Local Online Advertising: The New Phone Book

Advertising used to begin with a phone book ad. Your local online advertising plan still seeks to let people know who you are, your services, products, and the quality of your company and staff, but now that information needs to come up on the person’s computer or smart phone to reach prospective customers.

Hopefully you already have a web-friendly written, original content website with your business' basic information. Beyond your website, there are many things you can do to increase your online marketing. 

Your business' information is already online on many different websites, but how do you go about making sure your information is correct, your star rating is good, and your reviews encourage new clients to come through your business’ doors? The good news is, it’s not an expensive process and, if you are moderately tech savvy, you should be able to complete the process with minimal difficulty.

1. Start by looking at your business page on each of the major review websites (see the list on the infographic) especially paying attention to the sites that are also major search engines. Go through the process of claiming your business on each of the websites so that you can update the information and password protect it so that no-one else will accidentally upload inaccurate information. Most of these websites allow you to claim your business' page for no charge.
2.  Once you have claimed and password protected each of your pages on these sites, check each site for new reviews regularly. When you receive a new review, reply to the reviewer whenever possible – a nice, personalized thank you when it is a positive review and a request that the customer contact you by phone when it is a negative review. This shows your customer service and personal connection with your customers.
3.   Start asking customers to write reviews for you. The decision-making of today's consumer is based on reading the reviews your customers have written. Encourage your top customers and your happy clients to share their experiences online. This word-of-mouth advertising is an exceptionally powerful piece of your online marketing plan.

There are many time-saving strategies and tools to assist businesses in this process – feel free to check the other articles in this blog or on my website for more help with your local online advertising!

Ann Pearson is the CEO of Impressions Review Managing, LLC - a company committed to empowering businesses to manage their online reputations. For more information about the services IRM offers, visit www.impressionsrm.com or email Ann at impressionsrm@gmail.com.