I’d like to take a local approach to help Markham businesses to generate online leads from across the GTA via their website. Search marketing is a great way to generate online leads to your website. That being said search marketing can encompass a lot of things like SEO, Paid Search, content marketing, Social Media marketing and more.
There are some things you’ll need to know, some hurdles you’ll have to accept and some dedication to working with your site. We’ll make it simple and actionable. How’s that sound?
Let’s Talk Landscape
I don’t mean the beautiful summer garden or the birdbath atop a grassy hill. I’m talking about the fact your business more than likely has business opportunities that would exist across the GTA. Whether B2B or B2C I’m sure you have prospects who may be interested in what you have to offer.
The reality is not everyone is an opportunity for business. But here’s the numbers:
- As of 2011 the GTA population was around 6 million
- An April 2014 census showed 196,000+ businesses
Yes, big numbers and not all want what I have to sell but, wow, those are still some healthy numbers! And I’m sure at this point you’re thinking “great, but what do I do about it?”
Let’s Talk Hurdles
You could be facing a geographical problem if you’re in Markham but you want to organically rank for keywords in Toronto. Google has come a long way with this but the reality is that they want to serve up relevant links to sites based on the search query. That means – if you’re not located in Toronto and someone wants a Toronto business then you are likely not to show. That being said, sometimes, when the opportunity is right (read: low competition) it’s possible that Google will show you as the next best opportunity.
Your competition may be marketing themselves in a lot of different ways. In fact, combine all of your competition and the multitude ways a prospective buyer can find you, you’re sure to find that almost, if not all, search marketing channels have someone there.
Let’s Talk Opportunities
The opportunities are quite honestly endless. From a high level you can engage in SEO, the practice of driving organic traffic via a keyword (or more politically-correct through great content). There can be a seemingly endless supply of keywords that can drive traffic all through the buying funnel. A big part of this is writing great content that your users will find valuable. You can write content that is tailored to very specific audiences meaning you can work to target the markets you want.
Paid Search is another way to showcase a product or service, talk about a sale or bring awareness to something you’ve got. Yes, it takes some budget because you pay Google every time your ad is clicked. But, by being super-relevant you increase your chances of getting the kind of traffic you’ll like. Super-relevant means you can target areas or specific cities and towns. So if you’re in Markham but all of your business happens in Toronto then you can target ads to only show in Toronto. How cool is that?
Social Media is a great way to connect with your market, to engage in conversations with them and to learn more about how your products and services can better serve your buyers. It’s nothing to be afraid of but a sound game plan will work wonders for you. You can look to engage with local people making your targeted campaigns that much better.
Try It Out
That’s pretty much my advice. Try it out. Get involved and use your site to drive traffic to it. It’s a sales tool so make the most of what it can do for you. Figure out a plan that targets the areas where you want the business to come from and go after it. But, you’ll need to have a hand in what’s going on!
Work with a reputable search marketing firm to maximize efforts. By doing this you’ll be able to drive online leads.
nvision offers end-to-end digital marketing and web design solutions that will help your business reach its true potential. To learn more about our services, contact us.
