Local Search Grows 43%

This is an article that affirms on what we have known for some time-the fastest growing search on the Internet if for local products and services.


Press Release


Local Search Continues to Gain Momentum, According to comScore

Google and Yahoo! Sites Lead in Local Search Market Share in the U.S.


Reston, VA, September 28, 2006 – comScore Networks, a leader in measuring the digital age, today released the results of an analysis revealing the size and growth of the U.S. local search market. Local search is defined as searches conducted by consumers on the local or directory (Yellow Pages) sections of leading search sites, and other searches identified as having local intent.

According to the study, 63 percent of U.S. Internet users (or approximately 109 million people) performed a local search online in July, a 43-percent increase versus July of 2005. Google Sites (30 percent) and Yahoo! Sites (29 percent) garnered the largest share of local searches in July. Microsoft Sites captured 12 percent of local searches, followed by the Time Warner Network with 7 percent.

Share of Local Searches by Site
July 2006
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch

Total Local Searches
Total Internet Population
100%
Google Sites
29.8%
Yahoo! Sites
29.2%
Microsoft Sites
12.3%
Time Warner Network
7.1%
Verizon Communications
6.6%
YellowPages.com
3.9%
Ask Network
2.7%
Local.com
1.9%
InfoSpace Network
1.9%
DexOnline.com
1.4%
All Other
3.2%

Based on a recent comScore Search Satisfaction study, 41 percent of those conducting a local search were searching for something in their home area, as opposed to searching for information on businesses in locales that they intended to visit. Additionally, among those searching in their home area, 59 percent indicated they were searching for a restaurant or something entertainment-related, such as a theater, theme park or an attraction for sightseeing. Another 52 percent said they were searching specifically for a business phone number or address. Two out of five local searchers (41 percent) were looking for information on a local service in their home area, including car rental office, dry cleaner or lawyer.

The comScore study also found that performing a local search drives consumers to take action. During the second quarter of 2006, 47 percent of local searchers visited a local merchant as a result of their search behavior, while 41 percent made contact offline. More than one-third (37 percent) made contact online as a result of conducting a local area search.

“Local search is experiencing strong growth as more consumers adapt to the ‘always on’ nature of their broadband connection, which enables them to quickly find information on local businesses,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “With approximately 849 million local searches conducted by Americans in July, local advertisers have a sizable market that can be reached through leading search sites.”

Today, at 9:00 a.m. MT, Steve Dennen, director of product management at comScore, will review additional findings regarding the local search market at the Search Engine Strategies Local conference in Denver, Colorado.

About comScore NetworkscomScore Networks is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/.


Contact:Michael RubinAnalystcomScore Networks(312) 775-6538press@comscore.com

Who should you have help you market your business online?

In our last post, we discussed having a Google or Yahoo! Representative help you market your business online. Here we are going to discuss your other options:

• A marketing firm/graphic designer
• A website developer.
• An SEO firm.
• An Internet marketing firm
• A full service marketing firm

A Marketing Firm/Graphic Designer

My experience with these types of firms is that they can be great for one-stop-shopping. They can manage your business's complete marketing needs so that you can have a comprehensive program that works with a lot of synergy.

In many cases they are your outsourced "Creative Marketing Project Managers."

This is very important, because when your whole marketing program is designed to work together it can be much more affective than the sum of the parts.

The only downside to utilizing this kind of service is that they will probably outsource anything to do with the Internet, and you will be relying on their discretion when it comes to picking a web designer or an Internet marketing firm.

They are often provided with referral commissions from the advertising they sell, and may be biased towards using media providers that pay higher commissions. I have seen some Marketing firms cut out their clients profitable advertising programs because they could not get paid commissions from that media provider.

A Website Developer

MOST good web designers and web developers build great websites. Few of them are SEO experts and fewer still are Pay-Per-Click marketing experts. If they try to steer you away from Search Engine Marketing, you probably should steer away from them, or hiring an Internet Marketing company to work with them.

An SEO Firm

There are some superb SEO firms out there-and there are also some scam artists. Next week I will be publishing an article on what to watch out for when it comes to SEO firms. If you need help before then, please feel free to call me and I will help you avoid getting ripped off (720-985-7945).

An Internet Marketing Firm

A high quality and trustworthy Internet Marketing firm will help you build a website that meets your specific needs and budget, and recommend a marketing plan that will help you grow your business. They will show you how to get the most for your marketing dollar utilizing the Internet, and also help you integrate it with your other marketing efforts. They will also help you avoid Internet scams.

The most important thing is to shop around and ask for at least 3 references that you can talk to.

If you are going to trust anyone with your money-more specifically the potential success of your business, you need to check their references.

I was shocked when a friend of mine from church asked me for references before she would sign up for my services. I provided her with 3; she called them and is now a very happy customer.

Most people simply trust me, but I often think they are lucky that I am actually a trustworthy Internet Marketing consultant. So many people are so confused or naive about the Internet they want and need to trust someone, and often times it's simply the first convincing person that comes along.

