If you have a local retail shop you could increase your business simply by offering coupons - online. An article in WebProNews explains how consumers respond better to online coupons than they do print coupons. It’s a really good read.

But how do you do it?

Well, there are a number of ways that you can create coupons actually. The most popular way is through e-mail marketing. You can send out coupons as stand-alone e-mails or include them in your newsletter. Services like Constant Contact allow you to include a coupon in your newsletter and have a space for it in your template.

While newsletters and other e-mail marketing tactics work like a charm, those aren’t your only options. Some companies have made good use of Twitter as a means of delivering coupons. It’s real simple. You build a list of followers and upload a downloadable or printable coupon on your website and send the link through Twitter to your followers. They see it, download it and print it (or print it directly off your website) , and bring it to you. It’s a good way to increase your business and attract new customers.

Local businesses can leverage the power of the Internet and coupons simultaneously for better business. Why not?

If you are a local business owner and you want to connect with your customers then I highly recommend Yelp. Started in 2004, Yelp helps local businesses provide a more full Internet marketing experience by giving you tools to connect with your customers in a place where they are likely headed anyway to talk about how well, or how poorly, you provide service. They’re talking about you anyway. Why not make it a positive experience?

Yelp can give you an edge over your competition in a number of ways. For instance,

• As a business owner, you can set up a free account
• Through your account you can make special offers like discounts, coupons, and send invitations to your customers or just communicate with them and build relationships
• You can also purchase ads or sponsor pages on Yelp
• Any type of business can use Yelp for promotional purposes and it’s great for use at the local level since it organized and categorized by local geographic areas

One of the big benefits to Yelp is that it allows consumers to post reviews of businesses. You don’t need an account for one of your customers to go online and post a review of your business. If you do have an account then you can monitor those reviews more closely and resopnd to them with a sound customer service approach. Yelp allows you to be more personal and “up close” with your customers in a safe online setting. It’s a huge benefit to local businesses.

If you saw the story we did a few days ago on Google linking its Local Business Center with Google Maps result then you know that Google is serious about improving its offerings for local businesses. Well, now it seems they’ve decided to link GoogleBase with the LBC as well.

If you’re not familiar with GoogleBase, this is a section of Google where you can upload your products and make them searchable just by entering their descriptions and even scanning bar codes. It’s a great service for local retailers without an e-commerce site.

The benefit here is that consumers looking for specific product information may be able to find it at a local store. Since most consumers like to do product research online then drive to make a purchase, that will help out local businesses that offer the products that consumers are looking for. Here’s the practical application:

Let’s say you own Mom & Pop’s Electronics Store and you have a shop across the street from Best Buy. A consumer in your town is looking for the latest Sony head gadget. You’ve got it. Upload your product information into GoogleBase and link it to your profile on Local Business Center. When a searcher queries the product she is likely to find it in your store.

Google announced earlier this week that it has incorporated some tracking and analytics data with its Local Business Center. This is good news for local business owners because analytics information is very important for measuring how your business is doing online. Specifically, information that local businesses can track include

• The number of impressions your business listing receives as a result of a Google Maps search or Google.com search
• How many actions users took while interacting with your business listing
• Top search queries people used to find your business listing
• Zip codes used to find directions to your locations

This information is valuable information for a local business. And even better, it’s actionable data, meaning you can make sound business decisions based on this information. By discovering what the top queries are for people finding you in your local area, you can go on to build more web pages targeted the keywords that are right for your business. And if you know which zip codes people are traveling from you can use that information to help you plan future business locations. You can also see if people are interacting with your business listing multiple times with one impression.

This is great information. If you have a local business and you’ve been wondering how you can track some of these things, now is the time. Learn more about LBCs analytics tracking here and here.

There are a lot of quick SEO tips that are very useful, but one of the best tips is also one of the most ignored. Well written, text oriented content is a vital piece to any good small business internet marketing campaign.

What does Text Content do for my business’ website?

You should care about text content for your website because Search Engine Spiders care about it. The words on your site are sifted through by software programs that send out their little army of virtual spiders. The spiders search through your site’s text for key words to find out what your site is all about. This is what makes relevant text so important for search engine results.

So Text is important, but why shouldn’t I use a keyword listing? Why do I need to worry about well written content?

Spiders are looking for keyword text, its true, but people are looking for information, descriptions and knowledge. Spiders index your site, but people read it to decide if they should purchase your products or services. You want your text to be in real, usable content so that people visiting your site know that your business is professional, knowledgeable, and reliable.

When you are looking to increase traffic with some good Local SEO tactics, well written, relevant text is a great way to start, and there are many fast and simple ways to get well written text on your site that incorporates the key words that you need.

There are hundreds of different internet marketing ideas that can be put to use on your small business website, but as with all things in life, quantity isn’t everything. As a matter of fact, internet-savvy consumers will often immediately leave a site that is nothing but a barrage of flash, noise and sales pitches. The key to successful marketing is using the right marketing ideas for your potential customers.

If you already have a website created for your small business, there are very specific services that you can take advantage of to map out your site, your products and services, your customer base and where they all should meet.

