Recently we had a customer, 214 Liquor in Farmington, MO, after 10 years of waiting, decide to get their business found online. As in many cases this was a customer who had planned on having a website for the past 10 years and also understood why Facebook and other social media tools could be valuable but was concerned about how much time it would take to get started.
Here is a quick testimonial about local search and social media from the customer:
After a Localtek Account Manager met with the customer they decided it was time to move based on the continued growth of people searching locally for businesses in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Also, with over 500 million users on Facebook it was clear there would be a way to tap into the social networking world to promote their products and specials directly to those who were interested.
The preliminary results have been very exciting for the customer and proves that people are looking for your business and the longer you wait to do local search engine optimization on your web presence the more customers that will be missed.
The customer has received calls from customers who have searched and now found their website searching for the town and products the customer offers. Along with this daily there are several visitors who specifically searched for the business name. The question is before the website was there where did they go? Likely to a directory that provided little to no information on the businesses services and products.
Also, after less than 3 days they have 70+ Facebook fans with that growing everyday. With continued marketing of their website and Facebook page they will continue to grow this very targeted base of customers and interested readers.
People are searching on mobile phones, laptops, and social media sites for your business. Are you being found for all the search keywords your business needs?
Our customer, Blakes BBQ House, in Desloge, MO has been a great success story. The owner, Tim White, has been in the restaurant business for many years and has much experience in promoting local restaurants.
With the growth in local search and the need for local search optimization Tim understood the importance of making sure his business was found online when people did a local search for his business and talks here of the results:
March 26, 2010, Desloge, MO – LocalTek, LLC, an innovator in local search and advertising solutions for businesses across America, announces plans to aggressively hire more sales staff and web developers to meet the growing needs of their rapidly expanding client list.
Traditional legacy media has come under fire during these difficult economic times with massive layoffs and corporate downsizing. With a consistently shrinking market share, newspapers and other forms of print media are closing their doors and causing their unemployed workers to seek jobs in an increasingly smaller job market. LocalTek aims to hire these former legacy media employees to expand the company’s thriving online presence.
“We feel that people who have experience in selling media would be a terrific asset to our company,” said Bruce Marler, founder of LocalTek. “The unprecedented growth we’ve had has led to an immediate need to add more employees to our line up.”
The surge in local search has grown significantly over the past year and with the current economic downturn many people are looking to their own community for their needs and services. LocalTek has developed a strategic business plan catering to these needs and has provided their clients with websites that have substantially increased local traffic and customers to their client’s business.
LocalTek has discovered an economic solution in its business practice by reaching out to small businesses that were previously untapped by larger marketing companies. By providing cost-effective web development, local search & SEO, social media promotion, and targeted location based services that virtually any business can afford, LocalTek is providing a variety of small businesses the opportunity to compete competitively with the same resources used by large corporations.
LocalTek’s business model has met large success and the company has been featured in international news with its innovative community portal, Missouri.me, which serves over 1,000 communities in Missouri. Missouri.me offers visitors local information about news, businesses, weather, and classifieds in their community.
About LocalTek
LocalTek provides cost effective, locally targeted, online advertising, and website solutions for a variety of business types throughout the United States. LocalTek solutions are targeted at specific geographic areas, which allow businesses to focus on the customers they find most valuable.
Headquartered in Desloge, Missouri, LocalTek is rapidly expanding its service offering in over 20 markets nationwide. For additional information, please visit us at www.localtek.com.
The state of Missouri has proposed that 95% of the state’s population have access to broadband services within five years. We support this initiative, but how does it help you to increase business using the internet? Do you want to enhance your web presence? If so, you must attend this event! This seminar is a live, in-depth demonstration of what the internet can do for you. You will learn about search engine optimization, the value of social networking and expanding your brand across the web. Cost is only $20!
If your small business has noticed a decline in business from the same Yellow Page ad you have been buying for years then you are witnessing the results of the drastic shift of consumers in large and small areas taking advantage of the easy access to information online.
