Local Search Results - Option Or Necessity?

Local Search Results - Option Or Necessity?
By Mike DeMuth

Local search results is not an option, it's a necessity! Here's why.....

Local search is not only the hottest online marketing trend today, but also the most important way to generate search engine exposure for your company. You've heard the term "don't sweat the small stuff", well in search engine marketing the small stuff is the big stuff; and local search is the king of the small stuff. You must increase your local search results.

Fact is, people are searching online to compare products and services, and then "buying" from a local company. In most cases they will not only shop online for businesses close to them, in many of those cases will sacrifice the least expensive alternative for convenience of location. This represents local search results at it's finest.

Understanding local search results and how people are searching online is a key factor. Keep in mind, you know your business but someone searching for you might not necessarily type in keywords searching for you the same way you would. Often we find businesses wanting certain search terms for one of our search engine marketing campaigns and yet the fact is the keyword set isn't necessarily going to generate search engine traffic results. While it is necessary to use keywords specifically targeting your goods or services, keep in mind the demographics of your client base. For example, a younger audience might search with more of an abbreviated term which actually matches the way they view technology today, such as their texting and emailing tendencies; quicker and less patient for the most part. Yet an older demographic will most likely enter longer tail keyword sets as if they are speaking to a search engine with a question, deliberately using words they associate your product or service with; not necessarily the same name you call it.

Local search also represents another key factor. In today's internet age as each day passes it becomes more and more acceptable for people to buy products online. This is a fact as buying online is safer now than ever. However, if while searching for a product online they happen to come across your companies product (AND you are closer geographically to them) they are apt to be more inclined to buy from you. Buying from a "local" company presents itself as a safer yet and more comfortable feeling for the buyer. We deal with companies everyday who have an excellent product or service and they are not even marketing to their local market!

Establish your local territory first to take advantage of the "easy" sales and watch your brand extend outward through word of mouth and repeat business. Local search results should be dominated by your company.

If your business is providing a service or product that is unique and your trying to present your brand to others for recognition then you should pick out a few popular and well known products or services which closely resemble your product or service and then market in the shadow of that brands success. This will help associate what you can do for someone searching for the popular alternative, and in turn begin to help establish your brand. Emphasizing local search terms can help establish your brand without having to compete with the popular keywords on a national level. Take the smaller steps towards the bigger reward.

Taking advantage of local search is also relatively in-expensive as compared to a full direct marketing campaign complete with sales collateral. I'm not saying ditch the sales collateral, you still need it, but doesn't it make more sense to deliver sales materials directly to a customer who found you online and is interested in your company versus going door-to-door or mass mailing sales materials in the hope of indirectly converting one or two percent into a sale?

Lastly, local search is like a billboard sitting right in front of a possible sale at the exact moment of interest. Unlike TV or newspaper ads where you are trying to attract the attention of a possible "buyer" and usually will need 7 or 8 impressions to sink in, local search results are reached by someone actively looking for you and if you show up in the search results you are essentially telling them they have made a successful search and you are interested in providing your company's product or service to them right away. Here I am, you were looking for me and have found me!

Local search results is not an option, it's a necessity!

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