Many online business owners overlook local search marketing. This potentially risks losing share in their largest market. As with all search engine marketing, time, skill and patience is involved; however the rewards justify the commitments. Local search marketing involves the targeting of a specific geographical audience in a sites’ search marketing campaign.

To successfully market a website to a local audience, there are several critical steps every website owner must take:

1. Add Your Site to Local Search Map Directories:

This is a simple step that can achieve quick results. The most popular is Google Maps. Google Maps simply requires a website owner to fill out a form. Required information includes location, contact information and business hours. Google Maps can also incorporate videos and pictures. You will be required to have a Google account, but both are free anyway. Registering with Google Maps will increase your search engine rankings for local searchers utilizing Google Maps. Website owners should also register with Yahoo! Local and Bing Local. Search marketing is still required here, however, so don’t overlook the search marketing basics of keyword research and regularly enriching the site with quality content targeting your most relevant keywords. If one adds business information to these map directories then the local search marketing campaign has more substance attached to it, as, for example, Google Maps, will recognise the fact that the site is registered and will hence take the site into account for certain search terms, for example ‘search marketing Ulverston’.

2. Implement Local Search Geo Tags:

Geo tagging allows website owners to add geographical information in the form of metatags, which will help their local search marketing campaign. These tags can be attached to websites, videos, photographs, RSS feeds and more. Most commonly submitted in the form of coordinates, they assist spiders with locating your business on maps. When local searchers enter geocentric keywords, Google will know you are relevant and the searcher will see you. This is becoming more and more popular for optimising local search, as Google maps and other map directories use the same co-ordinates.

3. Google Webmaster Tools:

Google is well known for the many webmaster tools they offer, so it should come as no surprise they can assist you with local search marketing as well. In the settings portion, there is a section called “Geographic target.” Filling this information out will assist search engines with locating your business geographically. Geographic search marketing, in the future, will be a huge industry, as the majority of people will search for plumbers, builders etc using the search engines.

4. Local Search Directories:

Be sure to take the time to submit your website to any local web directories. This will improve your SERP rankings for local searches and indirectly for the short-tail phrase, minus the location optimised towards. As an added benefit, it will provide you with some backlinks, which will also improve your rankings. Directories like Business.com and Yahoo Local are also essential. The search engines are considering their stance for local search marketing campaigns, as the sheer quantity of competition in the future will be significantly increased.

After these steps are performed, website owners can take things up a notch by employing mainstream search marketing techniques to focus on the local market. Article marketing, keyword research and blogging can all be used to market your business locally. Utilize keywords that include your geographical information in your articles and blogs. Develop your keyword list not only for uniqueness and relevancy, but for geo targeting as well. This will typically mean a little more effort on your part, but can help improve your local rankings. For example, if local search marketing is utilised efficiently for their geographical market, then a company in Cambridge could optimise for ‘Cambridge’, ‘East Anglia’, Cambridgeshire’ and other relevant locations. These places can be placed with the relevant shot and long-tail phrases associated with the business.

Local search marketing is really just a just a subset of search marketing or SEO. Like any field of optimisation, it does take time. If you do not feel you have the skills or time to fully implement an SEO program for local searches, consider outsourcing to an Internet Marketing Company. Local Search is a great and essential piece of any successful Internet Marketing Strategy.

While social media is gaining increasing acceptance amongst small and medium-scale businesses, nearly a third of SMEs are concerned over its security concerns and claim to have experienced malware or virus infection as a result of staff using social media websites. This is one of the many findings reported by Panda’s “1^st Annual Social Media Risk Index for Small to Medium Sized Businesses” survey.

Panda Security is a well known name in the world of cloud computing and social media.

Social Media Risk Index for Small to Medium Sized Businesses

The goal of this survey was to unearth security concerns of small and medium sized businesses when it comes to adopting social media. The survey involved 315 U.S.-based companies which have a head count ranging between 15-1000 employees.

The survey confirms that social media is now the norm rather an exception amongst small and medium sized businesses. Nearly 69.3 percent companies use Facebook, 44.4 percent are Twitter users, 32 percent actively watch videos on YouTube and 22.9 percent use LinkedIn for professional networking.

The survey also reveals that more than half the SMBs have a “social media governance” policy in place to regulate access to social networks. Some other interesting findings of this survey include

• More than 77 percent of the businesses currently use social media tools
• Nearly half the businesses use social media for “research and competitive intelligence”. IMO, this statistic is truly a testimony to the value that social media adds to a business.
• Nearly half the businesses use social media for customer service.
• Around 43 percent businesses use social media for PR and marketing needs.
• Around 35 percent businesses use social media for sales and revenue creation

Social Media Governance

IMO, the survey brings up a very interesting point regarding social media governance. With social media, comes power. And power should be used responsibly. Therefore, I’m all for implementing social media governance to ensure that SMEs get the best business value out of social media.

Further, SMEs should proactively monitor their social media usage and assign these responsibilities to specific individuals/ groups within the organization. The survey also highlights a strong need to train employees on the benefits and risks associated with social media.

When it comes to using social media for businesses, “Ignorance isn’t bliss, it is a recipe for disaster.”

Privacy ranks amongst the top concerns of businesses, followed by malware threats, reputation damage, employee productivity loss and network performance issues. If a business wants to leverage social media, it is advisable to do the home work first and be knowledgeable about the risks involved, before jumping on to the social media bandwagon.

What’s your opinion on this? Is social media malware a challenge for your business? Do you have a social media governance policy in place? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment below this post.

One of my primary interests in the social media landscape is its application in a small business. Being a veteran online marketer and a social media loyalist, I know that social media offers a tremendous business opportunity to small businesses and SMEs which often operate on limited budgets.

I came across the recently published Small Business Success Index report, which confirms my strong belief that social media and small businesses are made for each other. The report which is jointly published by the University of Maryland and Network Solutions, clearly reflects that social media is all the rage in small businesses these days.

Social Media Risk & A Small Business– Made for each other!

It’s often said that “Perfect marriages are made in heaven”. The social media – small business marriage is an exception, it’s very much made on earth and the social media community and small businesses are responsible to make it work.

The SBSI report provides some interesting statistics.

• Nearly 61% of small business owners are using social media to identify and track new customers
• 75% have a company page on at least one social networking site
• 45% expect to see profits from social media this year
• 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
• 9% consider internet technology to be important to their business
• 26% use online advertising, more than other businesses (18%)
• 72% expect to make a profit from using social media

It’s heartening to see that small businesses are leveraging social media to its full potential. Their social media usage it not limited to advertising and marketing alone, rather it forms an indispensable component of their strategy for innovation and customer service.

So, how does a  small business indulge in social media?

The report indicates

• Websites remain no. 1 priority for a small business
• Small business exports decline while buying supplies from outside the U.S. increases
• Access to capital continues to be a roadblock for small business growth

Creative thinking, the determination to push the limits coupled with the benefits of social media is helping a small business boost their revenues. Unfortunate as it is, innovation often takes the back seat for small businesses which operate on tight budgets and stringent deadline pressures. Social media and innovation go hand in hand and since accessing social media tools doesn’t cost a fortune, it doesn’t deteriorate the overall financial health of a small business.

IMO, the lack of innovation is more often than not a major reason why many small businesses fail to survive, especially when the economic scenario isn’t business-friendly.

One of the key findings of the SBSI survey is that successful adopters of social media have not only managed to weather the economic storms, they have grown their business footprint exponentially. Business is changing and social media’s dynamic nature makes it a perfect ally for changing small business needs.

How does your small business use social media? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment below this post.