Simply using the right words in this way on a website can be enough for a
local business to get to the top of appropriate searches, but optimising
your website may not always be enough.
Used wisely, online advertising can drive traffic and sales in a way you can
measure precisely. Carefully targeted online advertising using Google’s
AdWords service made a dramatic difference to Dustbag.co.uk, said Wood.
“For the first 12 months nothing really happened on the website and I realised
that unless I promoted the website nothing would happen. When I started
using AdWords, that made the single biggest difference. After that the
growth was phenomenal.”
There are other ways to attract customers without spending any money, said
Pilkington. “A lot of businesses ignore the importance of local search, but
it has huge benefits, particularly for small local businesses such as
florists or plumbers. People’s search habits are changing and they
increasingly know how to search locally.
“Registering your site on Google Maps is free and takes two minutes to do.
It’s also worth registering on local directory sites such as Touch Local,
City Local and Go Britain.
“They are a free way to piggy-back your site on to sites that attract a lot of
traffic, so make the most of them.”
Service professionals and firms that primarily serve other companies can do
the same by joining online business networks, such as BT Tradespace, said
Pilkington.
To succeed online you need to think carefully about your business and how the
internet can help you to play to its strengths, said PayPal’s McLean.
“Those businesses that succeed online are the ones that know their customers
very well or those which have a unique offering.”
Wood agreed that offering something unique or finding a good niche was often
the best way to compete online.
“The secret for small businesses in particular is specialising in something,”
he said.
“Supermarkets might stock the top 20 vacuum bags but not the rest, which is
where we come in. We can also reach far more people than if we traded from
the high street.”
NEXT WEEK: Using web statistics, optimising your website and using
social media tools
