Local businesses can easily gain eyes to their website by making sure their local search engine marketing is where it could be with a few simple steps. Claim your listing on major search engines. This is a simple step, but it is also very important. Claiming your business listing at Google, Yahoo, and Bing will give your company exposure and imrpove your rankings. Make sure you are listed in the correct categories. Having your business correctly listed is important in targeted searches. Making sure the mapping is correct and updating your listing can help with your searches. Keep your business information consistent. Having your information match ...

It might be tempting for local business owners to make changes to their business listings in order to improve their search engine optimization (SEO), but they actually might be ruining their listing. Changes like adding a slogan to the business name or changing office locations to seem local will actually negatively impact your listing and possibly get you delisted by the major search engines. Here are a few simple ways that you might be ruining your local business listing. Change your phone number in your business listing While call tracking might be an important way to measure success in advertising, your online business ...

Well, to begin answering this question you would first have to know who your customers are. According to a study conducted by the Participatory Marketing Network and two other organizations, brands are having a hard time engaging the younger generation, or GenY, and building loyalty among this group through social networking sites. The study examined the networking behaviors of consumers between the ages of 18-24 and concluded the following results:  84% noticed ads on social networks  74% say they click infrequently/never  62% of Gen Y's have visited a fan page on a social network  48% percent have joined  36% say they don't click on ads at ...

Creating an online presence for yourself or your business is one of the greatest things you can do in today's web-driven world. But getting your website up and running is only part of the job.  Once you've established yourself online, it's time to drive traffic to your website. There are various ways and techniques you can use to increase traffic to your website.  Some more sophisticated than others, some less expensive than others, and of course, some more effective than others.  Below is a list of a few different things you should try to increase traffic to your website. Press Releases:  A ...

What Is A Call to Action? A call to action is simply a strategic communication in your marketing materials telling your customer what to do next.  So many marketers create persuasive and alluring marketing materials, but forget to give interested parties a concrete method to move forward and make a purchase.  Your call to action is the most important part of any marketing communication because it gives your customers the information they need to take advantage of your services. Imagine The Questions and Provide Answers. The best way to write a simple and effective call to action is to put yourself in the ...

If You Build It Right, They Will Come:  The Art of Search Engine Optimization Any movie buff will tell you how Kevin Costner came to build a baseball diamond in the middle of an Iowa cornfield in the modern classic “Field of Dreams.”  He was following the instructions of a mysterious voice in his head, a voice that promised, “If you build it, they will come.” Many modern business owners have ventured into online marketing lured by the same voice:  Build an attractive website and the multitudes will swarm to you.  Unfortunately, it’s simply not that easy.  Online marketers who enjoy heavy ...

Optimization means "the action of finding the best solution." Mathematical programming, or optimization modeling, is a branch of mathematical modeling that is concerned with finding the optimal solution to a problem. Initially, optimization was used as a way to mathematically determine the optimal allocation of scarce resources. The concept has been borrowed by businesspeople to aid decision-making.Optimization has been used in the areas of the manufacturing supply chain, airline revenue yields, and financial investment risk assessment. More recently, the concept is being adopted by marketing. Phrases such as site optimization, search engine optimization, event optimization, and campaign optimization must be familiar. ...

Most online marketers are already familiar with LinkedIn, an online community of professionals. A powerful tool for networking and maintaining business relationships, LinkedIn operates under a simple philosophy: “Relationships Matter.” Professionals from many diverse fields use LinkedIn’s social networking interface to connect with colleagues and partners for mutually beneficial exchanges of social capital. In addition to its many virtues as a social media tool, LinkedIn is equally beneficial for lead generation, the practice of generating customer interest in the products and services you provide. By following these four simple steps, you can take advantage of the lead-gen opportunities inherent in this ...

In a recent article published by Entrepreneur.com titled "Get Them Talking", Heather Clancy says "One good referral is worth dozens of unqualified prospects." Yelp is the next Yellow pages, but completely online. It allows people to search for local business in communities across the U.S. The interesting aspect of Yelp.com is that it enables customers to review and rank particular business based on their quality of service. When a potential prospect searches for the business or industry, they have the ability to sort the listing based on ranking. Next time you interact with your customer or prospect, be mindful ...

We are all familiar with the adage: “If everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?” While the correct answer may be no, it is not always the case. In today’s highly competitive market, being everywhere and doing as much, if not more than your competitor, is compulsory. I have heard from many small business owners that they have managed to survive for years (even decades) without a website, so why get one now? While not having a website may not have made a significant impact on their sales years ago, today’s world is very different, and ...

While many business owners realize that having a website is a step in the right direction, the quality of that website can be a double-edged sword. In this technological, internet-driven age, having an online presence vital, but having a website simply for the sake of having a website can turn your customers away. Imagine yourself on the worldwide web looking for a specific product or service. You use your preferred search engine and type in your search keywords. Eureka! You’ve found the website that you need. While your online website may tell the customer that you offer that specific ...

Recently, Facebook announced its new advertising program, a bold attempt at creating more relevant and effective web advertising. So what is social advertising? It works something like this. Imagine you are a die-hard fan of Coca-Cola. So you go and add Coca-Cola as one of your “friends” or link to your existing Facebook profile. The next time anyone in your social network views your profile, they will also be seeing Coca-Cola advertisements—and perhaps how you feel about them too. Social advertising attempts to commission the social context of the user. Thus, advertisements are not reliant on the one individual but ...