Today people are much more likely to search for “Bonne Terre Restaurants” on Google before they pick up the print edition of the Yellow Pages. Along with this is the shift of people doing the exact same thing from their internet enabled mobile phone.
This trend is here to stay and is only going to accelerate with the rural broadband stimulus driving broadband access deeper into rural areas.
What do you do to be prepared?
It is not as simple as just having a website, you must have a website that has been properly setup to show up in Google or the other major search engines when someone searches for your business or the service or product you offer.
Most small businesses are not aware of this need, they are not aware that their website is now the primary way people will find information on them. The internet has become the phone book and your website has become your ad.
It is likely that even if you have a website it has not been properly optimized for local search and almost guaranteed if it was built more than a couple years ago it will not be setup in the proper way.
We at Localtek specialize in these services and our small business customers are proof positive that this works. Contact us today for a review of your website or quote for a website to help your business get online now.
Missouri community website, Missouri.me updated the homepage of the site to allow for easier and more direct access to the network of community websites that it has created for the citizens of Missouri.
The site has seen fast growth and focuses on bringing hyperlocal and community interest content to every town and city in Missouri. The site launched in 2009 and continues to add new features and content daily. With a unique site for every town in Missouri no one can give more value to the local communities than Missouri.me.
The initial homepage of the site had been designed the same as each of the community websites but after much discussion the company determined to add a more efficient interface for the loyal users of the site.
The Missouri website homepage now features links to some of the top cities in the state along with an easy to use alphabet interface to pick any town in Missouri.
Also, using a Google custom search box you can use this site as your daily search page and search within the site or on the global internet using Google technology.
Missouri wineries are fast becoming the top tourist destination in Missouri. Based on this Localtek is proud to announce the upcoming launch of our site dedicated to promoting the Missouri wine country and help visitors plan a great tour of the area.
When launched at the end of January the site will feature details on each and every winery in Missouri plus frequent reviews of destinations around the state.
We also will feature calendars to help you plan you trip around events being held at popular wineries and allow our visitors to submit their own winery reviews.
Look for more information in the near future, we look forward to helping promote the tourism industry in Missouri.
EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF .ME
Catchy ccTLD Sells for Big Bucks and Makes Bold Branding Statements
PODGORICA, Montenegro – Oct. 21, 2009 – The .ME Registry is celebrating significant success in its most recent online auction. NameJet® auctioned off 15 premium .ME domains between Sept. 25 and Oct. 2. The results certainly suggest .ME is a popular and valuable commodity in the world of domain extensions. Among the biggest sellers, Friend.Me sold for $21,000 and Host.Me sold for $15,200.
The popularity and increasing value of the .ME extension is not surprising when you take a closer look at how people and businesses around the world are using this ccTLD to send a message on the Web.
WhyHire.Me is a Web site, launched in North America, to help students and graduates get noticed by potential employers. A college professor and two software professionals developed the site. Now, several universities are using the portal and curriculum to teach students about new media and online personal branding.
“As an educator and brand marketer, I seek out the clearest possible message,” says Patti Church, one of the co-founders of WhyHire.Me. “No one can dispute the value and clarity of what our brand name communicates or what dot-ME offers our students and subscribers who use it to build their own online brand.”
Another Web site taking advantage of the “me” message is Missouri.Me. The U.S. geo-targeted site encourages Web visitors to use Missouri.Me as a “one-stop shopping” location for anything they want to know and any resource they need within that state. Localtek, the brains behind the Missouri site, is set to launch its second endeavor, Oklahoma.Me, within weeks and 25 other state-focused sites with .ME extensions are planned.
“Since we are focused on creating a connection between rural U.S. Internet users and their local communities, it is important for our sites to feel personal…dot-ME does just that,” says Bruce Marler of Missouri.Me. “Dot-ME is the greatest online personal branding tool that has been created. People feel they are really connected with the individual developing their blog, resume or other presence online and corporations, like ours, have the ability to use strong call to action dot-ME names to develop a Web presence with an individual connection.”
