Local Business
Our coverage of local business topics includes migrating from ecommerce to brick-and-mortar (and vice versa), running pop-up stores, “buy online, pick up in-store,” local business directories, engaging local customers, cross-channel strategies, and more.
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Local Business
Managing a Local Web Presence from an iPhone
August 24, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
I’m used to sending and receiving email directly on my iPhone. I don’t need my laptop to respond to someone. In fact, I sometimes go most of the day without ...
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Local Business
How to Bring Online Shoppers into Physical Stores
August 22, 2016 • Armando Roggio
Brick-and-click retailers, those with physical stores and an online shop, can use the rich data ecommerce provides to encourage online shoppers to visit the retailers’ physical stores or pop-up shops. Many ...
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Local Business
How to Encourage Reviews of Your Local Business
August 11, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
When it comes search engine results for local businesses, one of the major factors that influence searchers is the number and quality of reviews. A restaurant listing with a limited number of reviews, no ...
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Local Business
Using Pokémon Go to Entice Shoppers to Local Businesses
July 19, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
On July 6 and 7, 2016, Niantic and Nintendo began rolling out a new augmented reality app called Pokémon Go. Within a few days it was a hit. Kids and ...
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Local Business
Using Schema Markup for Local SEO
June 28, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
Local businesses can help their search engine optimization efforts by utilizing the Schema.org markup. By adding the Schema code to your website, you’re helping the search engines identify certain text ...
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Local Business
Should Ecommerce Merchants Claim Local Business Listings?
May 9, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
If you are an ecommerce retailer or a servicer provider with nationwide clients, you may not want to claim your online local business listings. In fact, there are situations where ...
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Local Business
10 Local Business Customer Rating and Review Platforms
February 22, 2016 • Paul Chaney
Want to get more customer reviews? There are plenty of reasons to do so. They help build brand awareness, increase credibility, and improve search rankings. Plus, they let you know the customer's mindset about your business, and its products or services.
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Local Business
12 Search Terms Local Business Owners Should Know
February 18, 2016 • Kathleen Fealy
During a recent visit to a local flower shop, I spoke with the owner about online marketing strategies, objectives, and tactics. She actively participates in social media marketing but finds search marketing too intimidating due to so much industry jargon.
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Local Business
Understanding Google Local Search, with Mike Blumenthal
February 12, 2016 • Web Marketing Today
Google local search should be an integral part of any local business marketing strategy. To help business owners understand how best to maximize its value, Web Marketing Today interviewed Mike Blumenthal, a recognized industry expert on Google local search trends and practices.
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Local Business
4 Affordable Brand Monitoring Tools for Local Businesses
February 11, 2016 • Kristine Wirth
Brand monitoring is a way to observe what people are saying about your business on the Internet. One of the better ways to keep track of this information is to use a brand monitoring tool.
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Local Business
6 Local Business Online Marketing Essentials
February 8, 2016 • Paul Chaney
There are many online marketing avenues that a local small business could take, but which are essential and stand the best chance of ensuring success? After all, business owners have a limited amount of time to pursue marketing activities, so they need to focus on those that are most productive.
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Local Business
10 Great Local Marketing Ideas for February 2016
February 5, 2016 • Web Marketing Today
Each month, Web Marketing Today gathers advice from marketing experts, to help local businesses market online with greater impact. This month, we focus on real estate and share ten great ideas from Realtors and other industry-related marketing professionals.
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Local Business
4 Content Ideas to Improve Local SEO
January 28, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
Local SEO isn’t just about optimizing your business website any longer. It’s about maintaining a healthy presence online within the community and engaging with your customers and prospects through your site and on social media.
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Local Business
Local Marketing: Position Yourself as a Community Expert
January 25, 2016 • Paul Chaney
In a recent installment of "10 Great Local Marketing Ideas," a monthly series we run here on WMT, Lisa Sanderson, a real estate agent in Stroudsburg, Pa., asked, "Have you ever searched online for information on your local area and couldn’t find what you were looking for exactly?"
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Local Business
4 Local SEO Predictions for 2016
January 13, 2016 • Bill Hartzer
There is never a shortage of articles about predictions for the new year, and the same holds true where SEO is concerned. Here is my list of predictions for 2016 — four in all — that will affect local SEO. Review them and start making plans to address the upcoming changes.
