As more and more people toss aside The Yellow Pages and turn to the Internet as their preferred choice of information, small business owners are realizing the importance of establishing an online presence if they want to compete in their local marketplace.  The days of people being satisfied with just a name, an address, and a phone number are long gone and even the smallest local business needs to have a website if they don't want to be passed over when Mrs. Jones goes looking for a local hair salon and Mr. Jones needs a chiropractor.

Small businesses everywhere are putting up websites or hiring someone to do it for them.  And these business owners are doing their very best to learn the ins and outs of promoting their businesses online.  It's not easy and even the most experienced Internet Marketers will tell you that the technology in this industry advances so quickly that marketing methods become antiquated in the blink of an eye.

Take SEO for example...

Google is constantly evaluating and tweaking their algorithms in an effort to provide the absolute best experience possible for their customers – the people who come online to search for products and services and information.  Your website could be at the very top of the Google index one day, and the next day it could drop clear to the back of the pack simply because Google decided it didn't like the way you had your page formatted. 

But it's important to keep in mind that all of these changes that the search engines make are for the purpose of providing a better browsing experience for their customers.  Google simply wants to make it as easy as possible for people to find what they're searching for when they come online.  They're actually trying to make it easier for Mrs. Jones to find your website and if you work with them, they'll be happy to lead her right to your front door.

For example, have you noticed the Google Map that comes up on the index page when you do a search for a local business?  If you haven't seen it, you need to check it out.  It's ingenious, really.  Let me tell you how it works.

Google noticed that more and more small businesses were starting to enter into the Internet Marketplace.  And they also noticed that searchers, aware that their local small businesses may now have a website, were going on line and looking for products and services in their local marketplace as opposed to just doing a general search.  For example, Mrs. Jones, instead of just typing in a search for “Hair Salons”, was now searching for “Hair Salons, Birmingham”. 

Originally, when Mrs. Jones searched for Hair Salons, Google gave her a list of the top hair salons on the entire web.  They only specifically showed her Birmingham Hair Salons if those salons had the top rankings or if Mrs. Jones specifically typed in Birmingham.  Well, poor Mrs. Jones, she didn't want to have to drive clear to London just to get her hair done so she had to go back and revise her search terms to include the words Birmingham.

Google, in their infinite wisdom, saw Mrs. Jones dilemma, and, wanting to make her search experience even better than before, they changed their algorithms – again.  If you notice, now, when you type in a product or service or business into your Google search box, you no longer have to include the name of your city.  Google will automatically return local listings at the top of the index, followed by the other listings according to their rank.

Now before I tell you how this will benefit your business, let me explain to you how Google has set this up so you'll understand how this works.  Because it's also going to help you put your business on the Google Map.

When Mrs. Smith types in her request for information on local Hair Salons, she no longer has to include the words Birmingham.  Hair Salons is all she need enter and she'll get a listing of local salons because before Google gives her that list, they look at the IP address of her computer to see where she is physically located. 

That's very important, so let me repeat it...

They return her search results based on the IP address of the computer she is using to conduct the search.  And not only do they show her a list of local hair salons, but they also draw her a map, right in the middle of the index page, and they pinpoint 6 to 8 of the hair salons that are located closest to the address of the computer from which she is conducting the search.

YOU need to make sure YOUR business shows up on that Google Map.

Because it's not automatic.  But it is very easy.  Simply go to Google Maps and click on the link that says “Put Your Business On Google Maps.”  All you need is an address and phone number and the name of your business.  And you can also include the link to your website.  Once you enter that information, your business will start appearing on that map.

Why is it so important to put your business on the Google Map?  Because more and more people are using that map when they look for local businesses.  Your hair salon might be right down the street from Mrs. Jones and you may have the best, most affordable hair stylists in town.  But if she doesn't see you on that map, she'll just drive right by you on the way to your competitor down the road.

Now, how do you use this Google Map to your benefit?

First of all, you include the link to your website when you register your business.  As people in your local marketing area see your business on the map, they'll click on that marker to go to your site.  That alone will greatly improve your traffic.  The more traffic you get, the better you start looking to the search engines and the higher up the page your site moves.  The higher you move, the more traffic you get, the better your sales.

But you need to remember that your business will only appear on that map if it is one of the seven or eight hair salons closest to the computer from which Mrs. Jones is conducting her search.  Now, is she searching from the computer on her desk at work or is she searching from her home computer on the other side of town?  Because her results will vary from one computer to the other if there are a lot of hair salons between home and work.  You need to know where she's searching from so you can point your offline advertising in her direction.  

To use the Google Map to your benefit you'll need to do some market research:

1) Where are the other hair salons in town located in relationship to yours?

2) What area do most of your current customers come from?

3) What area do you need to target to increase your business?

Once you have your marketing area all mapped out, you'll probably find that all you need to do to increase your visibility in your immediate marketing area is register your business on the Google Map. Then, by looking at the position of the other hair salons on the map, you'll be able to determine how to best to direct your offline advertising.