Are You Looking for A Way To Get More Local Customers To Your Businesses Website?
"If Your Business Isn't Optimized for Local Search...
You Are Losing Customers To Your Competitors"
Whether you have been purposefully ignoring local search, or simply are not aware of it's potential impact on your overall marketing strategy, after reviewing this information, you may want to reconsider your position.
Local search marketing can really pay off for bricks-and-mortar businesses. It can provide excellent opportunity for garnering both increased foot traffic and increased website traffic.
Even as early as 2005, an article in the MIT Technology Review, April 2005,
"E-Commerce Gets Smarter", reported that for every one dollar U.S. consumers spend online -- they spend another five or six dollars on offline purchases that are directly influenced by online research.
Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, states -- "We think search is a very viable advertising segment that produces great results and great leads for advertisers. But it has to be managed properly."
It also provides a way to claim more space in the local search engine results pages, thus increasing your chances of getting that valuable consumer click-through to your business profiles and listings. Ultimately, these click-throughs result in sales and increased profits.
Local User Search and Research
As a example, if a local consumer searches for "pain-free dentistry" and a dental practice has it optimized correctly, there is a very good chance that it will appear prominently in the local search listings.
Ideally, a local consumer will acquire dental related information from the main website of the close proximity dental practice, and thus be influenced to seek out their services. The goal is to shorten the consumer's path from searching and researching to making a purchase.
Further proof is presented in a study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, showing that 74% of U.S. households now use the Internet when shopping locally for products and services. Hence, this fast growing trend can no longer be ignored.
Even more evidence of this growing trend in local search is presented by The Kelsey Group's Annual Forecast, which shows that local advertising is shrinking. Going from $155.3 billion in 2008 to a estimated $144.4 billion in 2013.
This means that approximately $11 billion that would normally have been spent on traditional local media (newspapers, Yellow Pages, direct mail coupons, etc.) will shift to local search, social networks, mobile and similar digital media spends.
Michael Boland, senior analyst at The Kelsey Group states -- "We are seeing a shift as the overall local ad media pie shrinks over the next five years."
Summary
While local search strategy is not an "end-all solution", it can definitely become a foundational solution that will provide a quick and effective base for your overall local online marketing strategy. It's been proven that such a strategy will definitely pave the way to increased exposure and ultimately, increased profits.