How to Stay On Top of the Search Engines as a Small Business

Marketing is an inevitable part of growing a business. From small sized companies to large corporations with thousands of employees, marketing is how they keep business coming in. Within the past decade the internet has changed the way business owners market their companies, especially for small businesses. Many small business marketing campaigns rely heavily on the search engines. It is one of the cheapest and most effective forms of marketing.

Staying on the first page of Google, Bing and other search engines is not easy however. With the many changes to local search, a company’s placement on the search results may shift rapidly. With small businesses thriving from being on top of local search results, it is important to remain there. If you would like to stay on top of the search engines you must broaden your online marketing process and follow shifts in local search.

Search Engine Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

• Broaden your online marketing efforts
• Follow industry news about changes
• Respect the underdog in search

Broaden Your Online Marketing Efforts

Whether you are having a web presence created for you or managing your own web presence campaign, be sure you are focusing on a broadened effort. Marketing specifically for one search engine, such as Google or Bing, could leave you behind the competition. Your company’s online marketing efforts should be diversified so that you may rise on each search engine’s results. If you are not ranking across the board, your competition could gain traction from ranking where you are not.

A broadened online marketing effort is also important because changes in local search could affect your visibility online. In recent news, the new release of Apple Maps plans to affect local search tremendously. The new change will make it so iPhone users are defaulted to Apple Maps instead of Google results. Apple Maps will pull business data from a different source, such as Yelp, making diversity more important than ever. With some companies focusing solely on Google for local traffic, there is an opportunity to rank better on Apple Maps in the near future. If you have broadened your online marketing campaign, this new change should not impact your local search traffic as much.

Follow Industry News About Changes

Changes to online marketing, such as the recent news about Apple Maps, have a large impact on marketing efforts. Other news can have a small impact but that small impact can be just what a small business needs to beat its local competition. Staying current on industry changes and news can keep you ahead of the curve with your online marketing.

One way to stay up to date with changes about local search is by browsing Google News for snippets of information. Another way would be to follow industry authorities who provide data about changes, whether aggregated or first hand. There are plenty of authoritative local search blogs and websites available to choose from, so read around and find out which you feel most comfortable with.

Respect the Underdog in Search

Currently the underdog in search is Bing. This could change at any time with the many updates to local search. Respecting the underdog through a diversified approach that is broad and up to date is how you stay on top of the search engines. If ever there is a shift in who is on top, you will be ready for it. With local search being so fresh there is plenty of room for a new leader. Do not dismiss the power of Bing and other search engines as more companies start to see the benefits of local search.

If you want your small business to thrive through online marketing these tips will help you. By keeping an open mind and keeping your marketing efforts broad and up to date, your business can remain on top of the searches. With more smartphones and applications being created monthly, the changes to local search are on their way and the amount of local searches will grow. The best way to be ready for any change is to never focus solely on one avenue.