More people are searching for your business online every day. And they are ready to buy. That is why they are searching locally for a retail business. This means that if you do not have a local listing with the big three search engines, chances are that potential buyers are not going to find you. Worse yet, they will find your competition. The fastest growing component of local search marketing is mobile technology. Numbers of mobile searches are exploding. More than likely, right now, a potential buyer is within a short distance of your business, using a smart phone or other mobile device to look for your business address and phone number.
In fact, recent research reveals the following:
Two-thirds of Americans search online for local businesses
More than 80 percent of local searchers call or show up at the door
More than 40 percent of consumers use a location in their online searches
It is very clear that doing ineffective local search marketing, or none at all, is just throwing money away.
Free Business Listings
The Big 3 of search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) have made a huge push to provide relevant results for local searches. They have all discovered how many searches using local identifiers are being made every day. They wisely decided that this is what the public wants and that they could attract more visits to their paid ads, and make more money themselves, by providing local businesses with free listings.
As an example, a recent search on 'house cleaning phoenix' yielded the following results for free business listings:
7 of the top 9 results on Google
The top 5 results on Yahoo
The top 5 results on Bing
Many local business owners are still unaware of the power of online listings for getting their businesses found by local customers. This just means that, at the present time, those business owners who are aware of it have a greater opportunity to dominate their local markets online. The fact that local listings are at the top of search results, above even the organic results for the biggest and best SEO-based business websites, shows how important local listings are to the big search engines.
The Advantage to Small Businesses
Local listings are independent of company sizes or marketing budgets. This means that any small business can compete for a top ranking with a local online listing, even against national companies and big corporations. The no-cost advantage free business listings goes to small to medium-sized businesses that might have limited time or money for advertising. After all, free business listings require no ad dollars. They just require the time and effort to learn how to get listed online.
Where to Start
The first place to start is with the biggest search engine of all, Google. Go to Google Places and set up a free account. Then claim your business listing and the keywords that people are using for finding your type of business. (This takes some skill, although you can do it for free using the Keywords Tool for Google AdWords.) Make sure your business listing includes your city, state, zip code, and phone number, and is included in the right business categories.
Also make sure that the description of your business is relevant to what you do and uses the most important keywords for people to find you. Google will use this description, along with your phone number and address, to gauge where your business will appear in local searches. Once you complete your local business listing on Google, do the same at Bing and Yahoo. Use the same information - i.e., description, keywords, address, and phone number - so all search results will be consistent from one search engine to another. This is especially important if you want to optimize the results of local searches later.
Since local listings are just that - local - make sure that your address is a real location (not a PO box) and that your phone number has an appropriate area code (not a toll-free number). Keep in mind that you want to be as accurate as possible in all aspects of your listing so that the search engines can do their best at leading customers to your door.
What About Local Directories?
The example of searching for 'house cleaning phoenix' also yields a directory, Phoenix House Cleaning Directory, that offers additional free listings online. Indeed, you may find a number of local directories for your business. Should you list your business there, too? Absolutely.
The bonus is that Google and other search engines visit local directories and rank businesses based on what they find. Besides listing your business, many directories offer your customers the opportunity to review your services, which provides more information for Google to evaluate. In other words, it adds to the relevancy of your business and boosts your ranking. This helps move your business into the Top 7 on Google local listings, and maybe even up to the first position.
Customer reviews are very easy to get, too. All you have to do is provide good service and ask satisfied customers to go to your online listing in a specific local business directory and leave a review. It is win-win marketing all around.
The Local Search Marketing Dream Come True
If you have ever bought an expensive ad in a local newspaper and felt as though you were throwing way money, then you can appreciate how nice it is to use local online business listings instead. They are free. They are potentially very effective. They attract people who are looking to buy from you right now. It is a dream come true for local small businesses. Don't you think it is a good idea to claim your business online now?
Do An Online Market Analysis
A huge advantage for online businesses is that they can see where they stand by doing searches just like consumers would do. This is the first step in doing an online market analysis. Start with plugging a keyword for your business into a Google search and see where, or if, your business appears. If your business appears on the first page, even without scrolling down (i.e., 'above the fold'), then your listing is already attracting customers. Doing searches for several of your keywords will give you a clear picture of where your business stands.
The free Keyword Tool for Google AdWords also provides important data about the number of searches that are conducted for your keywords. Searching on our example of 'house cleaning phoenix' with this tool shows that 320 searches are conducted every month for this exact phrase. That means that the Top 7 local listings are being found by an average of more than 10 potential customers per day. Wouldn't your business be better if you could get it in front of that many people each and every day, at no cost to you?
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