How To Generate Local Leads Business Review Guide (Free Expert Tips)

The transformational timing of the topsy-turvy local leads terrain is at an all time high. Which means you either figure it out yourself, hire an expert, outsource the optimization or fail and fall flat on your face. At the end of the day, the song always says, show me the money.

When we sat down we had one gutsy-goal in mind – to generate a genius game plan about how to get more local leads via the internet and online business buyers by the boatload.

That is, by land and sea, we see it fit to give you nothing but gusto-guidance and brave business bravado.

You want the best online tips for local lead generation? Good, then you are at the right place at the right time my friend, keep reading.

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Let's dive deep and give you a free education on what local businesses really require and vitally need to be successful in creating long-term, sustainable, clock-work clients and repeat rewards.

If you run a local business, then nothing is more important than generating local leads. Local leads have been the cornerstones of local businesses since the beginning of human civilization.

Today, there are more ways than ever to generate local leads thanks to the power of leveraging the internet (which is where you and Job Killing come into play). From locally-oriented websites to local video marketing on YouTube, local lead generation has never been hotter. Find out everything you need to know about how to generate local leads today!

Defining Local Leads

Local leads are potential customers who live in your business’s service area. Dental clinics rely on local leads. Grocery stores rely on local leads. Law firms, gas stations…you get the point.

There are thousands of major cities and towns spread throughout the USA alone, with hundreds if not thousands of specialties and services, products and opportunities, only to know and accept every last one of them could use more business, members, and clients.

However, despite the magnitude of this foreword thinking, outside of the box perspective; the growing demand for more and more quality local lead generation has never been more exciting or exotic. No matter what side of the coin you fall on, service provider or internet marketer, our expert guide on generating targeted leads for local businesses is second to none.

If you are an online marketer but lack clients and customers, understand most local businesses and their respective owners did not major in marketing or sales and want nothing to do with online advertising or the chaotic learning lesson inevitably ensuin

If you are a local business owner who is service-focused or product-dominate, understand there are certified and qualified marketers who can take your business to the next level.

It all depends on how you want to play ball.

We discuss a lot of this for you marketers who are looking for evergreen entrepreneurial ways to generate an additional income online. You can see this in our Job Killing review right now.

By applying the age-old axiom ‘out with the old in with the new' to local business lead generation as a whole, we know the days of putting up a sign on a highway, printing posters or buying a billboard are long gone. In order to maximum potential you must create an optimal outlet online for anyone and everyone to find you easily.

Today, local lead generation takes place mostly (but not entirely) online. Digital-savvy local businesses are dominating their marketplaces. Businesses that have a responsive website, a Google Maps location, and a locally-targeted PPC campaign are outperforming their offline-focused competitors.

My advice would be to find an internet marketing coaching program that has mentors who are willing and open to showing you their expertise. We call those expert shortcuts around here.

Top 10 Online Local Lead Generation Tips

Use these tip to advertise your local business on the internet and capitalize on the latest local digital marketing strategies.

1) Dominate Local SEO

Up until a few years ago, Google’s search engine results pages looked the same for just about everyone. Today, Google changes your search results based on your location.

This has pushed smaller local businesses to the top of the search engine results page – ahead of even larger companies. Here are some of the rules to remember about local SEO:

-List consistent address information on your company’s official website and all other pages you control (like your profile on Yelp or TripAdvisor). This helps search engines (and your leads) know exactly where your business is located.

-Add keywords on your business’s homepage that identify your business’s services and its location. Does your business make websites for people in Seattle? Make sure you have keywords like “Seattle web design” on your site.

-Add your business’s address to every page of your site – not just your homepage. This goes back to the tip listed above, where search engines will have an easier time identifying your location if you list easy-to-read address information.

-Claim all local listings for your website, or build new business listings on websites where you’re not listed. At the very least, you should have local listings for your business on Facebook, Google, Yelp, and Yellowpages. Different cities have different local business listing websites, so make sure you take advantage of whatever the most popular local classifieds site may be.

2) Use Specialized Websites to Generate Local Leads

Some companies have taken a novel approach to online local lead generation. They have a primary website for the company as well as a website designed specifically to funnel local leads.

Let’s say you run a gardening company in Phoenix, Arizona. You work throughout the city and want to attract new customers in the surrounding suburbs. You build a website called GardeningGlendale.com, GardeningScottsdale.com, or GardeningMesa.com.

