A few years ago we used the Yellow Pages to find local businesses, services and products. Today, we look for local resources using our computers, phones and GPS devices. And we do it a lot: Google recently reported that more than 20% of searches are location specific.
Internet technologies have changed everything when it comes to shopping local. But most companies haven’t kept up. Information is often incomplete or worse, inaccurate. Without a well-executed local search marketing program, businesses don’t always show up in local search query results. That’s not good for business or customers.
What is local search marketing, exactly?
Like traditional search engine optimization, local search marketing is all about making it easy for people to find your business, products or services online. But the focus here is to optimize your online presence for geotargeted searches—searches that reference a location. Listings on such search tools as Google Maps, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local, and reviews on sites and apps like Yelp, Insider Pages and Urban Spoon, need to be optimized so that locals find your business fast.
How do I know If local search makes sense for my business?
Do you offer products or services that local customers want or need? Do you have at least one local brick-and-mortar store that caters to walk-in customers? Are local clients searching for and finding you online? If your answer to any of these is “Yes” or “I don’t know”—Virtual Solutions can help.
What can Virtual Solutions do for me?
We know local search strategies, tools and execution, so we can help you navigate the complex, ever-changing world of local search.
We’ll start by making sure a local search program makes sense for your business. If so, we’ll look into how local customers and prospects are searching for you and your competitors today. We will optimize your listings on important search engines, with the ultimate goal of improving search results rankings for local search queries. And we’ll help you determine if a pay-per-click campaign, designed to specifically target local searchers, is a good strategy.
To talk about building a local search marketing program for your business, contact us at info@search-consulting.com or 816-822-0900.