Websites are Important

 

Websites – Yes, they are Important

In today’s fast paced, technology driven world, businesses of all shapes and sizes need a strong online presence. However, especially for new businesses, the problem lies in getting there. Local One, and their consultants, can help business owners solve this problem and teach you how to use internet marketing for local business!

The first step business owners must take is to have an appealing, user-friendly website showcasing their products or services. Ideally, this should be up and running before your grand opening. No matter where you are in starting or running your business, the Local One professionals can help by building this website for you. Don’t overlook the importance of a business website because this is how potential clients will find you. Even customers in your local area are more likely to find you online before they find your brick-and-mortar shop. Others will want to compare your products and services -and check your prices- before they step foot into your store. Still others may not be interested in your brick-and-mortar shop and will only want to work with you online.  Local One understands this and will create the best possible website for your business.

Local clients will be most helpful to your business for a few reasons. For one thing, if yours is a service- related business, it will only be of interest to local customers and won’t do anything for global customers. Your satisfied customers can use word of mouth to help increase business for you. Sometimes communities hold events where business owners work together to run a promotion or sale, which will certainly help build your business.

Once your website is up and running you will need to utilize internet marketing tools. The best way a business owner can increase business is to increase website traffic. Local internet marketing is the fastest and most effective way to attract new customers and drive them to your website. There are a few ways to accomplish this, and Local One employs experts who are there to help you.

Local SEO marketing (search engine optimization) is one great way to drive local customers to your business. This method uses keywords to direct potential customers to your business website. For example, a typical consumer may choose any combination of words to type into a search engine and find a business like yours. Local One will use the most likely key words and link them to your website.

Search engines also use IP addresses for local business internet marketing. Your business website has a specific IP address which also lets search engines know where you are geographically located. They can use that information to match IP addresses local to your area, and point searching consumers toward your website.  Local listings and maps also use this information in a search engine result. Another way Local One can help your business is with local website advertising. You can pay to post an ad that pops up based on certain keywords, or again, the local proximity IP addresses.

Check out http://www.local-one.com/ to see how their local business online marketing can benefit you too!

Internet Marketing

Salt Lake City Internet Marketing

Successful business owners understand the vital importance of a strong online presence. They have established a website that is user friendly and clearly displays their products or services, as well as the prices for each. They have a link to their website listed on their business card and attached to every promotional email and paper flyer advertising their business. Yet after all this, the traffic to their website may still be lacking. This is when Local One and the services they offer can help.

Internet marketing strategies are some of the best tools today’s businesses have for growth and increased sales. There are a variety of ways today to market a business online and many of them can be very effective. The methods that will produce the best results however, focus on local internet marketing.

Local business online marketing is different than merely marketing online.  Most general online marketing methods tend to reach clients across the globe. Often a potential customer is looking for something specific and uses a search engine to find what they need. Sometimes a customer sees an ad that offers whatever they are looking for. After a quick visit to the website they can order what they need and move on. This can be a really great system for a lot of business owners out there who can simply ship the client their products, pay for the international shipping rates and other associated fees and be glad for the sale. However, the other half of the businesses out there won’t benefit from this type of marketing at all. Businesses that offer a service such as housekeeping need to find local customers and that means local website marketing.

Local SEO marketing is one way to make this work for a business. The Local One advantage is that they understand how search engines work. Search engines use the IP address information, and internet connection line to determine where a searching customer is geographically located. Then they can direct local website marketing results straight to the potential customer. At Local One they know how to use internet marketing for local business by generating results that lead potential customers to businesses that are in their same areas. Instead of a search engine pulling up the top 25 housekeeping services in the world, this customer will find the top 25 housekeeping businesses in their own town and surrounding areas.

Another local internet marketing tool is social media. Many people like to shop locally and support the manufacturers and businesses of their own state or even county. Local business internet marketing with social media helps create the results they want, and the business you need. Websites such as Facebook or Twitter allows these customers to find their local businesses and spread the word- thus advertising your business for you.

Visit www.local-one.com to see how they can help your business find the customers you need. With expertise in SEM (search engine marketing), SMO (social media optimization) and building websites, your website traffic will increase dramatically, thus increasing sales and business for you. Local One can make it happen.

