Local Small Business Internet Marketing Made Easy for Local Entrepreneurs

Before the advent of Internet marketing, local businesses used print yellow pages, direct mail, business cards, and trade magazines to boost sales and increase customer base. While these means were shown to be effective, they were also costly, especially for budding entrepreneurs. Today, internet marketing is the new wave of product advertising, and it became even more crucial when it spawned local small business internet marketing to serve the marketing needs of local small business owners.

I am writing this article to give everyone a brief overview of what is available. Essentially, there are a number of local small business internet marketing options that are already available these days. And because they are localized marketing strategies, they are not as expensive or as complicated as those used by larger corporations.

If you want to get started the easy way, your first stop is to list your business in local directories like Yellowpages.com and SuperPages.com. Local online directories provide you with opportunities to introduce your business to your local consumers. Most of these online directories offer free registration, and all you have to make sure is to provide up-to-date information about your business. Keep in mind that these online directories are frequented daily by hundreds and thousands of people looking for local businesses within their area. With that, you want to make sure that you are giving your potential customers the right means to reach you.

Another strategy that has been made easy for local business owners is social media. Unlike the early days of the Internet, where social networking was about finding friends, today’s social networking is about connecting with old and new friends and promoting a business interest in a specific location. In the case of Facebook, you can create an official page for your local business to communicate with customers and fans. To locate its official page, you will be given the option to choose city restrictions and age restrictions. This setting makes your local business page visible only to the cities you’ve selected.

Local search engine is also another local small business internet marketing option for small local entrepreneurs. Google Local and Yahoo Local are two giant search engines that offer the system to connect you with local search engines. Like online directories, local search engines will require you to provide accurate business information as they will be visible in local listings in specific categories. With some search engines, you will be prompted for verification by phone or email. Local search engines, in general, help you get your local business to where your customers are.