"My Business Has ZERO Foot Traffic", Here's What to Do...

When you have a brick-and-mortar location, your biggest goal is to find ways to get
customers in the door. If you’re on the street surrounded by other businesses, this is a
good way of getting your location spread by word of mouth. However, that only goes so
far. In order to become a business that customers are willing to flock to, you need to
broaden your horizons, and the best way to do that is through your online presence.
Here are a couple ways to make your business easy to find.

Outdoor Advertising Flags

One of the best tools to drive foot traffic through your door is to have something eye-catching. Outdoor flags and banners do just that, and are cost-effective tools that convey a simple message. While it does require some assembly, and you may need some approval depending on your location, flags are convenient for business owners trying to convey a simple message. It can also help convey your brand, as banners come in a variety of colors and designs.

SEO or SEM, which works for you?

Even in-store businesses need to have online marketing. Before you can just go online, make a website and social media, you’re going to want to understand the basics to create your best strategy. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. The idea of this is creating a website that manages to appear higher in search results, above other local businesses in your category. In order to create effective SEO, you should have both on and off page strategies. In short, SEO is the overlying strategy to our effective ways of building your location because you need to cover all bases. Also, we need to mention this strategy is separate from SEM, which is:

Search Engine Marketing. SEM on it’s own is a strategy you can use that does involve
some of SEO, such as creating tags for your paid advertisements. However, as a brick
and mortar business, your biggest priority is getting customers in the door. Between
these two options, SEO is more important toward driving customers to your pages,
which help them find your business’ address.

On Page Strategies
This is an SEO strategy that helps drive customers to your page first. First, check your
website and ensure that your business address(es) are in an easy to find place. Next,
you’ll set up your website for social sharing. Next, make sure that there is specific
information related to your location and area that ties into your brand in some way.
Another example of an on page strategy is creating keywords/tags that are metacrypted
into your site. For example, if you have a hardware store that has best sellers for garden
materials, you might want to lean into that in your tags. The more specific you get, the
better. Lastly, you will want to set up social sharing, which gives your website an optimal
link that customers can use to share the information they found about your company to
others.

Off Page Strategies
Off page strategies are more closely tied to social media. Outside of linking your social
media to your website, a good way to incorporate social media into helping customers
understand your location is to use strategies to gain more traffic. This is where creating
that shareable link on your website comes in handy. It’s also good to post on local
message boards, such as Reddit. Include your pinned location in the bio of your page,
and try to find local influencers who would be willing to look into your product or service
if applicable. Lastly, post pictures of any events, yours or others. These posts would
show your commitment to your community, while also letting them know where you are
physically.

Get Reviews
One of the best ways to appear on maps or searches is through positive reviews. We
aren’t asking you to find local critics, you need to get your current customer base to
write these reviews. Include signage that indicates leaving a positive review. On your
website, create a review system after an online order is fulfilled, or if they have browsed
the site for a few minutes. Whatever you can do to get someone to rate your business
with four or more stars, the better it will do for your rating and move you up in search
results. These reviews often give information that will indicate where your business is,
making it a favorite among outside visitors or people just moving to your area.

Other Local Strategies
It has to be said that relying on SEO is more of a long-term strategy that takes patience
in order to work. Your bread and butter is still your community, but even the people living
near you for years may have still not ventured into your business. In order to do that,
you have to stay active and present in your community. Take out an ad in your local
newspaper, or find a way to become a local story. Join in on local events with signage
that gives your business address. If you’re really interested in hearing what they have to
say, go door-to-door with introductions and information, not for a sale. Getting the word
out there about your business is how you stay in your community’s eye.

With all of this information, it can be difficult to decide where to start, and that’s a valid
feeling. Ultimately, we have to remind businesses that it is still a patient process. As
long as you are active in making your address and physical location clear, you’re
making progress. Once these things are set up and maintained, you can make it
something passive, to revisit every now and then because you’ll have your business
appear clearly at the top, with enough information to bring customers through your door