6.2 Billion searches performed online, in the UK, in December 2009

Take a look at these recently released search statistics from ComScore comparing 2008 to 2009.

In December 2009 there were 6.2 Billion searches performed in the UK, the vast majority of which were conducted at Google. This figure adds up to a massive 35% increase in searches performed in December of 2008.
 

...Someone's losing out.

We all know the Newspapers are having kittens about collapsing advertising revenues and Yellow page advertisers have noticed a big dip in the number of enquiries compared to the golden days of yesteryear, so getting to grips with marketing and advertising online is no longer an option for business owners, it's an absolute must, or face the consequences.

I know this sounds like a bit of a rant, and it is - This is too important to mess about with. This is happening right now and there's no sign of it slowing anytime soon.

If you were thinking of gettng round to optimising your website in 2010, don't delay. Here's a search engine optimisation case study where we helped our client increase her website traffic by over 6,100% and her return on investment is currently well over 10 times her outlay.

I was speaking to a small business owner this morning and he was telling me how the web couldn't help his local carpet fitting business.

How much did you pay?

Demented pitbull syndrome

Your content should be relevant to your products and your local area

When creating their web content, many businesses concentrate on the bigger picture SEO aspects.

Many are caught up in a desire to be on the front page of Google for incredibly generic search terms. The problem with this is that, even if it does happen, it is a very long game you'll be playing.

Take for example a regional business such as a wedding photographer. Yes, they could spend a small fortune (not to mention a huge number of man hours) trying to get to the top of the pile for wedding photographer but why bother?

Target your market

If you are a Suffolk wedding photographer the likelihood is that 90% of your clients are going to either come from Suffolk or will be getting married in Suffolk. It would be fair to say, therefore, that they'll probably begin their research by using terms such as Suffolk wedding photographer.

So let's take an example of how this will work:

1) Un-optiised copy:

Bruce Wayne offers a wide range of wedding photography packages.  You'll want your wedding day to be perfect and, although we can't guarantee the weather, we can ensure your wedding photography captures every moment of your special day.

You can also obtain through our studio individually designed wedding photograph albums in which to display your photos in an inspired way that will be enjoyed for generations. We have something to suit all tastes, from a modern story book style to something more traditional, it will enhance every moment of your special day.  

Wherever your venue, we are here to make your day perfect and capture every second.

2) Optimised copy:

Bruce Wayne, a leading Suffolk wedding photographer, offers a wide range of wedding photography packages.  You'll want your wedding day to be perfect and, although we can't guarantee the weather, we can ensure your wedding photography captures every moment of your special day.

You can also obtain through our Suffolk studio individually designed wedding photograph albums in which to display your photos in an inspired way that will be enjoyed for generations. We have something to suit all tastes, from a modern story book style to something more traditional, it will enhance every moment of your special day.  

We work mainly in and around Suffolk as well as nationally. Wherever your venue, we are here to make your day perfect and capture every second.


OK, not the greatest copy in the world but it's only meant as an example.

Competition is a lot less for local keywords so use them. You won't be limiting your market and you'll be getting great exposure while you work on more compeitive keywords.

So give it a go - think local!

Promote Your Business Through The Power Of Twitter

Unless you've been hiding under a stone for quite sometime, or don't own a computer (in which case it's unlikely you'll be reading this), you can't help noticing that it seems as though the entire world is Tweeting  – celebrities, those who think they’re celebrities, news agencies, radio stations, businesses, normal people and not so normal people.

So have you started using it for your business yet?

“Are you kidding? I don’t have time to be messing around with Twitter; I’ve got too much work to do.”

Is that right? Or do you think that view is being a bit short sighted?

Marketing is moving with the times

We all know conventional marketing (i.e. newspapers, Yellow Pages etc. – did you know that 76% of UK Adult internet users find out about local services online, Ofcom, August 2008) is dying a slow but sure death. Online marketing and the internet is where it’s all happening these days. So why not embrace Twitter?
 

Be a talker not a promoter

Many business make the mistake of seeing Twitter as a promotion tool pure and simple. They set up their account and tweet away about their products, business, offers, products, business, offers, products.....

BORING!

Twitter isn't about promotion per se. The whole point of Twitter is engagement. Talk to your followers, retweet them, tweet about useful stuff, share interesting links, comment on industry news or current affairs - anything that will show you as being interesting and worthy of followers.

If you sprinkle promotional tweets in amongst these types of messages you'll be followed, retweeted and will probably get clients too.

Have a strategy

Without a strategy Twitter (and this also goes for other social media marketing tools such as facebook fan pages) will just be a huge waste of time. Decide from the outset what you want to achieve from it. Plan how long you'll spend on it (and stick to it).

Will it really help my online marketing?

The simple answer is yes. I don't if you've noticed, but Google has started to include live Twitter feeds into its search results.

The following video has been put together by our very own Jon Young who demonstrates the power that is Twitter.

Even if your business is done completely offline, you can benefit from knowing how to get listed in Google Local or Yahoo's local listings. When someone types in a local search in Google or Yahoo (one which contains a place name) the searcher is given local results right at the top of the search engine.

