As big corporations begin to shift marketing dollars from traditional media to high return measurable online media, the competition is fierce for the little guy. Competing for paid search on the likes of Google AdWords or search engine optimizing for good keywords is getting tougher for small business. The one bright spot on the horizon for savvy entrepreneurs lies in local search marketing.
The majority of small businesses are local businesses. Consumers are using search engines and Internet yellow pages to find local companies. According to comScore, Internet Yellow Pages searches increased 15 percent in 2007 to 3.8 billion, up from 2006's 3.3 billion searches. Local search is now bringing together local consumers with local business. What are consumers searching for?
The Yellow Pages Association released the Top 10 Internet Yellow Pages Searches:
- Restaurants
- Physicians & Surgeons
- Hotels
- Auto Repairing & Service
- Florists - Retail
- Auto Dealers - New & Used
- Dentists
- Auto Parts & Supplies - New & Used
- Beauty Salons (tie)
- Hospitals (tie)
The local pages are definitely upping useful searches. One thing that struck me as interesting, however, is the search for hospitals. I think this will be less and less of a local search as prices continue to soar. People go online to find medical advice and pharmaceuticals that are affordable and then have them shipped. Small businesses especially might save some overhead in a company health plan that looked for medical goods and services less locally.
I think with portable devices (such as iPhones) this sort of marketing ‘online’ will become increasingly effective. People will start searching for florists within 50 metres of where they are and those with ads placed in local search will capitalise.
I would have to agree with this article. I started Maldenhomepage.com about 3 years to fill a void in finding up to date local information on businesses and other important information relating to my city. I found with the larger regional search engine sites the information not to be current, plus they include a vast number of cities and towns, that you are not interested in, which becomes aggrevating to a viewer. I see many great new opportunities for others to develop site like ours that speak directly to the needs of the local community it serves.