A Full Service Marketing Firm

When you find one of these that does everything in-house, including Internet Marketing, please let me know.

I would like to know who and where they are.

Should you use a Google or Yahoo! Representative to setup your Pay-Per-Click campaign?

Should you use a Google or Yahoo! Representative to setup your Pay-Per-Click campaign?

Nobody knows more about PPC programs than the developers of the programs, right?

This is probably true.

It is also true that Google & Yahoo! Want you to profit from advertising on their sites.

However, you should be careful not ignore the fact that the telephone consultants you will be dealing with are still subjective, and the consultant you are dealing with is probably not a very experienced marketing consultant.

Much like the Yellow Pages companies, while they want you to profit from their advertising media-they want as much money from you that they can get in the process.

I was once criticized by an “SEM consultant” for implementing tactics that reduced the number of PAID clicks to their site, while increasing the QUALITY of the clicks. (By the way-said consultant did NOT work for Google or Yahoo!)

For instance, the DEFAULT for Google and Yahoo! is that you pay the same for a “content” driven click as you do for a “search” driven click. Most experienced PPC advertisers will tell you that “content” driven clicks are worth a lot less than search driven clicks. Your campaigns almost always should be setup with a content program in which the bids are 1/5th to 1/10th the price of your search bids, since conversion rates are typically 1/5th to 1/10th as effective (or less).

Having said all of that, if you cannot find a local consultant that you trust to help you set up a Pay-Per-Click program efficiently, then going directly to Google or Yahoo! might be your best option. Trusting a telemarketer from some company you have never heard of is probably more risky. You can contact us for advice on how to find a trustworthy consultant-or check back in the next few days when we cover Internet Marketing Consultants.

Google has been charging their customers $300 to set them on their network-the good news is that your $300 will go towards your advertising campaign. The bad news may be that they will not help you unless your budget is at least $900 a month and most LOCAL businesses cannot spend this much on a campaign.

Yahoo! charges about $150 to help you get setup on their network, which should include a $50 advertising credit, and about $80 to help you get set up on Yahoo! local with a $20 credit.

Should you trust your Yellow Pages Company to help you successfully market your business online?

Should you trust your Yellow Pages Company to help you successfully market your business online?

Utilizing your Yellow Pages representative as your Internet Marketing consultant: This can be rather risky, but first, here are the positives of using this source:

• If you are dealing with the major Yellow Pages Company in your region they may have a good program for advertising on their Internet Yellow Pages. The official “Phone Company” Yellow Pages usually has excellent usage, and provides a good return on investment. Verizon typically has decent usage outside of their region because of their wireless brand that is known everywhere.
  
• You may have a good relationship with your rep if you have had the same rep for years. You probably trust them and they probably want to do what’s best for your business.

Here is what to watch out for:

• Yellow Pages reps are under a lot of pressure to sell you as much advertising as they can-whether or not it is good for your business. This may result in them overselling their Internet Yellow Pages, and it will keep them from letting you move money from print to Internet-even if that is the best thing for your business.
  
• Yellow Pages advertising does have merit, and many businesses profit from Yellow Pages advertising, but usage is declining and the return on investment is not as good as it used to be-certainly not as good as a quality Internet Marketing Strategy.
  
• While the rep may have your best interests in mind, the experienced Yellow Pages rep rarely understands what the best Search Engine Marketing solution should be for your business. If they did, they probably would not sell you the Search Engine Marketing products their company offers. Utilize them for their online Yellow Pages, but you are probably better off utilizing an Internet Marketing Company to help you succeed with the search engines like Google, Yahoo! & MSN.
  
• If they are NOT from the official phone company phone book then their Internet Yellow Pages is probably close to worthless. The exception may be Verizon.
  
• Be careful of any Search Engine Marketing program they try to sell you. The Yellow Pages companies are usually not completely “transparent” with where your clicks are coming from, and they may charge you as much as a 2,000% mark up (yes-TWO THOUSAND) on your Pay-Per-Click program to manage it for you. This can eliminate the potential return on investment that a program like this SHOULD be providing your business.
  
• Some of their Website development programs can seem like a good deal, but because they are usually reselling someone else’s service the monthly fees can be significantly overpriced. Their websites are usually packaged with marketing programs that are often over-priced. While often times a package deal sounds good, in this case it may be more costly than if you were to buy them separately.

Check back in the next few days for advice on dealing with these types of “Internet Marketing Consulting” options.

• A Google or Yahoo! Representative.
• A marketing firm.
• A website developer.
• An SEO firm.
• An Internet marketing firm
• A full service marketing firm

Do You Need an Internet Marketing Consultant?

Should you utilize an “Internet Marketing Consultant”, or should you do it all yourself?

First of all, ask yourself what level you have achieved with your Internet marketing strategies up to now…

Whether you have just started a business or you have been in business for years, you probably fall into one of these categories when it comes to Internet marketing:

Level 1 Internet Marketer:
You do not have a website; however there is a good chance that you have some kind of Internet presence that you may be unaware of through your local Yellow Pages or some other source.