Then, you optimize each site for your chosen keyword and location.

Some businesses build separate websites for each keyword they’re trying to target. Other businesses might simply make new pages on their existing site – which lets you take advantage of your domain’s existing authority.

3) Do Everything in Your Power to Encourage Positive Customer Reviews

Positive customer reviews are the lifeblood of local businesses. They’re the best way to generate local leads: instead of selling yourself, you’re letting other customers sell your business for you. The good thing about positive reviews online is that they’re read by thousands of people. So instead of just one person telling their friend they got a good haircut at your business, you can leverage that awesome haircut into thousands of potential new customers.

With that in mind, it’s in your best interest to encourage positive reviews online. Do everything you can to make sure customers want to tell the world about positive experiences.

Some businesses print out review information on their receipt. You might see something like “Enter to win $250 by leaving a review online!”

Often, the best way to encourage positive reviews is to go the extra mile with customer service. If someone had a horribly negative experience with your business, do everything in your power to turn that negative experience into a positive one.

Or, build an email list with your customers and encourage people to review your site with a monthly email. People are more likely to read a review if they’re sitting at their computer when you send a review request.

4) Respond to Online Reviews

This tip is so important that it deserves to be different from tip number 3. If you’re running a business that runs off local leads, then you need to respond to online reviews. It’s as simple as that.

Respond to negative reviews. Respond to positive reviews. Respond to neutral reviews. Thank people for taking the time out of their day to write a review for your business. Ask them to come back again.

Do all of these things because your future customers will be reading everything. If a business has 10 one star reviews, someone might avoid going to that business. If a business has 10 one star reviews where the manager has individually responded to each complaint, then that shows the business genuinely cares about its online reputation and cares about all of its customers – even the ones who don’t leave great reviews.

One of the best things about responding to negative reviews is that you can instantly alleviate the fears of potential future customers.

Did a customer complain about the hard pillows at your local hotel? Respond saying that you’re currently replacing all those pillows with luxuriously soft pillows.

Did a customer whine about construction noises in their room? Respond and say that your renovation project is going to make your hotel better than ever before and it will be completed in just 2 weeks.

If you want to generate local leads (or sell anything in life), then you need to dispel the customer’s fears. Responding to negative reviews is a great way to dispel the fears of all future customers.

If you can do that, then you can generate more local leads through every local review website.

6) Talk About Local Stuff on Social Media

Most businesses know the advantages of running a blog and being active on social media. But too many local businesses ignore prime marketing opportunities. Instead of writing about interesting local stories, they write about industry news or bland, national news.

There’s a few problems with this: industry news stories only attract people in the industry (who probably aren’t your customers), and national news stories are covered much more effectively by real news websites.

Do you think your customers are interested in a review of the latest cosmetic laser machine upgrade? Or are they interested in a local story that actually affects them? Try to tie local coverage into your business’s marketing strategy if you want to generate local leads.

Tweet about a local event. You might get retweets from other people in your town – who just happen to be your potential future customers.

Is a local sports team in the playoffs? Give away a sports-related discount code to celebrate. Or, give fans wearing a jersey a special discount.

Ultimately, this strategy does two things: first, it shows customers you’re a caring member of the local community. And second, it turns local citizens – and their social media accounts – into salespeople for your business.

7) Develop Local Media Relationships

Want to make sure people remember your business? Make friends with the local media. It’s always nice to have friends in a position of power. When you’ve got a friend who works for a local TV or radio station, they might be able to drive positive coverage for your brand – or ignore negative stories.

For local businesses, “media” can mean a bunch of different outlets. Contact a local blogger and give them a free visit to your business in exchange for a review. Email a reporter about a charity event. Ask if a restaurant reviewer TV personality would like to visit your business.

8) You Needed a Mobile-Optimized Website Last Year

Do you know what your business’s website looks like on your phone? You should. If you run a local business, as many as 50% of your local leads – if not more – will arrive at your site through mobile devices.

Your site should be responsive and attractive on all major mobile devices. Look up tablet resolutions and make sure your site is optimized for that resolution. Check to make sure it works on all major iPhones and Android devices.

Think of how people use their mobile devices. Maybe they’re walking around downtown and are looking for a good local restaurant. You only have 3 seconds to convince them to eat at your restaurant. Display social proof like Yelp reviews and TripAdvisor certifications, then list your opening hours, location, and menu with prices.

