Small Businesses Can Promote Their Businesses Locally - Firm Shows Them How

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(Free-Press-Release.com) February 23, 2009 -- Many small businesses build websites because they are told they must. But they discover that nobody visits their website and they don’t generate any new business from it.

What’s going on?

“Too many times, a small business gets sold a web site with no marketing strategy behind it. Some of these websites are stunningly beautiful. The problem is that nobody visits them,” says Stacy Fox, of Stacy Fox Communications.

Fortunately, there are solutions.

“Business owners are too busy working in their businesses to promote a website,” Fox says. “That’s where we come in.”

The first thing Fox does is help businesses get listed at the top of the search engines for their phrases.

One of the simpler techniques is to get a listing in Google’s local listings. Searchers looking for a specific kind of business can find local companies to help them. For instance, typing in “Riverside Pizza Delivery” or “Ontario Auto Repair” will turn up 10 local businesses at the very top of the search results.

Another thing that can be done is to get the website optimized for phrases that don’t involve the city name using traditional Search Engine Optimization techniques. This includes on page tweaks in the copy and the html coding as well as off site link building.

Using Google’s Adwords and other Pay Per Click strategies can also be effective for some businesses.

Once people come to the site, it is important to develop ways to keep in touch with them.

“If you don’t collect the information about visitors who come to your site, you are leaving money on the table,” Fox says.

She suggests that you offer a special report or coupon to people who give businesses their email address. Then the business can keep in touch with their visitors through opt in email marketing.

“Too many businesses are worried that email marketing is the same as spam. But when people have gone through a double opt-in process where they confirm that they want your information, you have complied with the CAN-SPAM act,” Fox says.

Businesses can then send out monthly newsletters as well as infrequent special offers, discounts, and promotions.

“Imagine having a list of 5000 customers who are interested in your specials. That’s a lot cheaper and more effective than taking out an ad on the radio,” Fox says.

Fox doesn’t recommend that you simply ask people to sign up for a newsletter.

“Newsletters are boring. You have to give the customer something they will value. If you are a yogurt shop, you can give them a coupon for a free cone.”

Having an effective web presence means the small business needs to get people to come to their website and then collect the information about them. Tracking all of the data is essential.

“It is hard for small business owners to effectively promote their websites unless they have a person assigned to do just that for them. At Stacy Fox Communications, we can help businesses stay on top of their internet marketing.”

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