Unlike marketing efforts for larger demographics, local digital marketing has challenges requiring specific planning for success. A proper local digital marketing strategy will differentiate a booming business from one with little to no online recognition.

Even though local digital marketing has its benefits, not every strategy works. For this reason, we at Nomadic Advertising believe that business owners or marketers need to understand the audience first and plan carefully to get maximum returns.

What is Localized Marketing and Why is It Important?

Let’s start at the beginning. Localized marketing involves strategies to help businesses reach their target customers in a specific region. These online marketing strategies will help business owners get their products out and engage new or potential customers in a specific region. In most cases, businesses that use local marketing typically have a physical location like restaurants, spas, or medical offices in their community.

• Companies embrace localized marketing strategies because it fosters customer trust, and when customers trust your business, they always come back.
• For this reason, your venture will generate more sales with a low attrition rate.
• If done right, localized marketing can also improve interaction with your brand, drive better online search results, and build stronger brand consistency.

Creating a Localized Marketing Strategy

When creating a useful localization marketing strategy or location-based marketing strategy, it’s imperative to consider the customer’s journey from discovery to interaction.

A good strategy usually involves:

• Website localization
• Utilizing localized apps
• Translation management
• International audience research
• Audience localization
• And other relevant marketing ideas

As new companies enter the international markets, the missing link to successful global expansion could very well be a marketing localization strategy that is well-planned and skillfully executed. To create a suitable localized marketing strategy, you need to perform some market research on your target audience and optimize your strategies to suit them. Always ensure you consistently track the performance of your localized marketing campaigns in case there’s a need for any changes.

Let’s see the “must haves” of any local digital marketing strategy.

Local content marketing

Local content marketing describes creating and sharing valuable, informative content that resonates with your target audience. Utilizing content marketing is imperative for small businesses because they help:

• Establish a connection with their target audience: In a content marketing strategy, your target audience is the most significant factor to consider. Hence, having a great strategy will help in addressing their needs leaving you leads that convert into satisfied customers.

• Build trust and credibility: With local content marketing, your target audience doesn’t only have a connection with you. They also have a degree of trust in your brand. Your audience trusts you because you positioned yourself as an authority/expert in the industry.

• Improve search engine rankings: Creating unique and relevant content with relevant keywords for your local audience increases the chances for better search ranking. In turn, this leads to more traffic on your business website.

To begin with local content marketing, here are some of the important marketing tactics to try:

1. Understand your target audience: The only way to build a connection with your target audience is to understand them and their specific needs. Understanding your target audience will help your business build content that resonates with them and provides much-needed value.

2. Create valuable content: Since you’re trying to meet the specific needs of your target audience, ensure that your content is original, engaging, and informative. You can use videos and infographics to improve engagement.

3. Promote content: After content creation, the next important step is content promotion. Share your content using your social media profile to reach a larger audience in your local community.

4. Accurately measure results: Continuously track your content marketing strategy results to stay on track with your efforts.

Localization advertising

Ad localization involves adapting the copy or design of an advert for a local audience or specific demographic. With local advertising, you can create campaigns that involve Google’s properties, including Google Maps, Display Network, Gmail, and YouTube.

One of the many benefits of localization advertising is that it helps businesses reach specific demographics, which is generally important in online marketing. Platforms like Google Ads use demographics to reach specific age groups, genders, and more.

• Local search ads also allow businesses to stay ahead of the competition. For instance, using Google Maps in your overall ad campaign can help you reach close to 54% of smartphone users. If your competition doesn’t maximize Google Maps, you’ll be your audience’s first point of contact.
• Maximizing localization advertising helps improve conversion levels as your ads reach the right people. Improved conversion helps you get to know your customers better, reduces acquisition costs, and leverages the current website traffic.
• When someone finds your website or business through local search ads, there’s a high chance for them to reach out to you. This opportunity can result in lead generation.

Brand localization

When creating a localized marketing strategy, ensure your brand is more local. Some of the steps that will improve brand localization are:

1. Good geotargeting: Brands can deliver different ads to customers based on certain factors. Examples of these factors are interests, age, and location. When brands maximize these factors, they can create unique ads that feel personal and uniquely relate to the customer. With geotargeting, your business can deliver the right message at the right time.

2. Partnering with influencers in the area: To attract those around the business’s geolocation, brands can build their online appeal by working with local influencers. Most influencers with active geo-specific community fans can create content that people in the region relate to. You can also use individuals with average following to help organically promote your brand – User Generated Content (UGC).

3. Maximizing niche hyperlocal communities: Businesses can enter into hyperlocal communities when influencer marketing is done right. All the company needs to do is find out who leads those communities and make them an ambassador for the brand. Taking this step makes people perceive the brand as authentic and trustworthy.

4. Create custom pages based on IP: Use your visitor’s specific address to create unique regional content. For instance, if you have a prospective customer from Florida, you can have a landing page that welcomes them to the “Sunshine State.” You can also include the Florida flag in the landing page design.

5. Get listed on significant platforms: Get listed on platforms like Google, Yelp, Facebook, My Business, and other relevant platforms.

Local vs. organic SEO

Organic SEO utilizes online web strategies to target prospective customers. This strategy is suitable for brands willing to build momentum for brand awareness. Local SEO may be a better alternative to organic Search Engine Optimization as it helps target a specific local audience in a geographical area. A solid local SEO strategy contemplates different online channels and methods.

Here are some tips that would help in implementing your local SEO:

• Set up Google Business: To help prospective customers find you easily, set up a Google Business Profile (GBP) and ensure it’s current. In most cases, your Google Business Profile is the first contact a prospective customer has with your business. Hence, it’s imperative to have one to boost your visibility.

To set up Google Business, you need to provide your full business name, its physical location, Google Maps location, the business category, and phone number/website link.

• Localizing Web Content: When people hear “local SEO,” they think of Google Business Profiles, locally run ads, and directory optimization. While those factors are important, local SEO also largely deals with content. For this reason, businesses should endeavor to optimize their web pages for local terms customers search the most (common search queries).
• Optimizing Local Web Pages: Once you discover the terms you intend to target, the next important step is content optimization based on the search terms. Optimize local web pages by including target keywords, writing concise and informative meta descriptions, using useful and keyword-influenced body content, including images with their alt texts, using appropriate headings, and linking to internal pages on the website.

• Be location specific: When optimizing your website for local searchers, include location-specific keywords throughout your content. Using those keywords helps the search engine know you’re a local business.

Adding your NAP info

NAP is a common term in local SEO, and it’s also one of the major problems with local business owners. Some companies have inconsistent NAP/NAP+W information in the places their business is listed online. Over time, NAP information inconsistency affects the business’s online ranking.

So, what is NAP, and how do you fix the problem of inconsistent NAP information? NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. Many may also refer to it as NAP+W when a website address is included. Google uses this information on listings such as Yelp and Google My Business to determine the ranking for your business. Hence, incorrect NAP information can confuse your customers, causing a poor user experience.

Everywhere your business is listed is called a citation. You don’t get your maximum ranking if your NAP/NAP+W is inconsistent across the different sites. So, ensure your key business listings online are accurate and consistent to avoid or fix inconsistencies.

For example, you should begin with the Secretary of State Filing for your business, Google My Business, data providers like Axiom and Infogroup, and other major online listings like Apple Maps, Yelp (customer reviews available), and Facebook.

Pro tip: f you’re a business with multiple locations, you also need to ensure your NAP consistency on all of them. Include NAPs on each of your business location web pages.

Website localization

Website localization involves adapting your website to fit a specific local audience. To do this, businesses must understand their culture and other content preferences. You also need to ensure that your website is targeting the right audience.

