You are spending thousands of rands on traditional marketing and it’s just not going the way you have planned. You are handing out flyers at your local robot, but no one is responding to your message. You are interested in marketing your local business on the web, but how do you get started?

Many people start out with online marketing by only designing a simple brochure of their website, and it usually doesn’t produce any results. You need a solid local online marketing strategy to get visitors and eyeballs to your business online. Here’s a couple of tips to help you get started with this.

Local online marketing tips

It’s always about your customers: When you are creating a website for your local business, think how your customers are going to use it. A new visitor arrives on your website because they are looking for answers or they have a problem that needs to be solved. It could be in your open hours, prices or your phone number. Make it easy for them to find what they are looking for.

Call to action: When your visitors arrive on your website, you don’t want them to just leave without taking any action. If you want them to email you, place your contact form or a link to your contact page in a large font so that they can see it clearly. If you want them to visit your business, place your address in a prominent position. If you are looking for buyers, make it appealing and interesting with buttons that can be seen.

Local SEO: If you are interested that your website be displayed on local search results, create a Google Places listing with your address and the services that you provide. People are usually searching Google for specific keywords followed by the city they are looking for information in. Also use this text prominently in your headings, content, and link on your website.

Go mobile: People are using mobile devices more often to search for information because it’s an on the move business tool. Create a mobile site for your website or integrate a responsive design so that it’s viewable on a mobile device. This way, if someone visits your website from a mobile device, they will be presented with a mobile optimized website.