How to Increase Business Revenue With Local Internet Advertising

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As a business, you may be tempted to spread your marketing efforts as far and wide as possible, to catch as many potential customers as you can.

Unfortunately, while a global approach to your marketing strategies might seem like a good idea to begin with, the truth is that it can limit your chances of success, and that is where local internet advertising comes into play.

This article contains information on local internet advertising that can help you increase your business revenue if you are ready to put in the work.

What is Local Internet Advertising?
What Are Some Benefits of Local Internet Advertising to Your Business?
Effective Local Internet Advertising Ideas to Increase Business Revenue
What is Local SEO?
What are the main local SEO services?
10 Reasons Why Local SEO Services Can Attract New Customers And Increase Revenue
5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Local Business For Increased Revenue

What is Local Internet Advertising?

Online local advertising can provide tremendous benefits for small businesses looking to advertise online. Optimizing your web site for online local advertising is a great way to get the attention of new potential customers and drive quality traffic to your business’ site.

Unlike some other forms of internet marketing services, it doesn’t matter if you’re behind the game. You can quickly surpass competitors with the right content and pricing strategy.

When people search for your products or services, you can ensure that your business will be front and center through PPC search ads. And you can stay connected with them on social media through social advertising.

Just how effective can online advertising be?

97% of consumers use online media to research goods and services in their local area.
88% of consumers who search for a local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.
45% of searchers can’t tell the difference between a paid ad and an organic search result.
PPC accounts for 65% of clicks when the searcher intends to make a purchase or hire a service

What Are Some Benefits of Local Internet Advertising to Your Business?

Localized advertising allows companies to jump into the competitive online market at a pace that is more realistic.

Rather than instantly trying to compete with the top sellers in your industry, you focus on a smaller audience, pinpoint the best solutions for selling, and ensure that you have everything you need to become a familiar name for the people in a specific geographical area.

Localized ad buys can give you the strength that you need to grow your business on a smaller budget, so that when the time comes to expand to global advertising, you have the brand authority you need to make a real impact.

1. Target Specific Demographics

Local internet advertising allow you to specifically target certain demographics within local areas. This means that if you don’t have a huge online reputation, you can start getting the word out about your products and services to people who are nearby.

The fact that you are local can be a huge selling point to customers who are just getting to know your company for the first time. After all, if you’re nearby, they know that they can contact you directly if they have any problems, and even visit a brick-and-mortar store if necessary.

Localized ad buying is a great way to initiate a relationship with the customers that live close to your business, and are more likely to support your growth.

2. Build Your Reputation

Local online advertising is also a fantastic way to build your reputation online. If you’re starting off as a small business, you’ll quickly learn that word of mouth is incredibly valuable, and if you begin by establishing excellent customer service and fantastic products or solutions for the people in your local area, then you’ll have a great foundation on which to build your overall online reputation.

Location based advertising is essential for building a good reputation for your company, because it allows you to interact directly with your largest customer base.

That said, it’s important to make sure that your localized ad buying has the right impression on your audience too. Remember, use high-quality graphics, great content, and provide plenty of information about your business wherever necessary.

3. Stick To A Smaller Budget

Local internet advertising is often far less expensive than purchasing huge advertising campaigns that are international, or even global in scope.

Your aim is only to reach out to a certain number of people, and that means that you’ll have a lot more flexibility to deal with in terms of ad budget.

A lot of local ad purchases are very affordable for small businesses, and can be perfect for companies who are struggling to find enough money to make an impact online.

With local online advertising, you should also get a higher return on your investment, because you will have specifically targeted certain demographics to maximize your sales. With the right exposure to a specific group, your chances of selling will be greatly increased.

4. Guarantee Your Exposure To Relevant People

Finally, one of the most positive factors of local online advertising is the fact that it guarantees that you’re getting your marketing efforts out to the right people.

Since local people are far more likely to support your business and help it grow, you instantly access a more engaged group of people in your geographical area.

At the same time, you can adjust your advertising efforts to appeal to a specific demographic too – so that you have the best possibly chance of reaching customers most likely to buy from you.

Effective Local Internet Advertising Ideas to Increase Business Revenue

Online local advertising is an excellent way for you to reach more local leads looking for a company like yours. If you haven’t invested in advertising your company online, you’re missing a unique opportunity to grow your business.