9) Even National Businesses Can’t Ignore Local SEO

In days gone by, national businesses could ignore local SEO and rely on the authority of their national website. Today, most national brands have optimized different pages of their site for large cities in which they maintain offices.

The company might write local-targeted content on the site’s local-focused page. Instead of interacting with a faceless national brand, customers can relax knowing they’re dealing with a local brand that considers itself part of the local community.

You don’t have to write an emotional local story on that page. Even something as simple as a picture of the city’s skyline could convince local customers you care.

The good thing about national businesses is that they have a huge advantage over smaller local competitors when it comes to local SEO. Leverage the authority of your national site and link to your smaller local sites. This will instantly boost your site’s value in the eyes of Google. If that site has well-written, unique, and locally-targeted content on it, then you’re well on your way to capturing more local leads than ever before.

10) Don’t Ignore Google+ Local

Google+ isn’t the world’s most popular social network. It will probably never be the world’s most popular social network.

That’s caused many business owners to ignore Google+ marketing thinking they don’t need it.

Unfortunately, there’s one reason that’s not true: Google Maps. Google Maps is the world’s most popular mobile mapping application. When your customers type “bars” into Google Maps, you want your bar to come up nearby. You want your bar to have a strong 5 star review average. You want to instantly display hours, price range, and a few words about your bar and its style.

You can learn more about Google+ Local at Google’s official writeup here.

Top 5 Offline Local Lead Generation Tips

Yes, local lead generation is more digital-focused today than it’s ever been before. But that doesn’t mean that all local lead generation takes place over the internet.

Smart local businesses take advantage of all the internet’s online tools. At the same time, they don’t ignore the tried and true offline marketing practices that have been working for generations.

With that in mind, here are the top 10 offline local lead generation tips for today’s modern businesses.

1) Take Advantage of a Grand Opening

Grand openings are exciting events for businesses and their future customers. If you’re a new business in town, people will check out the grand opening to see what you’re all about. Some people just want the chance to win free prizes or see a local band play.

In any case, a grand opening is a great way to make a splash in your local area and instantly make a name for yourself. If you want to instantly build thousands of local leads, then a grand opening (or grand “reopening”, or similar events) are great places to start.

2) Pay for Newspaper Advertisements

Newspaper advertisements don’t command the same audience as they once did. However, if you’re targeting middle aged to older demographics with your business, then newspaper advertisements can be an effective way to get your name out there.

One important thing to remember about newspaper advertisements is that there’s room to haggle. Ask if the newspaper can give you a 2 for 1 deal or a 20% discount if you order weekly advertisements. The ad salespeople at newspapers always have some wiggle room.

3) Billboards

Do most of your customers drive cars? Do your customers commute to work every day? Billboards in strategic locations can provide a great source of advertising for your business. Place your business in your customers’ paths and you’re going to generate warm local leads.

4) Direct Mail

In this age of online marketing, it’s easy to forget about direct mail. But the direct mail business is booming. There are few better ways to put your business in front of real local customers than direct mail. We also talk about this in our MLM leads tutorial where we go in depth about various direct mail and direct selling ideas.

Every business is different when it comes to direct mail strategies. But if you want your direct mail campaign to lead directly to customers walking through your door, then a coupon-based campaign is a great place to start.

Whether you’re giving away discounted haircuts or advertising weekly specials at your bar, direct mail puts your message in front of real customers. If you’re lucky, your message will get left on the kitchen table or pinned to the fridge with a magnet for weeks.

5) Groupon and Similar Websites

Groupon may not be the local advertising powerhouse it was back in 2010, but it’s still a relevant company today. Groupon earned $3.2 billion in revenue in 2014 – and most of that revenue came from local businesses just like yours.

If you need a quick boost to your business or want to convince people to try out something new, then Groupon and similar coupon-style websites can be a great boost for your business. You can generate lots of local leads in a short period of time.

Leveraging Local Leads

Well you said you wanted a guide for how to generate local leads, so we went the extra mile and supplied you with a sun dial focus how to actually apply and implement this right back into your own business (whether marketing or attracting clients).

As of 2015, this is our number one online opportunity of choice due to your ability to connect with real, legit, hard working businesses that need your skills in generating them targeted, qualified leads online.

Make sure you see about applying for how to kill your job and murder your 9 to 5 J-O-B today.