How to market web design and SEO company locally

[BobGW]

Hello,

I'm looking for easy (yah right, correct?) ways to market locally my web solutions company. I do web design, E-commerce web design, and I start informational and E-commerce companies for people starting at $1000/month - only new companies, later I'll do a little more E-commerce stuff.

Looking for inexpensive, fairly easy ways to market locally.

Thanks!

[HiveDigitalInc]

First, do you have your own site up and working with a portfolio in place? If you do, some good basic local SEO can help you rank if you live in a fairly non-competitive area. You can start with something like Moz Local.

Once you have a portfolio in place, the next thing to do is start networking. Real relationships will get you off the ground faster than anything else. I would look for meetups of entrepreneurs, small business associations, etc. in your area. If there aren't any, try to set one up. You won't have a brand yet which you can lean to help you win contracts, so instead you will need to work on personal relationships.

Reach out to local SEM and marketing agencies to see if they are looking for web design / development partners for affiliate relationships.

Finally, sit down and write out every business you have visited in the last few years locally - every store, restaurant, etc. that might have a website. Go do some competitive analysis and see if any of them have poor sites compared to their competitors. Use that potentially as a hook to get them to sign up with you... "Hey, I love your restaurant and have been a customer for years, but I noticed your website isn't nearly as updated as soandso... maybe I could help".

Just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Bob,

I second Russ' suggestion regarding real-world networking in your community. Chances are, you know more about marketing than most of your neighbors and if you can start using that expertise to benefit the community, the people you help will hopefully begin referring you to friends and family. Are there opportunities for you to present at local business meetings, such as chamber of commerce events? Could you host a seminar, geared toward a specific sector of the business community? Additionally, begin blogging regularly about the local business scene. Talk about important industries. Give free advice. Make friends.

From a purely local (as in Google local) standpoint, you are allowed to list your business only if you make face-to-face contact with your customers. Making that part of your business model will enable you to build citations, most of which are free. With good citations, reviews and the right organic strength, you can work toward local stack rankings.

Hope these thoughts are helpful and good luck to you!

[BobGW]

Russ,

Every detail of your answer is thoughtful and helpful. Thank you.

When I present to entrepreneurs, what would you recommend I talk about?

Bob