Below are some effective tips to help you succeed in your local internet marketing and increase your business revenue.

1. Run ads on social media

A great paid advertising option is social media. Social ads enable you to reach interested leads on social media platforms. It’s an excellent channel to reach people where they’re already active.

Many of your local customers spend their time on social media. The average user spends 28% of their Internet time on social media. You have an excellent opportunity to reach people with social media advertising.

To start running social media ads, select your platform.

You can choose from any number of platforms, including:

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

You’ll want to choose platforms that your audience frequents the most. You can determine which platforms they’re likely to be on by looking at the demographics for each platform.

Once you select your network, decide on the type of ad you want to run. Your ad type depends on the platform. Some social sites offer more formats, like video and images, while others stick to specific ones.

For example, if you wanted to run an ad on Facebook, you’d have multiple ad options, like video ads to carousel ads.

You’ll choose the ad format that works best for your campaign. Once you have your setup, you’ll decide on your targeting parameters. Social media lets you set precise targeting settings to reach people with the most interest in your business.

You can target people by:

Demographics
Location
Buying habits
Browsing behavior
And more

Social media ads are great for reaching more leads. As a local organization, you can create social media ads that only reach local customers.

It’s a great way to help you reach the right people.

2. Claim your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is the most critical tool for local business owners. If you haven’t claimed your Google My Business listing yet, you’re missing a prime opportunity to advertise your local business.

First, start by claiming your local listing. Once you get your listing, you’ll fill out the information on it.

Add or verify that your name, address, hours of operation, and phone number are correct. This information should be consistent across all platforms.

If your business goes by a nickname, like “Joe’s” instead of “Joe’s Steaks and Subs,” use your company’s full name on all its listings.

Once you verify your information, add a blurb about your business.

This blurb provides your audience with more information about your business. In this example, the description tells people that this pizzeria serves pizzas, subs, burgers, and pasta. It’s quick, but it provides your audience with valuable information.

Add photos to your listing too. Photos provide your audience with valuable insight into your company. They can see pictures of your products, team, and business, which can get them excited about visiting your location.

By filling out your listing completely, you’ll increase your chances of appearing in the local SEO 3-pack. This box appears in local search results. It’s a box with three Google My Business listings from the area.

When users conduct local searches, they often turn to the local SEO 3-pack to find their answer. If you optimize your listing, you have a better chance of appearing in the local 3-pack and driving more local leads for your business.

3. Use pay-per-click (PPC) ads to reach interested leads

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the best online local advertising ideas. These paid ads appear at the top of search results above organic listings. PPC ads are a great advertising option for local businesses looking to attract more leads and revenue.

Let’s take a look at how to get started with running PPC ads.

Select keywords

To get started with PPC ads, you must select keywords for your ad. Your keywords trigger your ad to appear in search results. If you want to get your ad in front of relevant leads looking for your company, you must select the right keywords to help them find your business.

If you want to find relevant keywords for your ad, start by conducting keyword research. Keyword research will help guide you towards choosing useful keywords for your ads.

As you conduct keyword research, you’ll want to focus primarily on long-tail keywords. These keywords contain three or more words. An example of a long-tail keyword is “flower shops near Harrisburg, PA.”

Long-tail keywords are better for PPC ads because they drive more relevant leads and keep your cost-per-click (CPC) low. With short-tail keywords, your CPC often becomes higher because more companies are bidding on the keyword, resulting in more competition.

If you choose long-tail keywords, you’ll drive better results with your PPC ad.

Bid for ad placement

Once you have your keywords selected, you’ll bid for your ad’s placement. You’ll set your maximum bid, which is the amount you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. The bid amount is flexible and can be changed as needed.

To help you get an idea for your maximum bid, use a keyword research tool. Keyword research tools show you the average CPC for a keyword. This information will help you gain a starting point for your bid amount.

Your “quality score and bid amount determine your ad’s placement. Quality score focuses on factors like ad relevancy and click-through rate. It’s best to have a high quality score and low bid amount, rather than a high bid amount and low quality score.

Launch your ad

Once you have your ad placement, you’ll launch your campaign. You determine how long you want to run your campaign and when you want it to run. PPC gives your local business complete control over your ad and allows you to run the best ad campaign for your company.

4. Run retargeted ads to get leads back

Retargeted ads are a valuable tool for helping you get leads back to your business. Many people will visit your website and not convert right away. They may need more time to think or get distracted.

