Local Search Engine Marketing
This is the first of a multi-part series on how to get your site ranked. For those without a web site, it may be the reason you decide to initially get a web site or if you already have one running, this series may encourage you to actively promote it.
Lots of Options for Local Search Engine Marketing
Do I NEED a Website for Local Search Engine Marketing?
Let’s start off with why a small business needs a web site for local search in the first place. The truth is that a small business does not NEED a web site. However you SHOULD have one. In effect, if you are asking yourself that question your business is probably not dependent on Internet traffic and therefore you are making sales from other advertising and marketing streams.
A small business should consider having a website for 2 primary reasons. The first is the exposure that it affords a company to be seen my new customers. It allows the future customer to find you via the Internet. More and more people are doing primary searches on the Internet today to find businesses, products and services so it allows you to be put in front of those people.
The second reason that is seldom mentioned but is equally important is the relationship building aspect of a website. Loyal customers have some kind of relationship with the business. Hence they are a loyal customer. A website is an excellent way to build on that relationship. You can keep customers informed of new products, specials, additional services, collaboration or any kind of news you feel would help your customer. Additionally, many companies have found it helpful to get personal with a web site.
What Kind of Website Do I Need for Local Search Engine Marketing
Different Aspects of Local Search Engine Marketing
With a brochure type site, you can give customers a lot of important information about your business like phone number, address, and business hours. Additionally you can provide information and pictures of your products and services. Many small businesses will regularly update their sites with coupons and specials.
More sophisticated businesses may want to sell products and services directly over the Internet. In this case the business would need an ecommerce type site. These types of sites usually have shopping carts and the ability to accept money via credit and debit card.
A third type of site may accept appointments or do scheduling via the Internet. There are many auto service centers, golf courses and hair salons that allow customers to input their information into a public scheduling system.
Cost of a Web Site
Web sites are so reasonably priced there is very little barrier to entry due to price. The following is a list of costs associated with a web site:
• Web Site Creation – $300 – $100,000+
• Domain Name Registration – $12/Year
• Hosting Fees – $10 – $30 per month
• SEO Consulting (optional) – $50 – $1000 per month
• Pay Per Click Advertising (optional) – Varies
Each of these areas will be covered in much greater detail later. A quick summary of these items though would indicate a small hair salon or service station type website would cost about $500 initially with annual costs in the range of about $250. For those technically inclined, you can even get rid of the initial $500 cost and create the web site yourself.
In future installments, we will be dissecting each of these issues along with many more. We will be sharing important information about how to get a web site created. You will want to know what our recommendation for the web site creation process is. We will go into great depth on how to select a domain, where to get a good hosting service and why SEO consulting could be worth its weight in gold for Local Search Engine Marketing.
Web Site Updates/Upkeep
A good website is updated regularly. The definition of regular really depends on the industry of the business. As a general rule of thumb, anywhere from once a week to once a month is sufficient. The first and foremost maintenance that is needed is to make sure all the address, phone and hours are always accurate.
Many store owners will keep things updated on the site when new products are introduced or pricing specials occur. Anything that a shop owner feels even the slightest bit that may be of importance should be shared with the Internet public. If a new employee is hired, that’s news and should be shared. If the company wins an award, that news should be immediately posted to the web site. The constant update of the web site is important with building relationship with customers and getting new customers via Local Search Engine Marketing.
Once the Site is Up and Running
In the next installment we are going to cover the basics of getting a web site up and running for Local Search Engine Marketing, but there are some high level things that need to be shared first. Many small business owners are under the mistaken idea that they put up a web site and people will immediately find it. Unfortunately that is not true.
The first thing that must be done is to have the search engines index your website. This means that the search engine needs to actually find your site and update their database with your content information. There are several techniques for doing this. You can let it occur naturally but that could take up to 6 months. Two to three weeks is common. With some knowledge of how search engines operate, it’s possible to get a site indexed within a couple hours although within a couple days are more realistic.
Local Search Engine Marketing Is Not This Complicated
The next step is the most difficult. A brochure site can be created and indexed within a couple days. Getting traffic or site visitors takes a lot of work. It’s highly likely that you will be competing against other sites just as relevant and good as yours if not better. Search engines like Google rank sites for relevance and until your new site gets some reputation, it will need to prove itself. We will cover several techniques to speed up that process.
Keep Up The Good Work
The final step has already been mentioned. That is to keep the site updated. Keep your site relevant to your potential customers doing local search. All of this may seem very daunting. However, with a step by step approach and proper explanations, the process will be much more clear so you can take lLocal Search Engine Marketing to the next level.
Part Two
In part two, we are going to get into more details about creating the web site in the first place. You will see how easy this first step can be for getting started in Local Search Engine Marketing.
