Local Search Marketing – Why It Matters
Local search marketing can be a godsend, particularly for businesses in markets where there is a huge amount of competition for what they would consider their core keyword phrases. Making yourself visible to local search not only skirts the issue of having to compete for attention web-wide, but also targets your most likely customers in the first place. If you run a flower shop in Albany, NY it’s of no use to you to get web visitors form Garden Grove, CA. You need to capture the local business, particularly if your main business is a physical store or service. It just makes more sense. Let’s look at what’s involved with search engine local search.
There are many purveyors of local search, and more coming online every day. While local search still makes up for a small percentage of all searches, (less that 5%) it should be noted that this number will change, as research has shown that nearly half of all searches have some sort of local intent. This means that while they haven’t quite gotten the hang of searching locally yet, they’re about to!
The advantages of being found in local searches are many. While it’s possible that your competitors have caught onto this wave, it’s highly unlikely. Most probably you will beat them to the punch on this one, and we all know the edge first-movers have.
While there are many places to be found in local search marketing, you need to shoot for only a few of the best to start with. Google’s version, which used to be called Google Local, has now been made a part of Google Maps. This has been done to integrate your location as a service for searchers who want to find you. Yahoo is following suit, at least with the maps part of it.
Other good sources you’ll want to be found on locally include Yahoo Local, Live, AT&T Yellow Pages, CitySearch, Yelp, Ask.com and several others. These would be enough to give your business a distinct edge when it comes to being found in a local search almost anywhere.
One important thing to note about an online local search listing versus a printed Yellow page advertisement is that the online version can contain customer reviews, videos, and photos, as well as the expected information such as telephone numbers and addresses. And, it costs nothing compared to the print versions.
One thing to be aware of in local search is that with its interactive components, it’s quite easy to find yourself the victim of a bad review, whether warranted or not. Keeping an eye on your local listings is essential, because, for example, if you’re a restaurant and the first review on your listing tells about how they got food poisoning at your establishment, you may have a slow dinner rush. Conversely, good reviews can pump up the volume as well.
Local search marketing can be a boon to your business. Start taking advantage of it today!
