Professional Search Engine Optimization and SEO Marketing Firm

Home

Package Deals

Optimization

Submission

Pay-Per-Click

Paid Inclusion

Conversion

Free Tools

Blog

Welcome to the ineedhits Search Engine Marketing blog, where we share the latest search engine and online marketing news, releases, industry trends and great DIY tips and advice.

We encourage you to get involved in our blog community - so share your opinions and experiences by leaving comments on our posts.

If you're looking for help with promoting your website - check out our range of affordable search engine marketing services.

Tuesday, March 14

Local Search - Don't Miss the Boat!

Local Search is finally standing up to be counted. Once considered an uncertain "trend", the integration of the web into our everyday lives has meant that locally targeted search campaigns are not only viable, but for many firms, far more lucrative.

Borrell Associates have just released their "2006 Local Search Advertising" report, which predicts with some conviction that local advertisers are set to double their paid advertising spend this year, which will see it reach $987 million. What's more, 2007 should see it double yet again.

The report suggests that local search's "experimentation phase" is over. As with any trend, the market innovators test the water, and where sustainability prevails, the rest of the market follows. In this case, local search's main proponents in the early stages have been real estate and mortgage advertisers. With their goals to feature in prominent positions in the search results, geo-targeted paid search has been their core strategy.

For local search to be successful, it takes more than strong demand by advertisers, and the expectation by searchers for local listings is really what's driving the search trend. The report probed 400 ad experts for their predictions in local search, and over 60% believe that search engines will morph with online yellow pages models within the next two years. Say goodbye to your old print Yellow Pages as consumers are now relying on the web for these local business searches, and the trend is growing exponentially.

The Yellow Pages is not the only institution under threat. 50% of the panellists believe that local search engines will replace national search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN within five years, assuming dominant local search engines emerge. That's a big claim, and is probably the reason why the major search engines are investing so much time and money into local search technology.

So what does this mean for you - local search advertisers?

If you're already undertaking local targeting in your search marketing campaigns, then you're already a part of the leading group of companies that have realized the value of this strategy. Accordingly, continue with your efforts and ensure your website is ready for organic local targeting also. If you haven't started geo-targeting, now is the time to start investigating your options.

While most of the Borrell Associates' report discusses paid search advertising, which can offer instant qualified traffic, there are several steps firms can undertake to start local targeting within their optimization strategies. For tips on how to make your website "local" search friendly, review our previous post - DIY Tip: Targeting Local Customers.

Either way now is the time to review the returns of your traditional advertising in newspapers and local print yellow pages, and start embracing the local advertising of the future - Search Engine Marketing!

0 Comments

Our Newsletter

Subscribe!

Atom Site Feed

Free Tools

www.gooruze.com

Recent Posts:

Search Engine Marketing Blog Homepage

Contributors

Warren Duff
Rene LeMerle
Jackie Shervington


	Recommended

7 Day Google Inclusion
Get listed in Google in 7 days - guaranteed! Only $24.99/mth

Buy Now

More ...

Guaranteed Top 10 Listing
Guaranteed top 10 listing in 250+ search engines - Just $9.99/month

Buy Now

More ...

Google & Yahoo! Advertising
Instant exposure and quality website traffic from Google & Yahoo! sponsored advertising. Increase your traffic from only $99 per month.

Buy Now

More ...

Archives:

May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008


ineedhits, ineedhits.com, and their designs, logos, and related marks are trademarks of Ineedhits.com Pty Ltd. © Copyright 1999 - 2008 ineedhits.com

Local Search - Don't Miss the Boat!

Post a Comment