How to Grow Your Small Business: 12 Steps

People start businesses for different reasons – but whether for money, passion, or something else entirely, every business owner wants to grow and succeed. 

But growing a small business isn’t easy. You have to build a brand, attract loyal customers, and outdo dozens of other companies competing for the same business. You also have to balance a full-time workload, manage part-time employees, and make it to soccer practice in time to pick up your kid.

Needless to say, you have a busy schedule, and growing your business might not be at the top of your to-do list. That’s why I’ve put together this checklist to help small business owners create a long-term growth plan. These tips will help you grow your business locally and online, attracting more customers and increasing your profits over time.

How to Grow Your Small Business

Below are 12 small business growth strategies. We’ve organized them into two groups: online and local advertising. Use each one to build your brand digitally and in person.

How to Grow Your Business Online

When growing your brand online, start with your website — it’s the digital home for your business. Then, look at the channels where customers find your website (social media, search engines, review sites) and think about ways to improve those experiences. Ultimately, your aim is to determine where your customers are active online and direct them to your site.

Here are six ways you can do that.

1. Build an engaging website for your company.

It doesn’t matter if you do ecommerce or not; your website is critical to your business. It’s how customers discover you through Google, giving you a platform to post whatever you want about your company. Service-based brands can use it to book more appointments, while retail companies can promote their products. Whatever your goals are, your website is a valuable resource that helps your business.  

A good website is mobile-friendly, easy to use, and updated regularly. Your pages should load quickly, and there shouldn’t be any bugs or errors distracting users. If your site is slow, it doesn’t matter if your content is amazing. People will leave a webpage if it doesn’t load within a few seconds.

Here’s a quick checklist you can use to improve your website:

• Add logos, taglines, images, videos, or graphics about your business. 
• Include up-to-date service and/or product descriptions. 
• Write blogs or regularly updated content. 
• Use a mobile-friendly design. 
• Feature accessibility options for hearing /visually impaired site visitors. 
• Add calls to action to create engagement and sales. 

2. Invest in local SEO.

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Most people discover new businesses through Google, which provides results based on various relevancy factors. SEO is how you target those factors to ensure your business appears in specific search results.

Local SEO is confined to local searches. For example, if I Google “best pet store near me,” that’s a local search because I included the term “near me.” I could also use “best pet store in [location]” or “best pet stores open now.” These searches are critical for small businesses because they represent sales opportunities. If someone is searching for the best pet store in their area, they will likely buy something for their pet.

You can invest in local SEO in a few ways. Here’s what I recommend: 

• Do keyword research to see what search phrases your customers use. 
• Add your address to your website and social media pages.
• Build service area pages for your website.
• Monitor search performance. 
• Link relevant web pages together.
• Work with an SEO service.

Tip: You can get advice from small business SEO experts here. 

3. Claim and optimize your local listings. 

This strategy falls under SEO but deserves its own callout. You must claim and optimize your local listings to grow your small business. Local or online listings are business profiles on sites like Google, Tripadvisor, and Yelp. Customers use them to learn about your company, and they’re created whether you ask for them or not. 

Most local listings include your business name, address, phone number, and operating hours. They also allow you to post pictures of your company and share customer reviews. It’s like a snapshot of your business that customers use to compare options in their area.

Here’s what you can do to improve your online listings: 

• Update your business information and make sure it’s accurate.
• Write a detailed description of your business, products, and services.
• Add high-quality photos and videos of your business. 
• Use special features like booking options, menus, FAQs, and more.
• Adopt a local listings management tool. 

Tip: This guide includes more tips to help you optimize your online listings. 

4. Grow your social media presence. 

Nowadays, it’s hard to grow a business online without social media. It’s a free resource that significantly boosts your brand’s visibility and helps you attract more customers.

Start with one or two channels, and set a purpose for each. For example, you can provide company updates and answer customer questions on Facebook while reserving value-driven content for Instagram. That will keep your strategy clear and your content consistent over time.

Here’s a quick checklist to help you grow your social media presence:

• Post on-brand content regularly.
• Participate in relevant trends.
• Use hashtags with fewer than 10K uses. 
• Respond to comments and feedback. 
• Track and monitor your performance across channels.
• Adopt social media management software. 

For a complete guide to social media marketing, check out more resources here. 

5. Ask customers for reviews.

Reputation management is essential for small business owners. Good reviews on Google, social media, and your website are needed to appear at the top of local searches and grow your online presence. 

Good reviews are important for SEO because they establish brand credibility. Google knows your business is trustworthy if it has lots of good reviews. That will help you appear in searches like “best [business/industry] near me.” 

If you want to get more customer reviews for your business, you can: 

• Use this free Google review link generator.
• Send customer requests via email and SMS. 
• Ask for reviews on social media.
• Link to your website or local listing in your invoices. 
• Offer an incentive.

