You may have noticed sometime in the past 12 months that for “local searches” your website that used to appear on page 1 of google results has slipped back to page 2 (or gone from page 2 to page 3 etc). This is because Google now lists “Google Places” results first on page 1, with organic results following that -  often starting on page 2. “Google Places” is the google map based listings of businesses.

When I say “local searches” I mean searches that include a town or city name in the search for a business type e.g “Taupo Motels”. The impact of this has both positive and negative effects on small businesses. For businesses that fit the location and business type criteria it may mean you now consistently appear on page 1 of the results now. For others that had put a lot of effort into having a well optimised website with strong online marketing it may mean you have slipped down the list onto a lower ranked page.

So if this is now the case, what can you do now to influence your rankings? Here are some tips to get the most out of “local searches” and Google Places:

• Make sure you have a Google Places business listing AND you have claimed it as the business owner so you can edit the content.
• Once you have access to edit your google places listing, make sure you complete all aspects of the content – including an accurate location on the map and choose all 5 category types (e.g for a motel the categories may be: motel, accommodation, motor inn, family accommodation, conference venue). The categories you enter will determine what results your business will appear in so it’s important to make the most of these and pick them wisely. You should have a 100% completed listing, so add your own business photos and YouTube videos too.
• Google Places pulls in content from other websites too – like business content from finda.co.nz or reviews from Tripadvisor, even pricing and booking links from accommodation booking websites. So having a comprehensive online marketing strategy will pay off here too.
• Use the additional free tools on Google Places like the Offer Coupons to help your listing stand out more and provide a mechanism for deals.

You’re probably also wondering, why bother with SEO on my own website now if Google Places results come up first anyway? Well, don’t give up on SEO! It’s still vitally important to rank as highly as possible in organic results and local searches aren’t the only way people will find your website through google (not to mention Google isn’t the only search engine).

For those new to Google Places, this video below is a useful reference for the key areas to cover in the content.

For the bulk of businesses they do the obvious thing when establishing their website domain name and register the name of their business with a URL like www.acmeindustries.co.nz. Which by and large is not necessarily a bad thing, but unless you have “keywords” in your business name like “Auckland Lawyers Ltd” then it won’t necessarily be the most effective website domain name that you could choose for search engine marketing.

If you are in the situation of choosing a domain name for a new website then here are some tips to get it right from the start:

• Choose something that describes the key things that you offer, particularly if your business name just doesn’t do it and there is a lot of competition in your area. For example if your business is a motel in Tirau then www.tiraumotel.co.nz would be a great choice (it’s available by the way, quick someone register it!)

• Also register your business name as a domain name but simply redirect it to your main domain name to avoid a competitor using it and keep control over your online brand.

• If some of your best choices are already taken then try variations using hyphens or an extra word e.g. www.great-furniture-design-store.co.nz (note: search engines love hyphens but people don’t like having to type them in a URL).

• If you are a New Zealand based business but target customers in both New Zealand and internationally then register a co.nz and a .com version particularly if your website has different content versions for different countries. Just register .com if your main target market is international.

• Don’t confuse customers and the search engines by registering lots of different domain names and promote them all going to the same website, focus on having one main URL name that can be universally promoted.

If you are reading this and think, oh I should go and change my website domain name right now, then consider the following things:

• An established website will have already gained some level of search engine ranking and network of traffic sources, if you then change to a new domain name this ranking will be lost until you build traffic with the new domain name.

• If your existing website is already ranking well in search engines don’t muck with the domain name – enjoy the rankings and keep on building it with great content on your site.

• If you do want to change your current domain name to improve rankings then make sure you redirect your old URL address to the new one, and immediately change all inbound links you have advertised to the new address to quickly build up rankings. Submit the new address to the search engines, and promote it intensively with pay per click advertising like Google AdWords and Facebook ads. Share it on social media too.

Most small business owners are happy having a website up and running and beyond that don’t put much thought into how people they want to target can find it….and once they find it does it effectively convert them to customers?

Here are a few basic guidelines on what you should focus on for your online marketing strategy (yes you should have one!):

Website Design & Content

• It should reflect your business image and brand, designed with a layout and content to appeal to your target market
• Make sure it is designed to EASILY find the key information needed to make a decision to buy from you
• AND make it easy for them to BUY your products or services (preferably instantly online)
• Use persuasive language talking direct to your customers, make them part of the story so they feel involved
• Use professional images, videos and photos to also communicate what you offer
• Build a website with a content management system (CMS) included so you have control over keeping it updated
• Give your website visitors the opportunity to connect and interact with you online using tools like a blog (with a comment function), subscription to your communications, connecting to your social media pages or a members only area.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

• Most websites really don’t do this well. One of the first things to do during development of a website is to establish WHO the website is targeting and what the keyword/phrase search terms they would use to find you in search engines
• Use these keyword phrases in your page URL’s, meta tags, page titles and content.
• Better results will come with using specific phrases e.g “Paihia luxury self contained accommodation” rather than broad generic terms like “New Zealand accommodation”.
• Each page on your website should have different meta tags and SEO content relevant to the contents of the page
• Don’t expect your web designer to manage all of this for you, it’s up to you to be proactive and thorough with the details of SEO

Online Marketing

• The objective on any online marketing activity should be to attract relevant and well targeted visitors to your website
• Any traffic is not necessarily effective traffic, so ensure you promote your website on relevant websites that attract your market with a link direct to you. The higher profile the website is that links to you the more benefit it will be to your website ranking
• Pay per click advertising like Google Adwords or Facebook ads can really help to boost your website traffic quickly, ensure you use specific and relevant keyword phrases to trigger the ads – if they are too broad the cost per click will be expensive to compete for the bids and the traffic you attract may not be relevant
• Build reciprocal links with complimentary businesses to feed traffic to each other. E.g. if you are an accommodation business you may have links on your website to tourist activities, local restaurants and transport. In return ask for a link to your website and ideally use your keywords in the link e.g instead of ABC Motel as the link name, request it is Kerikeri Budget Motel Accommodation

Don’t Ignore “User content” & Social Networking

• Online marketing should now include strategies to attract content from your customers online, whether it be on your own website or on your social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and so on
• “Word of mouth” marketing is powerful and now easy to generate online using these tools
• Social media is also an effective way to build a profile online for your area of expertise and to maintain and form new relationships
• Make it easy for your website visitors to share the information you have on your web pages or blog by providing “sharing tools” such as Sharethis.com or Addthis.com

There is a whole lot more detail involved with each of these areas above however if you have a plan that includes these things then you are on the right path to having an effective and well ranked website with a strong online profile. And finally….it’s an ever evolving process so never stop planning and implementing online marketing strategies.