 

4 Great Internet Marketing Strategies

4 Internet Marketing Strategies You Can’t Avoid

As more of the world moves online and consumers move more of their purchases to the internet, local businesses need a way to stay relevant. If you make jeans in ST. Louis, but people in St. Louis can more easily find jeans made in Taiwan when they search online, you’re business isn’t going to be booming anytime soon. The simple reality is that in order for local businesses to compete in a global marketplace, they need high visibility on the web.

In general, consumers enjoy buying from local vendors when prices are not an issue. In fact, 86% of consumers who search for local products and services online follow up their search with a location visit. If you want to grab a portion of that search market, you have to make yourself available online. But simply building a website isn’t going to grab your customers’ attention overnight. You can employ a handful of great strategies to help you get to the top of local search results. And they are strategies you can’t avoid, if you want to succeed.

1. SEO – Search engine optimization is the number one strategy that will help you start making your way to the top of a Google search. SEO involves much more than just stuffing your website with keywords. A good SEO team will help you optimize your site architecture, your usability, your meta-tags, and more in order to give you’re the highest SEO benefit possible. In addition, SEO experts can help boost your page rank with link building campaigns, guest blogging, and more. If you want to be more than a footnote on the internet, you’ll need to optimize your site for search engines.

2. PPC – Pay-per-click campaigns can also help you get some exposure and boost your organic SEO. PPC is a strategy of paying search engines for featured results. They are the top 2-3 links you’ll see when you do a Google search. They are usually off-set with a grayish background, so users can tell where the paid results end and the organic results begin. PPC campaigns can be extremely effective at bringing traffic to your site. And although they won’t boost your SEO directly, they will help drive traffic to your site, which will result in a better page rank. Combining organic SEO and PPC can help you move your business website to the top much quicker than either strategy by itself.

3. Social Media – Both Google and Bing use public Twitter and Facebook feeds to determine website authority and page rank. In fact, a couple of preliminary case studies performed by SEOmoz and SEOptimise, display the extraordinary power a few well-placed tweets and Facebook likes can have on your company website. But beyond the SEO benefits of running a social media campaign, social media followers can generate massive return business and represent valuable assets for bringing more customers to your business. A recent Syncapse study (PDF) found that Facebook fans generated, on average, $71.84 more revenue than non-fans, not to mention that fans were 28% more likely to give repeat business and had a high probability of recommending brands they follow to friends (41% more than non-fans). So ignoring social media as a legitimate marketing channel could hurt your business.

4. Affiliate Marketing – Affiliate marketing is a very low-risk way to generate more sales and increase profits for your business. You only pay affiliates after they have brought sales to you, so there are no “lost” costs on methods that don’t work. Affiliate marketing campaigns will not only boost your SEO from all the links on your affiliate websites, but will allows ordinary users and some of your super-customers to be your sales advocates to their friends, family, and website visitors. In essence, affiliate marketing boosts your sales force without having to pay full-time sales people.

Don’t get lost in a sea of search engine results. If you want to survive—even thrive—in the 21^st century, you need to make yourself available to your customers through some basic online marketing. SEO, PPC, social media, and affiliate marketing can give your business website a large boost, separating your business from the Taiwanese jean makers.

Utah Internet Marketing

Utah Internet Marketing Company — Local One

In today’s digital world, businesses of all types and sizes need to have an up-to-date, functioning and user friendly website. This is handy for existing customers to view your latest products or find information on what they already have, but simply having a website online will not attract new customers for your business. This is when business owners need to look into internet marketing options. When you advertise your business online, you are obviously trying to find new customers and grow your business. The internet is often thought of as a way to attract a global market, and customers around the world are great to have if you sell a product to ship to them. But if your business is service oriented, such as a hair styling salon, you don’t want global customers, you need local business. Business owners who are very tech-savvy might be able to use online marketing on their own, but many would be better off using a company that excels at helping businesses with online marketing. Taking it one step further, the people at Local One in Utah are pros at local internet marketing, and would be ideal to help get your business going online!

