A Local Business Owner's Guide to Organic and Paid Search

Understand the key differences between organic and paid search, as well as social media strategies for local businesses, to make informed decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

Local business owners often face the challenge of choosing the best digital marketing strategies from a growing list of options. With the addition of AI tools, this decision becomes even more complex.

Typically, local businesses have four main strategies to consider: organic and paid methods for both search engines and social media.

In this guide, we will examine the details of each option, evaluate their advantages and disadvantages, and provide practical advice to help you decide where to best invest your time, resources, and money.

Understanding Organic And Paid Strategies

Let’s start by clarifying the basic differences between organic and paid strategies:

Organic: This approach aims to build long-term brand awareness, trust, and authority by creating and sharing high-quality, optimised content and engaging with the community. It requires time and effort to develop a loyal customer base.

Paid: This strategy involves spending on online advertising to gain immediate visibility and reach a larger audience quickly. While it offers faster results, it requires careful management of cost versus lead quality and volume.

Local business owners need to choose between organic and paid options for both search and social media, each with its own demands for time, resources, and costs.

Below, we’ll discuss best practices for each strategy, along with their respective pros and cons. Keep in mind that all strategies need regular monitoring and optimisation to achieve the best results.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing (SEM) often gets associated with paid strategies alone, but it actually encompasses both organic search (local SEO) and paid search (PPC).

Organic Local SEO

Local SEO aims to help your business appear prominently in the Local Map Pack or organic search results when customers search for services or products you offer.

Local SEO shares similarities with traditional SEO but includes additional steps:

Best Practices

– Keyword Research: Identify keywords related to your business’s services, location, and competition that potential customers are searching for.

– Website/On-Page Optimization: Build a mobile-friendly, locally-focused website. Optimize title tags, headings, internal/external links, meta descriptions, and content with relevant keywords.

– Local Listings: Set up and maintain a detailed Google Business Profile (GBP) and ensure your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) are consistent across online directories.

– Reviews: Positive and genuine customer reviews, especially on GBP, and prompt responses can strengthen your local presence.

– Backlinks: Obtain inbound links from relevant local and industry-specific sources to boost your authority.

– Content Marketing: Regularly produce and share high-quality, locally relevant content that addresses your audience’s needs and adds value.

Pros

– Cost-Effective: Although SEO requires time and effort for research, implementation, and monitoring, it often costs less than paid search in the long run.

– Credibility: Users generally view organic search results as more trustworthy.

– Long-Term Benefits: A well-optimized online presence can attract consistent organic traffic over time.

Cons

– Delayed Results: Building authority and trust through SEO can take several months to yield significant results.

– Algorithm Dependency: Search engine algorithms and AI-generated results are continually evolving, requiring ongoing optimization.

– Competitive: Gaining authority and visibility for popular keywords can be challenging, especially in crowded markets.

Effective local SEO is closely linked to running a well-managed business, providing excellent services, and engaging with the community. Businesses that excel in these areas are often successful in local SEO and can attract customers through organic search.

Local Paid Search (PPC)

Paid search involves creating and placing ads—text, image, or video (YouTube)—on Google or Bing’s search or display networks, directing users to standalone or landing pages designed for conversions.

For local businesses, there is also the option to use Google Local Services Ads, which require businesses to complete a verification process.

Best Practices

– Keyword Bidding: Select relevant keywords with high search volumes and low competition.

– Ad Copy Optimization: Craft ad copy that highlights your unique value proposition.

– Landing Page Optimization: Ensure landing pages align with your ad copy and encourage conversions.

– Remarketing: Target ads to users who have previously visited your site, tailored to products or services they showed interest in.

Pros

– Immediate Visibility: Ads appear at the top of search results quickly when tied to relevant keywords.

– Targeted Reach: Ads can be aimed at specific demographics and locations.

– Easily Measured Results: Track metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions to assess performance and adjust spending.

Cons

– Costly: PPC can be expensive, especially for competitive keywords. For instance, the average click-through rate (CTR) is 1.91% on the Google search network and 0.35% on the display network, meaning you need many impressions to get clicks.

– Quantity Over Quality: High traffic from PPC does not always result in high conversion rates.

– Click Fraud: Some clicks may come from bots or competitors, potentially wasting your budget.

– Temporary Results: Ads and traffic stop once you cease payments.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media is a major part of modern life, yet many local businesses are uncertain about its role in their marketing strategies.

The effectiveness of social media for your business depends on your industry and audience preferences. Consider whether you can produce content suitable for platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok and if your audience is likely to engage with it on these channels.