One of the most useful tools is the Small Business Internet Marketing Blueprint. Essentially, it is a complete analysis of your website, identifying all issues potentially impacting your site’s performance. The blueprint then moves beyond that to also tell you exactly which online marketing services are right for your business, with specific examples from your website.

A Small Business Internet Marketing Blueprint will answer critical questions such as:

• How friendly is your site to the search engines?
• Is your site targeting the most relevant keywords?
• Is your website turning customers away?
• Is your business getting good links or bad links - and can you tell the difference?
• What do your website statistics say about your site’s performance?
• What can you learn from your competition to gain an advantage?
• What are your customers truly seeking online – and how can you give it to them?
• How can you get your website in front of more potential customers with just a click?
• Where are the biggest online opportunities within your industry and/or locality?

An Internet Marketing Blueprint Service may be just what you need for your Small Business website.

According to a Marketwire press release, Buzzillions is integrating Krillion real time search for local product location. A cool idea. Except that I can’t find it anywhere on their site.

For readers not familiar with either Buzzillions or Krillion, both websites are great opportunities for local retailers. Buzzillions is a product review site that is well trafficked and if you’re in retail you need to get familiar with product review sites because consumers use them and make buying decisions based on them. Krillion is a real time product search engine that allows consumers to find where a product is in stock at a local retailer. A great service to get to know if you are a local retailer. A partnership between these two companies would be a powerful partnership indeed.

Greg Sterling has some screenshots of the integration on his website, but I can’t seem to find it myself. On the screenshot you can see the Find Locally search box just below the Where To Buy box on the product page. When I visit Buzzillions, however, I don’t see it. I wonder if the service is in beta.

When it comes to local Internet marketing options, you have more than one. It’s not all online, but then it’s not all off line either. Local Internet marketing is its own little game apart from the global game played by big players and solo entrepreneurs who compete against them. Your competition is not the guy in Hong Kong (unless you’re in Hong Kong), but the guy across the street or on the other side of town - you know, the one who just slashed his prices to try to put you out of business? Yeah, that guy.

So how do you use local Internet marketing to compete against other small businesses on your own turf? It really isn’t hard. Here are some local Internet marketing options that can help you gain the edge:

• Geographic SEO - Search is still your best option. People in your neighborhood will go online to find businesses like yours in their vicinity. Make sure you use locally geo-targeted keywords in your online content.
• Maps - All the search engines have them. Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, etc. Get your site listed. It’s free.
• Online Directories - Not all directories are general directories. There are a ton of local directories too. List your site in those.
• Review Sites - Sites like Yelp allow customers to write reviews of local businesses they like. Get your customers to write about you.
• Articles - Yes, even articles can help build your business. Online and off line publications will publish your well-written articles. If you publish articles online then you get back links to your website. Publish them off line and you can have your web address included in the URL.
• A Company Blog - If you’ve heard of a blog then you’re off to a good start. But why don’t you have one. There is no single online tool more capable of increasing your search engine presence fast.
• Networking - Like article marketing, networking is something you can do both online and off line. In fact, online networking is a lot like off line networking. And you should do it because it works. But don’t give up on off line local meet and greets just because you’re online.

Local Internet marketing is global Internet marketing in your backyard. You can use all the same tools, but local Internet marketers actually have a few things going for them that the big global players don’t have. Use your tools wisely and you’ll see the pay off.

A story in WebProNews reports that mobile phone usage has increased by 74% in the last two years. This has startling implications for local internet marketing.

First, because your customers are likely as on-the-go as you are, they probably have mobile phones. And when they want to find you they will pick up their mobile phone and perform a local search. Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, and MSN Live Maps are all set to lead people straight to your business location and all a person has to do is perform a search from their mobile phone and drive right to your business front.

Another way local Internet marketing is changing is through direct dialing from the Internet. Sites like Superpages and CitySearch allow businesses to put their business phone number in their directory listings and allow mobile phone users to click a link and dial directly from their mobile phones. That’s a very powerful feature.

Services like Twitter bring social media to mobile phone applications and allow business owners to communicate directly with their local customers in real time. You can actually perform customer service right from your mobile phone without being face to face with your customer.

These are just some of the ways that mobile phones are revolutionizing Internet marketing. I have a feeling it’s only going to get better.

There was a time when Internet marketers would argue over SEO and social media and debate over which is more important. They still debate the question, but most Internet marketers today see benefit in both. Gone are the days when a respectable marketer would shout SEO and dismiss social media marketing altogether. You are just as likely today to meet online marketers who swear by social media and dismiss SEO.

But that isn’t smart either. The fact is, to succeed in today’s online world, you need both. You are competing against companies that have a sound social media marketing strategy and a good SEO team. Some of those companies have deep pockets. You need to be a bit more stealthy.

Small businesses can employ success SEO techniques in conjunction with strong social media presences and build good solid businesses. It helps to be patient, study the field, and don’t just jump in where you aren’t sure about. Just a few minutes a day and you can build a good business with both social media and SEO.