3 Easy Ways Local Businesses Can Boost Online Visibility ...

In the age of internet and social media, it?s crucial to have strong online visibility. Your business? online presence can play a crucial role in spreading your brand and letting potential customers find your wares or services online.

If your company is large enough to employ the services of a digital marketing agency, then that?s definitely a route you should consider. But if you?re a non-tech savvy local business owner with a limited marketing budget, boosting your online visibility can seem like a daunting challenge. Below are 3 easy ways you can boost your business? online visibility, even if the internet and technology aren?t your forte.

1. Start A High Quality Blog

It?s no longer enough for your business to have a static website with your basic company information. Web 2.0 is all about quality, easily accessible content and the user experience. Setting up a blog is as easy as signing up for an account with one of the many user-friendly blogging platforms available ? like the ever popular WordPress.

Still, lots of businesses start blogs that no one ends up visiting. How can you ensure that your blog is actually read by potential customers? The most important aspect of successful business blogging is that you offer up-to-date, valuable, content on a regular basis. Use your industry knowledge to offer up in depth articles, up to date news, and an insider perspective.

While starting a blog is easy, leveraging that blog into greater online visibility will depend on your own ability to separate your content from the other blogs in your industry. Whether you can offer a unique perspective within the industry, put out in-depth content that educates and informs, or add your own distinctive voice to your blog posts, the quality of your content is what will transform your blog into a powerful inbound marketing platform.

2. Guest Blog Posting

Even with great content on your blog, you may have trouble gaining momentum if no one can find it. One of the best ways to drive relevant traffic to your blog, build your blog?s brand, and share your industry perspective to potential customers is through guest blog posting.

Guest blog posting is a great way to get exposure for your brand and your blog. The good news is that in the age of blogging and social media, getting in touch with influencers in your industry is easier than ever. With guest blog posting, you reach out to other blogs in your industry and offer to give them your content and expertise in exchange for exposure for your brand and a link back to your blog or website.

This is a great way to gain exposure for your brand, and the links to your site have search engine optimization benefits as well. The key to successful guest blog posting is to have something valuable to offer. Other blogs aren?t going to give you free publicity unless you?re offering something valuable in exchange, so be sure that the content you?re offering in your guest blog posts is engaging and informative.

3. Do Some Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

One of the first places people turn to find information is Google. This means that a good ranking in Google for relevant search terms is one of the keys to attaining high online visibility. Search engine optimization ? also known as SEO ? is how websites achieve high rankings in Google.

SEO can seem like a convoluted mystery to the non internet-savvy business owner. The truth is that even if you don?t become an SEO expert overnight, taking some basic steps to optimize your website and blog for search engines can make a world of difference. Some basic steps you can take include:

• Creating a Google+ local page for your local storefront
• Changing your WordPress permalinks to /%postname%
• Do keyword research to find the terms people are searching for with the Google Keyword Tool
• Include your targeted keywords in the Title of your blog post
• Interlink to other relevant posts on your blog, using your keywords as the anchor text
• Use a variety of different keywords as anchor text to avoid penalization by Google?s penguin algorithm.
• When guest posting, link back to your website/blog with your chosen keywords as the anchor text.

Following these simple steps will greatly improve your chances of ranking well in Google, thus improving your overall online visibility and letting customers find your brand.

About the Author: Nate Ryerson is a search engine optimizer, marketing consultant and writer. He currently tests and reviews webhosting companies for Whoishostingthis.com. You can find more of Nate?s work at the Whoishostingthis company website.

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Source: http://www.noobpreneur.com/2012/08/13/3-easy-ways-local-businesses-can-boost-online-visibility/

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