The Internet makes it easier than ever for business to reach a global audience. However, for those who really know the ins and outs of the opportunity for globalization, the barriers to entry are becoming higher and higher.
The search engines and social media hubs that control the gateways to the global customer have a vested interest in only providing top quality content to those people. They are constantly changing their algorithms to reflect quality content. However, they are far from perfect. Any business that wishes to globalize must learn the efficiencies and inefficiencies of the algorithms that are implemented by the social media and search engine companies.
The first thing that a business must do in order to globalize is to create a local presence online. Once you have all of the “likes” and +1s from your local area, the search engines and social media hubs will be less likely to group your website in with the spam that they relegate to the back pages or ban altogether. However, they are making it easier than ever to localize your optimization efforts. On search engines, for example, you only have to optimize your site to the name of your city to localize your results.
These localization efforts also require an off-line marketing campaign as well. In order for new customers to find you online and be interested enough to come to your store or purchase something from you online, you need pictures of your business with smiling customers in front of it on social media hubs. You need to have your advertisements worded correctly on the search engines. You need to watch what your competition is doing on the review sites and take advantage of any negative reviews that they may receive.
You have the ability to offer specialized discounts to the customers who are most likely to buy from you. You have the ability to eliminate any and all distance between first contact and full patronage of your business. Make sure that you begin with your local market and the globalized world of commerce will open up to you in time.