like this listing service? First, of they have analytics so you can see how many views your profile is currently getting. Next, you can add product pages and even put links back to your page where people can buy your products.
There are a few cons though:
- if you don’t pay for premium listing when someone views your page they will see ads from local competitors on your page and if they scroll to the bottom they will see competitors from all the areas around you
- they rank your listing higher if you are paying for a subscription. This one is worth an experiment to see if it works for you.
6. Youtube
Youtube is a fantastic way of driving web surfers to your web site and business. Whatever your business there is probably a way of marketing yourself using a video on Youtube, and the other video share sites like Vimeo. Own a flower shop? Make videos on flower arranging. A plumber? How to replace a washer. Be creative. And of course link to your Youtube videos from your website and local directory pages, FaceBook, Twitter etc.Come back often as this page will be updated with newer services as they present themselves and experience is gained with the above.
Good Luck.