6. Experiment with paid advertisements.

It’s hard to rank on Google, so paid advertisements are a popular way to promote small businesses. You can target searches like “businesses near [location]” or “best [industry] brands near me” and create ads that direct people to your website. 

Here’s how they work. Search engines and social media sites have built-in ad platforms. They help you create ads and set a budget for your campaign. Then, your business bids on different keywords in an ad auction. If you win, your ad appears for that keyword whenever someone searches for it. 

For example, if I Google “best plumber in Dallas,” here’s what shows up: 

Notice the “sponsored” tag? That means these brands paid for this ad space. They likely outbid other companies bidding on the same keyword.

Here’s how to grow your business with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising:

• Set clear goals for each campaign.
• Conduct keyword research and bid on the right phrases.
• Run ads on the right platforms (social media, search engines, etc.)
• Use A/B testing to improve campaigns. 
• Make adjustments regularly. 
• Use built-in AI tools to analyze your campaigns. 

How to Grow Your Business Locally

Growing your business online is important, but small businesses don’t want just anyone browsing their websites. They want people who are actually going to buy from their business — i.e., customers who live in their area, are in their target demographic, and have a real need for their products and services. 

Here are six ways you can grow your brand in a local market:

1. Participate in community forums. 

Community forums, whether in person or online, are a great way to interact with local customers. Participating in these discussions forges valuable partnerships, creating opportunities for marketing campaigns and sponsorships for your brand. 

Check your town hall or state website for recurring meetings. Most cities and towns have networking events where you can meet other local business owners. 

If all else fails, you can (and should) turn to social media and join local Facebook Groups and Reddit Threads. You can connect with customers on a 1:1 basis and share content from your website or social media pages. It’s a great way to showcase your expertise and build credibility for your brand.

2. Sponsor events like trade shows and festivals. 

Sponsorships grow your brand by increasing its visibility with potential customers. If you pick the right events, you can showcase your company to hundreds or thousands of people who might buy from your business. 

A classic example is Red Bull. This brand sponsors adrenaline-inducing events like this one to promote its line of energy drinks:

These events fit Red Bull well because its target audience attends them. People interested in extreme sports will also be interested in Red Bull. 

Look for similar events that match your business and your audience. While there may be many attendees, the best events are those your customers attend.

3. Partner with brands in your community. 

As a small business owner, one of the biggest advantages is your agility. You don’t have slow-moving policies to navigate around or legal teams to work with. You can partner with other brands freely and produce timely marketing campaigns. 

The best partnerships are between brands that share the same customers but sell different products. For example, a plumber might partner with a local hardware store, or a med spa might partner with a skincare brand. These companies advertise to the same people but sell different products. They benefit from working together and promoting each other’s brands.

4. Use offline advertising strategies.

Offline advertising is a traditional way to grow your business. It uses media like billboards, door hangers, and signage to keep your brand relevant in a local market. Here’s an example: 

But do these campaigns work?

Studies show that direct mail marketing campaigns have an open rate of about 90%. That’s higher than email and proves that most people check and read their mail. 

Tip: If you have a CRM, you can advertise directly to people interested in your business. 

5. Create a customer referral program. 

Here’s an oldie but goodie: it costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. 

It’s true – acquiring a new customer means building brand awareness and convincing someone to try your business. That takes a lot of work, promotion, and trust between the buyer and seller. 

With referrals, the trust is already there, and your customers do the promotion. Rather than you spouting off about why your company is so great, your customers do it for you. It’s more effective than an ad and requires less work on your end. 

Here’s how a customer referral program works. Create a reward or incentive that you can give the same customers multiple times. Then, whenever someone successfully recommends a new customer, they get rewarded for their efforts. 

Some brands even reward new customers. So, both new and existing customers have a reason to use your brand. It’s highly effective and leads to repeat purchases over time. 

6. Host engaging events like contests and giveaways.

If you don’t want to sponsor an event, consider hosting one instead. Hosting a local contest or giveaway can drum up a lot of interest in your area. It can also build your reputation as a regional brand through an event that locals can look forward to. 

For example, many restaurants offer an eating challenge in which participants are given a large dish within a certain time to eat it. If they can complete the challenge, they’re rewarded with free meals for life or their photo hung on the wall. 

These are fun ways to differentiate your business and become cherished in your community. If people consider you a local staple, you’ll have consistent business through busy and slow seasons.

Growing Your Business: Ready to Get Started?

Some small business owners dream about becoming multi-millionaire tycoons. Others just want to provide for their families and fulfill a personal passion. Regardless of your goals, every business owner wants to succeed. Use these tips to create a small business growth strategy and transform your business into the company you’ve always dreamed of.