Theme: Marketing a Local Business
Issue 86, January 24, 2004
Dear Friends,
I
was amazed to find out that 24% of searches involve local
businesses! Wow! This means that the time to promote local
businesses via the Internet is now. I've spent nearly 40 hours
research the ins and outs of local search and advertising. All
this has been included in my 41-page book How to Promote Your Local Businesses
on the Internet. If you're a paid subscriber to Web Marketing Today
Premium you can
download it right now. Otherwise, order your
copy right now for a very modest price. Or you can read
the contents chapter by chapter below:
Preface
The preface explains who the book is for and what it is
designed to do. "This book is designed to be a brief, focused,
no-hype how-to-do-it guide to marketing a local business via the
Internet." Read the Preface
1. Marketing Your Local Business Starts with Your Website
This isn't a guide to super-duper websites, since many local
businesses don't have much competition from other businesses in
their community -- yet. But this article does explain what your
website needs to do to help you build your local business. It
also tells you how to develop a website inexpensively, if you
don't already have one. Read
Chapter 1.
Local business actually get significant
business from the Web these days.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Local Sites
Since you aren't vying for top ranking with national
businesses, you'll be able to get near-top ranking for your local
business for search phrases such as "Denver Candy" or "Denver
Confectioners" or "Denver Chocolate." Here are the simple steps
to preparing your webpages to rank high in local searches.
Includes linking strategies with other local businesses. Read
Chapter 2.
3. Local Portal Sites
When someone's looking for a local business online, they will
probably use a major search engine or one of the newer local
portals. Here's a rundown on which of the city guides are most
important for advertising, with special focus on CitySearch, AOL
CityGuide, Yahoo! Local, and Google Local. Read
Chapter 3.
4. Back to the Yellow Pages for Local Business Advertising
Print Yellow Pages are arguably the most important form of
advertising for local businesses. Now it's important to look for
print/web Yellow Pages packages, with particular focus on SBC
SMARTpages.com and Verizon SuperPages.com. A chart indicates the
relative importance of Yellow Page websites.
Read Chapter 4.
People search for professionals and
specialists online, such as dentists, plastic surgeons,
attorneys, etc.
5. Local Pay Per Click on Google and Overture
Since more people are searching for local businesses and
services, PPC ads on Google and Overture that include local place
names can new business leads. Google now offers geotargeting for
ads based on IP address and place names in the search keywords
used. Chapter explains how to approach this and examples of
results for various businesses. It also considers Pay Per Call
approaches. Read
Chapter 5.
6. Display Your Local Business URL Everywhere
Discusses the obvious -- and not so obvious -- ways to display
your URL so that people know they can easily find out about your
business. Discusses domain names and signatures. Read
Chapter 6.
7. E-Mail Marketing to Existing Local Business Customers
Sending a monthly e-mail newsletter can allow you to market to
your best customers regularly so they'll shop more often in your
store. Renting local e-mail lists can also help you gain new
customers. Read Chapter
7.
8. Resources for Marketing Your Local Business on the
Internet
Here are links to articles, ad venues, and marketing services
for local online advertising. See
the Resources.
Each month our team of link editors scours dozens of online periodicals and resources to find
key information on e-commerce and Web marketing. With so much new literature
available to you, how do you find what you need quickly and painlessly? Here's a selective and searchable database of article and resource links to help your
research and keep you up-to-date in the field. (Links gathered in a given month are usually available during the second week of the following
month.)
I
was amazed to find out that 24% of searches involve local
businesses! Wow! This means that the time to promote local
businesses via the Internet is now. I've spent nearly 40 hours
research the ins and outs of local search and advertising. All
this has been included in my 41-page book How to Promote Your Local Businesses
on the Internet. If you're a paid subscriber to