For many local businesses, a social media strategy is a valuable tool for extending their community presence online.

Organic Social Media

Organic social media involves sharing text, images, audio, video, and links on social media platforms. To ensure your content is seen and interacted with, you need to build and maintain a social media following—a step often overlooked in social media marketing.

Best Practices

– Use high-quality images and videos to attract attention.

– Plan and schedule posts with a content calendar.

– Employ relevant hashtags to broaden your reach.

– Include calls to action to prompt engagement.

– Build your audience by following and engaging with other local businesses and content creators.

– Respond quickly to comments, messages, and mentions.

Pros

– Cost-effective: Social media platforms are mostly free to use.

– Brand Building: Strengthen customer relationships and showcase your brand’s personality.

– Customer Engagement: Directly interact with customers, answer their questions, and address concerns.

Cons

– Limited Reach: Organic reach is decreasing, making it harder to connect with a large audience even with a following.

– Social Network Dependency: Algorithms control how content is displayed, which can restrict your reach.

– Time-Consuming: Managing and creating engaging content for multiple platforms requires significant time.

Paid Social Media

Paid social media allows you to use text, image, or video ads on social networks where your target audience is active.

Best Practices

– Audience Targeting: Define and target specific local audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviors collected by the social networks.

– Ad Format: Select the appropriate ad format for your campaign goals, such as image ads, video ads, or carousel ads.

– Ad Copy: Craft clear and engaging ad copy that emphasizes your unique selling points.

– Landing Page Optimization: Ensure your landing pages match your ad content and drive conversions.

Pros

– Targeted Reach: Access to precise audience segments based on specific criteria.

– Increased Visibility: Amplify the reach of your high-performing organic posts.

– Measurable Results: Track metrics like clicks, impressions, and conversions to refine and improve campaign effectiveness.

Cons

– Costly: Paid social media can be expensive, especially in competitive markets or high-density areas.

– Ad Fatigue: Overexposure to ads may lead to consumer annoyance or reduced engagement.

– Algorithm Dependency: Social media algorithms may limit the visibility of paid content, making it challenging for ads to stand out.

Local Challenges

Local business owners face several key challenges regardless of the marketing tactics they choose:

– Limited Budgets: Smaller budgets make it hard to compete with larger companies in paid search and social media. Focus on targeting the right audience with well-planned spending.

– Local Competition: Competing against other local businesses can be tough, especially in crowded markets. Differentiate yourself with unique value propositions, excellent customer service, and targeted campaigns.

– Limited Resources: Many local businesses lack the staff or expertise to handle complex paid search and social media campaigns. Consider outsourcing to a digital marketing agency but ensure you review their past results.

– Keeping Up with Trends: Staying current with marketing trends can be overwhelming. Partnering with a digital marketing expert can help keep you updated.

Choosing the Right Strategy for Your Local Business

The best strategy for your local business depends on your goals, budget, and target audience. Consider these factors:

– Goals: Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, generate leads, or boost sales?

– Budget: How much can you invest in marketing? Monthly, quarterly, or seasonally?

– Target Audience: Who are you trying to reach? What keywords are they using? Which social media platforms do they prefer?

– Timeframe: How soon do you need to see results?

An effective digital marketing strategy often includes both organic and paid methods. Instead of choosing between organic and paid, use a combination of both.

Start by focusing on organic keywords or topics where you already have some authority or visibility. This might be a unique product or service that your customers favour.

Simultaneously, identify high-value, low-competition keywords for which you’re willing to invest in PPC or paid social ads for quick results.

Another approach is to use paid search or social ads to test which keywords or topics resonate with your audience before developing a comprehensive organic content strategy.

If your budget allows, integrate both paid search and paid social into your strategy. Use paid search to target high-intent users actively searching for your products or services, and use paid social to build brand awareness, nurture leads, and reach a broader audience.

A Few Words On Analytics

Digital marketing has become increasingly important, partly due to the growing demand for instant results and the wealth of data available from online interactions.

While the volume of data can be overwhelming, it allows for tracking, analysis, and optimisation of marketing efforts based on performance.

You can monitor website interactions and traffic through Google Analytics, track PPC ad performance with tools like Google Ads and Bing Ads, and use detailed metrics provided by most paid social platforms.

For small businesses, this might involve tracking how many leads or paying customers come from online sources.

Getting detailed insights into which channels bring actual customers to your business can greatly improve your marketing strategy. Ideally, understanding the return on investment for each channel helps validate your strategic choices.