Marketing Local Online: Local Search for Small Business

http://www.marketinglocalonline.com 2009. The truth is Main St is looking empty. Local business owners worry that they will be next.
One of the poorest economies in history is just starting to brighten up, which is the good thing.
The bad thing is , NO MATTER WHAT THE ECONOMY IS DOING, BUSINESS HAS CHANGED - ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHANGES?
What is happening is that the sources of traffic have changed in the last year; One of the big
changes since 2008 is that the printed yellow pages are not the number one source of leads for the first time ever

The reality is that 31% use search engines from home or on their smartphones, vs 30% who use the
YP printed version.
well now we must ask the question: How DO Customers Can Find You, if not the old fashioned way anymore?

You have heard of Google haven't you? Google got famous because when someone
is at home or work and you want to look something up, you tend to go to google.com. Google is called a search engine.
There are others, yes, yet Google owns the search world for now. Smart marketers know that you have to
work WITH google to get the best piece of the pie.
What is a LOCAL SEARCH?

When someone doesn't know the actual name of a business they are searching for,
they will type in phrases to find what they want, phrases like "Bordentown cafe" , or "coffee in
Princeton", "get my oil changed Trenton". They are looking for something local to them.

Google is smart enough to know what town you are typing from, and they try to give you answers that apply to your local area.

But did you also know that you can do these types of local searches from a smart phone?
And, since people using their phone tend to be travelling away from home alot, google has a way
to detect the actual location of the phone, and can also give an answer that is local to wherever
you are with the phone.

Some examples of a phone search depend on the situation, but the ones usually given are how to find
local restaurants. Sometimes you need a local garage to fix your car, or a local hotel. You can be
sure that most people do not carry a printed yellow pages around, and, most people do not write down
phone numbers from radio or tv ads; you also can be sure that they did not tear out an ad from a local
newspaper just in case they may need that sometime down the road. Right? And by the way, speaking
of newspapers, have you heard how many papers are going out of business lately?
A smartphone is the generic term for phones that can be on the internet. Like the Blackberry, the iPhone, and now
the Google Android phone, and some others. Did you know that in 2008, 152 million of them
were sold? Did you know that 2009 expects a 10% increase over that number, so now we are talking about 165 million
new smartphones being sold just this year?

Because of these changes, your business must adapt. Statistics and surveys are pointing to the clear
winner. Your competition may already be ready. And if they are, what will you lose if your business is not ready?

Here we go with the skills and knowledge you need to know as a business owner.
What was called marketing has totally changed in 2009, and there are new theories.

Sometimes people face psychological forces that derail rational thinking. One of these theories is called
"commitment". After following the same path of action for so long, one does anything they can to stay that
course, in fact, it becomes virtually impossible to take a different direction. But, staying the course
because of past commitments hurts us in the long run. Now, think about how you have marketed your business.
Have you been following the commitment theory in your business? Is it time to re-think that strategy?

So, what can you do to move out of that commitment quicksand you may have been stuck in?

http://www.marketinglocalonline.com

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• online marketing
• seo services
• local search
• google local

[canthonycurtis]

Nice post! Local marketing is hot this year... Google Local, Yelp, Foursquare...it's gonna be a fun ride.

Stop by our site to get your local marketing freebies...

- iPhone App

- Yelp/Foursquare Window Signs

- Step-by-Step Training Module 1: You Free Social Web Site

Anthony Curtis

Local Marketing Today [dot] com

[thepinkseaturtle]

When we hired Kit, I had the old mindset of how Google ranking workedyou have to wait, it takes timeetc. Kit not only helped increase our sites page ranking, she educated us on how to continue to increase on our own! She also taught us how to watch our competitors! She has added great value to our business!

Sbrass

[LoganLynda]

This is truly the way it is folks...With MarketingLocalOnLine you can be seen by consumers!! Isn't that what it's all about. Kit's expertise has been incredible. Her website marketing and knowledge of search engine rankings is priceless. It works...we have had our custonmers tell us we were found on the internet. Something that wouldn't have happend in the past. If you want to be found - call Kit!!