Why Local Listings Are Important For Small Business
When you talk about search marketing with “ordinary” people, many of them feel search is for the big players. To small business search is too expensive and unpredictable. I couldn’t disagree more. Local search, especially for local brick and mortar businesses is ideal.
Think about this… You’re a dentist, you’ve relied on word of mouth and the yellow pages to bring in new business. The problem is the yellow pages are becoming extinct, or close to it. Recent data suggests that the yellow pages will be almost obsolete by 2012. So where does that leave the local dentist that has relied on the yellow pages for years?
The Internet of course. Unfortunately many local businesses feel the cost isn’t worth the investment. Even though their competitors are advertising on the engines and potential clients are there searching for their services.
Something as simple as creating a free Google map listing could be enough to increase business by 5 – 10%. The best part is you don’t need a website and you can be listed in a few days. You can also have your business listed in Yahoo and Bing maps as well.
Why is this so important? It has been stated that 40% of all searches relate to local information. Also, 30% of searches are more likely to buy locally. By creating a local listing in Google you not only make it easier for people to locate you and plot a course to you, but you are giving potential clients a look into…
- Hours of operation
- Photos of your business
- Street view of your business
- List the services or brands you carry
- Offer coupons to encourage people to buy from you
- Link to your website if you have one
- Upload videos relating to your business (video testimonials, how to video or video portfolio)
- Reviews and ratings by customers
So as you can see… you can get much more out of local listings then you would in any yellow pages. When I work with local clients I set up phone tracking to show that local search works. This help measure the new calls and traffic to a business. It’s one of the free things that can make a huge difference.
