Business Owner's Fantasy

If Only This Were True

Yes, it would be great if your product or service was the only one showing up. Now the reality: No matter what your business, you have competitors who are also vying to be seen by potential customers. 


Millions of searches are done everyday for a product or service (Tweet This)
, and the local business owner needs to be in the right position and page to take advantage of these searches.

So what is a small to medium sized business owner to do?

 Here are a few tips you can do today to increase your page and search rankings.

1.  Google+ Places

Google has a free service for local business owners - search Google for your company name and check to see if you  have a Places Listing.  If you don't have one, create one. If your company is listed; make sure it is verified. (I am always amazed how many companies have not done this). The Places listing will allow you to update your company information, choose business categories, upload images, and videos. Just by doing these things Google gives you street "cred".  Also spy a little on your competitors, you can see right away it they have not claimed their listing, which will give your a leg up on them in the Page Ranking War.

2. Website Analysis - Search Engine Optimization

Having a properly optimized website for the search engines(Google,Yahoo, Bing), is one key strategy business owners often neglect. This is how the search engines decide how to rank you based on what they find when those little "robots" of theirs starting running in the dark of night to find new content.

The "robots' are looking for content, keywords, descriptions,images,page titles,meta tags, and your location.

3.  Online Business Directories and Citations

There literally hundreds of online business directories and citation sites where you business can be listed. Doing this increases your changes of the search engines picking up your company as a true business entity. Here are a few to check out for yourself.

manta.com

merchantcircle

local.com

yellowpages.com

citysquares.com

yelp.com

I hope this information will help you get started on moving your business forward. The internet is here to stay and if you are not on the highway involved in the traffic, know that your competitors are.

Promotion Time:

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Online Advertising for Business Owners

When Was The Last Time You Saw This:

This Yellowbook, delivered to my driveway is still in the bag. I don't remember when it showed up. I don't even know how it made it through the door. All I know is, I never open it to search for a product or service.

You and I both know we go the internet just as naturally as putting on our shoes.

Fact 1: Statistics show that only 7% of people use the Yellow Pages Regularly and 53% never even use it at all.

Fact 2:  78% of all Americans use the internet on a regular basis.

Fact 3:  Customers see your business upon searching for you directly with industry terms such as “Baltimore Dentists”.

There Are So Many Options Available

As a business owner the internet offers many ways to advertise, but how do you choose?

1.  If you have a website GOOD!

2.  If you are using social media you are doing well.

3.  If your business is listed on the big three( Google, Yahoo, and Bing) you are doing better.

Take a look at this video and then make a decision to move your business to the next level.

Local Business Consulting will help you take advantage of the internet with website analysis, keyword research and search engine optimization.