These tips are not specific to any locality and should work anywhere your business operates… These five tips for local business web strategy are for businesses whose targeted customers are local – like restaurants, service companies, and consultants.

1. Own Your Domain
There are sooo many advantages to owning YourCompany.com and for $9/year there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t take this step. Even if you don’t use it – own it. You are going to need it if you want to compete. This is your #1 marketing tool, and why we are here to help you master your domain.

2. Be On Google
There are several ways to “be on google”. The first, and easiest step is to register your business in Google Maps, Google Local, Google Knol, and others. These are all FREE and have much higher visibility than yellow pages and bus stop benches. This make you “findable”… for FREE.

3. Get A Website
A simple, optmized website can do wonders for your findability online. Use the domain you bought in the first step, setup WordPress or equivalent optimized CMS, and start adding content. Being there is the first step on being found. Now you are findable via two paths… Google and your own website.

4. Target Local Keywords
Targeting localized keywords is a great tool in an effective Search Engine Marketing campaign. This is a very easy way to optimize your website and your Google placement. This can have an exponential effect on the traffic you are driving to your website. If you are a local Italian restaurant, don’t target the keyword “Italian Restaraunt”. You want to target people in your neighborhood and there is no way you are going to get to the top of Google Search Results for “Italian Restaurant”. Use geographically targeted keywords like “Des Moines, IA Italian Restaurant”. Just think how you would search for a local service and target those keywords.

5. Engage and Participate in Your Community
Chances are there are a large chunk of potential customers for you on social networks that you can find by searching for your locality. Get in touch with these people and create a community around your business. This is an essential step in an effective web strategy. Word Of Mouth Marketing is key to success for local business and you can harness your social networks to ensure this buzz is positive.

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