When you are craving the perfect shrimp dish for lunch, where’s the first place you go to find what you are looking for? If you are one of the 4.1 billion users who turn to the Internet, you might want to consider your leading online local search option – Yello, for a more targeted search. As the Caribbean’s highest-visited search option, Yello connects consumers to the products and services they need at the moment.

An individual searching for that perfect shrimp dish or the best dry cleaner service close by, is likely not going to look beyond the results that show up on the first page of a search results page (SERP). What does this mean for you as a business owner or marketer? You’ll need to get your business to page one of the SERP.

This does not happen by luck or chance, but through an effective search engine marketing (SEM) strategy. On average, for search queries across the Caribbean, Yello always ranks on page 1 of Google search results page. What this means is that listing your business with us, means your business has a greater chance of showing up on this page and getting more search results.

Whether you’re the owner of a local restaurant or a hardware store, having a well-thought-out SEM strategy can increase your online presence (which ultimately helps to increase foot traffic into your stores too) by placing you at the top of the SERP.

A successful SEM campaign is a crucial piece of the digital marketing puzzle when a business is looking for ways to drive more traffic to their online platforms and there are three key ways to achieve this. With a little patience, a competent team and a few expert tips, you too can implement an effective SEM campaign. Use these tips to see what you can do to increase your traffic online.

Make Local Presence a Priority

Similar to how you generate in-store activities for your business by engaging with customers and developing promotions, creating a strong online presence should have a similar approach, but it will require more tactical work.

The first step is to effectively target the right audience for your product or service. There are several personas – which are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers – floating around the Internet and you want to ensure your search results are pulling in the right ones. This targeting must take a comprehensive look at tenets such as demographic, geo-targeting (targeting based on location) and aspects of psychographics (what these personas really like) to bring your products to the right customers.

Once you have the zeal to take your business into the digital arena, Yello has a host of digital solutions to help your business succeed. Yes, we provide the very same social media marketing assistance through display and search and you can get a free consultation to kick off your digital footprints!

In ensuring that your website is up-to-speed and attractive, you’ll also need it to be compatible with mobile phones. According to Google, more searches are happening on smartphones than computers. There is also continued growth of “near me” search terms (i.e., “hair salon near me”) and your website has to be positioned to outdo surrounding competitors. Again, Yello not only creates websites for clients but getting listed on the Mobile Yello Directory (mobile directory platform) gives your business the ability to be discovered through the similar “around me” feature.

After all, it’s 2018 and if your website isn’t mobile responsive, you’re failing to capitalize on a huge demographic of the population. It’s also very critical to ensure that all of your business information (address, phone number, and website) links are consistent across all of your online profiles. Once elements of SEM are added to these listings, it helps to organically carry over searches and link them to your social media handles and review sites. But it’s key to have your information up-to-date and here’s why.

 

Constantly Update and Optimize Content.

A high-quality SEM campaign must include constant content creation that is properly optimized and responsive across various platforms (PC, tablet, mobile phone, etc). Your search ranking can only improve with the right digital spend behind it and a cohesive co-existence of your online assets. It’s imperative that whenever your business is creating content – the customer must always be in mind, as they are the ones who it’s being packaged for.

If you’re still figuring out the best ways to host your content besides your website, one of our recommendation is to have a blog. Once that blog is maintained and updated religiously with fresh content, which increases the chance of your business being discovered. Of course, it won’t be that easy, as keywords use will play a significant role in trapping the eyes to your business.

Whether you are utilizing an in-house talent or an agency to handle your online assets, they should have the expertise and knowledge on how to optimize your blog and website for keyword search rankings.

 

Consider Backlinks and Increase Online Authority.

Another way for your business to develop online authority and increase traffic is through mentions and having a backlink to third-party websites (websites besides yours). One effective tactic is to achieve this through constant Public Relations. If you are a business and you have just created a new website, chances are your business name will be nonexistent across search engines. But if you are present on platforms such as Yello that receives over one million visitors per year, you’re talking about possibly doubling the number of visitors you’ll get on your site. Yello also has a special features section that can give you an additional push via written articles about a special offer you might have – which helps to secure more eyes to your business.

As the attention surrounding your business grows, so will your traffic. Remember, it may take years to effectively develop a reputation in your local markets, just as it takes years to develop your authority on the World Wide Web.