"This white paper will help small business owners understand exactly where they can improve their digital marketing strategies to truly reap the rewards of search engine marketing," said Dario Ambrosini, COO of Manta
COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB) January 31, 2017
Manta, one of the largest online resources dedicated to small business, today released new research to help small business owners achieve success with search engine marketing (SEM). The white paper, “A Small Business Guide to Maximizing Paid Search Results – Part 1,” offers tips for small business owners looking to capitalize on search marketing tactics like pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO).
To gauge small business owners’ baseline understanding of SEM tactics, Manta surveyed 613 small business owners who use Google AdWords. The survey found 40 percent of respondents did not feel their use of AdWords yielded any new business leads, while an additional 33 percent said AdWords produced very few leads. However, the majority of these respondents also reported weak online presences, such as non-mobile friendly websites (62 percent), lack of online customer reviews (92 percent), and unclaimed Google business listings (65 percent) – components that are key to successful SEM implementations.
With these findings in mind, Manta’s whitepaper – part one in a two-part series – outlines one key lesson for small business owners: optimize SEO resources before spending any money on PPC.
“It’s our goal at Manta to provide our members with the best digital marketing resources possible,” said Dario Ambrosini, COO of Manta. “Our research clearly shows small business owners’ need more help to execute a successful Google AdWords campaign. This white paper will help small business owners understand exactly where they can improve their digital marketing strategies to truly reap the rewards of search engine marketing.”
“A Small Business Guide to Maximizing Paid Search Results – Part 1” provides insight into:
- Using mobile to reach local customers. The majority of the modern consumer’s time online is spent on mobile devices, such as Smartphones and tablets. To capitalize on this trend, small business owners must optimize their websites for mobile, which is an imperative first step before considering PPC advertising.
- Achieving a spot in the Google Local Three Pack. Google’s Local Three Pack is the listing of three businesses that appears at the top of a Google search. Three Pack results are not paid, but organic listings, meaning companies can strategically earn their spot by claiming their Google business listing, building out profiles, and engaging with customer reviews. In doing so, small business owners can build their organic search presences and execute more successful SEM campaigns.
- SEO best practices for small business owners. Search engine marketing accomplishes nothing without a strong organic presence. Small business owners must put the following SEO drivers in place to bolster their Google search results: title and meta tags, simple URLs, and original, keyword-rich content.
“As Manta’s white paper demonstrates, small business owners must take the necessary steps toward enhancing their Google presence before running AdWords and other SEM campaigns,” said Ambrosini. “Without doing so, small business owners will find it difficult to recognize returns on their SEM investments, and lose out on largely uncaptured customer bases. But with the right guide, making those key changes is easy, and Manta is here to help.”
For more information on search engine marketing for small business, download Manta’s full white paper here. To learn more about building successful pay-per-click campaigns, look for Part Two in Feb. 2017.