Why Does Offline Business Need An Online Presence
November 12th, 2010
Search is Changing
So just why does Offline Business Need an Online Presence? Simple. You want to be FOUND by more customers don’t you?
When you first established your local business, you put some thought into the correct locale for it. You didn’t just build your business in the middle of an abandoned Industrial District, right? You searched out the best place available so that customers can walk in and buy whatever product or service you offer. You plan your business to be central to everything and easily accessible to your customers.
The same thing must be done when it comes to your business website as well. You can create a stunning website , but if you stop there and and assume that people will be scrambling to your site, you’d be in for a surprise. You must advertise your website in order for anyone to know about it. In earlier posts I’ve spoken about general SEO practices like using keywords in your page titles and content, but there is another extremely important resource to get local search traffic from the search engines. Local Search Listings.
Google always displays local results before standard listings. Here is the catch. You must submit your business to their local business search specifically before your company will appear there. You can get your business to appear in those results, by submitting your website with this form: http://www.google.com/local/add
The Search Directories
What do you see when you do a search for let’s say a Plumber in your local area. You have a leak, you need a plumber now, and they have to be close by. Say you are in Greenville, NC. You are going to most likely search for Plumber Greenville NC, correct? So if you are Joe’s Plumbing in Greenville, NC you want the search results to show your site, and they will do this through “Keywords”. The Keywords in this example is “Plumber Greenville NC”. There will be other variations, but we will keep it simple here.
You must always do a search for the top keywords relating to your business and be sure you request your company listed in every directory that shows up in the first two or three pages of results. How do you do this? As we discussed earlier, by filling out the info for Google Local, Yahoo Local, Bing and other top search directories. Submit your site to DMOZ. DMOZ is free but you need patience waiting for your link to go live but just submit and forget about it.
In our Plumbing search, what came up bold as ever at the top of the page, just under the couple of highlighted paid Ads? Google Local Search Results. If you scroll to the bottom of those listings, you will see a link to More results near Greenville, NC » . That link takes you into Google Places. Their Local Search Directory. Now most searchers will never go that far in. You have a leak, you need a plumber now, your first search gave you a list of 7 right there on the first page, all in your local area. You’re more than likely gonna stop searching now, and start dialing right?
This is why it is VITALLY important to have your information submitted to these sites. It automatically puts you at the head of the class in your online marketing efforts. Pay for one year and don’t renew. Your link will still be live for a good more couple of years. I hear that they don’t remove the links so it’s worth the investment.
Social Media Marketing
Some businesses believe social media marketing will not benefit them. Sometimes that can be true. But if your major demographic happens to be under 40, social marketing is an essential tool. Facebook and Twitter are both great for keeping in touch with your customers.
Create a fan page on Facebook and get your company a Twitter account. Start by adding friends through searches for people in your local area. Facebook and Twitter could make your site and/or products go viral very quickly.
You will also want to be sure to take advantage of the advertising opportunity that is available on Facebook. Those little ads that you see in the right hand column. These ads are of tremendous value, and are EXTREMELY cheap to use, when compared to Google AdWords. You can break the back of your advertising budget with just one bad campaign set up in AdWords. However, you can start small in Facebook advertising, and are able to specifically target the audience that you are looking for. This way, your ad is only showing up to the people who are the most likely to be interested. This simply kicks AdWords Butt.
Marketing Offline
Besides your online marketing efforts, you need to promote your website offline as well. Your local newspaper, radio ads, magazines, bulletin boards, Company Vehicles and other similar sources are all great places to advertise your website. Don’t forget to inform your existing customers about your website, too. Some business owners don’t understand why they should be sending existing customers to their website if the purpose of the website is to get new customers. Simple. Word of mouth Advertising. People pass around great business info, ESPECIALLY in the Social Media sites. Your existing customers are your greatest advertising asset. Let them know what you have going on. They will share it with others. Guaranteed. Marketing online can make your site or your products go viral . This is what we strive for in Your Business.
So know you know the basics of WHY it is so important to have a company website for your offline business. You also know why it is essential that correct thought, planning and actions go into the set up, and regular maintenance of that site. A site that just sets there, never being updated is a Dead Site! And last but not least you have a glimpse of why Social Media is Vital to your offline business as well. You can save yourself thousands of dollars a year in Advertising costs, and increase your bottom line at the same time, by implementing these simple strategies correctly.
