Inbound Marketing to grow your business
If people aren’t finding your website, they’re probably finding your competitors websites. This article briefly outlines 5 tips to get you started with online marketing for your small business.
Tip # 1 – Content Marketing
Websites with the most relevant and valuable content are the ones that find their way to the top of search engine results pages. Creating valuable content that your target audience is looking for not only helps you be found online but helps position your company as an industry authority and builds credibility.
How do you get started? Write down a list of common questions and/or concerns related to your product or service and answer each in a blog post. Think of 52 questions to answer and you have a weekly post for the next year!
Bonus tip – Do some keyword research to find out how your potential customers are looking for answers to these questions and optimize your articles based on these terms.
Tip # 2 – Online Business Listings
There are hundreds of online directories and review sites across the web and while it’s not important to spend countless hours claiming your listing for every directory, it is important to be consistent across the high traffic directories. These are sites like Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, Mapquest, CitySeach, etc. You want to make sure your NAP (Name, address & phone number) is consistent on all directories. Don’t use Company Name on one listing and then Company Name, llc on another.
How do you get started? – Use our listing scan tool to see how your business listings look today on the major directories. Claim your listings and completely fill out each directory as completely as possible with consistent information.
Bonus tip – I know it doesn’t sound fun to claim hundreds of listings for your business and type the same information over and over. Well…I have some good news! You don’t have to! There are services that will do this for you and send your company’s listing information to all the major directories. This assures consistency and saves you time as the business owner!
Tip # 3 – Local SEO
Your online business listings are a great start to helping with Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) but only a piece of the puzzle. Most small to medium businesses are location based which means they need to focus on local SEO. When people search using mobile devices, reports show that over 60% of those searches are location based, e.g. “dentist Jackson, lawyer madison ms, pizza flowood ms”. Your business name, address and phone number should be consistent with your listings and placed on as many of your website pages as possible using Schema mark-up.
How do you get started? It all starts with keyword research and knowing what your target market is searching for as it relates to your products or services. Once this is understood, you’re developer and copywriter can optimize your website for these keywords and make sure your NAP is accurate and consistent with the listings.
Bonus tip – Since the latest Google update, online reviews are increasingly important for your business. If you haven’t already registered your business with Google to claim your “Google My Business” page, this one tip could help you see increasing results quickly.
Tip # 4 – Responsive Website Design
A responsive website is not just a trend, it’s imperative now that mobile is quickly surpassing laptops or desktops as the preferred devices to search the web. Think about how you search for products or services especially local businesses. You’re probably in a car (hopefully stopped at a red light or in the passenger seat) using your phone to find a place to get a new tire, eat lunch or spend the evening with your friends.
How do you get started? If the website for your business was built in the past 2 years, there’s a good chance it is responsive but it’s no longer just an option. Contact your designer or developer and make sure you have a mobile-friendly design with a mobile optimized user experience.
Bonus tip – On April 21st, Google released an update that now penalizes sites that are not mobile friendly. Use google’s mobile friendly test to see how your site looks on mobile – www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
Tip # 5 – Email Marketing
Email marketing is not a waste of your time! In fact, it is still the preferred method to receive permission based marketing but it starts with content. I know you get tired of hearing…content, content, content…but when you produce content that your audience wants, they gladly give you permission to send your valuable, insightful and engaging content to their inbox. Think about your customer and not your products or services and you can easily come up with an email series that will resonate with your subscribers.
How do you get started? There are countless email marketing solutions available today. To name a few, Mailchimp, Aweber, Constant Contact, that make email marketing easy to implement.
Bonus tip – So, let’s say you are a Home Inspector. No one wants to hear about home inspections, right? Well no, they don’t want to hear about all your licenses and the 251 checkpoints you have for each inspection. But, what if Mr. Home Inspector provided valuable and practical advice on maintaining a home, saving on utility cost and easy DIY tips and tricks that could increase the value of a home. Subscribers would be waiting for the emails to learn more. And who would they think of when they needed a Home Inspection?
What to do next?
I hope you can find some actionable advice in this list for marketing your small business online. At Reztech Media, we believe in small businesses and passionately pursue relationships were we can help you connect with your customers. If you would like to learn more about online marketing for your business, we’d be glad to hear from you and offer a free 30 minute consultation to see if our services can help.