Local website advertising is different from general online marketing. This difference is important to small business owners, because it works to attract only local potential customers. When someone uses a search engine such as google or yahoo to find your services, the search engine knows where the person is located based on their IP address. This allows the search engine to generate results that are local to the person first. Every business wants to be listed first to have the potential of attracting as many customers as possible. Local One is found in Salt Lake City and can absolutely help you with the right local website marketing you need to generate new business!

Internet marketing for local business includes the same options as all online marketing. Local SEO marketing will use the same SEO and keyword tools you are familiar with. The difference again is that the final results will be local to the consumer, not simply the biggest or most well-known similar business out there. LocalOne also utilizes SMO to advertise your business. Social media sites such as twitter and facebook allow you to get your business name and product out there and remind existing customers about your services regularly. When partnered with your business website, your news can be shareable through SMO tools. Social media allows your existing customers to help you with your local business online marketing and can and will share your information with their friends and associates who are your potential customers.

The Local One is in Salt Lake City, Utah but their website is full of information as to how they make local business internet marketing work for each of their clients. Visit them at www.local-one.com to see what their services include. They can even build your business website for you if that’s where your business needs to begin!

Concerns with Call Tracking

Concerns with Call Tracking

Companies using Search Engine Optimization techniques such as Pay-Per-Click marketing, Google Places, CitySearch and other things often use a feature known as call tracking. With call tracking you have a paid search campaign that brings you information pertaining to phone conversions along with call recording. This is designed to provide you with online and offline numbers to see which advertising campaigns are working and which ones need some tweaking.

Businesses turn to call tracking to boost SEO campaigns as it will provide you information on the customer to see exactly where they are coming from along with call recording. The call recording feature can help you to monitor the quality of the phone calls, which can boost in better training of your staff. Offering better customer service on the phone can be the direct result you are looking for in order to boost your reputation.

The problem is most companies using call tracking do not see the negative impact it may have on your SEO campaign. For example if you are using call tracking it on Google Maps it can actually hurt your search engine results. Many businesses use Google in order to help them effectively market, especially those mom and pop organizations that are unable to afford a website along with an expensive SEO campaign such as Google AdWords.

With Google Places and other free programs your company is given an outlet to make small advertising posts and provide details of the company. However since SEO is driven primarily by links you really do not have a lot of control over the relevance of the page you are given. Google will in turn use other things to give your company relevance such as grabbing information based on user reviews of the company like Yahoo, CitySearch, Urbanspoon and so forth.

Citations about the company will also make a difference in the page rank. Citations can come from advertisements in local newspapers and other things. It is basically information that another person or company will post in reference to your website somewhere on the internet. Any time your name, phone number, address, etc. is mentioned it is called a citation and it will be used to give you a higher ranking.

The problem with the call tracking program is that it will basically assign a different citation to your company. Basically this means you have two different platforms on the web, when you are hoping to have a singular platform. The algorithms that are used to offer you a PageRank do not place importance on one or the other but instead will split them based on which gets more hits and that one will have a higher ranking. This means that negative reviews of the company on CitySearch can end up above your website because of the phone number or business information that is referenced.

Since the company that is using call tracking will place so much importance on the phone number your Pay-Per-Click programs and other things can basically become irrelevant. Then when you do try to cancel your service with the call tracking company, you will find that you are bound to a contract. Similar to that of Vonage you can either pay a cancellation fee, which can be costly or you can choose to wait out the duration of the contract which can take months for it to be completed.

So why is this a bad thing? Some companies like it because it does get more information out there about their business. However the information is not always consistent. This can lead to confusion for the customers along with confusion to the search engines themselves. Google is one search engine that will punish companies for anything they see as a violation of their terms. The call tracking programs run on a very thin line between what they see as spam and what they feel is legitimate.

Instead of using cal tracking to find out where your customers are hearing about your website, you can use other things to gather this information instead. Perhaps you can install an application on your website for customers to include that information. You can also send out surveys via email along with social media sites to ask this information. However one of the best ways to really find out is to ask the customers themselves. When they are on the phone with you or in the store, simply ask them how they heard about your company.

If you are using Google AdWords, they include a feature that shows you where the majority of your website traffic is coming from. This too can help you to place more emphasis on online advertising or offline advertising.

