Why Aren’t Small Businesses Using Local Paid Search and Mobile?

Any small-business owner worth his or her salt owns a smartphone to use for business. They might be sending out tweets on the company Twitter account, answering business emails or ordering new products from a vendor. Whatever the reason, mobile phones are an indispensable part of owning a small business these days. So it comes as a big surprise that small businesses are not optimizing their content for mobile devices.

Clearly they are behind on the trend. Formatting a site for mobile, in addition to desktop, is important now that smartphones and tablets have become such a staple of modern life. That’s not the only online marketing tool that small businesses are ignoring. Research also shows that they have not embraced local search-engine marketing aka local SEM, either.

The State of Local SEM and Mobile for Small Businesses

According to the 2013 AT&T Small Business Technology Poll, 85 percent of small businesses use smartphones, more than double the percentage that used them five years ago and a good reminder of how ubiquitous mobile has become. However, only one-third of these small-business owners say that they have optimized their site for mobile surfing.

The problem is that sites which are not mobile-optimized can be cumbersome and difficult to navigate. Desktop sites are not designed for clicking on with fingers, which tend to hit the wrong buttons on un-optimized sites. In addition, the danger is that someone coming to your mobile website will quickly click away because they become so frustrated by the slow load times, difficult navigation or crashes.

Some businesses cite the high cost of optimization as the reason for foregoing the upgrades, but in reality, not optimizing your site for mobile could actually be costing you money. The number of inquiries and sales you gain from an optimized mobile site will more than offset the cost of hiring someone to optimize the site. In fact, you might be able to do it yourself if you’re comfortable with technology.

Local SEM Solutions for Small Businesses

Just as converting to a mobile-optimized website can help win new business, so can using local search engine marketing. However, many small businesses forget about this important component of online advertising. Local search can be less expensive than targeting nationally, and it can also increase conversion rates.

It’s intuitive: If you’re looking for a particular business, you most likely are searching for something nearby that you can use. You’re more likely to pay attention to results that are geographically targeted, which is exactly what local SEM delivers.

The key to getting started with local SEM is to come up with a list of keywords that you want to target with your campaign. You may have received a positive response from a few of them on a national campaign. You’ll then combine those with your target locations. That could include:

ZIP codes
Cities
Counties
Regions
Even compass directions.

One of the best ways to cement a local SEO plan is to clearly map out your target locations.

Small Biz Example

Popular small businesses are heating and air conditioning, plumbing and landscaping. These types of businesses secure the majority of their clients via word of mouth and being listed in local publications/vendor directories. But what they may not realize, is that potential customers around the block are searching online for their services. If one of their competitors is on top of their mobile and local SEO game, they’ll be the result that gets shown, even if they’re further out.

To remedy this, you’ll want to create an onsite navigation experience that’s beneficial to both users and search engines. For example, RSC Heating & Air Conditioning does a great job of this with pages such as Lancaster radiant floor heating – can you guess what we might find on this page? If we’re located in Lancaster, this is exactly what we’ll be searching for – or similar variations, such as “floor heating Lancaster” but this page will still show up as long as the location and service keywords are present.

Local SEO: Local Product Search

Think outside of the box.

Geographic destinations are often associated with local landmarks or attractions. For instance, people looking for a pizza place in Washington, D.C., might type in “pizza National Mall” or “pizza Smithsonian” rather than “pizza Washington.” These non-postal destinations can help your search campaign stand out from others.

Another way to optimize products for local SEO is to literally use the word “local” with the product item. For example, local pool fence directs to the product in Arizona – regardless of where you’re actually located. What this does though, is when someone in Arizona runs a query for pool fences in their area, the “local” categorization tells search engines, “This is what the searcher is looking for.”

Continued learning on Get Busy Media:

User Experience: Mobile Small Business Websites

One of the biggest problems with failing to incorporate these two online phenoms into your advertising is that it makes you appear dated. If you want to present yourself as a smart, aware business, you need to keep up with online trends, otherwise people will not trust you. That’s especially true if you run any type of online-based or technology company. Why would someone hire you to perform a digital task when they can’t even navigate your mobile site or find you through a local search?

Small-business owners can get overwhelmed with running the day-to-day operations of their company, and that’s perfectly understandable. However, you must remember that for every jump in new technology you miss, a competitor may be paying attention. Customers make comparisons between competing brands all the time, and it’s not just about the quality of their products. It’s also about presentation. If you appear to know what you’re doing, you’ll gain the edge in the customer’s mind, and using mobile optimization and local SEM will further that appearance.

Written by Jesse Aaron. Jesse is a professional blogger with a passion for homebrewing. He writes on a variety of topics on his blog Mashbout. Follow Jesse on Google Plus.