Here are some helpful tips on targeting the appropriate audience for your website:

1. Define your business’s demographic: In website localization, you must know the specific demographic to target. Not everyone in the local community will be interested in your product or service. So, research the gender that will prefer your services, the age bracket, education level, or interests.

2. Understand how customers will discover you: Customers have different preferences regarding their mode of communication. So, you should research your niche crowd and discover the channels they can find comfortable reaching out to you.

3. Consider Facebook and other social media ads: Social media is one of the major drivers of business growth. It’s a marketplace filled with people with various interests and ideas. Hence, you can maximize those interests using social media ads appropriately. Consider social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram for your ads.

4. Support local businesses and events: More involvement with your local business network is great for local marketing. Use social media platforms like Twitter to post about upcoming community events and congratulate other small local businesses. However, while supporting those local businesses, remember you shouldn’t do the same for competitors.

5. Maximize location tags and other hashtags: Ensure your website connects users to your social media and vice-versa. Use hashtags and location tags to make locating your social media content easier for local users. For instance, if your business is based in Chicago, you can use #Chicago for potential customers in the region to discover you. You could also check out how other competitors use their hashtags.

Join a local business directory

A major step to take in localized marketing is joining a business directory. Finding the right directory that suits your needs will help enhance your online presence, improve local visibility, and boost SEO. Here are a few of the common directories or review sites to consider and what makes them unique:

• Google My Business: Google My Business, through Google Business Profile, allows business owners to claim their businesses on Google. It also displays vital business information like your website URL, address, phone number, and other necessary information. GBP is free, easy to use, and has insights on listing performance every month.

• Bing Places: Bing by Microsoft is also significantly common and stands as the second-largest search engine in the world. Bing Places is an online business directory that allows users to find business information and location.

Keep in mind: Google doesn’t display Bing Places in its search results. However, those who use Bing will get that directory.

• Yelp: This directory includes recommendations and positive reviews and negative reviews from previous customers. It’s a good app to establish the brand, and improve trust since it involves giving online reviews and increasing the customer base. Business profiles on Yelp can send public and private messages to customers. A business can also enjoy its reporting tool, which allows businesses to analyze business trends.

• Better Business Bureau: To get an additional vote of confidence or trust from potential customers, get accredited by Better Business Bureau (BBB). This directory follows a lot of standards. So, meeting them positions your business as trustworthy. Close to 13 million customers use the BBB to discover businesses they trust.

• Facebook: Facebook is one of the most powerful tools for local marketing. It has close to 2.8 billion users a month, while 1.8 billion use the social media site. Businesses looking forward to expanding locally should consider opening a Facebook business profile for social media marketing.

Localized marketing examples

If you’re looking for a template to follow for successful brands doing great at local content marketing, here are some examples to follow:

#1 H&M

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIeP5SndczI&ab_channel=H%26M

After extensive research on their target audience, H&M launched a localized marketing campaign for their regional consumers. The brand stocked more local brands and also offered additional services like repairing, selling, and renting clothes.

The H&M local marketing strategy worked because they focused on the interests and lifestyles of people in Amsterdam. The brand successfully tapped into its market by offering solutions to its major environmental problems.

Amsterdam became the first city to introduce the renewed retail technique. With the rise in sustainability discussions and green consumerism, the timing of the strategy was close to perfect. The aim of the H&M campaign, according to campaign strategist Diederik Luger was to show that the brand listens to its environment at a local level and is ready for change.

#2 Nike

Source: https://vimeo.com/657672388

When discussing marketing and branding, Nike is a force to reckon with. This sportswear brand is global but strategically reaches 170 countries with its local marketing strategies. In its “Own the Floor” campaign, the brand emphasized what it means to live in a big city like New York.

The campaign appealed to New Yorkers and showed them places and activities they recognized. For instance, the ad campaign showed pizzerias, laundromats, and even subway platforms to deepen the feeling of connection between NYCers and Nike.

#3 Frito Lay Potato Chips

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_zQWGHu8L0&ab_channel=ArtTVGallery

Frito Lay used the UEFA Champions League Final to appeal to their European audience.

The marketing team also used the Super Bowl in a different ad to appeal to the American audience.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsA8dNubLZ0&ab_channel=Frito-Lay

The brand’s marketing strategy allowed for connecting with the target market by using local events. Frito Lay tailored its insight with familiarity to successfully connect with consumers on a personal level about sports that they find appealing.

#4 KFC

Source: https://global.kfc.com/press-releases/kfc-x-karabo-poppy-celebrating-families-across-sa/

KFC, in a marketing campaign in South Africa introduced “limited-edition” buckets including the Karabo Poppy’s artwork. This technique encouraged consumers to take pictures and post them on social media platforms with the hashtag “#madeforsharing.”

KFC’s marketing campaign worked because the brand learned how to tailor its menu to regional tastes around the world. The kitchen brand connected with its target market through influencer marketing. Even though they were focused on limited-edition offers, they proved their understanding of their various audiences and what draws them to KFC.

Is it necessary to hire a local marketing company?

Hiring a local marketing company makes your work much easier as a business. Marketing requires expertise and understanding of many ad concepts and, often, human psychology. Juggling between the responsibilities of your business and marketing simultaneously can be a war. For this reason, it’s best to opt for a digital marketing agency like Nomadic Advertising to help optimize your local marketing strategies.

Results matter, but every client is unique. So, we ensure that we deploy tailored local marketing strategies for every business for a positive experience. Reach out to us today by booking a free consultation to discuss your business needs and an effective local marketing strategy for your business.

FAQs

What are local businesses?

A local business is any company that offers products or services to a population within a specific region. Many refer to these kinds of companies as “brick and mortar.”

How to promote your business locally

When promoting your business locally, start by joining local groups to form partnerships or build relationships. You can also engage in competitions and contests, offer local discounts and rewards, add a business to local listings, or sponsor events.

Why local marketing is important

Local marketing is an effective tool for businesses looking to increase conversions in a certain local community. It helps increase a company’s growth goals by gaining valuable customer insights, improving customer retention, and driving revenue. Local marketing establishes businesses as key players in their industry.

How long should a marketing campaign last?

An ideal online marketing campaign usually lasts for three months. However, the period for marketing campaigns varies, depending on factors like your message, budget, and overall expectations. Most online marketing campaign timeframes highly depend on the marketing budget.

What are global marketing campaigns?

Global marketing campaigns aim to advertise products or services to a global audience rather than a local or regional one. Compared to local campaigns, they are broad and generalized. Oftentimes, global marketing campaigns are significantly more complex than local marketing campaigns.

The post  Your Handy Guide to Local Digital Marketing appeared first on Nomadic Advertising.

The post This is the hyperlocal marketing guide you were looking for! appeared first on Nomadic Advertising.

Having a website is just the first step in building your online presence. You need to think of many other things to stand out from your competition. One of those things is website localization. In the simplest terms, it’s about transforming your site to ensure it serves your target users perfectly.

Websites are digital storefronts. They are among the first places your potential customers will interact with your business. For this reason, you must ask yourself if they feel welcome. Are they drawn to your store? Do they understand the language or need a translation?

Considering most online consumers state they are highly likely to purchase from online stores that present product/service information in their native language, and most non-English speakers won’t consider buying from English sites[1], the importance of website translations can’t be overlooked especially among business owners expanding to international markets.

But website translation is just a tiny part of website localization. There’s more to website localization than what most people think. Let’s start at the beginning.

What Is Website Localization?

Website localization is simply the process of adapting a website’s design, content, and functionality to match the culture, language, and other unique preferences and requirements of a target audience. So, when you localize your site, you are adjusting multiple aspects, from language to cultural preferences/context.