Like any online and offline marketing program it is important to understand all of the information that you are working with along with the pros and cons to the system. While call tracking may present you with great information and establishment of your local presence, it may do a lot of damage to your existing SEO campaign and creating a stronger long-term presence online and locally. Proceed with caution when using call tracking as it can damage your reputation with the search engines and may also make it difficult for the search engines to assign an appropriate page rank to your company.

The Problem with Google Places

The Problem with Google Places
Is it just me, or does Google not want me to use my Google place page? Many small business owners get extremely discouraged with Google places’ complexity and lack of support, so it’s not just you. It seems that Google has made it deliberately hard to fix errors and clear flags from your Google places account. For example, take a look at this fantastic (i.e., satiric) flowchart by Mike Blumenthal describing the method for solving a “terms not allowed” error.

Of course, he points out, that all this could be solved simply by creating a quick and easy way for business owners to contact Google and resolve problems directly through the existing interface. Is that so hard? Apparently so.

The sad truth is that small businesses need Google places. Showing up in local search results is essential for small businesses to get noticed and drive business. Large businesses have the budget and capability to hire in-house experts to handle this sort of thing—people who know what hReview markup, Hotpot, Boost, and rich snippets are. But for many small, local businesses, they have to figure this whole process out through trial and error on a DIY budget.

The reasons that Google doesn’t make Places easier to use are unclear. It seems that in any logical world, having as many verified businesses as possible show up in a local business search would only help Google attain more credibility as THE engine to use for local searching. So ease of use should be at the top of their list. But this isn’t a perfect world.

If you are a small business seeking to understand these terms and processes, where can you turn for help? As Blumenthal points out, discussion boards are pretty hard to navigate and use. But you can always turn to SEO experts, like ourselves, who can help you navigate the minefield of Google Places.

No one doubts the power that appearing as a verified business in local search results can have on your business. Having someone on your side who can help could save you a lot of headaches and start boosting your online visibility much faster.

LocalOne Does Online Marketing

 

The Importance of Online Marketing

Internet marketing is one of the best ways to increase exposure to your customer base. Many companies have branched out to social media sites to help boost their website rankings rather than relying on Google and other search engines alone. However in addition to social media, Google does play a large role in attracting an online audience. Google brings in close to 50% of all search engine traffic. It is vital that you list your company with this search engine monster to increase your visibility.

To help boost online traffic it is also a smart idea to participate in Google Adwords. This advertising program helps to drive targeted traffic to your website when you pay for certain keywords that customers use in the search engine giant. Each time someone uses the keywords you pay for, your advertisement will appear in the search engine results and will be able to provide you with new leads. The internet marketing program that Google offers is ideal for businesses that are in need of local website marketing. It can often be hard to figure out local business online marketing for some business owners that may not have much experience with SEO. This is where The Local One can help as they offer internet marketing for local businesses and will be able to help you increase your websites visibility and boost your online traffic.

In order to make the Google Adwords program pay off for you, it is vital that you create a strong landing page. A landing page will represent the company and your sales team and must be able to quickly provide the customer with value and exactly what they are looking for. If the landing page is poor, the customer will leave in 3-5 seconds and it is now a wasted click. Proper optimization of your website is something that every business must focus on in order to have a successful local SEO marketing campaign. The local-one can also provide benefit for businesses that need website optimization help.

During the recession many companies chose to cut their marketing budgets. This is one of the worst decisions to make. Although financial hardships can make it challenging for a company to promote themselves, cutting the marketing budget means that you are no longer reminding your customers of your products and your business. There are things that you can do to help reduce the amount of money you pay on your marketing expenses but marketing must be done at all times no matter how financially strapped the organization may be or you will risk losing business.

Email marketing, social media, and creating a Google place page are all free online marketing tools you can use in order to create an online presence and remain popular despite a smaller marketing budget. The Google place page tool allows you to upload pictures along with a complete menu if you are operating a restaurant. You are also allowed to upload coupons and offers and you can even post on the Google place page wall to announce things to your customers. Social media sites such as Facebook will also be able to provide you with free marketing and invaluable market research.

