Local business men and women now have the tools and the opportunity to transform their businesses that generations of the past could only dream of, yet recent studies have shown that as few as 20% of business owners have implemented an effective local SEO strategy. This is an astonishingly low number considering the fact that almost 75% of those businesses who have implemented local SEO campaigns stated it has definitely improved their overall profits.

If you are a local business owner, you may have asked yourself questions such as how can I increase my sales and/or brand awareness? Or how can I rank my business website in Google so potential customers see it when searching for specific keywords? These are questions that local SEO can answer, so let’s run through the what, why, and how of local SEO.

What is Local SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization; it is the process of optimizing one’s website through a variety of methods for specific keywords with the end goal of ranking as high as possible in the search engines. This can be targeted towards specific countries or just generally worldwide and for any kind of website, whether it be a business site or personal blog. Local SEO zooms in specifically on the location of your business and the surrounding areas with the hope that when people search for a certain business type in a certain location your business is ranked number 1 in Google for that term, such as “Plumbers in London”, therefore resulting in more clicks through to your site and in turn more sales.

Why is it Important?

46% of all Google searches are local. This is a huge number and proves people are turning to the internet in droves, not just for general, far-reaching searches but for businesses and services much closer to home. The main reason people utilize local search is to find local businesses. It is highly targeted and the primary factor behind the massive conversion rates of those companies who utilize intelligent local SEO.

How to Transform Your Business with Local SEO

You can address this in 1 of 2 ways, either by consulting a specialist SEO agency or by doing it for yourself. An agency will work with you to implement an effective local SEO strategy aimed at boosting your conversion rates and increasing your sales, they set out to achieve this goal through a number of different methods such as competitor analysis and the testing of various on and off-page factors. Implementing your own local SEO campaign may seem daunting, but it is certainly a viable option. The obvious upside is the financial saving you can make and may be something to seriously consider should you be operating on a particularly tight budget. However, it may take you a very long time to see results (if at all) due to your lack of expertise. This is an important decision that only you as the owner of your business can make, SEO is not the future it is the present, anyone not doing it is already behind.

The post Local SEO & How It Can Transform Your Business appeared first on Integral Solutions | Small Business Marketing, Branding, & Web Design Services in Connecticut (CT).

Creating affordable websites is essential to your business success. At the same time, embrace the concept that content marketing needs to be the heart of your business. You are always talking to customers, readers, and even your competition regardless of the form your content takes. Some of the specific goals of your content marketing strategy to keep in mind as you plan your small business web design include:

• Meeting the marketing goals of your organization
• Acquiring new customers
• Retaining existing customers
• Building brand awareness

Benefits of Having a Strong Content Marketing Strategy

Building affordable websites is usually the primary goal of companies that are just starting to build an online presence. Unfortunately, few people will find your site unless you have a strategic plan for content marketing. Many people overlook this fact when developing small business websites. One reason for this is not understanding the benefits of setting aside time and money to get a content marketing program started. These are just some of the advantages to consider:

• Direct customer conversions: Product descriptions, blog posts, and other content that tells people exactly what they want to know leads to conversions. That is one of the most important things to plan for with small business web design.
• Increased collaboration: While you’re planning small business web design, every person has their job to do. Content marketing allows for greater teamwork between writers, designers, and other co-workers who may not collaborate all that often.

The goal of building affordable websites is getting as much high-converting traffic as possible. Great content gets people there, and high-quality products and services keep them there. Increased site traffic:

• Improved SEO: When you have great content, you automatically attract editorial links that inform Google of your company’s importance and authority. That starts the ball in motion for Google to crawl the content and form an accurate impression of what your business represents. The result is that your small business websites show up in the results of highly relevant queries.
• Indirect customer conversions: People who read content on your site or elsewhere on the Internet don’t always intend to buy your products or services. That may be just what they do, however, after learning more about what your business offers.
• Brand awareness: People talk when your company produces valuable content. Your commitment to substance any quality small business web design pays off when people share and engage with the content.
• Reputation as an industry leader: The more high-quality content you publish, the more likely people are to trust your organization and come to view it as an industry leader.

What is Flywheel Marketing?

Small business entrepreneurs often become impatient when trying to build affordable websites because they don’t see the above-mentioned benefits as soon as they would like. Content marketing fits in nicely with the concept of flywheel marketing. When you first start with this aspect of your small business web design, just turning the wheel takes a lot of effort. Eventually, the momentum you have built allows the wheel to turn on its own and provides you with greater results than you saw in the beginning.

It’s not uncommon for small business websites to enjoy initial success just by being new. Discouragement sets in when traffic levels die off, and this is the point when many online marketers quit. Don’t give up because it takes time for traction to build.

A Small Budget or Marketing Team Doesn’t Have to Hold You Back

When you’re new to the game and focusing all of your effort on building affordable websites, it can be overwhelming to think you need a full-time dedicated marketing team to create useful content. However, you can start by creating evergreen content, which is information that isn’t time-sensitive and doesn’t require frequent updating.

An initial lack of resources means that you must target your content as carefully as possible. That looks much more impressive to a prospective customer because it emphasizes quality over quantity. As your business grows, never be in such a rush to finish a project that you compromise on its functionality and appearance. It won’t take long for your reputation to suffer if you do that too many times. On the other hand, delighted customers will willingly tell all of their friends about the great service your company provided.

The post The Importance of Content Marketing When Designing Your Small Business Website appeared first on Integral Solutions | Small Business Marketing, Branding, & Web Design Services in Connecticut (CT).

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest or any of the growing list of social platforms, provide an ideal environment for businesses to increase their reach, build brand recognition, and connect with customers more effectively.

Here are a few of the benefits you can gain through social media marketing:

Increased Sales: It doesn’t matter whether your company is focused on selling a product or service. Social media marketing can play an important role in helping you to increase sales. Of course, the primary goal of using social media shouldn’t be making sales, but to connect with consumers and maintain healthy relationships. But this is what will ultimately make sales possible.

Cost Effective: Social media marketing can be a low-cost yet effective way for businesses to build their brand and get the word out about sales or special promotions. Even companies with a limited budget can take advantage of this type of marketing.

Creates Brand Ambassadors: Brand ambassadors are essentially a free form of advertising. By connecting with consumers in a positive way, you also create a positive brand impression. When users of social media like you, they let others know by liking, sharing and following. This, in turn, increases your brand awareness and your chances of increasing sales.

Builds Relationships with Customers: Having a presence within the social network community allows you to connect with customers on a more personal level. You can answer questions and handle complaints quickly and efficiently. There’s nothing worse than a disgruntled customer posting about a bad experience. Through proper communication, you can rectify the problem and avoid damage to your brand image. And you’ll probably also learn some valuable lessons on how to avoid similar problems in the future.

Provides Easy to Track Results: Facebook, Twitter, and some of the other social platforms integrate various tools to help you analyze your progress and the success of your social media marketing efforts. At a glance, you can recognize such things as:

• How many follows have joined within a certain period of time
• What types of content or promotions are most frequently “liked”
• Audience reach on any given post or promotion

For your business to succeed, it is important that you understand your target audience, know what they need, what they expect, and how willing they are to be faithful to your product or service. By tracking your efforts and analyzing the results, you can continually fine tune your content to improve those results.

Today it is almost impossible for any business to thrive without a social media presence. It’s a low-cost method of connecting with consumers, creating brand awareness and providing a friendly face that customers can relate to. In the end, when you make a positive connection, you also make more sales.

The post The Importance of Social Media Marketing for Your Business appeared first on Integral Solutions | Small Business Marketing, Branding, & Web Design Services in Connecticut (CT).