I created my business's website and I want to advertise online. What's the most cost effective way to do it?
I have a small local business in Dallas. I understand that most people today search for companies using google/yahoo etc. so I want to advertise online but I’m not sure what’s the best way to go about it
Filed under: Website Business
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This topic is huge so I’ll only spell out the things to do first and I’ll be brief.
First off, you’ve got to get listed on google local. They own most the search traffic online so that’s where you should be seen.
Second, research to find out the exact search terms your buyers are using. Google keyword tool to use google’s own tool in finding the search terms, and google OCI to get to microsoft’s tool that will tell you which of the search terms has any commercial intent (buyers intent).
Then you need your customers to give positive reviews…
…and post your business in local business directories…
…and a lot of other stuff.
Go to http://www.gilscorner.com/webinar to access a free webinar that will teach you specifically all you need to do.
Take care and good luck
i personally advertise my business through capo ads…
http://www.advertise.capocorporation.com
but that does depend on what business is.
Brick and motor stores can advertise on the internet on classified ads like on craigs list and backpages are free. There are local yellow page like directories that may charge only for ‘featured’ listings.
In any case be sure to apply for google local listing, it’s free, you don’t even need a web site. When people search for your store name or type of business your store is displayed next to a map.
http://www.google.com/local/add
Paid advertising on the internet can be ‘broadcast’ worldwide, which would make little sense for a local business, luckily major paid advertising services including google, yahoo and facebook offer "geo targeted" ads, wherein you specify a radius within a specified city that the ads should be limited to, so you only pay for viewers within driving distance. Most services guess the visitor’s location based on their internet service IP number. This is not as accurate as zip codes, my provides plugs into the internet about 25 miles away from me, so my guessed location is a few cities off. Facebook does the most accurate geo locating, since it goes by the city entered in the user’s profile as well as IP address. You can also pick from a number of demographic options in facebook ads., including age, gender, marriage status.
The cost of pay per click ads depend on competitive bid value of the keyword and the quality of the page the ad links to.
You can lookup the search terms used to find your biz into the google keyword tool to get an idea of the going ad cost. (select the estimated cost display option)
Advertising is free for most classifieds to start with. Once you are comfortable with it, then go for paid ones, but try out the free classifieds directory or biggest classifieds so that you would enjoy wider media exposure (online presence) and ultimately to increase your website ranking.
http://www.BiggestClassifieds.com
http://www.FreeClassifiedsDirectory.com