Two of the most used acronyms for Internet marketing are
- SER (search engine rankings) and
- LSR (local search results).
They may sound similar, but they are quite different. Imagine you own a local dry cleaning shop. If SER is your primary concern you want to be the number one search result on all the search engines. Why? it is expensive and hard work to reach that level, and how many customers in San Diego is your shop expecting to bring their suits to Groton, Connecticut? When maximizing SER on a total basis, many of your readers are too far from your business to use you. On the other hand, LSR has a laser-like targeting focus on the audience you want to reach.
Local Search: Driving Customers to You
Your concern should be achieving the number one spot in your local search results – Dry Cleaners in Groton, CT. This is a much easier goal, and with a bit of planning for your Internet marketing strategy and a little help with your copywriting from a freelancer you can make it there in record time.
Warning!! To stay on top. you must work consistently on your social media, your blog, and your website. For example, you need a website, a blog, and social media such as Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. This takes time and takes you away from running your business.
Where Does Good Content Come From?
As the business owner, you should be the source for content ideas – after all you know your customers better than anyone and you know your products best too. But, having a great idea for content is much different than making that idea into a blog post or article for your website. This is where a professional freelance writer comes into the marketing picture – to take your idea and make it an engaging, SEO rich prose that gets your customers and potential customers to stay on your site and read the content and see the ads for your business on the page. You know your business, and professional freelance content writers know theirs.
Anything Else?
Yes, tons of things really. But, when just starting it is important to know what works and what doesn’t. Some companies have the resources to run A/B campaigns where they use different content in one market to see which gets the best response. I think a more accurate measurement is using metrics such as Google Analytics (GA). GA tells you where visitors come from, how long they stayed, what if any activities they did and much more. GA is free but does have a premium version that give you more data and ways to analyze it. I think that for many businesses, the free version is just fine to start with.
If you need help, contact me.
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