According to David Utter of WebPro News in his post Local Search Poised For Marketing Success
"People in the US tend to spend 80 percent of their budgets within 50 miles of their homes, and the Kelsey Group thinks that bodes well for local advertising's $110 billion market to shift more into local search ads."
What this translates into is a potentially big untapped resource and a pretty darn good reason to take some steps of your own in ensuring your local search capabilities are optimized.
Jim Parent from the ClickZ Network runs through 8 Ways to Improve Your Local Search Results.
Here are some thoughts that stood out for me:
- Check out your business listing on the major search engines Check out your business listings on Google, Yahoo Local, and MSN Live Search. If your business is not found, you should submit a listing at Google , Yahoo , and Superpages (for Microsoft Live Search) .
- For each business listing, make sure that your information is correct, your business description is complete, and that it uses the same keywords that you are using on your web site.
- Get your business rated. Ask your satisfied customers to write reviews and rate your business at Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
- Solicit local links. Find the web directories that are local to your area, and ask them to link to your web site. Contact your local chambers of commerce and ask them to link to your business from their web site.
- Verify directory information Check out your business listing on your local phone company site and other local phone directory sites. Make sure that your business information and description are what you want.
Notice a common thread among these tips? Most should not take too much of your time at all. I am a big believer in maximizing your time for the highest possible return. Another similarity is the sheer simplicity of the tasks. Getting started in local search optimization shouldn't take a boatload of strategy or manuals.
Interested in reading more? You can find more tips from searchengine lands' Local Search Week - Six Easy Steps to Local Optimization
More than just being in enough local directories is the understanding of your "digital visibility" -- Brian Wool of the ClickZ network talks about Digital Visibility Is Key to Local Search Success. Here is how he defines it:
Digital visibility is the extent to which your brand is accessible to interactive searchers. Digital visibility isn't just a ranking, it's the quality that generates high rankings.
Simply put, knowing how to tap into the right online resources to optimize your local search capabilities is half the game, the goal is actually getting the right customers into your court.
