If a consumer has taken to the internet to search for information, they will more than likely be searching for local information. This includes independent businesses, locally sourced goods, and nearby marketplaces. If you have failed to establish an online presence for your digital-savvy brand, however, you will be unable to attract local customers and local customers will remain largely unaware of your business and the various goods and services that you provide. To ensure you are capitalising on the wide-reaching benefits of local search marketing to allow local customers to come to you first, continue reading to find out everything you need to know.
Provide a first-class user experience
If you tend to rely on the sheer power of digital marketing to attract customers to your brand, you may have struggled to achieve the desired results in the past. It may, however, surprise you to know that search engines can determine whether customers enjoy spending time on your website by monitoring its bounce rate on an ongoing basis. This is, in the very simplest of terms, a form of website traffic analysis that determines the percentage of visitors that enter your website and leave as opposed to continuing to navigate additional pages within your website. It can lead to search engines believing that your online content is misleading or irrelevant and, as a result, intentionally hide your content from your intended target audience. To attract local customers with local search marketing, you must provide a first-class user experience.
Remain compliant
In today’s over-crowded online marketplace, you must remember to remain compliant when using local search marketing to attract local customers. By failing to do so, however, you may be punished for failing to follow a number of rules and regulations and perhaps even penalised with the future of your website, and entire brand, at risk. It may be easier said than done but by ensuring your website is relevant to your copy, title, URL, and target keywords, you can be confident that you are remaining compliant. If you have only recently established an online presence for your brand, it may benefit you to familiarise yourself with search engine results pages, or SERPS, to ensure you are fully aware of what you can and cannot do during the local search marketing process.
Maintain your website
It may sound like an irrelevant point but by maintaining your website on a regular basis, you can ensure your brand is visible to your intended target audience. If a search engine believes your website has been infected with malware or spyware, for example, you may struggle to continue displaying your local search marketing advertisements to the right people at the right time and, as a result, start to notice a rapid decline in website traffic. This is important regardless of whether or not you are running paid advertisements with online safety and security a fundamental concern for brands, consumers, and search engines in today’s increasingly digital landscape where external threats appear to be lurking behind every corner.
Build and manage a solid reputation
If you have ever taken your search for a local business online, you probably took notice of online reviews and testimonials before making an informed decision. It can have a significant impact on your reputation within your local community and can be a determining factor for a growing number of consumers. It can also allow you to attract and retain local customers that will not only return time and time again but perhaps also recommend you to a friend or family member. It can be difficult to completely avoid negative reviews but by reacting to disgruntled customers appropriately, you can restore their faith in your business and may even encourage fellow consumers to give you a chance. This is also important regardless of whether or not you are running paid advertisements with consumers more likely to opt for the company with the highest customer satisfaction rating as opposed to the company that has paid to sit pretty at the top of the search engine results page.
If you are looking to use local search marketing to attract local customers, you must familiarise yourself with a number of helpful tips and tricks beforehand. This can ensure local customers come to you first and prevent you from slipping between the cracks with countless competitors to choose from in today’s crowded online marketplace. To do so, provide a first-class user experience with the sheer power of digital marketing alone no longer enough, remain compliant by adhering to a number of rules and regulations, maintain your website to ensure your brand is visible to your intended target audience, and build and manage a solid reputation with online reviews and testimonials crucial to your success as a digital brand. For more advice on how to optimise local search to attract local customers, contact us today.
