Internet Marketing for Local Business

Internet marketing still remains a mystery to many a local business owner.

I know this because many of my local business clients arrive at my door asking: “Why does my business need to do anything online? I only sell locally and the online world is for national and global players.”

This is my cue to introduce my visitor to internet marketing for local businesses, a conversation that spans local search, location marketing, reviews and testimonials, online deals and promotions and much, much more.

Since you’re not sitting with me in my office today, I thought I’d provide you with some handy links so you can start learning more about local internet marketing on your own.

Once you get up to speed with what your “local-only business” CAN do online, you can begin to take advantage of the great approaches and tools available to bring local customers in through you doors.

Enjoy and, if you have have, or do, use any of the approaches and tools discussed below, please share your experiences in the comments section below!

Mastering Online Local Marketing: If you’re asking, “What is local marketing?”, this is a great place to start! You’ll find links to tons of great articles as well as a link to a spot where you can test your knowledge and learn even more.

8 Local Marketing Options for Small Businesses: this easy-to-read grid gives a solid overview of the more popular online solution options for local web marketing.

How To Optimize Your Website for Local Search: basic action items to get your local internet marketing efforts off the ground.

5 Ways to Make Your Website Scream Local: More local web marketing tips and tricks.

7 Local Web Marketing Infographics To Overload Your Brain: if you like your information visually, this is a great resource on internet marketing for local business.

Locals Only: more posts on local web marketing from Search Engine Land.

Hardcore Local SEO Tactics: When you’re ready, or if you already are, these uber-geek tips will really boost your local internet marketing efforts.

Weekly Link Roundup

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on small business solutions or resources online (or both!).

Enjoy!

Do Social Signals Drive Traffic?: Do tweets, likes, +1s and other social sharing methods drive more traffic to a particular post? This study aims to find out.

Why “Second Chance” Tweets Matter: After 3 Hours, Few Care About Socially Shared Links: I use this strategy to great success. How about you?

7 Best Practices for Improving Your Website’s Usability: I am a huge fan of usability and these are some great tips.

3 Reasons Mobile Apps Are The Future Of Mobile Marketing: If you are looking for a reason why you should create a mobile app for your business, this article may provide the push you need. Then, read last week’s post on how to design an app for your business.

Twitter 101: 55 Tips to Get Retweeted on Twitter: I love this actionable list of tips and tricks on getting retweeted!

The Ultimate Truth About Klout and Influence: Not sure if it’s the “Ultimate Truth”, but it’s definitely an interesting read!

The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Conversion Rates On Blogs (7 videos): Derek reviews 7 websites and advises each on how they can increase their conversion rate – great (and usable) stuff!

Facebook Lessons For Business Owners: Good, basic takeaways here for increasing the effectiveness of your Facebook efforts.

The (REAL) Idiot’s Guide to Social Media Marketing: I really liked this take on how NOT to use social media.

LinkedIn Marketing Debate: Should Your LinkedIn Profile Be In 1st Person or 3rd Person?: An interesting view into a topic I’ve heard discussed by many. What do you believe?