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Local Business
Local SEO: 9 Ways to Take Advantage of ‘Near Me’ Search
November 9, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Google searches that include terms like "near me” or “nearby” have doubled since 2014, with 80 percent coming from mobile, according to a Google Trends report.
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Local Business
10 Text Messaging Tools for Local Business Marketing
October 28, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy
Text messaging, also known as SMS (Short Message Service), lets businesses communicate with consumers through their cell phones in 160 character messages. It gives businesses the opportunity to present relevant information, enhanced customer experiences and service, and special offers.
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Local Business
Hyperlocal Marketing: 5 Ways to Drive In-store Traffic
October 19, 2015 • Paul Chaney
The dictionary defines the term hyperlocal as “relating to or focused on a very small geographic community.” Hyperlocal marketing, therefore, consists of marketing activities that also concentrate on a tight geographic circle. Most local business marketing fits within the hyperlocal category.
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Local Business
Beacons: Local Retail Game-changing Technology?
September 14, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Beacons, a new technology designed to drive customer loyalty and in-store sales, is growing in popularity among larger retailers. But is it something smaller retailers can use?
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Local Business
Local SEO Ranking Factors for Multi-location Businesses
August 27, 2015 • Bill Hartzer
Google has made significant changes in the last few years concerning how it ranks websites for businesses that have multiple locations and now frowns upon many of the optimization techniques that were used in the past.
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Local Business
Google Local Search Updates Could Affect Your Ranking
August 17, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Google just made a series of updates that have bearing on how well local businesses appear in search results. Here's a rundown of the changes and how they could affect your ranking.
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Local Business
8 Mobile App-building Platforms for Local Business Use
August 3, 2015 • Paul Chaney
The rapid rise of mobile device use has forced local businesses to rethink their marketing strategy to include mobile-optimized websites, mobile advertising, and mobile-enabled customer loyalty programs.
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Local Business
6 Local Business Online Marketing Platforms, Apps
April 13, 2015 • Paul Chaney
For a small business, managing multiple online marketing channels is a complex process that can require a sizable amount of the owner's time and resources. Knowing how to produce content that resonates with customers and prospects, learning the nuances of how various channels work, and understanding the contribution each makes to ROI, only adds to the challenge.
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Local Business
Pros, Cons of Facebook Local Awareness Ads
March 26, 2015 • Rodney Hess
These days, advertising is almost a necessity when promoting your small business on Facebook. In 2013, the average organic reach of a business page’s post was anywhere between 12 to 16 percent of its total audience — a number that has decreased steadily ever since. A 2014 report from Social@Oglivy found that the number is now closer to six percent.
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Local Business
13 Local Business ‘About Us’ Pages, to Inspire
March 19, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy
Analytic programs show that the About Us page is one of the most viewed pages on a website, second only to the home page. Below are examples of local business About Us pages intended to inspire you. These pages aren't perfect, but they communicate the story of the company and its owners, engage the consumer in a unique way, and represent the brand or personality of the company.
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Local Business
How to Use Yelp for Local Marketing
March 16, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Yelp enables people to search for local businesses based on customer ratings and reviews. It covers a broad range of industry sectors including food, beauty and spas, health and medical, home services, and many more. As a business owner, you can use Yelp to showcase your products and services, and connect with customers and prospects in your local area.
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Local Business
10 Great Local Marketing Ideas for March 2015
March 13, 2015 • Web Marketing Today
Web Marketing Today asked ten industry insiders to share their best advice for helping local small businesses market online. Here’s what they had to say.
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Local Business
Beacons to Help Physical Stores Combat Ecommerce
January 15, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan
Brick-and-mortar retailers have been hard at work trying to lure online shoppers, who often visit physical stores to see and touch products, and then make purchases online. I previously addressed this ...
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Local Business
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Merchant Voice
Brick-and-click stores should offer free pick-up
December 9, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Free shipping is commonplace for ecommerce companies. For brick-and-click companies — those with online and physical stores — free pick-up can be a helpful shipping option for ecommerce customers that ...
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Local Business
Google’s AdWords Express Helps Manage Local Campaigns
August 22, 2014 • Melih Oztalay
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as ...
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