Local Search - Searching by Geography
A Timely Search Marketing Article by
http://www.WebAdvantage.net
As more and more brick and mortar businesses market
themselves online, search engines ("gateways
to the Internet") have reacted by becoming
more like an advertising platform and less like
a simple directory. In fact, a few (Yahoo, MSN)
have morphed into whole "portals" providing
online users with options galore. Still, no one
can deny the power of search which remains the
#2 reason people go online behind checking email.
What hasn't necessarily worked well to-date, however,
is the online marketing of local-only businesses.
The 'Net is not necessarily conducive to finding
a painter in Stony Point, New York.
Now, with the advent of new developments, some
of the largest purveyors of search, namely Google
and Overture, are out to change all that...and
likely to take a financial bite out of their off-line
informational counterparts along the way.
Will phone book yellow pages, direct mail, local
radio and newspapers take a hit if search goes
local? We've compiled the information surrounding
this subject from Google and Overture localized
testing to breakthroughs in geo-targeted search
advertising to changes that can be made to your
web site to optimize for localized search.
** Google and Overture Lead Localized Search
**
Last month both Google and Overture released beta
test versions of their geographic search solutions.
Overture is currently testing localized search
on its newly acquired property, AltaVista. It's
also testing a handful of geographically-specific
advertisers. Overture's local search demo allows
users to enter a keyword and then the state, city,
or zip code of the location they're looking to
pinpoint.
While Google's local search (called "Search
by Location") is set up similarly, they have
also partnered with MapQuest in order to be able
to show local matches on a map. If you're looking
to get in a golf game around the Queenstown, MD
area, a Google location search for "golf"
and "Queenstown, MD" yields 326 results
and maps 10 of them.
Here are the Google Local Search results.
Google's Search by Location reveals tidbits of
how it generates its results, which include site
content with zip codes, town names, and addresses.
Notice the second listing on the above search
resulst page is for a bed & breakfast. It
"made the cut" because its site content
aligned with the parameters of the search. If
you are a local business that would benefit from
these kinds of related searches, it seems it would
behoove you to include keyword content not just
related to your specific business.
** Localized Search and Advertising Potential
**
While ads are currently missing from the current
Google Search by location, don't expect that to
last forever. The ad dollar potential in mapping
plus localized advertising is enormous. Google
could get ad revenues from "mapped advertisers"
in addition to pay-per-click Local AdWords, much
as it does right now. Overture already estimates
that local-search web advertising will be a $1
billion market by 2008. Not a bad chunk o' change
is it?
Clicking on either ad brings the user in seconds
so much more information than a yellow pages or
AAA travel book ad does. Plus, the advertiser
could enhance the user experience by offering
special coupons to be redeemed on location or
any number of other promotions they couldn't do
otherwise because of limited space or time in
other forms of localized advertising.
Giving the searcher the ability to click directly
to a web site is like giving them a yellow pages
dedicated entirely to their own business
** Optimizing Your Site For Local Search **
Along with basic search engine optimization (SEO),
if you have a geographically-specific business
you should be looking at localized SEO as well.
Things may change in how the search engines eventually
refine their local search technology, but it can't
hurt to do a few simple things...and get a jump
on your local competition.
- Add your address in a prominent place on
your web pages. Many sites use the very bottom
of their pages for their address listings. Address
location didn't use to matter. Localized search
may change all that, so consider including all
or part of your address nearer to the top of
your page.
- Add city and state information to your meta
and title tags.
- Add local information to your site's content.
As demonstrated in our local golf search example,
links to and information on other businesses
and attractions in your town may end up helping
to promote your own site.
** Obstacles in the Way of Local Search Success
**
Of course there are obstacles to successfully pulling
off local search. In a
study released by The Kelsey Group which surveyed
search and directory executives, the top four
perceived obstacles cited were:
- Most small businesses lack a web site so
won't show up in local search results
- Small businesses won't be able to bid for
keywords against national chains
- Pricing models for localized search may be
too complex for small businesses to grasp (versus
Yellow Pages)
- Local search may be too labor intensive,
like today's normal search results. Do small
business owners have the time to keep up with
localized SEO?
It may take a while for Google, Overture and the
others to get their localized search solutions
polished and refined, but you can bet that it's
going to happen, and probably sooner than you're
ready for. If you're not thinking about it now,
get prepared.
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