One marketing tactic can make all the difference for small businesses
For small business owners, marketing can be challenging. Finding time to do it, understanding what is needed, allocating budget to it — they’re all common obstacles.
A recent report cited in Forbes found that most small business owners are “overwhelmed” by marketing and nearly three-quarters didn’t believe the tactics business owners were using were helping them achieve their business goals.
Isaac Navias and Kim Coates (right) accepted the Greenlight Gratitude Award for being a purpose-driven organization
Isaac Navias and Kim Coates have heard that frustration from clients. As CEO and COO of LocalFi, a Scottsdale-based SEO digital marketing agency, the two are well acquainted with the challenges small businesses face. And they often catch business owners off guard with their candid suggestions, their alternate approach to marketing and the results they achieve.
‘This is powerful’
“Website SEO for most local businesses is typically a money pit,” Navias said. “We focus on the local side of things, where people are actually looking. So, we focus on getting your Google Maps to rank high and work to get local businesses the most prime real estate on Google. And we get results, very consistently, within two to three months.”
Navias discovered the success of this tactic after leaving an HR job with Target and beginning work with a chiropractor. He realized he would find many businesses on Google Maps, so he experimented with optimizing the chiropractor’s Google Maps. It worked.
“Within three months he had to bring in another practitioner. He had a waiting list,” he said. “That’s when I realized, this is powerful. And this was years ago, before local SEO was even a term.”
Giving back to local charities
After meeting Coates, developing a pet sitting website for her and optimizing her online presence, the two decided to build a company around this approach, with the underlying goal of making a positive impact for local business owners and communities as a whole. The company’s for-profit success allows it to give back to a non-profit every year.
LocalFi with client Sip Coffee & Beer in Scottsdale
LocalFi’s team of SEO experts, graphic designers, content creators and web developers has decided to donate their services to an animal-based charity this year. But in years past, they’ve made a positive impact for One Tree Planted (which planted 52 million trees last year), YWCA and Local First Arizona, among others.
“By helping organizations like these get found online, people know they exist, and they can get more volunteers or funding,” Coates said.
Google Maps is key
The most impactful way to get noticed, according to Navias and Coates, is through a Google Maps listing. Typically, when someone searches for a local business online, the results that come up from a Google search begin with one or more ads, followed by three Google Maps results showing the top results in that area, followed by website listings, often linking to Yelp. Any actual business website results that show up on that first page of search results are generally still buried beneath the top results.
Navias said the top three Google Maps options get about 50% of clicks, whereas the first ‘website’ gets about 12% of clicks. That first website is typically a local listing platform like Yelp or Tripadvisor, not a local business’ website. Google Maps listings get about 50% of clicks, and Yelp picks up a majority of the rest.
“It’s way more expensive to get to the top of that list of websites than it is to get into the top three of Google Maps,” Navias said, noting that many people search for businesses directly in Google Maps when using their phones. “We are often able to outrank major corporations on Google Maps. I can’t outrank them on a search for a website, there’s no way. But we’re far more likely on Maps.”
When Coates looks at that approach and the results that their team has seen for clients across more than 70 industries, she compares the outcomes to those of paid ads. Google Maps, unlike ads, doesn’t have an “off” button. It’s just there. With ads, traffic wanes once they are shut off.
LocalFi is excited to help local businesses increase their revenue and improve their online presence
“We’re building long-term marketing assets. And we manage it every month because technology and SEO is changing all the time. But the thing is, it’s all organic,” she said. “It’s going to continue serving your business for as long as your business exists.”
Affordable services for all business sizes
In addition to helping local businesses get found, LocalFi is helping them be understood. The team helps businesses build out their profiles to ensure that all of their services are listed, in case someone goes looking for something specific.
And they’ve recently launched a new package for the service industry — ideal for HVAC, plumbing, electricians, pool companies, landscapers, etc. — that currently starts around $750 a month. That cost-conscious package is one of many the company offers, based on each client’s needs and the results they’re trying to achieve.
LocalFi has had success working with businesses with physical locations as well as service-based businesses. They helped a one-man junk removal company who was able to grow his company to hire more team members and more than double his revenue. On the other end of the spectrum, they are also working with a local business in Mesa that generates $30 million in revenue.
We’ve budgeted our prices to actually make a long-term, positive impact,” Navias said. “What we do with Local SEO generates a higher ROI than any other marketing avenue I’ve found in my 10+ years of doing this type of work. I don’t think there’s another marketing avenue that will create as big of a long-term impact as what we’re doing.”
Find out more about LocalFi SEO Digital Marketing Agency at localfiseo.com.
Become a member of Local First Arizona’s Business Coalition at LocalFirstAZ.com/coalition-member#join.
