Being Proactive Towards the Death of Yellow Pages
25 years ago, the more popular that the internet grew, the more that companies found that it didn’t have as much impact as the expected it to. This rang even more true for local markets and service providing companies. Though it opened up a whole new stream of marketing, it changed very little for local markets and service providers.
25 years from then, there is a vast and undeniable change in internet marketing. Though the internet can confuse a lot of business owners, it is the best and most effective way to locally market for your small business. Most business owners choose to use the most cost effective and vastly targeted marketing option. This can be found on various websites all across the web. The local internet marketing can be optimized by using local directories, local map listings and relate on-page services. This will enhance your SEO and will show where you are at to consumers.
But what happened to Yellow Pages? Take a look, Yellow Pages vs. Search Engines (such as Google and Yahoo) and observe the four trends that impact local marketing for companies and how it has lead to Yellow Pages demise.
Easy Use – Users of the search engines are always going to use what is the easiest for them, though this can vary from person to person, it is still instrumental. Being able to access the web from your phone, at home or from your cellular device has made getting information as easy as pie. According to Jupiter Media “over 64% of people who are looking for information on-line, use search engines”. This is way over half of users to take into consideration.
The Biggest Difference – As a small business manager, I would never want my prospect to give my competitors a detailed list of all of my addresses and phone numbers. But this is what Yellow Pages does. When a client uses a search engine, they’re looking for specifics like what you do. At that point they find you, and not all of your competitors.
Based off of these two trends, there are a few things you can do to set your self apart from your competition.
Based on these trends, there are five things you need to do today to differentiate you from your competition. Take a look at these four things to consider on how to improve your marketing spending:
1. What’s your investment into Yellow Pages? What is it costing you per month, or per year and what percentage of your business has come from it? If the numbers work for you, then by all means, don’t stop. But if the answer to these questions is “No idea” or “I have no clue”, then here is a suggestion. Keep the ad going, but make it smaller. As the value plummets for Yellow Pages, you will stay ahead of the game.
2. Get a website for your company. If you have your site set up on your own people can find you through normal search engines, not just through a directory. If you are found through a directory, they saw all of your competitors ads also, keep that in mind.
3. Analyze your website. If you want to know how many people visit your website, then sign up with a directory service and get your analysis from them. A great directory to use is Google Analytics, it allows you to view your own analysis with out a middle man.
4. Add a location keyword to your website. People use search engines to search for what you do in your given area. This means you need to make sure that the search engine knows your location and address. Things they will need to know are your phone number, address, zip code, city, state and area code.
Being proactive towards the downfall of any business is a wise thing to do. Following some of these simple steps will help your market and establish your niche. Good luck.
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