Local Internet Marketing Can Make You A Market Authority Fast

Small and medium-sized businesses used to be relegated to the relatively unknown, except for their loyal customer base.  local internet marketing has the power to change all of that (and quickly), and without having to dole out a huge amount of money to do it.

Why would you want to be the authority in your market?  Simple.  The more you are seen as the authority in your market, the greater the automatic transference of credibility and trust that will generally be given to you.  People buy from people they know, like and trust.  So greater visibility and authority translates into more leads and customers.

But what does having market authority really look like in the online world?  The following example will easily illustrate.

In the past, most small businesses would be delighted to be seen on the first page of Google when a potential customer searches for one of their relevant keywords.  Even if this occurs, the problem is that there can be up to nine (9) or more other sites that are vying for the searcher’s attention on the first page.  And this is only considering the free (”organic”) search results on the left hand side of the results page.  These account for approximately 70% of all clicks that will be made from the search results (with the other 30% show up on the right side which are paid advertisements).

And where you rank on the first page dramatically impacts the likelihood that the searcher will click through to your site.  The following shows the probability of a click-through for each result on a first page Google search:

So clearly, you will be rewarded with the most clicks (read “leads”) if you can show up on the first position of the search.  And this is where the traditional search engine optimization battle typically ended.

But here’s how you become the local market authority…

What if you were able to capture not only the first position but multiple positions on the first page?  This might be accomplished with listings that:

• are for your site specifically, or
• may be for other sites that are specifically about your business and link directly (and exclusively) to your site, or
• may be for local online business directories that include your business with a link directly to your site.

Your market authority could be bolstered further by including paid advertising in the right hand margin.

With all of these listings pointing to your business, you are able to push out the noise from other market competitors and make it very obvious who your potential customer should contact to fulfill their need.

To give you a sense of what this could look like for your business, take a look at the example below using the search term “new orleans chiropractor”.

There are no less than nine (9) listings that reference this one business on the first page results (note that there are two chiropractors who are affiliated through the same clinic and share the same phone number)!  Certainly in a city the size of New Orleans, there are plenty of chiropractors that one could choose from.  Not only do they have a very high profile for this specific search which has commercial intent (i.e., the searcher is likely searching to buy these services and not just browsing), but they have pushed out all but a few of their competitors as other options for the potential customer to investigate.

Imagine if you were in New Orleans and searching for a chiropractor…you would be hard-pressed not to call these folks wouldn’t you?

This is the power (and only the beginning) of being an authority in your market.  What impact could it have on your business if you were your market’s local authority…?

Technorati Tags: local internet marketing, market authority

Tagged as: local internet marketing, market authority