Marketing Your Wisconsin Small Business Online

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool that I've written about extensively on my Express Marketing Memo blog. Among other things, I use it to keep track of articles I want to share with my readers. The following post (bookmarked in March) is long overdue, but way too good to pass by.

Back in March, Greg Sterling of Screenwerk did a rundown on the Search Engine Strategies Panel “Why Local Is Different.” Speaking of local search engine optimization, he says, “When will people learn … LOCAL IS THE INTERNET. The Internet is not a transactions platform (mostly); it’s a marketing platform that drives offline (read: local) transactions.”

Your local Wisconsin small business needs an effective Web site, not necessarily to process transactions … but rather as the foundation for all of your marketing efforts. If you’re buying any form of media to advertise your business and you don’t yet have an effective Web site, you’re probably making an expensive mistake.

Read the rest of Greg’s post on Screenwork, then draw your own conclusions about the important role your Web site plays in marketing your local Wisconsin small business.

To Reach Local Buyers, Write Local Content

It almost sounds too simple ... write quality content, gain quality visitors ... but this simple marketing strategy will work for any small business, whether you rely on local foot traffic or you conduct an e-commerce business strictly online.

This post on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog reminds us that for the local business, that same content is simply more focused. Read more about winning the local search game, including excellent advice for locally focused content, inbound local links, and the importance of properly formatting your content with HTML mark-up.

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