Successful internet marketing for small businesses requires search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO is a buzzword that has grown with the Internet age. Twenty years ago, nobody cared about SEO. Now, if you have a website and want to do small business internet marketing, SEO is a big consideration for a successful internet presence. Now there are many companies that specialize in SEO.
What exactly is SEO? SEO is the art of getting your website to appear on the first page of search results…preferably the first listing. Search engines include Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask, among others. When someone types a few words in the search field, the “engine” will bring up various results that it deems relevant. Many factors come into play to determine the results. Search engines keep their “algorithms” secret. Why? So SEO experts can’t outsmart them! Companies like Google want to be able to control the results of their users and provide relevant websites that meet the needs of their users (as opposed to sites that have “trickled” the algorithm into listing them on the first page).
Before doing internet marketing for your business, you should be aware that SEO for a local business is very different than SEO for an internet or national business. A “local” business is one that has four walls and a roof (known as a “bricks and mortar” business) and is generally not a chain (although it could be a franchise that does its own marketing).
When you do Internet marketing for your local business, your goal is to attract customers within your geographic area. In fact, to do Internet marketing for local small businesses, you don’t even need a website (although it helps). Why? Because there are many local search directories! These directories are like online yellow pages, only in real time. And most, if not all, allow you to list your business on them for free! You can usually enter more than just your business name, address, and phone number. You can list your business hours, a website or blog link (if you have one), general information about your business; some even allow you to upload photos!
And believe me, these local search directories will almost always outrank your business website in the search engines (meaning they will appear first, before your website, in the search results).
If you want to successfully list your local business on the internet, local search directories are a must. With the right small business internet marketing, you will be at the top of search engine listings through local search directories. And if your business has the most relevant and up-to-date information entered in the directory, new customers will select your business over less informative listings. Cha-ching!