When these leads leave your page, you may feel like they’re lost.

The truth is that you can bring them back by running retargeted ads.

Retargeted ads are an excellent way for you to drive leads back to your business. To use retargeted ads, you’ll want to put a pixel tracker on your site. This pixel tracks necessary information about your audience and the pages they visit.

You also have the option to use cookies for your retargeted ads. Cookies are small files stored on a user’s computer that hold data about the browser. The website owner can access this information and use it for remarketing.

When the user leaves your site, they will later see a retargeted ad from your business as they browse the Internet. The ad gets them to think about your company again and consider buying your product.

Remarketing is a great local business advertising strategy for helping you drive leads back to your company. It’s a great way to keep your organization at the forefront of their minds and get them to buy your products or use your services

5. Run Google Local Services ads

Google Local Services ads work well for companies that offer specific services. If your business only offers products, you’ll want to skip ahead to the next online advertising strategy on this list.

Companies that can run Google Local Services ads include:

Plumbers
Electricians
Movers
House Cleaners
Locksmiths
Real Estate Agents
And more

When you sign up for Local Services by Google, you’ll see if your business qualifies. If you do, you’ll continue through the sign-up process. At this point, you’ll provide Google with your location and the services you offer.

After that, you’ll set your budget for your ad. You’ll determine how much you want to spend on obtaining customers each week. This budget amount is flexible and can be changed as needed.

Remember, you only pay when someone contacts your business, not when they click on your ad!

Once you have your campaign created, you’ll launch your ad. You’ll have complete control over your ad campaign. Starting and stopping your ad as needed prevents your business from getting overbooked.

To make the most of Google Local Services ads, you’ll want to get the Google Guarantee badge. The Google Guarantee is a symbol of trust that gets more people to choose your business over the competition.

When you apply for the Google Guarantee program, you’ll need to supply your:

License information
Insurance
Employee background checks

As long as your paperwork is in order, you’ll get the Google Guarantee badge. This badge will make users more likely to choose your business because Google backs you.

6. Participate in threads

Another online local advertising strategy is to participate in threads. Popular threads, like Quora and Reddit, are great places to advertise your business. The way you promote your company, however, will need to be low-key.

People don’t want to see blatant advertisements for your business in community threads. If you place an ad into a thread, you’re likely to be met with an adverse reaction. It can end up hurting your business and people’s perception of it.

Instead, you’ll want to advertise in a low-key manner. If someone asks a question about an industry-related topic, you can answer that question.

Let’s say you’re a florist, and someone posts a thread asking for ideas on low-cost wedding flowers that look expensive. If you have a piece of content on your page covering the topic, you can answer the question and attach your article for reference.

7. Create an email marketing strategy

Email marketing is a great strategy to help you advertise your business to your audience. You can send your audience tailored advertisements to get them to convert.

To get started with email marketing, you need a list of subscribers. You can obtain subscribers through your website, social media, or in-store.

While you can buy lists of subscribers, you shouldn’t. There may only be a small number of people interested in your business from these lists. In most cases, your emails will end up in spam folders, and you will waste money.

For the best results, obtain subscribers organically.

Once you have your list of subscribers, start sending them tailored content.

With email marketing, you can send advertisements about your products, services, and business. You’ll want to segment your audience to ensure that you’re providing subscribers with an experience that interests them most.

You can use emails to send coupons, exclusive deals, and product promotions.

It’s an excellent opportunity for you to advertise your business to subscribers.

When you send promotional content, balance it with informational content. If you send too many promotions, you risk losing subscribers. A balance between promotional and informational content keeps subscribers happy.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO (Local Search Engine Optimization), sometimes referred to as local search marketing, is an incredibly effective way to market your local business online, as it helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they’re looking for them online.

This is achieved through a variety of methods, some of which differ greatly from what’s practiced in standard SEO, and some of which are far easier to manage using local SEO tools and can require specific local SEO or local search marketing services.

What are the main local SEO services?

Website ‘localization’

‘Localizing’ your website means including your city, county or region name naturally throughout your site. For businesses with several locations, this could involve creating separate pages or Content Hubs for individual locations.

Other tactics include getting involved with local community events and featuring articles and information about them on the site.