Best of all it's completely free... Submission to Local Search at both Google and Yahoo are free, and may bring you more business than you expect. Here are the URLs for the signup forms below, but before you get started you should have the following information ready at hand:

1. The first thing they will ask for is the physical location of your business

If your business is in your home, that is no problem, just use your home address. You shouldn't, however, use a post office box, as Google doesn't accept them.

2. The telephone number(s) of your business

If you use your home phone number for your business, be sure you have an appropriate answering machine message, and that your phone is answered in a professional manner. It is best to get a separate telephone number for your business, even if it and your budget are very small. If you have a fax number, have that ready also.

3. A business email address

Use an email account at your business domain. If you don't have a website for your business, buy a domain for your site from a registrar such as 1and1.co.uk who give website space with a domain purchase, or at least put up a "one page business card" website on the free space Yahoo offers to local listers. In any event, don't use a "freebie" email service such as Hotmail or Yahoo for your business. This is considered very unprofessional.

4. Your business website address

Get a site if you honestly mean to have an internet business. Yes, a website is not strictly required in order to earn online, but to anyone with online business experience you will appear as a rank amateur without one.

5. A description of the services or products you sell

This should be a short 1 to 3 sentence summary such as: "Your Business Name provides widgets to all widget users, with special emphasis on blue widgets for widgeteers. We also offer widget payment plans." Don't make it a blatant advertisement, just an explanation of services.

6. Categories your business falls under

You'll be able to choose up to 5 categories for your listing.

7. What types of payment can you accept?

Cash, credit card types, etcetera

8. Contact Name

Likely yours.

Google users will need to setup an Account. Fear not...if you have Gmail, Google Sitemaps or any other Google service requiring an email address you are already registered. When you have your information ready, go to the Google Local Business centre. Sign into your Google account and follow the onscreen instructions. Once you have finished, Google will telephone or send you a postcard (your choice) with a confirmation number. When you receive the pin number in the mail or by phone, you will then need to go back to your account and enter that pin number before your entry can be activated. After that, just wait for the phone calls from new customers.

Yahoo Local Business

For Yahoo, the information is slightly easier as they use Infoserve to supply their local listings, so all you need to do is visit: Sign up at Yahoo here: http://yahoo.infoservegroup.com/business-owner-form.html Get going and boost your business into areas you might not have thought of trying.

Bing

For Bing, they source business information through MarketLocation.com. As with Yahoo!, fill in the form and they will handle things from there.

If you have a business in the UK then you do need to appear in as many local search databases as possible.

Want your listing set up for maximum visitors? See our Google Local Maps page.

Why do so many small businesses fail to get their marketing right?

Many small businesses are started from a passion. The business owner isn't a trained marketer and they certainly don't have the budget needed to hire an in-house expert. Because of this, their marketing fails to achieve what they want - sales.

What kind of marketer are you?

If you surveyed 100 businesses, you'd probably get a three way split regarding marketing methods:

1. The 'I'm going to do what he's doing' type - they just mimic everyone else's strategy rarther than come up with their own. The result is poor. This method doesn't work because it simply results in a market place flooded with the same message. Without something distinguishing you from every other Tom, Dick and Harry out there why would anyone pick you?

2. The 'I've always done it this way, why should I change?' approach - these are the guys that stick with the same old method regardless of technology or market conditions. With today's increasing internet usage by consumers searching for products and services, these are the guys that keep throwing money at adverts in the Yellow Pages. The result is a huge marketing spend for little return.

3. The 'why should I market? My product is so damned good customers will come to me' blind fools. Oh boy, do these people really exist? These are the guys who think that what they provide is so great they don't have to advertise because they'll have a steady stream of customers banging at their door.

What is marketing anyway?

Marketing is all about doing the things you need to do to make people find you, like your product/service and grow to trust you. Would you buy from someone you didn't like or trust?

The stages of devising your marketing campaign are very simple:

Identify your cutomer - where do they hang out? what problems do they have that need solving? what kind of businesses are they? are they individual consumers?...

What is your offer? - what is it they want that you can supply? The best example of this is a headline from Dominoes Pizza - "Hot Pizza Delivered to Your Door in 30 Minutes or Less or It's Free" - fabulous, they knew precisely what their customers wanted and provided them with an irresistable offer.

Sell with a strong call to action - get your message out there on the web. Give them testimonials and real life stories of people who've benefited from your product/service to build trust and credibility. Make your call to action strong - tell them to get in touch, order or email you.

Be the guy or girl they all applaud

It takes real guts in today's competitive market place to be a marketer. Your neck is on the line if you don't perform and get those illusive sales. When you run a small business, your marketing strategy is the 'do or die' of your business.

Without professional back up you've got to do it on your own so get internet savvy and go where the smart marketers go - online.

90% of marketing budgets are wasted every year because small business fail to follow up leads. They grab the money from the small percentage of people they contact who are ready to buy there and then but walk away from everyone else. Perhaps they were interested in your product but just weren't ready to buy. By failing to follow them up you've paved the way for your competitiors to walk in and steal the sale. You've done the hard part by convincing them your product/service is for them but if you don't constantly follow them up again and again, the sale will be lost forever.

Now's the time to get smart, get online and get automated. Once the exclusive realm of the "big boys", automated online marketing is now available to any business regardless of its size.

What are you waiting for? Get online, get automated and watch your sales soar.

Stand up and take a bow - now all eyes are on you.