Most local business owners have a hard time understanding why it is so important for them to have an online presence.  After all, they advertise in the local paper and Yellow Pages, why do they need a website?  Well, the simple truth is that's where the people are.  When was the last time you actually picked up the Yellow Pages to find a local business?  Chances are you went to your computer or mobile phone and Googled what you were looking for.

If your business doesn't have an online presence, you are losing potential customers.  People want to quickly be able to find information about a product or service they are looking for.  And, people are more likely to shop with a business that is found online because they have information about them.  Simply put, an online presence is a must for today's business.

These are three essentials to help you establish an online presence for your local business:

1)  Optimized Website - A basic website that provides information about your business and its products or services.  It doesn't have to be elaborate with videos or lots of photos; it just has to be informative.  Also, your website needs to be search engine optimized.  This means that your website should include keywords and terms available for the search engines to pick up and include in the search results.

2)  Local Search Engine Listings - These are free listings by Bing, Google, and Yahoo and allow you to provide a lot of information about your business.  Be sure to utilize all of the features, upload a photo of your business, and create a coupon.  Potential customers will review these listings when they appear in the search results, so make them interesting and include a lot of information!  Here are the links to each:  

http://www.bing.com/local/
http://www.google.com/places
http://www.local.yahoo.com

3)  Facebook Fan Page - This is the newest trend and quickly proving to be an essential.  Facebook has literally become a search engine in and of itself.  With over 400 million active users, people are searching for local businesses within Facebook. A Fan Page is a great way to promote your business, it's free to set up, and you're probably already familiar with how to use Facebook ;-)

Here's a great quote that really puts all of this into perspective!

"Over time the single greatest opportunity is to rule the local search landscape.  20-30 year olds go straight to their mobile browser or Google Maps to find everything -- shoes, food, insurance, a dentist, you name it.  If they don't find you by doing that, then you don't exist."
- John Jantsch, Founder of Duct Tape Marketing

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment!

One of the main questions I get is, "What is my ROI on Facebook, twitter and these types of sites?"

The answer is “What is the ROI of that big billboard you have, or radio ad, newspaper or magazine?”  Most billboards cost over $20,000 depending on where they are and in what city.  Yes, thousands of people see them and yes you get exposure.  ***** Personally I think that is WAY too much money to pay for advertising

But out of those thousands of people:

• How many of them went home and visited your site or went right to your store?
• How many turned into sales?
• Can you give exact numbers?

I can with Facebook Ads!

First step is putting Google Analytics on your site, or some kind of analytics program.  Google is free but there are many different programs available with different features.  By using Google you an easily measure how many visits, bounces and key words are used to view your site.

Facebook also gives you a working document to use.  By using both of these features you are able to actually see how many people viewed your ad on Facebook ( called impressions) and how many clicked on the ad and actually went to your site.  You then use Google Analytics to see where they went once they went to your site.

All for much less than a billboard.

This type of advertising is called pay-per-click and it’s also available on LinkedIn, Google and many other sites.  This is a great way to measure your ROI, much more accurate than a magazine, newspaper or billboard.