6 Best Ways to Promote a Local Business

Let's face it; it's getting a bit harder to rank high in the search engines as more and more businesses move the bulk of their marketing efforts to the online space. However; it still beats out all other forms of marketing by miles – especially if you have a local setup.

6 Best Ways to Promote a Local Business : eAskme Take, for instance, local movers in a small state like New Jersey. By making sure to include your location in your keywords, you increase your shot at appearing in local searches. Below, you'll learn a few other ways to increase the visibility that ultimately leads to more customers and more conversions. 1. Use Geo-Targeted Keywords Whatever your primary keywords are, make sure you add the name of your city somewhere in the string. This helps Google elevate your ranking for local searches – especially since the Hummingbird update to the search algorithm made local search more important than ever before. As always, long-tail keyword searches are better than short-tail; they're more targeted and means you spend less if you use AdWords or PPC. 2. Get Backlinks from Local Web Properties Although this can be seen as extension of the above, it deserves its own mention. Link-building will always be a facet of SEO; however, now you've got to be smart about it and not build them haphazardly. Reach out to your local paper – especially if you're in the local movers business and have unbeatable deals; they're usually willing to publish something that you're doing for the community. 3. Get Listings in Reputable Directories Gone are the days when spamming numerous directories used to work to elevate a site's position in search. Nowadays, it must be a good directory in order to transfer any link credit to your website. Check out Yahoo Local listings (there's a fee; you can decide if it's worth it or not), Google My Business, Bing Places and drop a link on your personal Google Plus page. 4. Content Marketing Will Always Work Why? Because content is king. Even if you write just a couple of blog posts per month, make sure these establish you as an expert in your subject. Opt for the easy-to-read list style format, and choose a relevant, eye-catching title. 5. Use YouTube You know all about what people fret over in your business, right? Then make a video that provides a solution. For example, how to move furniture to a new location in bad weather, or how to take the battery out of an expensive watch – provide a service, and put it on video. 6. Run Promotions or Contests You'd be surprised how many people turn out for a chance to get your services for free – even if they only moderately need them. More importantly, this creates a buzz, and ups your chances of being featured in local media – for free, sans the cost of the services you're providing. Of course, this will pay for itself many times over in terms of promotion.

Lastly – pay attention to your analytics. No matter what platforms you're using, whether it's Facebook, search engine marketing, pay per click advertising, or other social networks; you can tell where most of your traffic is coming from and respond accordingly.

If a particular post is getting the bulk of your views, and start right writing follow-ups to that post and adding relevant links that drive people to contacting you for your local service. It doesn't matter if you're a local mover, air conditioning repair person, our lawyer – all of these methods help your business maximize its potential.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Bio

Wendy Dessler Title: Super-Connector at OutreachMama

Wendy is a super-connector with OutreachMama and Youth Noise NJ who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition. You can contact her on Twitter.

Source: 6 Best Ways to Promote a Local Business