5 marketing strategies businesses in NWA need to leverage

If you run a small, medium or large business in Northwest Arkansas, your marketing strategies must be optimized to reach your intended audiences.

From restaurants in Fayetteville to roofers in Bentonville, it’s important to make the most of search engine optimization (SEO) and other online strategies for your business to endure and thrive.

OPTIMIZE FOR GOOGLE
As a clear market leader, this powerful search engine remains the favorite among most users. Google’s global search engine market share in June 2021 was 87.76%. That’s why much of your marketing efforts need to be leveraged for Google optimization.

Online tools are available to help you optimize for Google searches. Learn these tools and use them to your benefit:

• Google My Business: Optimize your business description, write GMB posts, list your service areas, and post your hours.
• Google Search Console: Use this to improve your site’s performance during searches.
• Google Analytics: Discover who’s visiting your site and which keywords are working.
• Google Adwords: Run paid search campaigns to reach your NWA audience.

INCLUDE LOCAL SEO IN YOUR CONTENT
For your website to appear prominently in searches, you need to create SEO content on an ongoing basis. Expand your website pages when you’ve added a new service or opened another location, for example.

Say you’re based in Fayetteville, but you’re about to open new locations in Springdale and Rogers. Boost your local SEO by creating separate location pages. Add content that residents in those cities can benefit from.

Writing blogs with a regional slant also improves your local SEO. Whatever services or products you offer, you can always find a way to write a blog that has a local connection, such as:

• Best places to see fall colors in Northwest Arkansas
• The current economic picture in Bentonville
• Fun family activities in Fayetteville

The key to successful local SEO is to integrate relevant keywords on your pages and in your blogs. Remember to optimize title tags, meta descriptions and images, too.

REACH OUT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
People spend a lot of time on social media. You can reach out to Northwest Arkansas audiences on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and other platforms by presenting posts that offer residents the solutions they seek.

If your intended audience would benefit from visuals of your products or services, create a presence on Instagram with beautiful photography. Mix things up by adding regional images that present the best Northwest Arkansas has to offer.

With Facebook, you can advertise your store and local items on Marketplace. Find a way to make social business work for your business.

OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE DEVICES
Not everyone will look for services and products on their desktops. Increasingly, people are searching for solutions via their smartphones and other mobile devices.

This means you have to design your site for a great user experience on desktops (such as laptops) and mobile devices (including phones and tablets).

Approximately 60% of all online searches are conducted via mobile devices. Make it easy for customers to find you through their mobile devices and provide a quality experience for people accessing your site via their phones.

STUDY YOUR ANALYTICS
Too many people create marketing plans without consulting their sites’ analytics. This is a mistake. You have a wealth of traffic and trend information available at your fingertips. Ignoring analytics data means you’ll waste time trying to reach Northwest Arkansas residents ineffectively.

Paying attention to the analytics will help you craft marketing campaigns that are better targeted to your intended audience.

Editor’s note: Luke Waller is the owner and CEO of Waller Digital Inc. in Fayetteville, which provides digital marketing solutions to businesses across the nation.  The opinions expressed are those of the author.