Many Small Business owners see a national or international SEM campaign, as a costly endeavour; and a lengthy commitment. As such, it creates a fear and apprehension; that too often results in neglect or avoidance. Not realizing the benefits of SEM, and persuing a structured search engine marketing campaign; can be a costly mistake. In fact, I have a saying…”Making no decision, is often worse than making the wrong decision; would have been in the first place.”
A recent study reported that 82 percent of shoppers, begin their local business search; online. This suggests a consumer migration from traditional methods of local search, like yellow pages ads; to the Internet. At a fraction of the cost of an aggressive national or international optimization campaign, Local SEM offers an affordable solution; for big and small businesses. By concentrating Internet marketing efforts on local consumers, merchants and retailers can improve their online reputation and exposure; thus increasing the liklihood of consumer contact or purchase.
Local Search represents a geographically specific target area, and as such, creates a valuable opportunity for small businesses to capitalize on a brand building opportunity, generate consumer interest in the region; and increase revenues. Consumers seeking local business telephone numbers, addresses or product/service information; are actively using traditional search engines (such as Google and Yahoo!) to lookup local info and contact local businesses.
Connect with Kristoffer Howes for more Internet marketing and brand building tips, strategies and advice.
