EeZee Web Blog

Google loves local search results.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for a Chinese restaurant to get some take-away. The first thing I did was to search for Chinese restaurants in the area. Believe it or not, I found only one with a local Google listing! I then tried to find their menu online but couldn't - they didn't have a Website!

More and more people are using specific location criteria to find things on Google. A large number of these searches are done on the go - approximately 32% of people with an iPhone or some sort of Smart Phone conduct local search (Google). To go back to my example, I searched for 'Chinese Restaurant Baulkham Hills'.  In the case of this search, Google Maps listed all the Chinese Restaurants in Baulkham Hills that had a Google Local Business Center Listing.

Having a Google Local Business Center Listing is a vital and valuable way to promote your business, services and products in your local target market.

6 steps to get started with your free Google Local Business Center Listing

1. Search for your company in Google like this - 'your-company your-location'. If the listing exists, you will see a map and your company's details.  This is also to check if anybody else has provided the listing. I often see 'Business listings provided by Yellow Pages®'.
2. Go to Local Business Center.
3. Watch the introductory video.
4. Add your listing with your logo, address, opening times, services, pictures and video. The more information you add, the better.
5. Verify your listing by phone.
6. Wait and search for your listing in Google, this can take between 20 minutes to a couple of hours.

A survey showed that 82% of local searchers followed their search up with a phone call, in-store visit or purchase (TMP-comScore)! Enough reason to get yourself a great Google Local Business Center Listing?

Why use online marketing?

Thanks to work, I meet a lot of small to medium business owners and am often surprised at how they forget to market their Website online. I often hear comments like "people will find me on Google" or "I am not spending anymore money. I've spent it all on my Website". When I ask, "... if you have a store front and no one knew where to find it, how would they visit your store and become a customer?", the answer is usually, "I don't know"!  Just like in the real world, no customers through your Website's 'front door' means no sales. 

The first thing to do is use your online budget more effectively by saving on Website design. Use existing, highly customisable templates and tools. You really do not need to go out and spend tens of thousands of dollars to design a Website from scratch!  The money you save by doing this, you can use to promote your Website with online marketing.

Three ways to use online marketing to get more people to your Website

1. List your business in Google's free Local Business Center. (http://www.google.com/local/add). This will ensure that your company shows up on search results when somebody does a search in your area, for the kind of business/services you offer.   Example: mobile beauty sydney will show search results for all mobile beauty service companies in Sydney.
2. Add your business to local business directories. Many offer free listing services! (http://www.truelocal.com.au/, http://www.localbusinessguide.com.au/, http://www.livepages.com.au/, http://www.searchmysuburb.com.au).
3. Market your business using Google AdWords. This works on the pay-per-click principle. You only pay when somebody clicks on your ad in Google's search results, to come to one of your Website pages. Click costs start as low as 11c per click!

Google AdWords is a great way to begin and if you're strategic about it, your Website can be displayed at the top of the search engine results page for your targeted keywords. The 'trick' is to use the right keywords... the ones your target customer is using to search on Google. This is a science in itself, so I am not surprised when I hear clients say how they had a go and ended up spending thousands of dollars and getting few or no results. An experienced search engine specialist can help you get qualified visitors and buyers (not window shoppers using up your online marketing budget) on to your Website via Google AdWords.

Finally here is how to check if you're on Google? Type in "site:www.yoursitenamehere.com.au" in the Google search bar.  If you see results of your pages then it has been seen by Google.