Level 2 Internet Marketer:
You do not have a website, but you have an intentional Internet presence through different organizations like City Search, a local Yellow Pages Company, the Better Business Bureau or some other organization. You are probably getting decent results from your efforts.

Level 3 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, but have no intentional marketing presence where people can find you, other than what you may have as a Level 1 Internet Marketer. I would argue that you could be better off at Level 2.

Level 4 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, you have spent money on a marketing it, but nothing has worked so you have a bad feeling about Internet marketing. Again, you could be better off at Level 2, because at least then you would have an optimistic outlook on Internet Marketing.

Level 5 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, you have spent money on a marketing it, you are getting some results that you are happy with, but you could be getting a better return on your Internet Marketing investment if you were more strategic.

Level 6 Internet Marketer:
You have a website; you have done a perfect job of marketing it and have reached the full potential of the Internet with your brilliant Strategic Internet Marketing Plan that includes strategic email marketing and cross-marketing.

If you are at level 1-4, there is a good chance that you could benefit by utilizing an Internet marketing consultant. If you are at Level 5 and want to get to Level 6 or if you think you are at Level 6, it is probably worthwhile to at least sit own with a consultant and see if they can help you increase your return on investment. There is nothing wrong with a free consultation.

Who can you trust to be your “Strategic Internet Marketing Consultant”? If you click this link, you will see who we are partial to, but here are some other ideas:

-Your Yellow Pages representative.
-A Google or Yahoo! Representative.
-A website developer.
-An SEO firm.
-An Internet marketing firm.
-A full service marketing firm.

Come back in the next few days for the details on what each of these types of organizations can do for you and what they cannot do when it comes to helping you implement a successful Internet Marketing Strategy.

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To blog, or not to blog? Blogs for Businesses...

So you are now reading a blog about a blog-how does that feel?

The fact that you are here means you must see some value in blogging, but how can it help you grow your business?

Most small to medium business owners have limited time, so any time they take needs to be geared towards helping them grow their business. That being the case, it is vital that all of your Marketing efforts, offline or online need to produce results.

Unlike search engine marketing and other forms of marketing, blogging may be more difficult to measure in terms of revenue generated, but that does not mean that a blog cannot help your bottom line.

First of all, the search engines like blogs. Blogs are updated regularly and they are easy to index, and can help you in optimizing your website by linking to your website from your blog.

What does this mean? The bottom line is that they can help you increase your chances of being found on search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

A blog can help you establish yourself as an expert in your industry. A blog is a place where people can read your comments and articles and comment on them in a non threatening manner any time of day from anywhere in the world. This can be very important for businesses that sell complex products o consultation services.

A blog is easy for you to update for one author or for many authors. Unlike a website, a blog can easily be updated by one or more people-even if they have very little internet aptitude. If you can send an email with an attached document, you can probably figure out how to blog. This enables companies like real trends to have multiple yet exclusive consultants contributing content to their blog.

How do I drive traffic to my blog?

Tell people about it. When people ask you questions in social settings or even business settings, certainly answer their questions, but if you have blog you can say “Our blog gives free advice and answers to questions like these and is updated on a regular basis. Please check it out at http://www.myblog.com/ and feel free to add your comments. "

Email a link to friends, family and customers. Hopefully you have an email list of your customers that you use for email marketing campaigns. If not, there are some excellent and inexpensive online marketing tools that can give you the appearance of a fortune 500 company. Many companies offer internet consulting services (and more free information) to help you pick out the best program for your business. Of course, they can also help you with your blog.
Get other blogs and websites to link to your blog. If your blog has value, many people will want to link to it, or at least trade links to help drive traffic their blogs as well.

How much does a blog cost?

The great news is that you can get a free blog from multiple sources. Please visit Ascend eMarketing for a list of free blogs or search for “free blogs” online.

Of course, some businesses prefer to setup up a blog in a similar way as to how they would setup a website. The main advantage to this approach is that you can utilize your own “URL”.

For example, the address for this free blog is http://www.semprofessionals.blogspot.com/ . If we wanted to set up a blog that was simply http://www.semprofessionalsblog.com/ we would have to get our own software and pay for hosting, which could cost $10 or more a month.

Paying for a blog has some advantages:

A blog may seem more credible to some people because the blog is its own entity. Of course, some people may identify with blogspot or Myspace, so that could work either way.

Having a truly unique domain name may give the blog more credibility with the search engines.

A paid for and customized blog may be more customizable.

The good news is that you can get some great results with a free blog, but you have other options.

That’s all for now. Looking forward to your comments.

[blog]

[marketing]

[internet marketing]

[search engine optimization]

[seo]

[blog marketing]

Optimizing your website?

So what should you do to optimize your website?

I will have a new article out by next week. In the meantime, this is a good place to start:

Search Engine Optimization