Citation Building

Ensure your site features on citation sites and online business directories. Not only will this help customers find your business, but featuring your company’s name, address, phone number and website URL (NAPW) on citation sites and adding extra information to business directories will help improve your search rankings.

Claiming your Google My Business listing

Claiming your Google My Business page is a key step towards helping your business display on important Google services, such as local search results and Google Maps. GMB (and its Microsoft equivalent, Bing Places for Business) should always be the first online directory you take ownership of.

Managing reviews and ratings

Genuine, honest reviews are critical both for showcasing the quality of your service and for sending signals to search engines that your site and service are trusted and useful.

The amount of reviews you receive, the overall quality of the reviews and the authority of the review sites themselves are all important factors for local search rankings.

Getting quality, relevant backlinks

Naturally obtained backlinks from well-regarded websites help search engines recognize your site as a trusted source of information and boosts the ‘prominence’ aspect of the local search algorithm.

Links from local newspapers, bloggers and business associations, as well as citations, can all help improve your search visibility.

10 Reasons Why Local SEO Services Can Attract New Customers And Increase Revenue

1. Local search marketing is highly targeted and timely

The top reason people perform local searches is to find a local business. The second most common reason is to find a product or service.

Many local searchers are looking for a specific business’ name, but many who search don’t have a specific business in mind when they begin their hunt.

By using learning how to do local SEO marketing you can better position your business and promote what you have to offer to local customers when they’re looking for your type of business. There’s no better time to connect with a potential customer than when they really need you.

2. Local search has the highest conversion levels of all local advertising channels

If you want a quick reason why local SEO is important, this is it. Online directories (like Yelp, Citysearch, Foursquare, etc.) display a business’ name, address, phone number and sometimes additional information (like a menu or business description).

Local directories dominate the first page of many local search results. Local directory marketing (just one of many local SEO strategies) has a higher conversion rate than other more traditional advertising options – up to 50% conversion on some directories.

That means that by getting your business accurately listed on as many quality online directory sites as you can, you’ll convert 1 in 2 leads into an actual customer.

3. Mobile Internet is Growing

More and more customers use mobile phones or tablets to find the best local businesses while they’re on the go. In fact, mobile digital media time in the US is now higher at 51% compared to desktop use at 42%.

Local SEO covers both PC and mobile internet access, meaning you never miss out on a potential customer.

4. Local SEO results in a great return on investment

Unlike traditional advertising (e.g. local newspapers, leaflets, direct mail, etc.), with local SEO there is little wasted exposure. You reach potential customers when they need you — not when they don’t. This makes local business SEO both efficient and cost-effective.

5. Only 44% of businesses have claimed their Google My Business listing

Google My Business is a free listing that Google makes available for almost any business. Getting listed on Google My Business can help increase your chances of showing up high in local search results on Google.

Additionally, many local businesses still haven’t figured out the importance of online marketing yet. That leaves the door open for you to get a head-start before your competitors wise up and it gets more competitive. Strike while the iron’s hot!

6. Local customers are turning to the internet to find local businesses

The age of the printed phone book is over (literally: the last ever printed Yellow Pages in the UK was circulated around the corner from BrightLocal in January 2019), as more and more people are turning to the internet to find information about local businesses.

Here are some statistics:

96% of PC owners conduct local searches
46% of all Google searches are local
64% of local customers use search engines and directories as their main way to find local businesses
50% of local mobile searchers look for business information (like a company’s address or phone number)
A whopping 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase

7. Many of the best local SEO opportunities are FREE

It’s free to claim your listing on Google My Business, Bing Places for Business and on hundreds of other online business directories. That means free promotion for your business!

8. Only 20% of adults get news from print newspapers

Traditional advertising media is declining. In fact, fewer and fewer people are reading local newspapers. Recent figures show some local newspapers have lost 80% of their readership in the last 20 years. Why?

Because more and more people are turning to the internet for their local news and information about local businesses.

9. Positive reviews make 91% of consumers more likely to use a business

A strong review profile is a major factor in the success of many local businesses. So increase your company’s online reputation, ask trusted customers to leave a positive review about your business online — and attract hundreds of new customers.

10. Local customers rely on the internet to find information about your business

These days, people depend on the internet to find information about all types of products and services, whether they’re using traditional search or, as is more and more the case, voice search to find local businesses.

If your business isn’t found on local search results, you’ll miss out on new customers. Implementing a variety of Local SEO strategies for your business can help you show up on the internet map for future customers to see!

