There are almost 28 million small businesses in the United States.
But most of them have a major problem: They don’t know how to use the internet to target potential local customers.
Small businesses — like yours — don't have fancy marketing departments or big-budget agencies to help drive traffic to their website and through their door.
How, then, do some small businesses make money with digital marketing?
It’s not as tough as it sounds.
Here are four steps for small business owners to start making money online with digital marketing.
4. Update Your Information
85% of people use search engines, like Google and Bing, to find information about local businesses. Is your information updated?
When people are searching for your small business online, there’s a good chance they’re looking for your:
Hours of operation
Address
Phone number
If your small business’ basic information is out of date on your website or social media profile, it’s not just a problem for your customers — it’s a problem for you.
They’re not going to waste their time trying to contact you.
Instead, they’ll do business with your competitor who has an updated website and social media profiles.
Stings, doesn’t it?
Here’s what you need to do today:
Update your contact information on your website and social media accounts.
Register your business with Google Places. (It's free.)
Add a map to your website.
Make your phone number clickable on your mobile site.
3. Write a Blog
Blogs aren't just public journals.
They’re covert opportunities to advertise your product or services.
Here’s the idea: Offer helpful information and build relationships with potential customers.
Remember, a small business’s blog must offer something of value.
If your small business doesn’t have a blog, it’s time to start one.
Even if you don’t think you’re a good writer, posting something regularly is better than having nothing.
Can't think of something to write about? Here are some prompts to get you started:
How has your business contributed to the community?
Are any of your products or services difficult for laypeople to understand? Break them down.
Explain how to do something simple that relates to your business. If you're a plumber, you might outline some simple ways to unclog a drain — it might cost you a simple repair, but you'll build relationships with people in your community.
Answer questions that your current customers frequently ask.
Hold a contest for your customers.
Talk about the future of your company. What are your long-term plans?
Take customers behind the scenes are your office. What's a normal day at your office like?
A small business’s blog must offer something.
The best local blog posts cover things that happen in your community.
It's a way of humanizing your company and showing potential customers that you're taking an active role in the community and helping people.
Make your blog post as reader-friendly as possible by:
Writing short paragraphs and use everyday, familiar language;
Using real photography — not stock images;
Coming up with clear captions for your photos and
Breaking up your content with bullets, subheadings and other visual demarcations.
Remember, your blog posts are only helpful if customers can find them, so share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and link to it in your email blasts to customers.
2. Make Your Website Easy for Google to Index
When people use search engines, they're looking for answers to their questions.
That's especially true for people searching on mobile.
To go back to my earlier plumbing example, people may use a search engine for queries like this:
"plumbers in [city / town]"
"plumbers [city / town]"
"plumbers near me"
"plumbing companies"
"plumbing companies in [city / town]"
"clogged toilet / sink / drain"
If I owned a small plumbing company, I would try to make my website reflect the answers to these frequent searches.
Figure out what your potential customers might be looking for online.
Write copy for your website that answers their questions. Include the name of your town, the name of your business, what services you offer and any other information that might be pertinent to your location.
1. Build a Responsive Website and Make It Mobile-First
Creating a mobile-friendly experience is absolutely essential.
When customers are looking for local stores, it's happening on their mobile phones.
Too many small business websites (and even websites for much larger companies, honestly) are not optimized for mobile screens.
Menus are collapsed.
Paragraphs are too long.
Phone numbers and addresses aren't clickable.
Critical information is missing.
When creating content for your website, keep the mobile user in mind. Write content that scales well on mobile.
Use short sentences and paragraphs and find visual ways to break up your copy; you can use quotations, headings, bulleted lists and more to help break up the copy.
This list isn't meant to be an exhaustive guide to creating a local content strategy, but for small business owners interested in DIY digital marketing, these tips are a good start.
Want to find out more about how you can attract more local customers to your small business? Fill out the form below.