Local Search Marketing, Your Business and The 2012 London Olympics

Are You a Winner?

Be a winner with Local Search Marketing! There is an amazing, once in a life-time opportunity opening up for London businesses especially if those business are located in the East London boroughs of Hackney, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest.

In case you haven’t heard (where have you been?), the 2012 Olympic Games are being held in London from 27 of July followed by the Paralympics until 9 September.

Thousands of athletes and millions of people will descend on the capital and will need products and services that you can provide as a business owner. So now is the time to make sure your business is ready for this huge influx of people and to ensure that it benefits from this rare opportunity.

Most visitors to London 2012 Olympic Games will be searching on websites for the products and services they will need during their stay long before they get of the plane at Heathrow.

Local Search Marketing Winner! Have You Claimed Your Google Place Page?

To win the Local Search Marketing game, the first thing to do is to claim your Google Place page and ensure you complete every section. This will include you business name, address and telephone number, a business description, opening hours, payment methods, photos, videos and much more.

This is the single most important thing you can do for your business today, Olympics or no Olympics. Why? Because it can catapult you to page 1 of Google in local search. Do you want to be on page one of Google?

Optimize Your Website or Blog with Local Search Marketing Content.

When people search for products and services near the Olympic venues you need to ensure that it is your content that gets seen in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP’s).

You can do this by making sure you include your location, full address, postcode and phone number in all your posts and pages.

Of course, not everyone speaks English, so why not get some of your web pages translated to one or two other languages. If you have built your blog on WordPress you can easily install a Translation plug-in.

Make it easy for people visiting your site and your business and you will be rewarded especially when you competitors are doing nothing to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Sell Your Self and Your Business With Video

Everyone loves video and they are very easy to make and share online. You can record yourself selling the virtues of your business and upload it to Youtube.

If you are not comfortable in front of the camera get a member of staff or a friend to do it for you. Better still if you can speak another language or have family of friends that can, ask them to do this also. Then upload all the videos to Youtube.

Once you have uploaded your video(s) use a title with a local search keyword in it. Also remember to include a link to your website in the description. For more information about optimizing videos on Youtube click here.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It goes without saying that your website needs to be seen by as many people as possible, so it is essential to ensure every page is optimized for the search engines with your local geo targeted keywords.

Once you’re on-page optimization is complete you can look at off-the-page optimization to help rank your site even higher. This can include many things from online Press Releases, Videos, Social Media and Directories. Consistently building relevant links to your website will ensure it stays at the top of Google for all your keyword search terms.

Converting Website Traffic to Paying Customers

It isn’t as simple as having a number one website on Google if people can’t navigate the site, find where you are or even call you. You’re site needs to convert that traffic into customers.

You’re website not only needs to be optimized for the search engine with keywords your prospects use to find you but also optimized for converting them into customers.

*If your business requires people to visit you  (i.e. restaurant, car hire, guest house) can they find you? Do you have a map on your website with your specific location and clear directions?

*Is your address clearly visible? Can people find your phone number? Does anyone pick up the phone when it rings? If not maybe you can hire a Telephone Answering service or use Skype.

*Do you check and respond to emails?

*Do you have an email opt in form on your website? Maybe you could encourage people to opt in by offering them some free advice about the area or service.

If people visit to your site but can’t find a way to contact you, they will move on and once they are off your site you have lost them for good. With just a few tweaks and a little bit of testing you can optimize your conversions and increase your profits.

More Local Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing

To compliment your website and dominate your search terms in Google set up a Facebook Fan Page, Youtube Channel and a Twitter account.

These are all great ways to find, engage and socialize with your customers and offer them exclusive deals through each channel.

I would recommend you start to implement some or all of these recommendations today because before we know it, the 2012 Olympic Games will be but a distant memory. One that will leave your business a gold medal winning enterprise for having taken part if you get things moving now!

However, remember that building up a strong Internet and social media presence is a Marathon not a race. It takes time to grow and nurture online relationships but when done correctly will pay dividends for a long, long time.

Blend Local Search Marketing can set up and manage all your social media channels and implement proven winning Internet marketing strategies that will get you more customers and more profits. Contact us today to discover how we can help you.

To your gold medal local search marketing success,

Local Search Marketing

Perry Stevens

Perry Stevens is the founder and CEO of Blend Local Search Marketing Ltd. He’s a tea drinker, cocoa grower and a frequent traveller.

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