Studying the internet marketing world is a great way to understand the various methods and programs that you can incorporate. The Local One can provide you with additional tools and services to aid in creating a stronger local website advertising campaign.

Local One Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is so much bigger than just ads you see on Google or social media.  There are other major strategies that companies can use for internet marketing.  Small businesses can learn how to tap into these resources to direct traffic, increase hits and increase sales.

When a potential customer types a keyword into Google you want your result to be as close to the top of the list as possible.  Implementing search engine optimization (SEO) can help your unpaid search result end up higher in the list.

Pay per click advertising can be used if SEO isn’t effective enough.  It can be risky and lead to a negative return on your investment.  Its best that pay per click and SEO be used together to be effective.  If you are looking for internet marketing for local business, find a marketing company that has experience in your area.

Social media marketing includes sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  In order to successfully use these tools your target audience needs to be kept in mind.  Social media advertising needs to be done the right way.  Incorrectly used it can have a negative impact on your business.  If successful you can reach millions in your target market.  Every business should have at least a corporate profile page.

Internet marketing is key for any business, including a small business.  Before you invest a lot of money there are a few factors about your business to consider:

• Have you identified your target market
• How do you compare to the competition
• How is the quality of your website

If you don’t know who your target audience is then local website advertising may be in vain.  It’s important to identify where you will find your target audience and cater to their needs.  The message you are sending out needs to appeal to them.

Local website marketing won’t do you any good if the competition is offering lower prices, better customer service or other incentives.  Can you compete with the other local businesses?  Take a look at what you can do as a business owner to first improve your company and then see what local internet marketing can do to take you to the next level.

With a poorly designed website your potential customers are going to be easily frustrated and not spend a lot of time on your website.  In order to improve your conversation rate your website needs to be well designed and user friendly.  Driving traffic to your website won’t do a lot of good if customers aren’t making purchases.

Internet marketing is essential for the survival of any business.  Small businesses alike need to consider the benefits of different internet marketing techniques.  Local One can help take your business in the right direction with many levels of local internet marketing.  Website design, search engine marketing and social media optimization are just a few ways we can help your company take advantage of internet marketing.  Your business deserves the best internet marketing available.  Give your business every advantage you can.

Small Business Websites

Your Small Business Still Doesn’t Have a Website?

When the McDonald brothers started serving burgers out of a small establishment in southern California in 1940, people came by to try a burger because they had heard about the new restaurant from their friends and co-workers. When customers discovered they could get a cheap burger and fries quickly from the McDonald brothers they wanted to share their new find, so they told their friends. The McDonald brothers didn’t need a website – the internet hadn’t even been invented yet. But times have changed.

In a recent Discover Card poll of small business owners, 46% of respondent said that it is a myth that every business needs a website. However, according to a recent study conducted by BrightLocal, 59% of consumers use Google at least once a month to find local businesses. And an additional 17% use Google a few times a year. That means 76% of consumers use Google throughout the year to find local businesses. So, does every small business need a website? Only if you want to be found by consumers, grow your business, and turn a profit.

The No-Website Blues

There are a few reasons that some small businesses don’t have a website. For some, it is simply a matter of cost. They don’t have the extra money to spend on things like customer acquisition or marketing. They rely on their network of family and friends to give them a trickle of business throughout the year.

However, the greater segment of the small business community without websites simply believes that their business simply doesn’t need one (41% according to the Discover poll). The basic hurdle here is that some small business owners don’t believe that a website will benefit their business—at least not enough to justify the cost of creating and optimizing a site.

Websites Are Must-Haves

Although many small businesses don’t feel they need a website, I’ll bet none of them operate without a phone. The fact of the matter is that in order to survive, small businesses need to be found by the people who are looking for them. And they need a way to communicate with customers. But the phonebook is dead, much like the 8-track tape.

Although it is true that businesses can be found on Google without having to build a website, the competitive advantage of these businesses is much lower than those with websites. Not only do 76% of consumers turn to Google to find local businesses, but 47% of consumers are more likely to patronize a business that has a website (Discover). That means that in a fair fight (and I mean a fair Google search) between two competitors, it is more likely that the business with the website will get a prospective customer’s cash than a business that is website-less.

