Research shows that most small business owners get the majority of their customers from within a 50-mile radius. Local markets are extremely important for most small businesses.

Yet most of us make the same 5 common mistakes when it comes to local marketing.

Our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio is Court Cunningham, CEO of Yodle, Inc, a company in the local online marketing space.

Court covers the mistakes and what to do about them:

• Building your own website is mistake number one — For converting customers you have to think of your website as an ad that turns clicks into clients. Some basic problems with home-grown websites include failing to have your business location on your home page, and failing to have your phone number listed prominently. Failure to display a map and having unclear site navigation are other common pitfalls with home-grown websites.

• Yellow Pages may be declining but still play a role — Here’s something to consider — half of online queries are coming from search engines — not online directories. But the Yellow Pages aren’t dead. Older generations and those in smaller towns reach for the Yellow Pages. Younger generations and those in cities are the biggest users of online directories and local search.

As CEO of Yodle, Court oversees all aspects of operations and strategy, including technology, product development and sales and marketing. He shares these and other insights into effective local online marketing.

To hear all 5 local marketing mistakes, click the red and yellow player below.

Listen Now:

 Are You Making These 5 Local Marketing Mistakes? [29:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted by Staci Wood | | Permalink

1. A lot of clicks by me failed because a phone number was not listed__very frustrating!

   Comment by EJMalyn — 1/23/2008 @ 8:51 pm

2. If business caters to a younger crowd, Yellow Pages is just a waste of money/time. These money better be spent on other offline promotions.

   Comment by Vlad - Small Business and Web Design — 1/23/2008 @ 11:04 pm

3. A home-made website can look like just that, so it is best to at least have someone do some basic design for your site. You can still keep it simple, but you must include contact information that can be easily found.

   Comment by Connie Ragen Green — 1/24/2008 @ 1:27 am

4. Small Business Marketing Mistakes

   The majority of small businesses are still getting most of their customers within a 50 miles radius of their home location. But according to Small Business Trends Radio, many of these businesses are still making the same mistakes when it

   Trackback by Small Business UnMarketing — 1/24/2008 @ 1:41 am

5. I would have to agree with Connie. Sites that are just thrown on the web with no design or thought turn me off. A more professional looking site is worth a few bucks spent.

   I do also hate having to search on a site for a phone number or email address. It should be right in the open.

   Comment by Amanda — 1/24/2008 @ 11:01 am

6. We have had a tough time to reach out the local market. It has taken a long time to get known in the central area of Gothenburg. We have tried to advertise in local press, insert notices in the newspaper and putting flyers on billboards downtown.

   We are listed in the Swedish version of Yellow Pages called “Find” (”Hitta” in Swedish) and we have a map on our contact page.

   Comment by Martin Lindeskog — 1/24/2008 @ 4:14 pm

7. I like a site with easy to understand navigation, which is something that I don’t think “do-it-yourselfers” have in mind when creating unless using a service which provides a basic template with that in mind.

   Contact information should always be front and center. And frankly, when a site forces me to dig for it, I don’t feel too good about conducting a transaction with them. What if something goes wrong? Can I reach someone? That’s what I begin to think.

   As for myself, I find local search quite valuable for my own personal uses. I sit at the computer - I’m not one to reach for the Yellow Pages.

   Comment by Chris — 1/25/2008 @ 3:08 pm

8. Staci:

   This is a great idea for busy people who don’t want to monopolize their eyeball time reading. Why not listed to a great piece on marketing while multi-tasking? Thanks for this nice piece on 5 marketing mistakes to avoid.

   I linked to your piece in my blog at the Innovators-Network, where I’m always looking for interesting stories to include in my daily post.

   Best wishes for continued success!

   Anthony Kuhn

   Comment by Anthony Kuhn — 1/25/2008 @ 5:08 pm

9. Anthony Kuhn,

   Is the Innovators Network an open blog community?

   Comment by Martin Lindeskog — 1/26/2008 @ 8:19 am

10. the biggest mistake is not having online prescence on a site that does the work for you. There are plenty of sites that promise small biz advertisement with just a listing…lets be honest, we are a vision driven society and small businesses need more than a listing. they need inventory, personality, and charisma online…the only way 2 do so is on the free Business marketing site TheLocalIndex.com that allows free signup, free pictures, everything is free and is obviously for the business owner adn not about the money!

    Comment by Michel — 2/4/2008 @ 8:53 am

11. Hi ! I have got the valuable information about the internet which allows you to reach consumers all over the world, but a business owner should not discount the business that comes from your own backyard. Local business is very important to those who own stores as well as those that provide services. In order to get success you need to find the best small business ideas visit http://www.smallbizdeath.com/

    Comment by onlinemarketing — 3/25/2008 @ 4:36 pm

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