Creative Commons License photo credit: Omar Omar
Many business owners in small communities assume they will be able to gain new customers simply by word of mouth, yellow page advertising,
or traditional newspaper advertising, which is true to a degree. But by not having a website they are missing a key element in their marketing strategy.
People want information before making a buying decision. The days of being able to ask your neighbor for a recommendation are for the most part gone. Yes, for those that have spent their entire lives in the same community they know who to hire or at the least who to ask for a recommendation. However, it is rare that people stay in the same community all their lives. For people who have moved to a new community and have not established a circle of friends, how do they get the information they need to make a buying decision?
According to a study completed by TMP Directional Marketing, there is a major shift toward consumers looking for information through interactive channels such as search engines and mobile devices.
Internet search engines continue to be a primary source for local business information, although the data remains little changed from 31 percent in 2008. Among the search engines, local search sites increased in usage, from 11 percent in 2008 to 12 percent in 2009. Also, IYP sites gained ground as primary sources of local business information, from 19 percent usage last year to 21 percent this year.
This point was emphasized by a posting to a Yahoo Group, Get Connected Tricities.
We are planning on having an asphalt driveway installed next spring, but don’t know where to begin. A quick Google for asphalt in Kennewick was not helpful at all. We are interested in hearing about experiences with local companies, and would especially like to know what we can expect to pay per square foot. Thanks!
Simply put, if even one asphalt company in Kennewick (which by definition is considered smaller) had a web presence with testimonials, information about the process, information about how to maintain an asphalt driveway and general information about pricing they would have in all likelihood received a call from this person.
It’s not expensive or difficult to have an informative, effective website. In the case illustrated above an asphalt company would have more than recouped the investment on the first customer.
Remember, the shift towards gathering information over the internet to make buying decisions is only going to become greater. Establish your web presence now.
I’ll be heading to Portland OR this weekend to attend the WordCamp event. What is WordCamp? It is a gathering of WordPress users and developers where speakers will be covering topics from building plugins to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for WordPress. Matt Mullenweg, the head developer of WordPress will be in attendance and doing a Q&A on WordPress.