There was a time when all you had to do was get an ad in the Yellow Pages, hand out some flyers, and your local marketing was good to go. Not anymore. These days, you also need to promote your business on the Internet. And boy is that confusing… where do you begin?

Well at the beginning of course. And I don’t mean just having a website. I mean getting your business listed with the local search engines and online directories. Why? Because this is how today’s consumers search the Internet to find local businesses like yours.

Get started by making sure your business is listed with the following:

• Major Search Engines: I’m talking about  Google, Yahoo, and Bing local search. Each lets you submit your business information so that you show up in their local search results. And you’ll also show up in online maps (e.g., Google Maps and MapQuest).

• Online Yellow Pages: Yes, it’s the online version of the tried and true Yellow Pages. These online directories generate millions of visitors every day looking for local businesses. Check out YellowPages.com, Yellowbook, and SuperPages.

• Local Search Engines: These search engines include Local.com, LocalPages, and GenieKnows. Each focuses on generating search results and user reviews of local services and products.

• Local Directories. There are a number of local directories that focus on helping businesses get more exposure on the Internet. How about MerchantCircle, InsiderPages, and Best of the Web Local? Definitely worth considering.

• City Guides: These websites are more about “what’s great” and “what to do” in your local area, and user reviews and popularity are important factors in determining which businesses get the most attention. Yelp and Citysearch are good examples.

It’s easy and (mostly) free to get your business listed. Just click on the “List Your Business”, “Add Your Business”, or a similar link to get the process started when visiting one of these sites. Of course, there are quite a few local search and online directories to list with. So you may instead want to use services such as Universal Business Listing, iBegin.com, and Localeze. They’ll do the submitting for you at little or no cost… plus save you a ton of time!

When submitting your business information, don’t forget to include the same descriptive keywords and compelling copy that you use on your website. For example, what you do and where you do it… such as “accountant, San Francisco”. This will improve the chances of your business showing up in the right search results and sending qualified prospects to your website.

What if you don’t have a website? Then start with the Online Yellow Pages, Local Directories, and City Guides. They’ll create a business listing for you that’ll include the name and description of your business, phone number, and street address. And if you’re willing to pay ($25 to $50 per month), you can also add photos, special offers, and more!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get the phones ringing!

Whether you’re brand new or a veteran online advertiser, it’s always a good idea to review some of the many reasons why online advertising should be a growing part of your marketing budget.

Here are seven important ones:

1.  Your customers are online. More than ever, consumers use the Internet to research and select products to purchase… even if they plan to buy them offline! Your advertising will prompt them to consider your products and services too.

2.  Your competitors are online. Not only are your direct competitors advertising online, but also many companies that now use the Internet to target your customers. How to fight back? Make sure your customers see your advertising to remind them why they like your products best.

3.  Online advertising is cost effective. You can reach a large audience quickly and at lower cost than many other media. And if you use search marketing for your advertising… you only pay when you get results!

4   No big investment needed to get started. You can launch a simple website for a hundred dollars, and begin marketing it for another couple hundred. And it will be easy to scale your efforts over time as you test and learn what works best.

5.  Everything is immediate. You can test and launch your advertising very quickly and generate responses almost immediately. Said another way, if you need customers tomorrow, not next month, advertising on the Internet may be the way to go!

6.  The Internet has gone local. You no longer need to worry about wasting your advertising dollars on the Internet masses. Just target the community you care about with one of the many options for local advertising such as the online yellow pages.

7.  Lots of ways to reach your target audience. The Internet is a great channel for delivering your message to very specific audiences and in the narrowest market niches. Besides geographic targeting, you can also target based on your customers’ demographic profile, types of behavior, and special interests.

Just keep in mind, when advertising online you’ll still need to develop a good marketing strategy, target your audience, test, measure and improve… just as you would with any other marketing program. And with a good strategy in hand, you will be well on your way to generating the results you’re looking for!

Your website is up and ready to go. Not to mention you’re chomping at the bit to make some serious money online. But don’t kid yourself. It’s going to take awhile to generate enough traffic to create a profitable business. And this assumes you have something unique to sell which will get prospects coming back… plus telling everyone they know about your website. How long will it take? Think twelve months at least… and most likely longer (sorry!).