Localization also includes adjustments to related aspects. For instance, when ensuring your site caters to different language translations, you must adjust the layout to allow enough space for different language translations. The same should also be done when using images that represent different target markets.

You may be wondering what kind of site owner needs website localization. Well, site owners who want to offer a better online experience to their different markets or locales need site localization. This allows for great experiences for different audiences (with varying languages, cultures, and other preferences) as opposed to offering one site for all.

What Does “Localizing” Mean?

Localization can be defined as adapting a website to meet the needs/preferences of a particular locale or market. Localizing a site is a critical business decision bound to have an impact on success in a certain market.

To localize effectively, a website owner must understand their target audience in-depth and ensure their products/services match the local standards and core cultural values of their audiences.

Localization demands an in-depth understanding of the customs and practices of different nations being targeted as potential markets.

For instance, for a US company targeting Polish clients, it would be important to take note of practice/cultural differences. Polish people prefer a formal business style, approach, and language. On the other hand, Americans don’t mind a more relaxed/outgoing business style. These must be factored in when creating a website.

How To Localize a Website

So, how do you do effective website localization? What factors should you consider when localizing a site?

1. Define Your Strategy

You need a localization strategy before you begin. This strategy should highlight how you intend to adapt your site’s messaging, content, offerings, language, etc., to meet the preferences and/or needs of your target market.

To do this effectively, begin with market research as part of your strategy-defining process. The research should uncover important information like main language/s, purchasing behaviors, preferred payment methods, social or cultural norms, etc.

Website localization usually precedes expansion. As you seek to serve different markets (hyper-local or global) with your site, you need to do more than the basic language translation process. How you present site information will dictate how appealing your products/services will be to target markets.

When defining your localization strategy, don’t forget to identify the stakeholders who will implement the localization i.e., website designers, developers, and content managers. It also helps to set business goals or KPIs for measuring the effectiveness of your strategy.

2. Localization SEO

Localization SEO focuses on local terminology or keywords. Proper use of such keywords is critical for ranking in local search engines targeting specific markets.

Localized SEO also boosts the overall customer experience (reducing bounce rates in the process). When your site has the language that your target market prefers, they are less likely to leave in a hurry. Localized SEO also builds credibility. Reputation begins with local target markets and grows from there to foreign markets. The best way to build your brand in any market is from the ground up.

But how do you do localized SEO? Well, you can begin with research on common terms used by your target audiences. It can be local idioms, slang, etc., and ensure you use these terms in your content.

You can then proceed and do geotargeting, which is simply using a country or region-specific URL structure. For instance, you can use nomadic.com/US for your American audiences and nomadic.com/DE for your German audiences.

Hreflang tags (HTML code bits) are also great for ensuring search engines like Google index your website content in other languages. Ensure you include these bits of code to tell Google there are X language versions of your site pages available.

Local Landing Pages SEO

When doing localized SEO, also remember to translate every critical element of your site (i.e., from meta descriptions and title tags to image alt tags and URLs). Landing pages also need local/regional keywords of exact locations.

It also helps to understand search engine preferences in different markets. For instance, Google is popular globally but is firewalled in countries like China. In such a market, Baidoo and Yandex are preferred. Your site should, therefore, be optimized as per such search engine preferences.

3. Content Localization

Content localization goes beyond mere language translations. It is about tailoring content around local clientele, their beliefs, and values. The content must meet the wants, desires, needs, and culture of a target country or region. It must also “speak the language” of potential buyers in the region/country in question. This will require language localization.

What is Language Localization?

Language localization focuses on adapting the product/service translation to the specific region/country. It ensures language translations of products/services are in line with the differences in specific markets.

Effective Content Localization

To do effective content localization, you must have a target region or country in mind. You should then consult with people familiar with the daily life/activities/preferences of your target market. Instead of using translation tools, such an expert will help uncover societal preferences and other metrics critical in coming up with truly localized content that converts.

Once you have an audience in mind and their preferences, needs, wants, etc., you can choose specific content to localize. This should be content that performs well in the region. Remember to include photography and graphical elements that match that region. It may take hiring content localization experts to cover all aspects perfectly.

4. Design Localized Pages

In the past, website owners would design a website first with one language (i.e., English) and then think about translating the site to other languages after website development. However, this seemingly common approach is slower and more costly.

These cons are preventable by translating a site early in the design stage as opposed to translating during the last stages. We suggest that you account for text contraction and expansion that is inevitable when translating sites to different languages. Some languages i.e., German, are wordier than English. Non-Latin languages like Japanese and Chinese expand vertically, requiring image and layout designs that account for such expansions or don’t change regardless of the language.

Design localization experts can advise on the site design and development aspects to consider, as well as tools needed to make design localization faster and easier. Website design and development experts can also take you through how website designs will change based on your target market.

5. Internationalization Website

Internationalization is also part of the website localization process. It refers to designing and developing a site to adapt and localize to different regions, cultures, and languages. Internationalization differs from localization in execution and where the process happens. For instance, both processes complement each other. However, internationalization happens once during software design and development.

It affects the front end and prepares the codebase to accept different configurations depending on the target language. Internationalization eliminates the hard coding of each language every time a translation is required. Code is replaced with placeholders that automatically retrieve a foreign language without demanding fundamental engineering changes.

What’s more, internationalization allows cultural formatting such as time zones, number formats & systems, text formatting, and more. The actual process of internationalizing a site involves placing code into your site that detects system preferences automatically, among other metrics like location settings and domain for target audiences.

This is critical for detecting which site language to use. The code also has fallback rules i.e., default language settings (like UK English for European countries) important for a pleasant website experience.

Internationalization can be a challenging process for website owners. It requires some expertise in website design and development. It also helps to be knowledgeable on CMS and website-building tools

6. Localization Workflows

In many instances, typical translations will take many words out of context. The importance of a comprehensive process can’t, therefore, be overlooked. Localization workflows can be defined as the processes of adapting/translating content to another language or cultural context.

They involve several steps, from file preparation to actual translation, editing, quality checks, and delivery. These steps are handled by groups of people (or collaborators) like software developers, translators, copywriters, marketers, reviewers, and quality assurance specialists.

Since there’s no single guide that fits all scenarios, you need to follow best practices for workflows to enjoy the best outcome.

Localization workflows are best created and managed by special software using localization best practices to automate workflows, establish a collaborative environment, and guarantee high-quality and consistent translations.

You need a website localization expert to guide you in creating and managing localization workflows, including picking the right software.

7. Web Localization

Web localization involves localizing a website from a design and development perspective. The focus is on adapting site design aspects, code, and functionality to fit the cultural and linguistic needs of a target audience.

It can involve other audience requirements. Translations can affect content navigation menus. Some design aspects also need to be adapted to your target audience’s culture. For instance, it may involve changes in color, font, image, and layout to make the site more appealing.

Other aspects for website designers and developers to consider in localization include using character encoding, which supports a target language. The right localization platform should also be used to automate processes.

Responsive design is also critical to ensure a site looks perfect on all devices, especially those popular in a region. Lastly, web localization should include testing to ensure all design and development aspects are working perfectly.

