5 Easy Ways to Dominate Your Niche Online

OK, so why would you want to dominate your niche online? Here are some interesting statistics regarding local search: 1 out of every 3 searches are local Over 2.6 billion local searches are performed each month (growing 50% annually) 83% of people research online before making a local product/services purchase 98% of searchers choose a business found on page 1 of the search results (Honestly, how many pages do you scroll through before trying another term if you don't find what you're looking for?) The days of using an ad in the yellow pages to ensure your business is found are obsolete. Now more than ever, especially with the advent of SmartPhones and Tablets, everyone searches for things online. If they can't find you, you can be sure they'll be contacting your competitors. Your web site (you do have one, right?) is the hub of all your online marketing efforts. The following methods are used to bring traffic back to your site so you can communicate with your prospects in more detail and close a sale. Side note: Before you start driving traffic to your site, the number one thing that your site needs to have is a clearly defined Unique Selling Proposition - You need to explain to visitors what it is that you offer, who you offer it to and how they can contact you. Without this in place, you will have lower than optimal results. Local business results The first thing you'll want to do is get your business and site listed in the local business listings for the top 3 search engines: Google, Yahoo & Bing This is free to do, yet can bring your site instantly to the top of the search results when people are searching for your product or service locally. i.e. Lawn care specialist in Miami, FL. These are those listings you see next to the map with little pushpins on the map when ever you're searching for something using localized terms in your keyword searches. Don't forget the multitude of other online business directories such as supermedia, yellowpages.com, localize, InfoUSA, insiderpages, MerchantCircle, etc. Some of them have local listings where you can post your site/business information as well. Natural search results This is where you are striving to have your site appear when people type in keywords/phrases to find the products/services that you offer. These are the main listings on the central part of the search engine results and the ones most commonly clicked on. It can sometimes take a few months before your site will show up here naturally, especially if you've just started your site. Other than using the local business listings, having your site listed in "online business directories" can help you get found quicker. The methods that the search engines use to rank sites in the search results is constantly changing and a bit of a secret. Some commonly known ways to help boost your site are to use proper keywords in the text of your site (make sure they're relevant!), register your domain name longer than 1 year at a time (let's the search engines know you're not just a fly-by-night company and you're in it for the long haul. I suggest 3-5 yrs.), get other sites that are similar to yours or offering related products/services linking back to your site, and keeping your site updated regularly. PPC (pay-per-click) results PPC advertising is a way to generate some quick traffic while you are waiting to get your site to show up in the natural listings. However, I only suggest this if you have a large ad budget to work with, as it can get very expensive. I've seen people blow through $300+ in less than a week! Some ways to reduce your costs are to target local keyword phrases. This is especially important if you offer locally based services. A person from LA isn't going to need the services of a hair stylist in Miami (not unless they are super good and the client is super rich and wants to fly them in.) You can also GeoTarget generic keywords/phrases, that means that you can specify that your ad will only be shown to people in a specific geographical area (this is based on the users Internet IP address). Content Marketing Content marketing is going to take some time and effort, but the results can be phenomenal. The goal here is to position you as the expert in your field. Examples of content marketing are: Article Marketing, Blog Postings (on your site), Guest Blogging, Online Press Releases, Video, Classified Ads - such as Craigslist, Social Media - Youtube, Digg, StumbledUpon All of those things are also indexed in the search engines, so when people are looking for information on the topic you'd created a bit of content on, you're blog post, article or video will show up in the results, linking back to you and your site! Social Networking Don't underestimate the power of Social Networking. These are sites where you can actively engage with your audience. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn - All are used differently and depending on what type of business you're in, one may work better than the other. For example, Facebook and Twitter are really great if you are selling directly to consumers. Whereas LinkedIn is better suited for Business to Business relationship building. Don't try all of these at once or you'll burn yourself out. Pick 2 or 3 to get started in and see how it goes from there. Jenn McGroary is a work from home mom to 3 very active boys under 12. Working from home since 1999, she loves teaching established, service-based parentpreneurs how to reconnect with their passion and create profitable businesses that fit their family's lifestyle! She does this by teaching them how to integrate a marketing system into their business that will allow them to regain their passion, fill their pipeline and increase their profits so they can start loving their businesses again. She's also the author of the soon to be released book: Start Loving Your Business Again! - 7 Steps to Regaining Your Passion, Filling Your Pipeline & Increasing the Profits of Your Small Business. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6211769