It's that crazy time of year when most local businesses seem to notice that their sales wane away a bit because potential customers are being caught up in the Christmas holiday frenzy. For some business owners it is a great time to take stock and reassess the areas of their business which could use some improvement. In considering what I have mentioned above, it should come as no surprise that here at camp OD we actually see quite a healthy increase in lead enquires during the month of December. Typically speaking, most business owners see their online marketing as an area of their business that requires some much loved attention.
There is still a healthy brigade of local business owners who are still very cautious about delving too deep into online marketing for their businesses. Based on hundreds of phone call enquiries each year, I would suggest that most business owners that fit this category are simply confused about online marketing and feel they lack the knowledge to jump in head first and give it a go.
To assist this cautious brigade with understanding the process, we have outlined these 3 critical steps for transitioning their business to the powerful medium of online marketing;
1. Start with your Website
Your website obviously stands at the forefront of your online marketing. Without a professional look and feel you can hardly expect a potential customer to take your business seriously. Make sure that your website is built on a stable platform (Wordpress is perfect for local businesses) that can grow with your business and is conducive to search engine marketing. Your website should be more than just an online brochure; instead it needs to be a lead generating machine.
3 Tips to help you with your website;
• Place your Phone Number Loud & Proud in the Header of your Website - Make it easy for people to contact you at any time during their visit to your website.
• Use Images for Stimulating Emotion - You always want to stimulate people by showing them images of your products or services. Images stimulate emotions which keeps them on your website longer.
• Include a Blog "Latest News" section on your website - This enables you to communicate with your customers on a regular basis. Make your business the authority by writing about things that your customers would like to read and hear about.
2. Researching Your Opportunities - Critical Step
I cannot emphasise enough how critical this step is to ensuring that your business enjoys a successful introduction to online marketing that is very rewarding. People (your potential clients) are using search engines to find your business whether you like it or not. The problem being is the way that they are searching for your business may not actually be the way you might expect. The words and phrases that they are typing in the search engines might not reflect the obvious. You want to consider the keyword/s that will deliver your website both visitors and enquiries.
3 Tips to help you with your online marketing research;
• Run a Micro Pay Per/Click Campaign - Sometimes it can be difficult to identify exactly what search term will be profitable and targeted for your business. Run a small, paid advertising campaign with Google and this will give you the data to aggressively target the best keyword/s for your business.
• Observe your Competitors - If you are a little bit slow on the uptake with your online marketing, chances are that you should be able to learn a lot from what your competitors are doing. If they are actively marketing their business online then their website/s should give you some solid starting points to work from and improve upon. Important to note however, that their strategies may not be perfect either.
• Use Google's keyword research tool - Google offers you a simple tool to help you gather some keyword research data to help you identify what your customers might be typing into the search engines to find your products or services. This simple to use tool will offer you data like local search volume and how competitive your search term/s are.
3. Rank your Website in Google - Own Your Industry
It is now safe to say that you have a nice looking website that is delivering you enquiries and you have also conducted the research and identified how your potential customers are looking for you in the search engines. Ranking your website in Google is achieved by executing the skill of search engine optimisation. Search engine optimisation, better known as SEO, is the process of encouraging Google that your website should be atop of the Google search results for the keyword/s or phrases that you now know to be important for your business.
Once you achieve these top rankings in the search engines your business becomes the online authority and can enjoy the rewards of free, targeted visitors to your website who will make purchasing decisions with your business. No matter how big or small your business might be, anybody can enjoy number 1 rankings in Google.
3 Tips to help you rank your website in Google;
• Claim and Optimise a Google Places Listing for your Business - Tied into Google Maps is what they call Google Places. You will notice when you conduct a search for a local product or service in your area that you will see a variation of listings on the front page that point you to local businesses close to the area you have searched for. If you are a local business, you must claim your Google Places Listing if you want to be eligible for prime time real estate on top of Google.
• Communicate Regularly with your Audience - I mentioned earlier in step one that you should include a blog "Latest News" section on your website. Posting regular news or information articles on your website will seriously improve your chances of making it to the top of Google in record time.
• Consult a Professional to conduct your SEO - Search engine optimisation is no easy task. The process of ranking your website in Google involves a very complex and well timed set of tasks that should ideally be conducted by a professional. Taking the wrong turn at the wrong time could end in calamity for your online marketing.
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