Local Search marketing on the Internet has dramatically impacted the old school advertising methods small businesses once depended on. More and more local businesses are waking up to the sad fact yellow page ads, print media and even radio and television are losing their clout and giving back diminishing returns on the advertising budget. So why is this happening?

The reasons are quite simple and easy to understand. When people are searching for a product or service, they are turning to their internet with their computers and mobile devices instead of phone books and newspapers. Big search engines like Google have refined their algorithms to do an increasingly good job of directing traffic to local businesses that show up in the search results. That is the good news. The bad news is that a majority of small businesses are still stuck in the old ways of advertising and do not know how to take advantage of this huge fundamental shift on how people find the goods and services they are looking for. Most businesses wonder, how big is this fundamental shift and should they really be that concerned about it?

There are many studies on Local Search Marketing available. Here are a few facts to highlight the importance for local businesses:

• Way back in May of 2007 Google revealed that 73% of activity online is in one way or another “related to local content”.

• Recent Research by The Kelsey Group and ConStat Indicates 70% of U.S. Households Now Use the Internet When Shopping Locally for Products and Services. Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.

• 70 percent of online searchers will use local search to find offline businesses. The TMPDM-com Score study shows 86 percent of online users will be searching for a local business at some point in time. (Research by Kelsey Group) • In the later part of 2010- Google made sweeping changes to their search engine algorithms to make local search for businesses more dominant in the search engine results. Many experts agree, that Google is setting the stage for what is called geo targeted local search marketing.

Here is what all local businesses need to know: Appearing in the local search results on the Internet is has become increasingly more important than ever. No longer is a pretty website enough. Take a moment and try this test with your business to see how well your company does in the local search marketing results.

Here’s how most people (probably even you) search for goods and services in your local area…these are simple formulas:

Name of Town + Type of Business

Name of Town + State + Type of Business

Go ahead and try it yourself. Just go to Google.com and type in the name of your city or town and the type of business you are looking for. (Such as: Seattle Attorney or Salem Oregon Mortgage Company). What do you SEE in the Search Engine Results? Does your company or website, videos, articles and other content appear on page one of the results? Do the search results show you near the top?

If it doesn’t, it means your business is INVISIBLE and missing out on potentially hundreds or even thousands of potential clients and customers. It’s important to take immediate action on this. Why? These prospects are looking for a business, product or service to solve a problem RIGHT then and there. If your business does not appear in these results, it is like they are knocking on a locked front door of your business with nobody there to answer!

The good news is getting your business to the front page, and even the top is not a mystery. It’s done with a carefully calculated search engine optimization campaign (seo). This starts with keyword research of your market as well as studying your competition. The next stages include elements of on page optimization (the proper use keywords and phrases on the pages of your website and in your meta data) as well as off page optimization which includes backlink building of content throughout the Internet and social media linking back to your main website.

Most small business do not have these elements in place and therefore are missing a huge opportunity to profit from this free search engine traffic. Contracting the help of a local internet marketing expert to help you to get more exposure on the internet is a great way to compete and even crush your competition to bring in more customers leads and sales.

Remember, the trend is not going online with a just a website but you have to have strategies in place to attract prospects who are looking for what you company has to offer. If the same old advertising methods are draining your budget and causing you frustration, then maybe it is time to give local search engine marketing and the Internet a try! You just might find that internet marketing is your answer to increasing results with less cost than old school media!

Visit our website to discover many new ways that we can use the Internet to bring in more customers, clients, leads and profits to your business.