In a recent study, 97% of consumers look online when they research local products and services. And about 1 to 4 consumers prefer buying from local businesses. This indicates that you can explore more potential when it comes to building your online presence to the top of the searches. But this cannot happen in one night.
You will need to build a strategy that will help your website to become visible to your targeted audience. Like other business owners, you will already have so much on your plate.
But don’t sweat, as in this blog, there are seven practical and smart ways to improve your local online presence.
1. Create an Awesome Website
To build your online presence, first, you will need to stop fearing that it will require more money and time. There are several ways that are cost-effective and bring the desired result for your local business. Speaking of making your online presence attractive, you will need to create an awesome website.
If your local business is among the 28% of businesses that don’t have a website, you will need to get one. If you already have one, it doesn’t offer a quality user experience to the consumers. Pay attention to it.
If you don’t have the expertise to create or improve your website, you can hire the best website builder to create a beautiful and easy-to-navigate website for your business that gives the same experience on mobile phones.
When building your local website, you can include client testimonials on your local lending page so that local consumers will find a better idea of your business.
2. Maintain Social Media Presence
When it comes to building the online presence of your local business, you will need to ensure that you are reaching the local audience. Now in this digital era, there are various social media platforms where you can introduce your business and attract your local customers.
It will cost you nothing to create your profile on social media platforms. You can share engaging content on these platforms. For this purpose, you will need to create smart and engaging social media posts that will appear as trustworthy. For creative posts, you can learn and buy new graphics designs that come within your budget online.
You can post clients and customer reviews. On Google, this will enhance visibility, and due to five stars and good reviews, you can make an appearance in top local searches. This will increase brand awareness, and when the targeted audience looks to buy some online, they will prefer your business.
3. Create Relevant Content
If you want your business to become successful and are concerned about making more sales, you will need to attract and retain your local customers. Keeping them engaged with your local business might seem daunting, but it can be possible by creating relevant and informative content about your business.
You can create and share content on your website and social media platforms. The material you will use is a great way to introduce your brand to your local audience when you offer them solutions to their problems.
You can create call-to-action content for your website or can publish it to various local websites to gain authority and reliability. The more quality backlinks you will get, the easy it will be for you to appear on the relevant local searches.
4. Invest In Local SEO
Local SEO plays a vital role in building your online presence in local searches. According to Statista, more than 21% go online to search online businesses when it comes to purchasing any product or service. This means you have an opportunity to attract locally targeted customers to your business by investing in a local SEO strategy.
There are numerous benefits of local SEO that you can explore by investing in it. First, you will need to ensure that your business is registered on Google My Business. If you have entered the details and still do not find your business appearing in the local searches, you can get a Google My Business Audit tool that can identify the key points and mistakes in the information that you have entered and help you to improve your local presence.
5. Make It Personal
There are many businesses you will find online that use the tactic of making their business personal to attract customers. This is one of the effective and result-driven ways to attract local customers to your business.
You can prioritize sharing and communicating as much as you can to build and spread brand awareness. So, don’t be afraid to make your business personal. You can share your story and journey with your customers so your customers will get a better idea of your local business.
Sharing your experience will allow your potential targeted local customers to start trusting your business. It gives them confidence in your abilities.
6. Build Strong Network
You must be familiar with the worth of networking and how it can benefit you in real life. The same advantages can be avail of online by getting support from trusted, relevant local websites with high domain authority.
There is great strength in numbers, and publishing your content on other websites will increase your visibility in local searches. But this factor can be tricky as you will have to avoid your local competitors. Ensure that you and your other business owner are on the same page when talking about your targeted market. You can also share a similar brand voice to address with your customers and readers.
