According to to TMP Directional Marketing and comScore, almost 40% of people who did an online local business search ended up visiting the store in person. Even more people, 46%, contacted the business on the phone. This is up from 2008 when only 39% of people contacted the business on the phone. Contacting a business online went down one percent, from 12% in 2008 to 11% in 2009. Also, general search engines were more likely to be used than local search sites or online yellow pages. The biggest searches on local search engines were for child care and hotels and for ...

Creating a blog for your company or business can be a great way to inform customers and build a brand for your company. However, getting one started can be a daunting if you are not sure where to start. Here are three questions you should answer before you begin blogging for your business. What is your goal with the blog? Do you want to become a leader in your industry and create a following? Then you need to have a lot of unique and original material to compete with what is already out there. If you are looking to increase your ...

With social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter becoming the latest word-of-mouth venue, it is becoming more pertinent for businesses and companies to have a presence on these sites. According to the report Social Commerce on Facebook, Twitter and Retail Sites, almost 75% of the merchants in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide have a presence on at least one of the major social networks or social shopping sites. Social networking users of all ages are more likely to make online purchases, so they are considered a highly sought-after group by internet retailers, according to a May 2009 survey by ...

Are you at the point in your business where it is time to consider building a website? First of all, that is a great idea, and very critical to the growth of your business. Technology is advancing and more people are moving to online platforms for purchases, research, and decision-making processes. Your website needs to be your online storefront. Just as you were purchasing or renting a physical store space or business office, your website needs to be treated as a similar investment. The long term benefits are remarkable. If you don’t have a website, or your website is sub-par, ...

There are a few easy steps anyone can take in order to maximize online visibility for your email newsletter. Most of the content for your newsletter is linked to your main site, and so these tips will help people outside of your subscribers find you. Link Content To Other Parts of Your Site If you want people outside of your newsletter to see the content you've created, then you've got to link to it on the other parts of your website. Visitors to your website who aren't subscribed to your email newsletter are not going to be able to find your content ...

Google has recently announced that they have created a better way to measure the impact of display advertisements. The new tool, called Google Campaign Insights, is currently available in the United States and United Kingdom. It allows advertisers to measure how an ad campaign raises brand awareness, or active user interest, for a product or service. Google already allows advertisers to measure how many clicks its display ads achieve, measure conversions that result from those clicks, compare results with industry benchmark data, and use View-through conversion reporting to measure visits to its website from users who saw its display ad in ...

Now that you’ve created a following on Twitter, it’s important that you make the most out of your newly found marketing avenue. Here are a few simple rules of thumb to help you create a trusted twitter account. Don’t Hide Behind Your Tweets Perhaps the most important rule about tweeting is letting your followers know who you are. Readers want to be assured that you are indeed a real person. Don’t be afraid of creating posts and revealing your identity. In fact, this will make you a more credible source. Regardless of whether you are the top dog in ...

With it becoming normal to hear about the stamp price increases, the United States Post Office has surprisingly announced that it will not raise prices during the 2010 calendar year. The Postal Service has increased prices every year since 2006, but it announced that there will not be a price increase for market dominant products including First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, periodicals, and single-piece Parcel Post. In a press release, Postmaster John Potter said, "While increasing prices might have generated revenue for the Postal Service in the short term, the long term effect could drive additional mail out of the system." More people ...

The new digital era is keeping everyone on their toes. One of the most recent and frequently used forms of digital media is video marketing. While video marketing used to be something that only large companies could afford to do, with a decent budget, smaller companies are jumping on board. Before you jump into making your video piece, make sure you keep a couple of things in mind. First, you want to clearly define the purpose of your video. Is it an advertising opportunity? An endorsement? New product/service introduction? Product demonstration? Whichever the purpose of your video, make sure ...

It all started just a few years ago with Facebook. While it began as a private social networking site, Facebook has served as a template for a variety social networking sites that are becoming ever more popular not just among users but also marketing experts. Today, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Bebo, LinkIn. and MySpace are just a few of the many online social networking options available. You may ask, “Why bother?” There is a reason why major companies are using them. Next time you’re visiting a website look for a “follow us on Facebook” or similar message alerting ...

According to a new survey by Prospectiv, becoming a mother changes how you view online marketing. Women with children are more trusting and open toward online coupons compared to women without children. When dealing with marketing emails, 45% of moms said they wanted information that pertains to their lifestyle while 21% said they like to see anything they send. 35% of women without children said they did not want to be sent anything, and 30% were interested in information that pertains to their lifestyle. Also, only 1% of mothers found blogs were an effective way to market a brand, compared ...

By now you probably know that not following through with search marketing is just as bad as not having a website at all. It’s just like being there and not having anyone know you’re there. The top two options for search marketing are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC). More and more often, companies, especially small businesses, are turning to PPC as their search marketing choice. PPC is a great way to increase your online exposure and ultimately traffic to your site. It works as a carefully planned bidding system whereby you pay only for each ...