When it comes to search marketing, do you stay local or take it national?
Search marketing (SEM) is essential if you want your website to be seen by the right people. There are effectively two ways you can do this, through organic and paid channels. For organic, it’s SEO, so for example using the right keywords on your website, so you appear when people search for those relevant terms. Paid search marketing is typically through Google Ads, allowing you to buy the top spot, without having to do months of groundwork.
Whichever route you take it’s essential to decide upfront whether you’re going to pursue local or national customers. Local search marketing means targeting only those in a specific region, while national marketing means spreading your message across the whole of the country, even worldwide. At WEBPRO we’re experienced at both, so we’ve put together a few pointers to help you steer your business in the right direction:
Weigh up the costs
As you’d expect, national search marketing is much more expensive than local because your spread is wider. Those adopting a national campaign would typically work with a marketing partner to help them launch and hone the campaign, to ensure they get the most for their money. Local is of course cheaper but professional guidance is still recommended as hitting the right area can be tricky. The point to take away is that many small companies have gone under due to spending too much on a national campaign too soon, so it’s really important to understand your options.
Consider the competition
When you choose to invest in national SEO, you’re of course competing with everyone else in the country, if not the world, with the same products and services! If your product is relatively unique to the market then this is the right strategy, as you want to rank well before any copycats come along. However, before you decide to take on every competitor, consider how cornering the market locally initially might help you establish your business online.
Build your brand
Establishing a brand online, for example an online clothing retailer, requires national SEO if you really want to make a splash. You want to create noise around your brand online and gain a following. There is no reason this can’t start locally initially, however this will of course slow down your growth if you’re looking to expand quickly.
Merge local and national
Depending on your business, you could decide to pursue a strategy that combines both local and national SEM. For example if you run a skip hire company, you might focus the majority of your time and spend on local search marketing as you know that’s where your business will come from. However if you have plans to expand nationally in the near future, you might consider working on your national SEO alongside it to begin expanding your search wider.
Tailor it to your business
Essentially it all comes down to the type of business you operate and the intent of the person searching for your product. For example if your product is functional, like our aforementioned skip company, then you know that consumers will typically be entering “skip hire near me” or similar into Google. On the flip side, if you’re a sustainable fashion online retailer that doesn’t have a recognizable brand, you’ll need to embrace the power of national search marketing to start to establish a presence online.
WEBPRO can help you find the strategy that is right for your business. We’ve worked on both local and national search marketing campaigns, and will share our knowledge and experience to help grow your business online. We’ll research your business and industry thoroughly, scouring the online market to help you position yourself in the best possible online location. If you want to discuss your online strategy in more detail get in touch with our team, we’re always happy to help.
