Local Search Marketing

Last week, when flying back from New York, I ended up with a “hot tooth”. If you never had one, I hope it stays that way. Anyway, the tooth had been hurting on and off for a week and about 20 minutes after takeoff, it throbbed like I never felt throbbing before (a “hot tooth” is one that is infected and throbs unless you put cold water or ice on it, no painkiller will help) and it actually brought tears to my eyes. Must have been the pressure in the plane, I thought, and I would feel better later.

Off the plane, back home and from a one to ten, the pain was 100 and it was 9PM. So after a night of no sleep I searched Google at 5AM for “Myrtle Beach Dentist“, “Myrtle Beach Root Canal“, “Myrtle Beach Dental Center“, “Myrtle Beach 24 Hour Emergency Dentist“, “Best Myrtle Beach Dentist“ and many more, you get the picture.  I ended up going with #4 in Google because I liked the denstist profile, office pictures and testimonials which made me feel better already. (If you are ever on vaction and need a dentist in Myrtle Beach visit http://www.jamesemillsdds.com, not a client, just a great dentist.)  After a painless root canal it was back to normal which leads me to this post…

Whether it is a hurting tooth, car trouble, sick kids, new furniture, or anything local, like many others, I  turn to the internet for the amazing amount of information available to help me make an informed local buying or service related decision.

We often ask potential clients “Why do think people would use the Internet when searching locally for products and services versus using the Yellow Pages?” We also ask the same questions to to clients months after they become customers and it is interesting how the answers begin to vary once they are optimized, receiving traffic, are visible online and converting online traffic into business.

Here are some responses from potential clients:

1. It’s easier for them.
2. They do not have the yellow pages handy.
3. They can find more companies.
4. It’s easier for them.

“It’s easier” is typically the answer.

When we ask clients several months down the road, when their campaigns have kicked in and their rankings, traffics and web leads are there, here are some responses to the same question:

1. People can learn much more about a company and its services from the internet than it can from any size ad in the Yellow Pages.
2. A Law Firm responded, we get many email inquiries about our services which makes it less intimidating, which we account to the sensitivity of their inquiry, for a prospective client to contact us. We follow-up promptly with an email and retain many of them.
3. Trust - We notice our About Us page is the third most popular page on our website. A website with testimonials, a list of industrial affiliations, company history and more helps a potential customer build confidence. People search and compare companies online to gain trust before making an important decision, which is something the Yellow Pages can not deliver to the extent that a website can.
4. One of our home inspection clients in Florida responded: People are shopping for online specials. By adding a 15% discount offer, exclusively online, we doubled our internet conversions.

Those are just a few of the responses we get and the conclusion is that people search the internet for local products and service for much more than the “easiness” factor. It is more about gathering information, comparing, and building confidence in their own mind that they are not making a mistake choosing a particular company.

Think about the last time you did a local search. How many websites did you visit and what factors did you take into consideration in order to feel confident in making a buying decision or booking or service?