But don’t worry. You just need to be patient and willing to work hard to spread the word about your fledgling website. Having some advertising budget helps too… like with any other business.  And since I’ll be the first to admit that the world of online advertising is confusing, complex, and cluttered… we’ve put together a roadmap to help you navigate:

• Search engine optimization. Make it easy as possible for your website to show up in the first page of Google search results. How to do that? Follow SEO best practices. Better yet, make them a way of life. Otherwise, your website becomes a tiny needle in a really big haystack… and prospects will never find you on their own. Not sure where to start? Check out the book: “The Truth About Search Engine Optimization” by Rebecca Lieb, on Amazon.com… and take the time to read it.

• Press releases. Get in the habit of doing press releases (at least one per month). In today’s web world, press releases can and should be an important part of your strategy to get the word out about your business… even if you’re a one person start-up working from your kitchen table. There are free and very affordable services ($25 per release) such as Free Press Release and 1888 PressRelease. So don’t hesitate to start making some news!

• Web Directories. Millions of people search web directories every day to find a business like yours. So definitely submit your website to online directories. Good ones include: Dmoz.org, Yahoo! Directory, Best of the Web, and JoeAnt. There are also web directories that specialize in blogs (e.g., BlogCatalog), local markets (e.g., Local.com), and industries (e.g., Business.com). Many are free but some do charge an annual fee (i.e., $20 to $300)… and you can also pay to advertise and get a more prominent listing.

• Internet Yellow Pages. Yes, it’s the online version of the tried and true yellow pages. Simple enough to understand right? For example, check out YellowPages.com, SuperPages, and Yellowbook. Each of these offers a free listing for your business and you can also pay for a more prominent listing… again, just like the regular yellow pages. A must for local online businesses!

• City Guides. These websites are more about “what’s great” and “what to do” in your local area, and user reviews and popularity are important factors in determining which businesses get the most attention. Citysearch and Yelp are good examples. And like the web directories and Internet yellow pages, you can get a business listing and pay to promote it in search results. Another must for local business owners.

• Paid Search. Of course, you can always pay Google, Yahoo!, and other search engines to show up in their search results as a “sponsored” listing. For example, if you’re a dentist located in Chicago, it may make sense to buy a paid search ad for the keywords “dentists, Chicago” to drive local prospects to your website. The good news is you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement. But setting up, testing, and managing paid search programs can be very time consuming and complicated… so you may want to turn to firms like Yodle or ReachLocal to help out.

• Display Advertising. There are thousands of quality websites and blogs you can “display” your ads on. The key is to find sites that reach your target audience and make sense given your marketing budget. For example, try out Leadtail (our service) to find out where you should advertise online. Keep in mind that display advertising helps generate awareness for your business but not necessarily lots of visitors to your website. But awareness matters, since we tend to buy from companies we’re already familiar with. 

• Ad Networks. You’ll probably hear about ad networks (if you haven’t already). They make it easy to run your ad on thousands of websites and blogs… depending on the consumers you’re trying to reach. For those on an extra limited budget (aren’t we all?), take a look at BuySellAds.com, Performancing Ads, and BidVertiser where you only have to spend a couple hundred bucks a month to advertise your online business.

• Email List Rental. You can rent email lists and buy ad space in email newsletters that cater to your target audience. Just make sure the lists are “opt-in” as you definitely don’t want to “spam” anyone. And don’t forget to start building your own email list right away by offering your website visitors the opportunity to sign up to receive something from you (e.g., your email newsletter).

• Social Media Marketing. There sure is a lot of buzz about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn… to name a few social media sites. And whether or not you understand what these sites are all about… your business needs to participate. It really does. So invest the time to learn how social media marketing can help get people talking (or tweeting!) about your website.

• Affiliate Marketing. Why not have other websites (i.e., affiliates) market your products for you? And when these affiliates send prospects to your site that purchase your products… you pay them a percentage of the proceeds (i.e., commissions). Makes sense right? There are lots of companies that’ll help you find the right affiliates for your business. Check out AffiliateTips.com to learn more. This is a must for online retailers!
  

• Article Marketing. Your prospects like to read articles related to your products, services, or industry. So go ahead and write lots of relevant articles and post them to article directory sites such as EzineArticles, ArticlesBase, GoArticles.com, and Buzzle.com. And with each article you submit, you get to add your bio and a link to your website. This means you’ll be establishing yourself as a thought leader with your prospects… while also increasing your site traffic!

This online advertising roadmap has plenty to get you started… so use it like a checklist. And when you’re ready to learn more, just do a Google search using the above bullet point titles as your search terms (e.g., “display advertising”). Of course, you still have to decide what makes the most sense given your particular business, target market, and budget.

Now take a deep breath… and get going in building your online business. You can do it!