Website Localization Best Practices

There are many other factors to consider when doing website localization. Don’t miss out on our professional recommendations to ensure your localized website can get ahead of the competition:

• Translating web pages: We’ve not covered the actual translation. When it’s time to translate the site language, you can do machine translation or human translation to change content on your site to another language. As the name suggests, machine translation doesn’t include human intervention.Different methods will be recommendable for different scenarios. For instance, machine translation software is good for simple sentence/idea translations. However, we recommend human translators when translating complex sentences or ideas that can be easily taken out of context. Human translations also work best for creative language and business-specific communication.
• Measuring website localization efforts: A website localization process shouldn’t be completed without measuring results. As mentioned earlier, a good strategy dictates that you have a way of measuring progress. We suggest you use automated tools and measure important aspects like conversion rates, market share, social engagement in different languages, SEO keyword performance for specific markets, and more.
• Legal considerations: Lastly, it’s worth noting that different regions/countries may have unique regulations on localization-related factors like content privacy, data protection, terms of service, etc. You must factor such things into translations and your overall localization strategy. This may require hiring a local legal expert in the region to oversee the process.

Looking for Website Localization Services?

The benefits of localized websites include increased engagement and revenue when venturing into new markets. We’ve discussed the most important localization factors to consider and how to do website localization like a pro. While you can implement the above steps on your own, you are free to consult experts if you lack time and/or need guidance.

We happen to be website localization experts ourselves. Nomadic Advertising offers website localization services to clients in Canada, the US, and beyond. Book a FREE consultation, and let’s help you navigate the website localization process.

Our localization team does web design and development with localization in mind (SEO -search engine optimization-, UX -user experience-, and more) to ensure your business expands to other markets with ease. Get in touch with us and let’s discuss your localization project and ideal localization budget.

Key Takeaways

• Website localization is the process of adapting a website’s design, content, and functionality to match the cultural, language, and other unique preferences and requirements of a target audience.
• Site owners who want to offer a better online experience to their different markets or locales need site localization.
• Benefits of localized websites include expanding global reach (international customers), increasing customer engagement, building brand credibility, customer loyalty and boosting conversion rates and sales.
• How do you localize a website? Start by defining your localization strategy, performing localization SEO, content localization, designing localized pages, performing website internationalization, preparing localization workflows, doing web localization, translating web pages, and measuring your localization efforts.

Source

1) https://insights.csa-research.com/reportaction/305013125/Marketing

The post Website Localization 101: Breaking Down the Essentials appeared first on Nomadic Advertising.

Social media marketing is a valuable way to grow your business. With a huge number of people on social media sites, advertising on those channels can lead to an increased influx of sales to your business. Using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and even Twitter to reach people in your business location can take your results a notch higher with increased foot traffic to your store, more revenue, and several benefits for your business. Let’s dive in to see exactly what makes these platforms worth it, how you can harness their power to boost your sales and where to start.

The best platforms for local social media advertising

There are many platforms for advertising your business on social media. Here are some social networks that are great for local advertising.

Facebook Local Ads

Most social media users find local businesses for their next purchase on Facebook. They could decide on the nearest store to them for things like groceries, cosmetics, plumbing, dry cleaning, and more based on their friends’ recommendations on Facebook or based on ads shown to them while they are scrolling through their feeds. Facebook local ads are an essential way to reach these customers and drive in-store sales.

It’s easy to promote your offers using Facebook local ads. They allow you to target people who are within a specified distance of your business, which is especially useful for small businesses. Facebook local ads also have a custom audience targeting option that allows you to reach people who have bought from you in the past. With many active users, adding Facebook to your social media presence will help you build relationships with your customers. This can help business owners gain repeat sales and increase the lifetime value of each customer.

Setting up Facebook Local Ads

To create a Facebook local ad, you should follow these steps:

1. Go to Facebook Ads Manager

To do this, log in to Facebook and navigate to your business page. Then click on ‘manage ads’ to go to the ads manager.

2. Create a new campaign

In the ads manager, click on ‘create’ and select your campaign objective. Follow the prompts to fill in the required information.

Pro tip: we recommend using engagement, brand awareness, and reach objectives for local ads, depending on your campaign objective. One of the best objectives for local ads is “awareness”, given that it allows you to reach a lot of people in a specific geographical space at the lowest cost, it also ensures that the entire area sees your ad. The “engagement” objective will get users to participate in giveaways or raffles or will provide them with a specific video to watch.

3. Add your audience information

You’ll find different options regarding your audience demographics including their age, location, interests, and behaviors. Choose the one that best describes your audience or create a custom audience using your customer data.

Keep in mind that Facebook recently changed the “location” settings and no longer allows you to choose between “people living or recently in this location” and “people living in this location”. You can now only target “people living or recently in this location”. We have our own professional tip to help you bypass this issue! Keep reading to find out more.

4. Set ad placements

Choose where you want your ads to appear such as Facebook newsfeed, Messenger, or Instagram stories. You can select automatic placements to allow Facebook to choose the best placements for your ad.

5. Create your ad

You can choose from different ad formats like image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and so on. Choose the format that is the best fit for your needs.

6. Set your ad budget and schedule

Add a budget for your ad and include a start and end date for your campaign. You can go for a daily budget or a lifetime budget depending on your campaign objectives. You can also add the times within which you want your ads to run.

7. Place your ad

Review your ad settings and click on ‘publish’ when you are ready. Facebook will ensure your ad meets its policies before letting it go live.

8. Set a payment method

If you haven’t done so already, set up your ad account and include the required information including your name, address, business details, and payment method.

9. Track your ad performance

Monitor your ad performance in the ads manager and track metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions. Adjust your ad as necessary to improve its performance.

Pro tip: to measure the success of a local campaign it is advisable to create discount codes that are displayed only in the ads and are made effective by adding the code at checkout in your physical store, this way you can measure offline conversions.

Types of Facebook Local Ads

There are different kinds of Facebook local ads that you can implement for your business. Some of them are engagement ads, lead generation ads, awareness ads, consideration ads, and reach ads. However, we recommend Facebook local awareness ads for the best results.

Facebook local awareness ads

Facebook local awareness ads are a marketing tactic through which businesses can reach new customers within their neighborhood. Local awareness ads are a cost-effective method that allows businesses to choose to show their ads to people who are near their physical location. These ads offer more precise targeting and greater reach than both traditional advertising methods and other Facebook advertising options. While setting up local awareness ads, businesses can specify maximum proximity to their location. Since people use Facebook to discover things in their area, local awareness ads allow these businesses to show up in front of people near them.

Originally, Facebook determined which ads are shown to which users through its vast collection of user data and their mobile devices’ GPS. However, it changed its location-targeting policy in May. While advertisers had four different targeting options including people “living in or recently in a location” and people “traveling in a location,” the new policy means that businesses can now only choose the option for people ‘living in or recently in this location.’

This new single targeting focus isn’t as precise, causing Facebook local awareness ads to now show to a wider demographic of people. Local businesses need to be precise with location targeting if they want to see results with their ads. But how can you resolve this situation? By following our professional advice!

The best way to do this is to use geo-targeting when conducting Facebook local awareness ads. Instead of selecting to show your ad to people ‘living in or recently in this location,’ by using geo-targeting your ad will be shown to people within a specified distance of your business. We recommend that while you’re at it, you should exclude locations that you don’t want to target so that your desired area is as specific as possible. See the image below for an example of precise location targeting using geo-targeting and excluding undesired areas.

Promote your local businesses on Instagram

Instagram is another viable social media channel to promote your local business. With an Instagram business profile, you can easily add your business details including contact information like your email address and phone number, making it easy for customers to contact you.

• The audience on Instagram is much younger, between ages 18 and 34.
• They prefer more visual content than the users on Facebook
• Instagram lends itself to specificity when it comes to your niche
• With active users spending up to 11 hours per month on the Instagram app, this is a great place to promote your local business

Setting up local Instagram ads

To set up a local Instagram ad, you need to have a business account on Instagram. You also need to have a Facebook business page connected to this account. There are two ways to set up local Instagram ads. The first is by boosting your Instagram post and the second is by using the ads manager.

