Do you own a small-business? Are you struggling in a sea of information to find the very best tips to help your business succeed? We hear you!
Let’s face it: starting a business is tough. Running a small business? Even tougher.
Whether it’s finding new clients or customers, working long hours, spreading the word, or (even) affording the rent, small businesses have plenty of challenges, and not much when it comes to a clearly defined path for growth.
Fortunately, there are pathways to success. And—as it turns out—plenty of proven solutions that can help you compete in a crowded offline/online world. Because, whether you’d like to increase your reach or your revenue, digital marketing can help you accomplish all your marketing goals. How so? Consider adopting a few of the following digital marketing tips for your small business.
Digital Marketing Tips for Small Business
1. Create A Website (Or Get A New One)
Don’t have a website? Get one. Have a site that looks like it was made in 1999, get a new one now. Is your site hard to navigate, use, or operate (is it difficult to find what you’re looking for?) hire a designer to make it better.
It’s estimated that just over 50% of all small businesses have a website. And while it’s a little late to hop on board if you don’t, it’s better late than never—particularly if your competitors can also be found online. In this day and age, consumers of all ages and types expect businesses to have a central hub, a single source of truth — a website — to tell the world who you are, and to establish that your business and brand is more than just a person with a phone number.
Having a well-designed website is the simplest of all the tips you find in this guide, and it’s also the foundation for all the others.
2. Make It Mobile-Friendly
Of course, it’s not enough to just have a website and call it a day. To compete in a crowded online marketplace, small businesses need to make their site mobile-friendly, as well. This means that your website needs to be optimized for all sorts of different devices—including computers, tablets, and smartphones—so that your customers can use your site on whatever device they happen to be using at the time. This is really important, since many of your customers will use your site on a mobile device, and will expect it to function perfectly regardless of the device they’re on.
Fortunately, ensuring that your site is mobile-friendly can benefit your business, since it can increase the number of people who use your site, stay on it, and do something while they’re there (such as, make a purchase).
3. Develop a Customer-Focused Content Strategy
With your mobile-friendly site up and running, our next small-business tip is to create a customer-focused content strategy. What’s that mean, exactly?
Content is what goes on a site. It’s the text on your landing pages and what you put on your About page. It’s the product images you source, and the product info that goes with it. It’s also any blog posts, articles, case studies, videos, or graphics that make up the ‘meat and potatoes’ of your site.
By creating content with your customers in mind, you can create content that your customers will actually want to read, watch, or share. They’ll find your site quicker (with the help of SEO), and stay on it longer. They’ll also be much more inclined to trust you and your brand—because you’ll be catering to their needs and goals. And, as a result, they’ll be much more likely to convert—as in, complete the desired marketing goal—be it signing up for your email newsletter, calling your number, or buying your product or service.
Whatever the end goal, creating content with your customers in mind is key to creating a brand that your customers recognize, learn from, and trust. Which is why it’s among the most effective (and the most overlooked) of all digital marketing tips for small businesses.
4. Invest in Local SEO
Trick question: Are you a local business? The truth is unless you’re operating in the clouds, your small business is local to someone. Finding out who that someone is, is part of having a content strategy that’s 100% customer-focused (see above). The next step is to find ways to market to them.
That’s what Local SEO is all about. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s how people find content online—websites, articles, videos, products—using their searching engine of choice (i.e. Google). By taking steps to optimize your website and the content you put on it, you can increase its “organic visibility”—its rank in the search engine results pages (or SERP’s, for short). This is how your small business can benefit from SEO, by increasing both the quantity and the quality of online traffic you get to your site.
Local SEO is SEO, plus an extra step. And, it’s exactly what it sounds like: local search engine optimization, or ‘optimizing for local search.’ By creating content that’s both a) made with your customers in mind, and b) targets the geographic area those customers inhabit, you can create content that does two very important things. First, it will rank in the SERPs for words specific to your brand and industry (better enabling your customers to find you and your service), and second, it will also rank for geographic search terms like “(your service) near (the city you inhabit),” that will enable your local customers to more easily find you online.
It’s no overstatement to say that incorporating Local SEO into your content-marketing game-plan can be a watershed moment for your small business. By targeting local traffic, you’ll not only show up (and compete) online, but you’ll capture the attention of the very people you’re trying to reach.
Work with a Digital Marketer Today
Ready to take advantage of any of the aforementioned digital marketing tips, but not sure how to start? A professional digital marketer can help with everything from creating a new site and making it mobile-friendly, to creating a custom-made content strategy with your (local) business (and your customers) in mind. Hercules SEO has all the tips, tools, and talent to get your small business not only up and running, but thriving, in the digital age. And they’ll help you do it at a more affordable price than you might think.
Get started with Hercules SEO today by signing up for a free consultation!