5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Local Business For Increased Revenue

To survive, local businesses need to learn how to adapt to the modern way of marketing. If you are seeing a plateau or decline in sales, it’s time for you to mix up your marketing strategy.

Even if your small business is profitable right now, you need to stay ahead of your competition to remain successful in the future. Here are some easy ways to do this.

1. Increase your social media presence

We briefly discussed social media earlier when we talked about running contests to promote your local business.

You need to establish an active presence on as many social media platforms as possible.

Sure, you might be on Facebook. But that’s not enough. Last year, more than half of small businesses increased their social media investment for platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you have a local B2B company, you also need to prioritize networks such as LinkedIn. Just 43% of small businesses share content and engage with their followers on a daily basis. That number should be much higher.

You’re already putting in long days, and you just don’t have enough time to focus on your social media strategy.

2. Give back to the community

Being part of a local community also means you need to give back.

If you’re charitable, don’t be shy about your involvement. Consumers want to hear about how your local business supports charitable causes.

Research shows 91% of customers say they are willing to switch brands if it means supporting one associated with a charitable cause.

And 85% of consumers will have a more positive image of your local business if you support a charity they care about.

You can even ask your community and customers which charities you should support. Studies show 39% of people want to help decide on the charities a business supports by a voting system.

It’s a safe bet to associate with local charities.

This will definitely help you and your business become closer to your community.

You can approach this in many ways.

For starters, you can make an annual contribution to a charity. You can also run special promotions with a certain percentage of sales on a particular day or week goes to a cause.

Giving back to your community doesn’t always mean donating to a charity.

For example, let’s say you own a local restaurant. You can provide food for a public high school graduation event. These types of parties run by the school are intended to keep students safe and sober on the night of their graduation.

3. Join a local group

Local businesses need to remain active in their communities. Joining a local group is a great way to stay connected with residents and other business owners.

We suggest joining your local Chamber of Commerce. There will be a small annual fee, but it’s worth it.

Attending these meetings and events will expose your brand to other businesses.

Will your competitors be part of these groups? It’s possible. But that’s even more of a reason for you to be there.

Let’s say you own a local t-shirt company.

Another local business may be hosting an event in town and need custom shirts made. Rather than ordering the shirts online, they’ll be more inclined to use your services if you both belong to the same local group.

That’s the whole idea behind joining. The businesses look out for one another and always try to support local brands.

4. Start blogging

As you’ve seen from this article, consumers use the Internet to find local businesses.

That means you need to understand the basic principles of SEO if you want to increase your chances of getting ranked as a top result.

Roughly 47% of clicks go to the top three positions of Google search results. Blogging will help you tremendously with your SEO strategy. Just look at these numbers:

More website traffic, more followers, and more leads will ultimately translate to increased profits.

Publishing new blog posts means your website will be updated more frequently with fresh content, which will increase your chances of getting a higher search ranking.

Plus, your posts are a great place to add keywords prospective customers may be searching for when browsing online.

Once you’re able to establish a steady group of readers for your blog, they’ll visit your website on a regular basis. The more they visit your site, the greater the chances you’ll have of getting them to convert.

5. Set up your free listing with Google

How are new customers finding you?

If you’re old-school, you may be relying on word of mouth, radio promotions, print ads, and direct mailing. But last year, 97% of consumers searched the Internet for a local business.

Furthermore, positive online reviews make 73% of consumers trust local businesses. That’s why you need to make sure your local business is listed on Google.

When people use the Internet to search for something, they start with Google.

Setting up your free Google listing makes it easy for consumers to find you when they search for terms related to your business.

Your listing will have all your information:

address
phone number
hours
directions
link to website

You’ll be able to add photos to give people a better understanding of the way you operate.

Customers will also be able to add photos. They’ll write reviews about your local business for other people to see, which will have a major impact on your successful.

You need to learn how to get your customers to recommend your brand to others. Your star rating is the number one factor used by consumers to determine whether they’ll buy from your local business.

In fact, 94% of customers will use businesses with a 4-star rating.

Finally

As a local business, you can’t afford to fall behind your competition. Take a look at your current marketing campaigns, and ask yourself whether they’re generating the results you’re looking for.

It might be time to switch up your marketing strategy with local internetadvertising.

If you’re looking for new ways to promote your local business, use this guide as a reference.