For the first method, here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Click on ‘boost post.’

2. Choose your goal such as more messages, more profile visits, or more website visits.

Pro tip: we recommend using the “Visit Profile” objective as it is the best option to nurture the sales funnel, especially if you have a content strategy in place. So, if you want your sales funnel to be effective, we recommend you promote your best post using the “visit profile” objective. 

3. Define your target audience.

You can choose to let Instagram determine this automatically using your follower data or you can enter your audience manually.

Keep in mind that the automatic audience will work well if you have a content strategy in place and get a good amount of interactions in your posts However, if that’s not the case, then it would be better to reach your audience by sparking genuine interest.

4. Choose your budget and duration.

You can choose a set number of days or allow the ad to run until you pause it manually.

5. Review your ad and click on ‘boost post.’

Your ad will be reviewed to ensure it meets Facebook’s advertising policies before it goes live.

To get the most out of your Instagram ad, you can create it using Facebook Ads Manager. You’ll be able to optimize your ad performance using Facebook’s extensive ad targeting and reporting abilities.

Here’s what you need to do to create an ad using the ads manager:

1. Log in to Facebook Ads Manager and click on the ‘create’ button.

2. Choose your campaign objective, in this case, awareness, and click on “continue”.

3. Give your campaign a name and click “next”.

We suggest you give it a name that relates to your campaign objective so that it’s easy to track your ads.

4. Select Ad Set in the next window. Then choose your budget and ad schedule.

You can choose a daily budget or a lifetime budget. You can also choose to run your ads continuously or at specific times of day. As a local business, you would want to choose times when your customers can make it to your store.

5. Check the audience definition and estimated daily results to determine what suits your ad.
Remember that with local ads, you are trying to be as precise as possible with your targeting.

6. Add your audience demographics

7. Add the final details. 

Input all the details about your target audience including location, age, gender, language, and interests. Add locations around your business to show your ads to people nearby.

8. Select your ad placements

9. Choose where your ads will appear.

You can input this manually or choose the ‘Advantage + Placement’ option to allow Instagram to decide where to place your ads. If you want your ads to appear on Instagram and not on Facebook, then you have to select the manual placement option.

For this option, you will be asked to provide specific details in the next window. You can click on the places you want your ad to appear.

10. Create your ad

Click on “new ad” on the left-hand menu and follow the prompts to customize your ad. You would be able to edit the ad name, choose from different ad types, and add your ad assets such as images, captions, videos, and CTAs.
Keep in mind that Instagram is one of the most visual platforms.

11. Track conversions

You can monitor your ad performance by adding a Facebook pixel in the tracking section. Then, connect this to your website to get valuable insights about lead conversions from your Instagram ad.

12. Publish your ad

It’s time to click the publish button for your ad to go live. Once your ad starts running, be sure to check your Instagram analytics to optimize performance.

Types of Instagram Ads

There are many types of Instagram ads you can choose to create for your local business. Some of them are:

• Image ads
• Video ads
• Story ads
• Reels ads
• Carousel ads
• Shopping ads
• Explore ads
• Collection ads

Depending on your business goals and campaign objectives, you can choose from any of these Instagram ads.

Image ads

With Instagram image ads, you can advertise your products or services with single images. Ideally, the image should be eye-catching and able to clearly showcase your product or service. The image should also fully convey your message. While you can add text to the images, Instagram recommends you limit this for the best results. Ensure you are using high-quality images for your ad.

Video ads

Instagram video ads allow you to understand how your products work and highlight their unique features in a highly engaging manner. While videos can be up to 60 minutes long, shorter videos are more effective.

Story ads

Instagram story ads appear between users’ stories in image or video format. More than 500 million people view Instagram stories daily making story ads a very effective Instagram ad format. Because they appear full-screen, story ads are highly engaging and much more immersive than ads displayed in feeds. These ads show up just like Stories and can be images, videos, or carousels. The call to action for story ads is a swipe-up link at the bottom of the story.

Reels ads

Reels are an exciting new feature that Instagram recently launched. Since reels are super engaging, it makes sense for businesses to advertise with them. That’s why Instagram enabled a new ads category that displays within Reels.

Reel ads are shown in between Reels and are just like Story ads. They appear full-screen in video format that can be up to 60 seconds long. Ensure to add sound or music to your Reels ads so that they integrate well with other Instagram Reels. Users can like, share, comment, and save your Reels ads. These ads loop infinitely until they are stopped and they are accompanied by a sponsored mark.

Carousel ads

Instagram carousel ads are displayed as a series of swipe-through images or video content. They can appear in-feed and within Stories. They include a swipe-up link or a call to action button depending on where they show up. When users swipe or click, they would be redirected to your website. As a local business, you can use Instagram carousel ads to showcase your products. Make sure that you use high-quality images and videos that compel users to look.

Shopping ads

44% of Instagram users shop on the app every week. With Instagram’s shopping ads, you can reach new customers who purchase your products without leaving the app. Instagram shopping ads enable in-app purchases, which is great for you as a local business. Even if new customers don’t get to your website, with shopping ads on Instagram they can still complete a purchase. To do this, you will need to create a product description page on Instagram. You also need to set up your Instagram shopping catalog.

Collection ads

Collection ads are great for your business if you are an e-commerce brand. They are a combination of carousel ads and shopping ads. These ads showcase your products directly from your Instagram Instant Experience Storefront. Users can swipe through your product images or videos and click on the CTA to learn more. They would be redirected to your product catalog where they can learn about your offerings and make purchases without leaving the app.

Instagram allows you to choose from six campaign objectives, and the call to action varies depending on the ad type you choose. As a local business, you should determine what your business goals are and align your ads on Instagram with those goals.

Are Twitter ads worth it?

As the 9th most visited website and with 200 million daily active users, Twitter isn’t a social media channel you should ignore. Twitter is conversational, hashtag friendly, and updates its users in real-time, making it a great social media platform for shoppers to conduct brand research before making a purchase. These qualities also make Twitter an excellent medium for building awareness and increasing brand loyalty. Twitter has a high engagement rate and the lowest cost per mile (CPM) of all social channels, making it a cost-effective option. Cost per mile is the cost you pay per one thousand impressions. Advertising with Twitter can be beneficial as a part of your social media marketing strategy.

Types of Twitter Ads

There are two categories of Twitter ads which are Promoted Tweet and Promoted Accounts.

Promoted Tweet

Promoted tweets appear at the top of a user’s feed. They can come in a variety of formats including text, image, video, carousel ads, and more. Promoted tweets may also have a website card that directs people to your website.

Promoted Accounts

Promoted Accounts appear at the top of the “Who to Follow” section. They are also displayed on the Discover page. As a local business, you can use the Promoted Account tab to get more followers for your brand profile on Twitter.

Whichever Twitter ad you choose, you will need to enter information regarding your audience and location targeting, budget, and campaign duration.

Local Twitter ads

Here are some examples of local Twitter ads.

The post Local social media marketing guide  appeared first on Nomadic Advertising.

It’s easy to think that only large businesses trying to attract customers on a global scale need to advertise online. While your business may operate locally and have a neighborhood brand, digital advertising can 10x your results. Instead of going around your community with flyers introducing your service-based business, allowing customers in your locality to find you online may be a better option. You can activate the power of local search ads to increase in-store sales and foot traffic to your business. Unlike traditional advertising methods, local search ads can make marketing your business a lot easier and help you attract and retain more customers, but what are local search ads?

