Today we are going to explore the wide area of being found online and what you as a local business can and should be doing to stay competitive in the digital marketing era. Many local businesses that I’ve come into contact with in Red Wing, MN, Hastings, MN and the areas south of the Twin Cities have all had mixed ideas of what is needed to be found online. Everything from “I have a website” to ” I utilize Facebook” to “Well, I’m not really sure”.

Local businesses must know

It is very important for every local business to have a good web presence, but they don't all include spending money; some are just require your time.

There is actually many things you can do to help your business get found online that are inexpensive or completely free (well, including the time it takes you to complete them).

We will cover many of the things that any local businesses can do that are low-cost, free, and even some paid options that will boost your online presence. One thing that I would like to point out is that many of the things listed below work best when put together with an overall web marketing strategy. If you would like some help, feel free to contact us.

We’re going to break these up into some basic categories. “Web Design and SEO, Online Directory Management and Submission, Social Media, Online Advertising, and some free online tools to help you along the way”.

Web Design and SEO

So there are many things to consider about your website. There are some key components to any website that will determine how well your site is found online and also it’s effectiveness.

• Smart and Effective Content Strategy
• Search Engine Optimization
• An Effective User-Centered Design
• How Many Other Websites Link to Yours
• Does your website update all the major search engines when updated
• Is Your website ready for mobile devices?

A smart content strategy for your website is essential to be an influential part of any search engine’s top results. Google for instance has been updating it’s search algorithms time and time again trying to bring the most relevant, local, and quality results to the people who search on their site. So having content that specifically speaks about your geographic area (Red Wing, MN or Hastings, MN), well written,  and focused on trends and topics in your industry will help search engines see the information/content on your website as valuable to the people searching.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization deals mainly with the way your website is built and coded. There are some very specific things that can be implemented in your code that can help your website be better optimized for the search engines. An SEO consultation with an expert is a must for every business that wants their website to show up in the search engines. They can help you determine what websites should you target to get backlinks to your site, and how you can implement a feature that updates all major search engines when you add something new to your website content.

Web design has changed in many ways over the years and websites that are designed intelligently in today’s world keep the viewer or user’s experience while on the website as the most important aspect of the design. This includes things like: information is easy to find on your site, clear calls to action are highlighted for ease of use, and effectively used color scheme and professional graphics”.

With such a large number of people using their mobile devices for mobile web browsing, it is starting to become an essential aspect of web design to have a mobile version of your website ready.

Online Directory Management and Submission

There are an absolute ton of websites out there that claim to be the best directory to search for local businesses and local information, but there are a handful that really do help your odds of being found online. One of the other key benefits to doing this, is that you are better able to manage your online reputation and ensure consistency across many sites that contain information about your business. This ensures that when a potential customer does find you online, that they are given accurate and up-to-date information. Below are a list of websites that often come up in the search engines when viewers are looking for information about your business. I’ve also included links to the login or account creation pages as well.

Social Media

There are a lot of mis-conceptions about social media out there among local businesses owners. Some think it is a free for of advertising, while others think that it is a good way to attract new customers. To be truthful, neither are really accurate, yes while social media accounts are free a successful social media campaign takes a good amount of time. How much would you charge for an hourly wage? Furthermore, social media really doesn’t help you reach potential customers that are new to your business.

Find your strategy

Sit down and figure out exactly what you would like to accomplish with social media and make sure social media is the best channel for that goal.

That being said there are some really valuable things that can be attained through use of social media. One of the most effective things that local businesses can be accomplish through social media is customer relationship management. Once you’ve got a customer that likes you, how do you get them to keep coming back? Well, for starters you keep in contact with them and provide them information that they are interested in. The very nature of social media is that it is social, you wouldn’t walk into a cocktail party and yell “15% off window treatments across the street”, neither should you jump into your customers social atmosphere and start pitching your product or service.

Online Advertising

One of the quickest ways to be found online is to find good places to advertise online. This allows you to get your message out right away in front of an audience that is already there. There are a ton of different ways to advertise online, but the most common are Online Display Advertising (banners, video, expanding ads), Paid Search Results Advertising, and Email Marketing are among the top. With any of the above methods, you will want to think about who your audience is, age, gender, geographic location. Because all effective forms of online advertising allow you the ability to target a very specific audience. So being very precise in your audience will help to ensure the success of your campaign.

Here is a video Roger created for the RiverTown Newspaper Group in Red Wing,MN showcasing their advertising opportunities:

While online display advertising can be more expensive, you usually find that websites such as news organizations are trusted by their viewers and that will benefit your advertising campaign. A good and reputable website will charge anywhere from $15-$25 CPM (cost per thousand) for an advertising campaign.

Paid Search Results also know as Search Engine Marketing can be an effective way to reach an audience with a smaller budget usually sold on CPC (cost per click) basis allow you to set a maximum price you are willing to pay per click.The most commonly used services are Google Adwords and Facebook Ads. Make sure you contact someone with experience in creating CPC campaigns for some advice, because they can be extremely complicated to do correctly.

Email marketing is a great way to reach new customers or keep in touch with those who have expressed interest in your business. Look for the resource below MailChimp to see if Email Marketing is for you.

Free Online Tools To Help You

Google Analytics:

Google Analytics is a free website measurement tool that can help you determine how may people are visiting your site, what pages they look at while on your site, where they are located, and many many more features. This is a must for any business who is serious about being online, you have to be able to measure your success along the way. You will most likely need someone with web development experience to help you implement this.

MailChimp:

Email Marketing professionals pretty much describes MailChimp. You can sign up for a free account and send out a limited number of emails each month. A great way to get your feet wet with email marketing or even starting a company newsletter.

Free Software for your computer:

We created a resource page to list a handful of valuable and completely free resources for local businesses. They range anywhere from Free Office Suite software to anti-virus software. Many goodies, and actually is a great page to bookmark.

Customer Feedback For Your Website:

Uservoice.com is a great way to ask the visitors to your website if there is anything they would like to see. People leave comments, suggestions, complaints, anything that they feel they need to contribute. If used correctly, these tools can help you greatly improve the experience your potential customers have on your website by taking their feedback and making improvements.

Google Docs:

Click Here for a complete walk through on how Google Docs can be used a free set of programs to help benefit your business as well.