Best Promotional Value in Flathead Valley?
People say the darndest things!
A very nice, but very cautious woman called this morning to ask about the Flathead Guide. She told me that a business associate who has a listing in the Flathead Guide recommended that she list her company. Internet marketing was alien to her, and terms like SEO or SEM might as well be related to neurosurgery as they meant absolutely nothing to her.
Much of our phone call was me explaining the basics as to how search engines rank websites and what she could do to improve her results to get more visitors to her website. What follows is a paraphrased conversation, but her questions and my responses are the essence of our conversation.
How does having my site listed on your website help me?
(I explained how Google views links and especially links from local authority websites. I also explained how important it is today to attract searches from mobile devices.) I went on to say…
Links are ‘votes’ for your website and Google runs the election. The more votes for your website, the better chance you have of appearing in search results for search terms that define your business.
I already advertise in the newspaper and (she mentioned 2-3 other
resources).
As well you should, there is no one ‘silver bullet’ for promotion and building awareness for your products. However, when most of us want to buy anything, we search online, even if we saw and ad somewhere else.
Do you offer any guarantee that I will get more traffic to my website?
No mam, I don’t and no one can make such a guarantee. All we can do is try to make Google happy by doing the things we know they want to see. By doing this, we chip away at the competition in our niche and start to improve our position in search results. Even if you are listed on page one of Google there is no guarantee that someone will click your link. However, if your company is listed on page 13 of Google I can basically guarantee that no one will ever click your link.
I am already spending $500 to $800 per month in advertising and I am not seeing much new business.
It is none of my business how you spend your marketing dollars, but from what you have told me, you are not spending any of that money online, is that correct?
Yes, but I’m afraid to waste more money with no guarantees.
The one guarantee I can offer is that if you do not spend some time and a little money promoting your website, you will not see a return on the money you have already invested in your website and monthly hosting charges, etc.
Let me ask you, would you open a retail location and not hang a sign over the door?
Obviously not!
Would you purposely have an unlisted business phone number?
Of course not!
The Internet component of your business is no different than your brick & mortar location. If you don’t tell anyone that it exists, no one will walk through the door. Likewise, if you don’t take some proactive measures to promote your website, no one will ever visit.
You agree that customers today go to the Internet to research most purchases, find businesses or just to discover a new restaurant. When you consider what the amount of your average sale is and the lifetime value of a new customer, if the Flathead Guide only sent your only ONE new customer in an entire year, the $4 per month would be the advertising value of the decade!
$4 per month? That’s what you are charging for a listing in the Flathead Guide?
Yes, I am sorry I assumed you knew that.
No, I wasn’t aware of the cost. Really, only $4 per month?
Yes mam. My ultimate objective is to have every business in the Flathead listed eventually and I priced it so that cost would not be a consideration for any business, regardless of their size.
$4 seriously? I guess I should sign up. How do I do that?
Just go to FlatheadGuide.com and click the “Add your Business” button and fill out the form.
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Best Promotional Value in Flathead Valley?
(Editor) I have had many such conversations with Flathead Valley businesses and the end result is typically the same. When they find out how inexpensive it is to be listed in the Flathead Guide and the benefits they receive from having a listing, I honestly can’t remember anyone saying no.