Social Media is Not a Thing That Your Kids Do

But the web is developing at an even faster pace than anyone could have predicted and consumers are adapting to the new social media space that has been created for them. Remember the McDonald brothers? People came to their hamburger stand because they’d heard it was good through their network of friends. Today Facebook and Twitter are the social grapevine, and 43% of consumers say that they would consider using a business that they encountered through social media. So, beyond websites, if you’re small, local business can optimize its marketing for social media as well as a great website, you may even be able to back off spending more expensive forms of marketing like billboards and radio spots, and bring in more customers at the same time.

Google Is the New Phonebook

In the 21^st century, your small business website is like the phone that is vital to your business, and Google is the new phonebook. If you are a small businesses owner who wants to grow your business, earn more money, expand, and become successful, you won’t be able to make it unless you have a website.

The Benefits of Social Media

Which Social Networks Benefit You the Most?

Brands, marketers, and small businesses are poised to spend more money on social media marketing this year than ever before. The simple fact is that social media marketing is big business, and your company can gain a lot from leveraging social networks to increase brand exposure, conversions and new customers. But not all businesses are the same, and not every brand requires the same outcome to be considered successful.

With that in mind, steer clear of self-proclaimed social media gurus who will give you cookie-cutter advice that you don’t need. The true effectiveness of a social media campaign begins by asking yourself, what am I trying to achieve with social media engagement and how will I measure success? Maybe you want to increase your SEO, maybe you want to increase brand awareness, or maybe you simply want to increase your customer engagement. Different social media networks and tools will be more or less effective in creating each of these outcomes. The trouble is finding the right tools to achieve the outcomes you desire. With so many networks and social tools, which one will be right for your brand?

Optimizing Your Social Media Campaign

CMO.com and 97^th Floor recently produced a great infographic (below) that serves as a great overview for a number of social networks and how they can affect your customer communication, brand exposure, and site traffic. This infographic lists a number of positive and negative attributes for the most popular social networking sites and tools, but how can we apply this information to specific businesses and their desired outcomes? Let’s take a closer look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Customer Communication: Most social networks are great for customer communication, especially the big ones—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr. That’s what these networks were built to do, so it is no wonder that they are the best avenues to pursue when attempting to create more brand interaction with your customers.
• Brand Exposure: The same goes for brand exposure. If you are trying to “get your name out there” and build some recognition, the big networks are the place to go. In addition, sites like Digg and StumbleUpon can help drive some massive traffic to your site and help spread your name around a bit, but they are unpredictable and you never know when or if they will hit your website.

• Site Traffic: The downside of most social media sites is that they don’t tend to drive a large portion of their views to your actual site. In some cases they can; for instance, if you post a link on Facebook or Twitter that leads to a blog within your, those types of links can drive traffic. But pictures, status updates, polls, and more won’t drive people to your site. (Although they will increase your brand engagement.) Particularly bad for driving traffic are Flickr, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. As well, you may see people refer to StumbleUpon or Digg as great traffic drivers. The truth is, they can drive massive amounts of traffic to one page of your site (generally a blog post), but the traffic will generally be short lived and won’t have a lasting effect on your site ranking.

• SEO: Late last year, Google and Bing announced that links shared on Facebook and Twitter are taken into account when determining page rank. In fact, a recent case study found that a link shared by a high-ranking Twitter user had a profound and lasting effect on site traffic and page rank. Another recent study confirmed that Twitter RTs and Facebook Likes could propel a brand new site to ranking status on Google within a week—given the right factors. In reality, backlinks are backlinks. And whenever you can get a backlink placed on a popular website, you’ll give yourself an SEO push. Particularly good sites: Flickr, YouTube, Tumblr, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

What Sites to Avoid

Overall, most social media sites offer some type of benefit to users whether it be SEO or simple brand exposure; however, LinkedIn and Reddit offer some of the least benefits to marketers and small business owners trying to leverage social media. If you’re looking to get the most out of your social media campaign, stick to the bigger names, and you’ll get better benefits across the board.

Social media marketing works so well because it allows you to target users in specific ways and creates ease of use for spreading information between interested parties. If you haven’t created a social media presence yet, start today and begin to reap the benefits social media has to offer your brand.