Local Advertising 101

• Local advertising is a form of online advertising that uses paid search and display ads to target audiences within the business’ immediate environment.
• Local advertising enables you to create campaigns that are served to prospects across Google’s properties including Google Search Network, Google Maps, Display Network, YouTube, and Gmail.
• It is ideal for service companies and businesses that thrive on in-store purchases.
• Local advertising targets keywords with localized intent and uses geo-targeting options to reach customers in your business location.
• Although local advertising typically targets potential customers around your business, it can also be used for any location you choose such as affiliate locations or branches of your business.

Creating local PPC campaigns

PPC or pay-per-click is a digital marketing concept where businesses place ads on search engines like Google or Bing and only pay for them when a visitor clicks on the ad. Creating a local PPC campaign is a great way to target your immediate community and boost your business.

To create a local PPC campaign, first you’ll need to set up a Google My Business profile for your business. You’ll also need to fulfill the eligibility requirements for store visit conversion. Once this is done, you’ll see the option to set up a local campaign.

With a local PPC campaign, you’ll be targeting potential customers around your business using localized intent keywords like ‘near me.’ All you need to do is provide your shop locations, campaign budget, and ad assets. Google will automatically optimize your bids, ad placements, and asset combinations based on this data.

Radius targeting

Radius targeting allows businesses to choose to show their ads to potential customers within a close distance of their business instead of choosing entire cities, regions, or countries, which are unlikely to become clients. With radius targeting you can establish a specified mile radius around your business location(s) within which you want your ads to be shown. You can also add or exclude locations to ensure your ad is displayed to only relevant audiences. If your business has multiple locations, you can set up multiple radiuses for your ad-targeting.

Google local campaigns

Google local campaigns are PPC ads with local intent on Google. These campaigns are much more impactful than PPC campaigns with a globalized intent, particularly for local businesses like service-based businesses or businesses that need to drive in-store traffic.

Google local campaigns can be helpful for local businesses in the following ways:

• Your campaigns should be made up of local keywords, which will typically lead to conversions. If a local keyword matches what a user is searching for online, they’ll receive your ad as a response to their query. Once that happens, you’ll know you have targeted a local user that’s a potential lead, and you will be one step closer to turning them into a customer.

• Online audiences have the opportunity to get in touch with you online (being call-in leads), or can also pop up at your store, given they are close by (in-person leads). A local PPC campaign gives them various options to reach out to you, making it a convenient experience for everyone involved.

• There is less keyword competition when it comes to local PPC campaigns. With a low budget, you can rank higher for ad placements when compared to global ad campaigns. That means your ad would get seen more.

How to set up a Google local ads campaign

To create a Google local ads campaign, here are some steps you need to follow:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account
2. Click on ‘Campaigns’ in the left-side menu
3. Click on the add (+) icon and select ‘New Campaign’
4. Select local store visits and promotions (if you have a Google My Business account. If you don’t, skip this step.)
5. Select Google My Business in the new window
6. Select your store locations or choose affiliate locations to select your product stores
7. Select ‘Use all locations in your linked Google My Business account’ and uncheck locations that you don’t want in your ad.

*You can also use an existing location group if you have created one.

*For affiliate locations, select the chain option and click the country of your location and the location’s chain.

*If you do not want radius targeting, exclude certain geographic locations.

8. Click “continue”
9. Enter your campaign name
10. Add the text and images for your campaign
11. Add a budget, bidding amount, and demographics, and update your campaign settings
12. Click “save” and “continue”
13. Review your campaign and its setting
14. Publish to launch your campaign.

Types of Google Local Search Ads

There are various types of Google local search ads that you can implement for your business. Here are the most relevant ones:

Local Services Ads

Local services ads are a type of Google local search ads that enable local service businesses in specific industries to collect leads through phone calls and messages. These ads are displayed on top of Google’s search results ahead of traditional ads and showcase the company’s name, city, phone number, reviews and ratings, opening hours, and more.

• Before setting up local services ads, you need to check the eligibility of your business. Businesses that pass this screening process receive a Google Guaranteed badge.
• Searchers can review your business ratings, qualification, and Google reviews before deciding to call you. This also gives you the opportunity to showcase your ratings and reviews in order to earn the customer’s trust.

• Local service ads are also included in voice search responses on Google Assistant causing them to reach more users.
• When conducting local service ads, you’ll be paying per lead and not per click. You’ll only be charged for searchers who call or message your business through the local service ad. This can go a long way to reduce your ad budget as the cost per lead can be considerably lower than the cost per click (CPC).

• Local service ads also expand the reach of your paid search ads. Although they are sitting at the top of the search results, some searchers may check the paid search ads and organic listings. If your business appears in two of these categories, particularly local service ads and paid search ads, it can reinforce their decision to order your service.
• Unlike PPC, you do not have to manage your ads with keyword research, ad testing, and ad optimization making local service ads much easier to implement.
• Keep in mind: to get started with local service ads, you will need to pass Google’s business screening and meet the verification requirements for your business category.

Note: these ads are not available in every country and region. 

Call-only campaign Google Ads

• Call-only ads encourage users to call your business. They are designed for mobile users with clicks adding your business phone number to their dial pad instead of directing them to a landing page.
• With call-only campaigns, mobile searchers can click to call your business directly. The ads include your business name, phone number, website URL and an 80-character description field.
• Like other kinds of local ads, call-only campaigns are displayed at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

Google Ads for restaurants

• Google Ads for restaurants are local PPC campaigns designed to help restaurants drive sales.
• They can help you drive more traffic to your website, drive more foot traffic to your restaurant, and help you obtain more phone calls.
• As a restaurant, you can choose to use search advertising or display ads to target people looking for where to eat.
• Google Ads are very relevant for restaurants because most people will use Google to find a place around them to get food. With search ads, you can target these customers using text while with display ads, you can use images of your food and new menu items that connect with customers. These ads will display across Google networks to help you drive sales.

Another important kind of Google ad that is vital for restaurants looking to drive sales and in-person visits is remarketing ads.

• With remarketing banner ads, your restaurant ads would be shown to people who have visited your business before. They can also be shown to people who visit your website and leave without making a purchase.
• Remarketing ads are great for restaurants because it is easier to sell to previous customers. Also, it costs less to do so and people will always need to eat. You can use localized keywords to optimize your ads and target your restaurant location using Google Maps.

Geo-targeting Google Ads

• Geographic ad targeting or geo-targeting is when an advertiser chooses a specific location where they want their ads to appear.
• Geo-targeting helps businesses display ads to people who are most likely to convert based on their geographical location and its proximity to the business’ location.
• Geo-targeting increases the return on ad spend as it cuts out audiences that are unlikely to lead to conversion.
• If your business has multiple locations, you can include these locations in your geo-targeting campaigns.
• Geo-targeting also allows you to exclude locations that aren’t converting so that you better optimize your ad budget.

Google local listing Ads

• Google local listing Ads are the business listings that appear on the map in Google’s first page results.
• Google local listings are displayed when a user searches for a keyword accompanied by a city such as Ontario restaurants.

• Google local listing ads appear alongside sponsored pay-per-click ads and organic search results.
• Google local listings are selected by Google based on the relevancy of the business to the searcher’s intent when compared with competitors.
• You would need a Google Business Profile to stand a chance of showing up in the listing.
• Google local listings take into consideration how your business appears on other authority sites (like Yelp, LinkedIn, Yellow Pages, and more) and would pull the information from these sites as well as any reviews to determine if your business should show up in the listing.
• Your business details including business name, email, services, contact, operating hours, payment options, and so on should be consistent on all these platforms and on your Google Business Profile.

