Buyers want both online and local information about where to
buy
Most small businesses are local in nature, serving people
who live nearby. Their customers found them through
traditional methods like the Yellow Pages or newspaper ads.
So far, the Internet hasn”t figured prominently in their
marketing efforts.
That”s about to change, as Local Search methods become more
widespread. Even for buyers expecting to spend their money
close to home, more and more of them go to the Internet to
locate desired products and services. They rely on search
engines to find suitable vendors in the fastest, easiest
way.
Local Search combines the search query word or phrase with
specific geographic terms, like city or zip code. That way,
search results only include enterprises in that local area.
Instead of information about a small enterprise being lost
among millions of pages of search results, it shows up in a
small pool of local providers. That”s good for them, as well
as the person looking for what they provide.
Small operations can easily be located by a whole new group
of buyers
Consumers don”t simply go to the Yellow Pages when ready to
buy – as they once did. Studies show that an astonishing 36%
of online searches are conducted to find local businesses.
About a quarter of all Internet users already conduct local
searches. They”d do even more of it, if the desired small
business data were more complete.
Local enterprises need to prepare for the impact of changing
customer habits. An easy first step is to include your
business in Internet Yellow Pages (IYP along with the
printed Yellow Page directory. That puts your enterprise on
the radar screen. Learn how your business can make the most
of Local Search by visiting http://www.yellowpagesage.com
You”ll find reliable advice from experts in Yellow Pages and
Local Search so you can get more mileage from your
promotional dollars.
Start by getting comfortable with search concepts, and
improve your odds of being found when people search online
for what you offer. You don”t even need your own Web site to
benefit from Internet Yellow Pages and Local Search.
Learn the Relevant Terms
Search Engine – method for locating the information
available on the Internet; a program that searches Web pages
for requested keywords, then returns a list of documents
where the query terms were found
Google and Yahoo, the major general search engines, have
both shifted gears to make Local Search a priority when
delivering relevant results.
Spider (also called “crawler” or “bot”) – goes to every
page on every Web site and reads the information so it can
be available to searchers; to “crawl” a site it collects and
indexes information from it
Specialized Search Engines – narrow focus of information
crawled and indexed, like medical, business, or shopping
sites
Keywords – word or phrases used by search engines to locate
relevant Web pages; words chosen to improve a site”s search
engine placement and ranking
Search Query – search request, which the search engine
compares to the spidered entries, then returns results to
the searcher
Search Results – compiled list of Web pages that a search
engine delivers in response to a query; the number of items
returned is usually overwhelming (in the millions so
searchers only bother to view results on the first pages
Relevant Results – the test of a good search is whether the
results obtained relate to what the person wanted to find,
without a lot of irrelevant links
Local Search – combining a geographic term in a search query
to locate suitable providers in a specific area
Pay per Click (PPC) – method of building traffic whereby
site owners bid on search terms (keywords) that link to
their site
Geographic Terms – specific information about the local area
that can be included in a local search: zip code, town,
county, geographic region, state
Top Ranking – sites shown on the first page(s) of search
results
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – fine-tuning keywords and
page content so the Web site rates high in search engine
results
Tags and Titles (on Web Pages) – provide site keywords and
information to search engine spiders for indexing a site
Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) – directory of business phone
numbers and locations in a geographic area, organized by
category; searchable data base accessed on the Internet
Make your business easy for searchers to find
The public is embracing the convenience of searching on the
Internet to find information about local businesses.
However, their searches for desired information are
compromised because so many local enterprises don”t show up
in the databases as yet. Those that do have an edge in
their local market. Climb aboard! Make sure searchers can
find you. For little or no money, you can expose your
enterprise to the whole world.
Whether or not your business has a Web site, you need to
provide the information people are looking for in the places
that they look for it. Local Search and Internet Yellow
Pages open new avenues to buyers ready to spend. Best of
all, they support and compliment your traditional methods of
finding new business. So you cover all your bases.
(c)2004, Lynella Grant
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