The main reason for operating a business is to reach and serve customers. Therefore it goes without saying that apart from capitalizing on maximizing output, the business also must pay magnanimous attention to the needs of the customer. This is the reason why the research and advertising board of any organization spends time and energy determining ways of increasing the demand for the firm’s products or services. Promotion is a must, here we summerized some top ones for you.

1. Write A Good TITLE Tag

Spend some time writing an effective TITLE tag for every page in your site. It’s an important component of every site’s success. The TITLE tag can increase a page’s search engine rank and make the page look more interesting in the search results listing.

Local businesses should always note their location in the TITLE text to give searchers more targeted results. If someone is looking for a house in Dallas, they aren’t going to be interested in working with real estate agencies in Indiana.

2. Add Your Phone Number

Personal service is important to local customers. Make it easy for them to contact you by including your phone number inside your META description tag. People often do research online for services that have to be delivered in person. They’ll feel more comfortable talking to your directly.

3. Distribute Promotional Merchandise

Does your business sponsor local ball teams, do buyout nights at ball games, give away t-shirts, or hats? If so, be sure to add your Web site address to all promotional merchandise related to that activity.

Remember the “Tree of Life Childcare Center” we mentioned earlier in the article. One great promotional tool would be to give all the kids at the center t-shirts with the business name and Web site address.

4. Target specific keywords on pay per click engines.

Specificity is also key if you’re advertising on a Pay Per Click engine like Overture or LookSmart. These engines charge your account each time a visitor clicks on your link in the search results page. It’s important to make sure you target search terms that will bring you interested traffic that’s ready to buy.

Broad category terms are often quite expensive. Don’t try for top placement under the “bed and breakfast” keyword phrase (where top billing is $.74) when you could be a top listing for less as an “Annapolis bed and breakfast” for only $.13!

You’ll get better traffic and save money because visitors looking for a B&B in Anchorage or Paris won’t bother clicking on your listing.

5. Get Listed And/Or Advertise In Local Online Directories

Don’t ignore the smaller city and state directories in favor of the big guys like Yahoo. These smaller directories are usually tightly focused on your particular area and customer base.

They’re often popular with local residents because they carry information about local news and entertainment events. The state site AL.com targets the entire state of Alabama through its partnership with local city newspapers and television stations.

Cities have similar city resource sites. Local businesses and organizations in Denver, Colorado can get listed (for free) in the “Virtual Denver” portion of the Mile High City Web site. It contains links to community groups, auto repair shops, and other local service providers.

6. Trade Links With Local Businesses

Link popularity is an important criteria in most search engine ranking algorithms. Google uses it almost exclusively. Fortunately, it’s easy for many local businesses to improve their link popularity score by trading links with related businesses. That also helps bring targeted traffic to the linked Web sites.

For instance, a wedding consultant might provide links to local wedding-related resources like florists, dressmakers, photographers, and reception halls. Hopefully, those businesses would return the favor and everyone would benefit.

Harried brides who could use the links to do much of their wedding planning and research online would be particularly grateful.

7. Remember Business Correspondence

Finally, remember to add your Web site address to all your regular business correspondence, from stationery to business cards. Even add a brief description of your business to your email signature line and a link to the Web site.

Your business Web site can only increase your customer base if your customers know about it and can find it easily.

A good online strategy helps you get and retain local customers. It can also
help attract new ones. Many people carefully research an area online before
they visit on vacation or relocate. You accomplish two things when you promote
your local business online:

Increase your customer base

Promote your local area as an exciting place to live because it contains
lots of entertainment and service choices.