No matter which type of Google local search ads you choose, this is a great tool to target the niche audience you need and bring in leads that will hopefully turn into clients. However, the best way to get the desired results is to manage your campaigns and track their traffic, this will be your must powerful insight. We encourage you to do this regularly, be on top of all of your campaigns and the information gathered, and spend the necessary time polishing them to yield the best outcome, however time-consuming or difficult it can be. If it proved to be too complicated or if it’s keeping you away from your core business, you can always hire professional help to take care of this.

Examples of local campaigns

Here are some examples of the Google local ads types we have discussed to give you a better idea on how to proceed.

Local Services Ads

This Google local service ad shows the businesses’ qualifications as they tell us how long the company has been in operation. They tell us their service areas and provide us with their contact information. A customer can easily click to call any of these businesses and does not have to go to a landing page.

Call-only campaign Google Ads

The button to call is very prominent in this ad. It then goes on to tell the customer what to expect from the business. It clearly prioritizes calling the business, making it effective for instant access to a sales team.

Google Ads for restaurants

These ads use search advertising to showcase their restaurant offerings, making it easy for a hungry customer to locate the business through the search query “new hampshire restaurant” The ads display information about the business and are clearly optimized for a local audience.

Geo-targeting Google Ads

These ads use geo-targeting to display to people looking for plumbers in Atlanta. They showcase the number to call, and display operating hours, making them easily accessible to a potential customer either through a phone call or an in-person visit within the business hours stated.

All of these ads also display map listings containing vital information like the phone number, address, and operating hours, making it easy for customers to contact the businesses.

Are local advertising services necessary?

If you’re a business owner or a service provider with sufficient knowledge of local advertising strategies, then you may not need local advertising services. We hope that by following the information we’ve gathered here you can explore the different kinds of local advertising campaigns to see which ones work best for your business.

However, the reality is that you already have a core business. If your local ads campaign performs well, your responsibility as a business owner will only increase; if they are not yielding results, then you’ll have to spend even more time making sure they are properly set up. To ensure your campaigns perform the best they can, boost your online presence, and drive the desired traffic to your business, then we will be happy to help. We have advertising services that cover different platforms and are ready to create a customized strategy for your local campaigns. We will help you get your business from the ground up using local advertising strategies. Book a FREE 30-minute consultation with us to get started!

FAQ

How long does it take for Google Ads to work?

A Google Ads campaign can take 2-4 weeks to pick up momentum. After that, it can take 90 days to mature and between 4-12 months to grow into a strong campaign.

What is radius targeting?

Radius targeting is a campaign type that allows you to target customers within a specified distance of your business location

Where do Google ads appear?

Google ads appear on Google Search Network, Display Network, Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and on other Google search partners. The most common place is at the top of Google’s search results.

How can I find local customers?

You can find local customers using local advertising. This form of advertising allows you to target potential customers within your business location using localized keywords and radius targeting.

The post The ultimate guide to local search ads appeared first on Nomadic Advertising.

No successful SEO strategy would ever be complete without local landing pages that are optimized and thoughtfully made. Here at Nomadic Advertising, know firsthand the value of these pages and take full advantage of everything they bring to the table to take our client’s websites to the next level. For example, we start by creating these web pages to help local business to reach their target audience by providing location-specific information. For businesses to improve their online visibility and attract customers, it is crucial to create and optimize local landing pages, but there definitely is a right and wrong way to follow this process.

Creating and optimizing local landing pages can be a challenging task, especially for businesses that are new to the world of SEO, but we promise you it is 100% worth it! Keep reading to find all of our professional tips and the best practices for optimizing your local landing pages.

What is a local landing page?

Local landing pages are web pages that are specifically designed to target customers in a particular location or region. The main purpose of local landing pages is to provide relevant information to individuals who are searching for specific services or products in that area.

Among other aspects, local pages should include key business information, such as;

• Its directions
• Address
• Phone number
• Hours of operation

Having this information is crucial for businesses that want to attract more local customers and improve their local SEO performance. However, this is only the beginning.

Why are landing pages important?

Landing pages are a crucial part of ad campaigns and search engine optimization. We use landing pages for specific marketing campaigns, including lead-generation efforts and product launches. This allows us to easily target visitors that are more likely to convert to customers or leads.

The following are further reasons why creating a landing page is important for local and online businesses.

• Data Insights and analysis

Landing pages provide valuable insights and data as you can track and analyze your target audience’s purchase intent and journey. If you create a Google ads campaign that links to that specific landing page, that will also provide data on which messages resonate with your target demographic and what ads have the highest conversion rates. You can also use Google Analytics to help you better understand how to engage your prospective customers and optimize your campaigns, thereby creating a perfect relationship between your advertising strategy and your web-building efforts.

• Lead generation

Landing pages are very effective for generating leads as they provide a targeted experience. The key purpose of a landing page is to educate visitors and potential customers about your services and products. To that end, businesses can use landing pages to their advantage by encouraging their website visitor to take certain actions in exchange for a valuable offer or resource.

• Reduced bounce rates

Providing a clear and targeted message on your landing page can help reduce bounce rates. A bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who exit your site after viewing just a page. Optimizing your landing page and including  CTAs (call to action) while providing visitors with valuable information can help improve the overall user experience. This will increase the likelihood that visitors will convert.

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are buttons that potential customers can click on to get a specific action in return. “Call”, “book an appointment”, and “Contact us” are all examples of CTA buttons. Once a potential customer clicks on them, they’ll be redirected to your phone number or contact form to get in touch with your business and hopefully turn into customers.

• Collect demographic data

You can use the landing page to collect valuable information about your target audience. One of the main purposes of a landing page is to get visitors to perform a certain action, such as filling out a contact form. This form typically includes demographic and personal information such as name, contact information, email address, location, etc. This provides your sales and marketing team with valuable customer data that can further your relationship with your target audience and get you closer to meeting your business goals.

• Improved ROI

We design landing pages to achieve specific marketing goals, such as driving sales and generating leads. By optimizing your landing page, you can reduce bounce rates and increases the conversion rate. Ultimately, this will lead to a high return on your investment (ROI) for your advertising campaigns.

How many landing pages should I have on my website?

The number of landing pages you need depends on the size of your business and campaign goals. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should aim to have a separate landing page for each service or solution you offer, which in turn could mean a different landing page for each ad campaign you are trying to promote. Having several landing pages increases your chances of driving conversions.

Furthermore, creating separate landing pages ensures that your messaging is highly focused on the specific interests of your target demographics. This can ultimately improve your marketing effort enabling you to hit your target milestones and improve your conversion rates. That being said, you don’t necessarily need to create a new landing page for every marketing campaign. You should focus more on creating landing pages for your major campaigns and offers. Then, continually refine and optimize the landing pages over time based on analytics and results.

Building a local landing page

Since Google has become more focused on user intent and not only keyword optimization, local landing pages have become essential. Here we will guide you on how to create local landing pages that rank well and will significantly boost your marketing campaigns:

Step 1: Identify and define the goal of your local landing page

When building a local landing page for your business, it is important to define its goals and purposes. What actions do you want the visitors on your site to perform? Do you want them to make a purchase or contact your business? Should they visit your store in person? It is important for business owners to have a clear idea of what they want to achieve with their local landing pages before building them.

Step 2: Choose a platform

We use platforms like WordPress and Wix to build local landing pages from scratch. Of course, there are several other platforms you can use to build your landing pages. Concentrate on selecting the platform that best suits your needs and skill level, but keep in mind certain features and possibilities could change depending on the platform you choose. That is precisely why we recommend WordPress to our clients, because it provides a wide range of possibilities when it comes to web building and content creation. Attempting to build your website on your own and all the necessary pages that come with that can be a challenging task, but an optimized and eye-catchy website is a definitive must if you want your business to succeed. Although we believe in you and encourage you to try this on your own, keep in mind it could be best to look for expert help to make sure your website and all the necessary landing pages are great from the start.

