There is no doubt that most business owners would love for their enterprise to go national one day. The reality of the matter, though, is that most businesses are localized. In fact, over half of the employees in America work for small businesses, so the majority of U.S. and Australian based businesses are focused on their local areas. This is why it is so necessary to focus marketing on getting found locally.

Get Listed on Local Directories

Customers no longer have to check several different sites to find a business they are looking for. Thanks to local directories, they can now seek out the industry they are looking for and assess local companies based on reviews, location and a variety of other factors. That is why it is so crucial to be listed on these pages and claim them if possible. Yelp, Bing Places, Google My Business and Yahoo Local are perfect places to start.

Request Online Reviews

People now heavily utilize review sites to choose who they will do business with. Having customer testimonials on these sites won’t just let others see what you are all about, but it also improves your SEO and online visibility. Keep in mind, however, that these sites do not allow you to solicit positive reviews. You can offer incentives, though, for clients to leave honest reviews.

Use Obvious Signage

While some now feel that online marketing is the only important type of promotion, offline marketing certainly is not obsolete. One of the important aspects of local marketing and getting found is to have apparent signage onsite. Sadly, studies show that 28 percent of businesses do not even have signs onsite. Which means that, even if you are found online, clients could be bypassing your organization for someone easier to find.

Marketing is required for a successful organization, but it means nothing if clients cannot find you. This is where local marketing comes in, and if it’s done correctly, new clients will have no problem finding and frequenting your establishment.

If you are looking to redesign or perhaps put up your first small business web site, it is a good idea to take a brief look at what is trending now as regards web design for small businesses.

Some have come about due to advances in technology, and others are merely cosmetic or related to user experience. Nevertheless, judge each with an eye open as to their best uses for your particular site, and not necessarily for any buzz or good press. Even though infinite scrolling may work for Facebook doesn’t mean it’s right for your site.

So let’s dive right in and see what’s trending now in web design for small business in 2016.

5 Trends in small business web design

Infinite scrolling - Oops, I gave it away. Infinite scrolling has become the “it” factor this year. This is where your content flows in one interrupted page. Obviously this is helpful for some social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, but for others it is a case by case affair. One advantage is that you can keep your reader engaged on a single page. One disadvantage is that moving them on to your eventual goal page can be problematic.

Responsive design - Undeniably, a responsive site is no longer an option for 2016. With more than half the Web traffic originating from a mobile device, it’s imperative that your site show up well on all platforms.

A minimalist, uncluttered site - A spare, lean look with lots of white space and shorter blocks of text are the rule these days. This improves the overall feel of your site, providing an uncluttered, space where you can offer a simple, direct message free of distraction and rabbit holes.

Get creative with font types and color - The days when you needed to make everything conform to Times New Roman or Arial are long gone. You still want to present your text in a readable, easy on the eyes font, but don’t be afraid to experiment, particularly with headlines and buttons. Experiment also with a color splash now and then, in keeping with your site’s primary colors.

Don’t neglect social media - Make sure your readers are able to share your content easily to their followers across the Web. Who knows if the person who wants to tweet about your post has a few hundred thousand followers who might enjoy what you have to offer too!

This is an article Mike Cooch wrote for Entrepreneur.com.
I’m just like most other entrepreneurs I know – I have at least three new business ideas before I get out of bed in the morning. And the ideas just keep coming throughout the day.

Thankfully, after years of trial and error as an entrepreneur, I’ve learned to evaluate my new ideas carefully to determine if they are actually an opportunity, instead of just an idea.

Even more importantly, I’ve learned to evaluate if it’s a good opportunity for me and the lifestyle I want to create for myself.
I do that evaluation by asking twelve questions that I’ve found are critical to determining if a business is right for me. If I have more than a few ‘No’ responses, I can immediately cross the idea off of my list and forget about it. If it’s all ‘Yes’ responses, I know I have an idea with real potential.
Here’s the list of questions, with some of my thoughts explaining why each is important to me:

Will this business support the lifestyle I want (income, ability to travel, flexible work time, etc.)? I work to live, not live to work. I also love to travel and have flexibility in terms of when I get my work done. That immediately disqualifies many businesses.
Is there proven demand for the product I am going to sell? Creating demand is hard, slow and expensive. I’d rather capture my share of already existing demand.

Is there a clear value proposition that will make my product unique in the marketplace? Business is no fun if I don’t have some sort of competitive edge.

Is there a very clear way to market and sell my product or service through existing channels? Leveraging existing sales channels is the fastest and easiest way I’ve found to get a business off the ground profitably.

Can I leverage online marketing and social media to grow this business? These are two of the most powerful business-building forces of our time; I want to be sure to take advantage of them.

Will this business have gross margins of at least 50% and/or net margins of at least 20%? At the end of the day, a business has to make money.

Can this business become a sellable asset? The big win often comes from being able to sell and exit your business when you are ready, but not all businesses are easy to sell.

Can I automate the majority of the operations of the business? I try to take advantage of as much automation as possible to reduce the overhead of operating a business.

Can I easily find someone to successfully run the business for me? Eventually, I’ll likely want someone to run the business for me. Is this a business that can easily be handed over to someone else, or does it require my specific knowledge and talents?

Is this a business that I’ll find fun and interesting to run today? Yes, life insurance is very profitable, but it’s not fun. Profit is not enough; I want to be in businesses that I actually enjoy.

Is this a business that other people will find fun and interesting? I’ve found that it’s much more enjoyable to be in a business that other people think is fun and interesting.

Is this something I’ll still be willing to run seven years from now? The reality is that most businesses don’t grow as quickly or as profitably as I’d like.

If I am still running this seven years from now, will I still find it enjoyable?

Use these twelve questions to evaluate your business ideas. You should be able to answer ‘Yes’ to the far majority of the questions.
If not, drop the idea and be thankful that you didn’t invest your time and energy into something that ultimately wouldn’t fulfill your entrepreneurial dreams.
Now, go build something!
Mike
Thinking of starting a business? Already have one, but haven’t created the lifestyle you’re looking for? Download our free guide to creating a business that gives you the freedom to decide where, when and who you work with.