Local
Content Is King
©
Sharon Fling
You've
probably heard that on the web "Content is King",
but what does this mean to local business? Some people
would say "nothing". Those are the same people
that will put up a site with basic company info and
nothing else.
While
this might help an existing customer who's forgotten
your address and can't find the yellow pages, it may
not catch the attention of the local consumer who stumbles
onto your website. It certainly won't get you listed
high in the search engines, which is what most people
use to look for something, local or not. Just like any
other site on the web, you need to offer something,
anything, to interrupt your visitor's hasty exit from
your site.
Some
people feel that local sites shouldn't be promoted like
other sites. Someone (Mr. Paranoid - see LBT survey
results below) wrote: "You seem to focus on promoting
a local business site to the web at large which, to
my mind, is beyond the scope of this newsletter..."
Now,
correct me if I'm wrong, but there is only ONE Web and
it's worldwide. Until it gets to the point where consumers
skip the search engines altogether and just hang out
at their local portal or community site, how else are
you going promote a local business site? Is there another
web that I don't know about?
Sure,
your local business site ends up in the mix with lots
of global sites. The same thing happens when you run
an ad in a big city newspaper. Only a few people may
be interested in it, but it appears in everyone's paper.
So
it goes on the web. Yes, there are tools and services
that will allow you to target local consumers. But for
the average local business owner with only so much time
and money, ordinary promotion methods will have to do.
If
you don't promote a local site on the web, what's the
alternative? Relying solely on offline promotion methods
or word of mouth? Not being found at all? As far as
I know, there is no way to reach local consumers online
without promoting to the web at large....yet. There
is a pay-per-click search engine being developed for
the local market but until it's released, all roads
to the consumer lead to through the World Wide Web.
But,
I digress.
The
point is, you may be right around the corner from the
perfect prospect, but they still have to find you first.
Use offline AND online promotions to drive prospects
to your website, then offer them something other than
a place to input their credit card info.
"Like
what?" you ask. Here are some examples of content
a local business might offer in addition to the standard
company info:
Restaurant/Bakery/Caterer
No
matter what kind of business you're in, there is always
some sort of related content you can offer on your website
in exchange for the email address. Not only will it
give your visitors some reason to linger, but it may
make your site easier to find via search engines
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