Step 3: Select a template

Several building platforms provide templates that businesses and individuals can use as a starting point. You can follow the directions from your platform of choice and see how many customization options are available for you.

Since we use WordPress, we can design the local landing pages ourselves using a drag-and-drop builder. This is part of our strategy that is always tailormade to fit our client’s needs as well as business goals. The result is always unique landing pages that are impactful, follow a clear UX/UI path, and are designed to boost our client’s online presence.

Step 4: Select a descriptive URL

A URL is the address of your webpage. Select a URL that accurately shows the content of your local landing page. Ensure the URL is not lengthy, and visitors can easily remember it. For instance, if you are creating a local landing page for your clothing store in Berlin, your URL could be berlinfashionstore.com. It is crucial that your URL includes your business name. If it’s relevant, you could also include your location. That will improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

Step 5: Create a meta description

A meta description can significantly boost your search engine optimization. A meta description is a short text that appears just beneath the title tag on search engines and it can only be 160 characters long. You should ensure it accurately summarizes the content of your local landing page.

Step 6: Create relevant content

An oftentimes overlooked key aspect of this process is creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience. In order to do this, the text must be well-written, aligned with your branding, and accurately promote your services or offerings.

From an SEO point of view, the content should include relevant keywords and be properly positioned within your niche. Also, use H1-H6 headings to structure the content, which will help make it easy to read while also targeting the necessary keywords. A good rule of thumb is to include your primary keywords, and location (when relevant) in your H1, which is your main headline.

Step 7: Use calls to action

It is important to include a clear and straightforward call to action on your local landing page, ads, and general content. The CTA should encourage visitors to take action and interact with your page. CTA’s make it easy to convert ideal customers using simple phrases like “call today” and “order now.” Consider including a form or button that potential customers can use to take action such as “Book a consultation.”

Step 8: Use High-quality images

Images help both users and search engines to understand what the content on your page is about. The images help visitors to visualize the services and products that your local business provides. It is important to use high-quality images that are relevant to your business niche. Use photos that are optimized for the web and are not too big, as they can slow down the loading speed of your page.

Step 9: Include your business information

On your landing page, include your company’s email address, physical address (if relevant), and phone number. You could also upload your business’s physical location on google maps via your Google Business Profile. All you have to do is create an account, follow the prompts, and input your business location-specific details. Google My Business can improve your online visibility, making it easier for the consumer to locate and contact your company.

Step 10: Use plugins to optimize your landing page

If you decide to use WordPress, we encourage you to use plugins like Yoast SEO to optimize your landing page for search engines. Yoast SEO can help you optimize your title tag, meta description, and other elements of your landing page to improve its search engine ranking.

Step 11: Test and refine

Once your landing page is live, it is important to test it to see how it performs. You should analyze metrics such as bounce rate, conversion rate, and time on the page to see what’s working and what needs improvement. Use this information to refine your landing page and enhance its performance over time. Once your page meets your expectations it will be ready to go live!

Local SEO and landing pages

Local SEO is the practice we follow to optimize our clients’ websites for a specific location, such as a region or city, to attract local customers. Both local SEO and landing pages go hand in hand, as landing pages are an essential component of local search engine optimization strategies. Businesses can use landing pages to target specific audiences based on demographics, location, and several other factors. Targeting clients who are most likely to convert can assist in increasing the effectiveness of local SEO strategies.

How does having a local landing page impact your SEO?

A local landing page can help your search engine optimization efforts significantly. Here are some of the ways a local landing page might help your SEO:

• Improved user experience

You can modify local landing pages to give local clients a better user experience. This can include directions to your business, local area information, and other location-specific features that will assist potential clients in locating you.

• Conversion rates

You can significantly increase your website conversion rates by creating a landing page that is suited to the demands of your local audience. A landing page tailored to a local audience can help your company gain more customers.

• Backlinks

Creating a local landing page will help you gain backlinks from other local businesses. Backlinks from local businesses can assist in increasing the domain authority and search engine rankings of your website.

Must have features on an optimized local landing page

There are several features and aspects you can add to a local landing page to improve its conversion rate, boost your online presence, enhance your user experience, and much more. The following are must-have features for an optimized local landing page:

• Location-specific content: It is important to include location-specific content for your local landing pages. We use location-specific keywords, add local details like landmarks or local events, and provide directions to the business.

• Clear and compelling headline: The headline of your business’s local landing page must be clear, concise, and encouraging. It must provide an idea of what your business offers and why it is unique.

• Relevant CTA: We ensure that the call-to-actions are easy to find, they should also clearly communicate what the visitor should do next and what to expect. For our local landing pages, for example, we use something like “schedule an appointment” and “visit us today.”

• High-quality graphics and videos: It is essential to use high-quality videos and images that showcase your business and its services or products. This will help to engage potential customers and make your landing page more appealing.

• Contact information: Adding your business contact information to your local landing page is important. You should include your address, links to social media pages, email address, and phone number.

Local landing page examples

Here are some local landing page examples you can draw inspiration from:

Airbnb

Airbnb’s local landing page for Seattle, Washington, is an excellent example of a landing page tailored for Local SEO. Location-specific keywords and relevant content, such as a list of prominent areas and local attractions, are included on the website. The page also includes a high-quality background photograph that highlights the city’s distinct charm.

Dominos pizza

You can see that this Dominos Pizza local landing page is optimized for local search. When users click on the location menu, it provides them with location-specific information, including phone numbers, store hours, and addresses. It also offers visitors the ability to order online for that particular store location. This well-optimized Dominos local landing page includes a clear CTA encouraging customers to place an order.

Starbucks

When you visit the Starbucks website it has a CTA button that encourages visitors to “find a store”. This CTA button is linked to the Starbucks local landing page, which has a simple and user-friendly design that showcases the stores location specific information. The page lists the stores’ phone numbers, operating hours, addresses, and directions.

Wrapping things up… 

By now it should be abundantly clear just how important a local landing page can be for your business. In a nutshell, it can significantly impact your business growth and drive potential local customers right to your company. You can also create a social media location page, like a Facebook location page, to reach a targeted demographic. By creating a localized Facebook location page and optimizing it, you can improve your brand’s online visibility. This will ultimately help you generate more leads and drive sales.

At Nomadic Advertising, we can help your business with creating optimized local landing pages as well as a Facebook location page. We specialize in creating tailored marketing strategies to help businesses achieve their long-term goals. Book a consultation with us today to learn more bout our services and how we can help your business grow.

FAQ section

Is it free to create a landing page?

Some website builders offer a free limited feature plan that allows you to create a landing page for free. However, most of the website builders that offer this plan do not allow users to access a wide range of features to create a unique landing page, but that might be a good compromise if you are set on doing this process with a low initial investment. Keep in mind, developing an efficient landing page may require additional expenses like hosting and domain registration.

Can I have a landing page without a domain?

Yes. You can create a landing page without a domain by using a page builder that provides a free domain or by using a subdomain.

Where should I post the landing page?

Your landing page must be accessible from your main website but separate from other web pages. Landing pages are typically designed as separate pages with different URLs. You can connect the landing page from the navigation menu of your main website or blog articles.

Are landing pages effective?

Yes, landing pages are very effective for generating leads and increasing conversion rates. Landing pages provide a clear call-to-action and targeted messages which help increase user experience and direct visitors.

How many landing pages can a website have?

A website can have several landing pages for specific marketing campaigns. There is no limit to the number of landing pages your business website can have. However, it is important that each landing page serves a unique purpose or target audience and provides relevant information to potential customers.

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