ShareThe local Yellow Pages used to be the first place people turned to find local businesses. People still use their fingers to do the walking. But not just in the Yellow Pages. The Internet is now the number one place where people go to give their digits a workout.
Numerous studies and industry sources conclude that people are using the Internet to look for local companies with which they want to do business. Why not, it’s lot easier to type in words such as “office supplies,” “oil companies,” and “limousine service” on their keyboards than it is to comb through the pages of their phone books.
Here’s how people (potential customers) are looking for businesses these days—
- Three out of ten are going onto Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Ask.com to search for products and services that they need.
- Three out of ten are still doing their “searching” the old school way in the Yellow Pages or White Pages.
- Two out of ten are searching Internet directories, especially to find telephone numbers of businesses.
- One out of ten trek to map sites like Google Maps or Yahoo Local for directions.
- While the smallest number find information on businesses from newspapers or magazines.
Here’s a surprising fact: social networking sites, the rage these days, may be effective for building brand recognition, but they’re not too successful for helping people find a business when it’s time to make a purchase.
What does all this mean? With nearly six out of ten people beginning the buying process by searching online, local businesses must improve their results in search engines if they want to improve their sales. The most effective way to do this is by making sure your business is findable online and that your title tags are optimized. Business owners can do this themselves, but many opt to hire a professional. Either way, it must get done if you want your site and your business to be found.
So let your fingers do the walking, and find yourself some experts to help make your site findable for all those folks out there searching for goods and services, and for you.
Best of Days to You,
Audrey Ferrante
