When is the last time you picked up the Yellow Pages to find a local Philadelphia business? If you’re like most people, it was probably years ago. Now think about the last time you used Google to help you do the same thing. It was probably a matter of days. Local online marketing is the future of small business. In fact, it’s not just the future; it’s the present.
If you are not using local online marketing, you are shooting yourself in the proverbial foot. You’re leaving money on the table and giving your competition the upper hand. Hopefully that is enough metaphors to get the point across that you are literally losing money.
There are two basic directions you can go with search engine marketing (SEM); pay per click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization (SEO). The fastest way, by far, to get your phone ringing and bring new customers through your door, is with PPC advertising.
Some people will tell you that the pay per click (PPC) option is too risky due to all the competition on the Internet. That is true if you are competing with millions of other people around the world, like direct response and affiliate marketers do. For local business marketing, it’s an entirely different ball game.
There is usually not too much competition locally, so the costs are much less, and the odds of a great return on investment are heavily in your favor. The beauty of this method of local Philadelphia online marketing is you only have to pay for the ads that actually get clicked. The prospect actually ends up on your website.
SEO or Search Engine Optimization, on the other hand, does not cost anything per click. The search engine traffic is free. This form of local online marketing involves taking action, on and off your website, that entices the search engines to show your website on the first page of certain keyword search results. There are over 200 variables so it can be very time consuming and difficult to get good rankings.
Both of these methods SEM and SEO are valid. It would be hard to go wrong with either one (or both) of them.
Brian Brown is Specializes in SEM (Search Engine Marketing/Pay Per Click) along with Display, Video and Social Marketing. Helping local businesses get visibility on all the major search engines(Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN & ASK.com). Includes complete call recording tracking from the client’s website as well as where the people went once on your website. The client uses the data to get a clear picture on the performance and their ROI. We use the data to optimize JUST on the search words(keywords) that get your business the most sales leads. Works far better than most any place you can advertise because it is so targeted to your Local area and only seen by Local people searching for your services.
Brian Brown is a Digital Marketing Consultant in Philadelphia with over 20 yrs experience.
Brian Brown
Digital Marketing Consultant
215-384-4568
Email: [email protected]
150 Monument Rd | Suite 207 | Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004