Emarketer recently posted an article describing research done by the Local Search Association, which was formerly the Yellow Pages Association. The group studied how consumers find local businesses — the resources they use to find local restaurants, car repair shops, doctors, etc.
You’d expect that research done by a group allied with the Yellow Pages would assess the Yellow Pages directories in the most favorable way possible, but the group confirmed that the use of Internet search engines to find local businesses is as much a factor as the Yellow pages online and paper directories. Looking at frequency of use, i.e., used in the last month, Internet search engines are the most frequently used source for local business information.
When consumer age groups are considered, the case for local business Internet search optimization becomes even stronger. It’s only in consumer groups 55 years and older, that use the Yellow Pages more than search engines to find local business information. In that group, only those consumers older than age 60 use the print Yellow Pages more than Internet search engines. While that 65+ group is still a large one, the future is with the younger consumers who search for local information using smart phones as well as laptop and desktop computers. The use of local online search can only continue to grow.
Just putting up a website doesn’t make your business easy to find. There are ways to make your business stand out in Internet search results — that’s called local search engine optimization. And that’s what I do for clients of IX Brand SEO Services Company.
Check your business search engine position by searching Google using the keywords that consumers would use — no, not your business name — and checking the search results for your business. If your business doesn’t appear on the first page of results, you have a problem! If you’d like to start making your business more easily found by these consumers using Internet search engines, call us — we can help you do that!
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