5 Ways Your Local Business Can Generate More Traffic

As a local business you need to have a digital marketing strategy that helps you get new leads. More and more customers are turning to the web to do their research, before they make a decision.

Today, having a website is no longer enough. You need a strategy to ensure your users are actually finding your site and your other outposts online.

Below we highlight five different ways you can generate more traffic to your local website, and in turn drum up more leads for your business.

1. Create and Share Online Incentives

When someone is visiting your website, or has found your social media profiles you can use this to turn them into a customer. One of the most common ways is to offer a coupon or another incentive to encourage users to get off the internet and drop by your store.

When thinking about how big of a coupon or discount you should offer, consider the average lifecycle value a customer has to you, and see how much you could potentially spend to acquire a new customer for life.

2. Get Found Via Online Directories

There are tons of local business directories where you can list your business name, location, and other relevant information. Listing your business in these directories can also help you rank in the search engines.

However, besides ranking your actual website for relevant local keywords, customers will still use these sites to find businesses. It might not be a large portion of traffic, but you’d be surprised at the number of leads you can send your business, just by being listed.

Also, make sure you fill out your profiles with as much information as possible. Listings that are fully filled out give the visitor more trust in your business.

3. Utilize Video to Rank and Educate

Since YouTube is such a high authority site you can actually use some of this link juice to your advantage. One of the main ways to do this is to create a series of YouTube videos that target keywords you’re trying to rank for.

Then, you could create a simple video about why you’re the best business in your local area for the chosen service. Just make sure you include a link back to your site, or another way that viewers can get in touch with you.

4. Stay in Touch Via Email

If you’re not collecting your visitor’s email addresses, then you need to start today. When your visitors subscribe to your email newsletter they are asking for you to keep in touch with them.

This way you can alert them to discounts you’re running, new services, and much more.

If you’re looking to accelerate your email optins, then consider offering an incentive for a visitor to join your list. For instance, a free coupon, consultation, or informative guide.

5. Encourage Customer Reviews

When you have your business listed on sites like Yelp, Google My Business, Yellow Pages, and others, you need to bolster your profiles by seeking out reviews as well.

A lot of visitors will decide whether or not to work with you, or come by your storefront based upon what people have said about your company online. So, make sure you have a system in place for following up with past customers and encouraging them to leave feedback in the form of a review.

You’ll be surprised by how many people will say yes.

Turning your online presence into a lead generation machine requires a comprehensive online strategy. We hope the above points will help generate more traffic to your website and your business. If you’re looking for a digital marketing strategy that’ll get your business results, then get in touch with our team today.

Image via Glenn Carstens-Peters