Article printed from SiteProNews: http://www.sitepronews.com
  HTML version available at: http://www.sitepronews.com/archives.html

Local Search Marketing - The Next Wave!
By Fred Waters (c) 2005

Local Search Marketing provides the opportunity to geo-target
customers like never before.

The Good News:

Local customers are actively searching for a business likes
yours on the Internet. And studies show that these customers
have a serious buying intent.

The Problem:

As a local business you have to figure out how to
cost-effectively connect with them. You probably have heard of
search engine marketing or pay-per-click advertising; but what
does that mean to your local business?

The Internet is changing the way your customers are searching
for your type of business. The days of lugging out a 12 lb.
phone book to find very limited and outdated business information
are coming to an end. People are still letting their fingers do
the walking, but they're doing it over a computer keyboard. Below
are some revealing facts from the Kelsey Group.

* 74% of U.S. households use the Internet as an information
  source when shopping locally.

* Approximately 45% of local searches had a buying intent.

* The percentage of respondents who used yellow page directories
  decreased from 75% to 62%. (If you have a yellow page ad, it
  is time to consider buying a smaller ad and shifting your
  marketing dollars to the Internet.)

As a local business, you can no longer ignore these facts. If
you want to compete and survive, you must have a presence where
your customers are searching. Local search marketing is vital
to the future of your business.

Where Are Your Customers Searching?

* The major search engines, including Google, Yahoo and MSN.
  All three of these search resources have a local search
  feature.

* Internet Yellow Pages. The offline Yellow Pages see the
  writing on the wall and are scrambling to transfer their
  business model to the Internet.

* Local Directories and Portals. There are national directories
  like CitySearch that offer localized business information. In
  addition, there are directories and portals that only service
  local regions.

* Industry Specific Directories. There are numerous directories
  that focus on specific types of businesses and services and
  will list them geographically. For example, wedding
  photographers, realtors, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and web
  designers.

As A Local Business Where Should You Be Listed?

Search Engines

This is the primary location for your business to have a listing,
because the search engines are the primary places your customers
are searching. There are basically two methods to list your
business in search results. They are through Search Engine
Optimization and Pay-Per-Click advertising.

Search Engine Optimization - Search engine optimization has
become a major industry because of the potential profit from
a prominent search ranking. Through proven techniques, you can
optimize your web pages and get prominent ranking for no charge.
But you must first understand the dynamics of the search engines
and learn how they reward pages with top listings. They are in
the business of providing the best search results possible to
their audience. That's how they make money.

So, if you are a wedding photographer in Seattle and someone is
searching for a wedding photographer in Seattle, the search
engines want you both to connect. In order to connect, you must
create a page that is optimized for the term "Wedding
Photographer Seattle."  But equally as important, you must
solicit quality in-bound links from other web sites that relate
to your business.

The search engines determine ranking by:

* How a page is optimized for a particular keyword/phrase.
* How many websites point to your site with external links.

Why are quality in-bound links important to your search engine
ranking? The search engines consider external links pointing to
your site as a vote of confidence. Particularly if these sites
are industry related, or are important portals in your community.
Basically, the formula for search engine ranking is as follows:

Optimized Pages + Quality In-Bound Links = Prominent Search Ranking

Pay Per Click Advertising - In conjunction with search engine
optimization, a pay-per-click advertising campaign should be an
integral part of your online marketing strategy. If you search
for a term on Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you will notice a list of
sites on the very top of the page and along the right hand
column. These are PPC sponsored advertisements. Businesses pay
the search engines to advertise on specific keywords/phrases.

If a person clicks on your ad, you pay a per-click price. The
position of your ad in the listing and the price you pay is
based on a bidding/auction model. The popularity and the
competitiveness of the keyword will determine how much businesses
are willing to pay-per-click. A keyword like "home mortgage" can
command more then $50 per click because of the potential profit
involved.

As a local business, you would bid on terms that reflect your
products and services, and combine those terms with regional
terms. An example would be "Wedding Photographer Seattle," or
"Golf Property Pinehurst."  Or, you can advertise through PPC
in a define radius (5, 10, 50, 100 miles).

The appeal of pay-per-click advertising is that you are in
control. You determine which keywords you'll bid on, you set
the maximum price per-click, you determine your daily budget,
and you can turn on or off your campaign at any moment. In just
a few years, pay-per-click advertising has grown to a
multi-billion dollar industry. That's due to the efficiency and
profitability of this advertising model.

Free Listings in Local Resources, Search Engines, Yellow Pages and Directories

In addition to SEO and PPC, there are a number of opportunities
to get listed for free in a number of local resources.
Identifying these online resources and taking advantage of this
valuable opportunity is a must for your business. Examples, are
Google Local, Yahoo Local and Superpages.com. But there are also
regional or industry specific resources that will allow you to
list your business for free.

Paid Listings in Local Resources, Search Engines, Yellow Pages, and Directories

There are a number of profitable opportunities to advertise in
local resources. But you must use caution, since the majority
will waste your money. Determine if they reach your prospects
and have ample traffic. Most important, track and analyze your
results.

The Internet is changing how local businesses are marketing. The
future of your business will be determined by your ability to
effectively adapt to this media.

Local search marketing is the next wave of the Internet, in
fact, it will be a tsunami. Now is an excellent opportunity to
position yourself and get the jump on your competition. Will you
be ready to ride the wave?

================================================================
Fred Waters is the author of the Take No Survivor Guide to Local
Online Marketing (http://www.lompro.com). Designed for local
businesses that want that want to reach new customers through
the Internet.
================================================================

Copyright © 2005 Jayde Online, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

SiteProNews is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.