Tech companies that primarily market to global or national audiences may be able to tap in to new traffic sources right in their own digital backyard. Local search was one of the top online marketing trends in 2010 and this year it’s even hotter. Here are a few reasons why it pays to get into the local search scene:

Free links. Most local business listings are free, easy to customize (hello, keywords!), and include a link from a popular domain with search authority. Links to your website from reputable sources also help your site rank higher for non-local searches. Google Places, Bing local business listings, Yelp, and City Search are good places to start developing online local listings.

More SERP real estate. In Google, most search queries now return global results mixed with local results. Focusing on building local business listings increases the likelihood that your company’s website will show up in the search results for both local and non-local searches. After investing in local SEO, one Google search could potentially display results for multiple pages on your website, your company’s Google Places page, and several of your local business listings. Throw in a targeted PPC campaign and there is a good chance that your company will dominate the results for your most important keywords.

Reviews and Deals, they’re not just for brick and mortars. Several local directory sites, such as Google Places and Yelp, allow companies to promote deals and special offers at no charge. Deals and coupons can easily be added to a business profile to promote free trials and demos, product and service discounts, training and webinars, and more. In addition, most local business listings also allow customers to leave reviews about your business. Online reviews are now just as important to global and product-centric companies as they are to local storefronts. With the launch of Google Hotpot, Google is placing an even heavier emphasis on online reviews, yet again blurring the lines between local search and social media. Think of reviews as a way to boost your company’s online reputation and showcase its stellar customer service.

In this mobile world, you never know where your customers will be when they search for you online. So don’t just think global or local. Go glocal!

I want to pass the feeling that I get from this song on to you and your business. The last year and half has been tough for most businesses. Many have gone into their shells like turtles, hiding out until it’s safe to show their faces.

Well, I gotta feeling that things are looking up for the economy and business overall. I see businesses every day that are pumped up and ready to get out there and go after it. They’re taking a hard look at their market positioning and determining if there are ways they can make themselves more relevant in today’s world. They’re getting real about their web presences and realizing that they need to do what it takes to have a stronger site that is search engine friendly. They may not get what search engine marketing is all about but they know they can’t bury their heads in the sand about it anymore because their competitors are showing up and they are not.

Yeah, I realize that our economy is complicated and one thing impacts another and so on. But Americans are resilient people and we get bored sitting around waiting for the sky to fall so we start coming up with new ideas and ultimately roll up our sleeves and get busy. This is what I am seeing every day with companies all over the country. They’re gearing up to kick some serious booty.

What’s it going to take for you to “get the feeling” that things are going to be good for your business? I say do whatever it takes to wake this feeling up because chances are, your competition is already feeling it.

Dear Marketing Coach,

I’m considering search engine optimization for my website, but I’m not sure if it’s something that is really worth spending money on. Can you tell me what kind of results should I expect and how long it will take before I see the effects of SEO?

When it comes to search engine optimization, exact results can vary greatly, which is why so many business owners have a hard time justifying the cost of SEO services amidst budget cuts and company lay offs. However, if your website hasn’t already been optimized then you should expect to see an improvement in the quality of traffic you receive (which can be measured by an increase in qualified leads or sales), an increase in traffic from search engines, or if you hired a skilled SEO professional you will hopefully get both. Although exact results may vary, SEO campaigns can be measured for success using an analytics tool so it is pretty easy to determine the return on your investment, which we all know is what matters most.

Keep in mind that there are a few things you can do to contribute to the success of your SEO efforts. First off, SEO should be seen as a long-term investment in your business and not as something you do once and then you don’t have to worry about it again. Even if your budget doesn’t support a full-blown SEO campaign, it is a good idea to come up with a 6-12 month SEO plan in order to achieve your goals. With SEO, best results are obtained by first optimizing your website and then focusing on off-page optimization, such as link building, and content creation, which should be done on an ongoing basis as part of your marketing efforts. It is also important that you set proper expectations because SEO results don’t happen overnight. Depending on the competition surrounding your target keywords, and how well your site was doing in the search engines before you started your SEO campaign, it can take more than 6 months before you see a significant increase in search engine rankings. But don’t despair, you should start to see some initial results within a month. But if you are really eager to get a boost in traffic, consider launching a pay-per-click campaign while you are waiting for your SEO efforts to kick in gear.

Do you have a question for the Marketing Coach? Go ahead, just ask! Email thecoach@pomagency.com or leave a comment to have all of your marketing questions answered.

How is a website optimized to make it “search engine-friendly”?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines. This process focuses on 3 main areas of optimization: On-Page, Site-Wide, and Off-Page. When a website is optimized to make it more “search engine-friendly”, the focus is strictly on the On-Page and Site-Wide optimization, meaning the SEO enhancements are made to the actual website. Other external factors also influence search engine traffic and rankings, which is when Off-Page optimization comes into play.

On-Page and Site-Wide optimization techniques ensure that your website is fully accessible to search engine robots so your web pages can be rapidly indexed and appropriately ranked. On-Page optimization concentrates on improving the “search engine-friendliness” of a specific web page whereas Site-Wide optimization addresses the more technical issues that affect the entire website. On-Page optimization includes writing keyword-rich page titles and meta tags for every web page, adding keywords to the content on the site, and weaving hyperlinks throughout the content to link to other internal web pages. Site-Wide optimization identifies and resolves issues with site maps, 404 error pages, page URLs, directory structure and file naming systems.

If your website doesn’t use proper On-Page or Site-Wide optimization tactics, then search engines probably won’t be able to find all of the content on your website. This can result in your site missing out on opportunities to show up in search engine results, which limits your site’s exposure to potential customers on the web.

Do you have a question for the Marketing Coach? Go ahead, just ask! Email thecoach@pomagency.com or leave a comment to have all of your marketing questions answered.

I know my company’s website needs some help, but I’m not sure what to do first. Our budget is tight right now so can you tell me a couple of things I can do to get started and what will give me the most bang for my buck?

When revamping a website, there are two areas of improvement that I like to focus on— traffic and conversions. A conversion is the desired action you want your website visitors to complete, such as filling out a contact form or an online purchase transaction. Typically, increasing volume while improving the quality of traffic and conversions will get you the most bang for your buck. But there are many tactics to achieve this goal so it’s no surprise that you’re left wondering where to start. To determine which tactics you should focus on first, take a step back and look at your website through the eyes of a potential customer. Now what do you see? Overall, is the site visually appealing? Can you tell right away what the purpose is of the website and what action to take if you are interested in the product or service offered? Is the site easy to navigate? Are there multiple conversion points that make it easy for you to contact the company or complete a transaction?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions then you’ve got yourself a lazy website! Whip it into shape with a fresh new conversion-focused design and save room in your budget for search engine optimization (SEO), which will improve the quality of the traffic you receive and boost your search engine rankings— you’ll start getting more website visitors and those visitors will convert to sales.

However, if you answered “Yes” to most of these questions then you are ready to focus on search engine marketing via a SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC), or Social Marketing campaign. SEO, PPC, and Social Marketing are all proven strategies for increasing website traffic and conversions. Which tactic you choose depends on your budget, goals, and target audience.

If you had a hard time answering the above questions, then contact Pomerantz for a free Website Evaluation and let us tell you what we think!

Do you have a question for the Marketing Coach? Go ahead, just ask! Email thecoach@pomagency.com or leave a comment to have all of your marketing questions answered.