“These kinds of entrepreneurs are at the heart of dot-ME’s success,” notes Predrag Lesic, Executive Director of the .ME Registry. “Because we realize the infinite opportunities that exist for the use of dot-ME, the Registry is now encouraging anyone with a good idea and a strong business plan to approach us about using a dot-ME domain in an entrepreneurial venture. Sites like WhyHire.Me and Missouri.Me are prime examples of how and why dot-ME is a pivotal part of the Internet.”
For other examples and articles about the many clever uses of .ME, visit ExploreTheWorldOf.Me. To learn more about the .ME Registry, developing a .ME business idea or to find out how to register a .ME domain, go to www.Domain.Me.
About the .ME Registry:
.ME Registry (the d.b.a. of doMEn, d.o.o.) was chosen by the government of Montenegro to operate the new .ME domain name extension. .ME Registry partners include ME-net, GoDaddy.com and Afilias Limited. Me-Net is located in Montenegro and its principals have been leaders in the ICT sector in Montenegro, including the privatization of its largest ISP. GoDaddy.com is located in the USA and is the world’s largest domain name registrar and the largest paid hostname provider in the world, according to Netcraft Ltd. Afilias Limited is headquartered in Ireland and is a leading registry services provider, supporting more than 15 million domains worldwide.
LocalTek Launches Innovative Internet-based Advertising Solutions for Rural America
First Market Launched Serving Over 1,000 Communities in Missouri
July 31, 2009, Desloge, MO – LocalTek, LLC, an innovator in targeted advertising solutions, announces the launch of a new, internet-based advertising medium focused on small and mid-sized businesses throughout rural America.
LocalTek was created to provide targeted marketing solutions to businesses throughout the United States and also provide a local online resource for rural communities. LocalTek provides cost effective web development, advertising, and targeted online marketing packages that virtually any business can afford. Targeted marketing solutions that normally come from three different companies can now be provided by one single source vendor, LocalTek. LocalTek brings services to rural America to let businesses compete with large corporations who have strong search marketing resources that would preempt small local businesses from competing effectively online.
LocalTek’s online resource web portals will utilize the state name and the newly released “.Me” domain name extension for various markets in America. The first portal recently launched by LocalTek, Missouri.me, is currently serving over 1,000 communities in Missouri. For more information about the new .Me phenomenon, please visit www.domain.me.
“LocalTek’s new approach to on-line advertising will transform the way businesses are able to cost effectively market themselves and attract new customers,” said Bruce Marler, president and founder of LocalTek. “After working in corporate America for the past 15 years but still living in rural America, it became obvious that local businesses were not being offered the chance to compete fairly online. We created LocalTek and the Missouri.me concept to level the playing field. Missouri.me allows each and every community in the state to have their own online presence while LocalTek’s web development and targeted marketing services provide value that cannot be matched by traditional advertising only firms, newspaper, and even radio”.
Additionally, LocalTek has plans to launch service in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
About LocalTek
LocalTek provides cost effective, locally targeted, online advertising and website solutions for a variety of business types throughout the United States. LocalTek solutions are targeted at specific geographic areas, which allow businesses to focus on the customers they find most valuable. Headquartered in Desloge, Missouri, LocalTek is rapidly expanding its service offering in over 20 markets nationwide. For additional information, please visit us at www.localtek.com.
About Missouri.me
Missouri.me provides a local, online resource web portal that contains news, weather, free e-mail, classifieds and business information for most communities in Missouri. Headquartered in Desloge, Missouri, Missouri.me is a LocalTek company currently serving over 1,000 communities in Missouri with sales and marketing operations in over 114 counties. For additional information, please visit us at www.missouri.me.
Contact:
Bruce Marler President, LocalTek, LLC 573-701-2414 bruce@localtek.com
