Have you done a Google Search
and seen these?
It used to be the Internet was touted as being global in scope. Your business could be found by people all over the world and your customer base could not only be local but global in scope.
That is still true, but a paradigm shift is occurring on the web. The web is going local! If you have noticed, when you do a search these days in the left hand column on Google there are new links. One of those links will tell you what town your IP address comes from and Google then serves up results for local businesses that fit your search criteria.These days over 30% of searches contain either a town, a state or a zip code because surfers are now looking for local results when doing a search. After all not everyone wants to find a restaurant or dentist that is thousands of miles away, they want a local provider and Google is happy to oblige.
Want to Do It Yourself? Although ATD Marketing can set this all up for you we realize there are many of you who like to do these things yourself. If that is you, great! Click Here to get your 50 page e-book Google Places Goliath!
Many times your search will have a map on the right side with little markers like the one above all over it and a corresponding list of whatever you searched for in the results area. These markers correspond to the location of each business in the town you are searching and the listing will have basic information about the business, Name, Address, Phone Number and link to either a web site or Google Maps. And, a link that says Place Page.
This link is to a web page created especially for each business. Google has created over 50 million place pages! These pages are for information on businesses like restaurants, dentists, doctors, etc. as well as locations like dog parks, transit stations, baseball fields, etc. Less than 2% of these pages have been claimed!
These listings are of extreme value for your local business. They contain, maps, directions, can have pictures, videos and testimonials. They are beginning to appear above the organic listings on the search page and can direct much more traffic to your web presence and if you are one of the 50% of small business without a web site this can provide you with that first web presence that is so important in today's marketplace. Even if you do have web site this places listing can place you higher in the listings than your web site might get and can bring your site higher into the listings
Along with your location there is a link in the left panel that says places and this is the exciting new part of Google that is bringing the Internet to your town. When a searcher clicks on the places link it takes him/her to a page exclusively for businesses in the town they are searching in. This page contains only local links and these links, like those on the main page have information about businesses in the local location and links to each of those business' places page.
If you have claimed your places page you can put a lot of information about your business there. If you haven't all you will find is Name, Address, Phone, maps and directions.
Our program is designed to get your places listing fully developed, listed on the first page of Google for local search of your business type and thereby increase your traffic and leads. We know you are busy taking care of business and even though you may agree that the Internet aspect of your business has to be an important part of your marketing strategy you just don't have the time or expertise to pursue all the marketing opportunities offered on the web.
That is where ATD Marketing comes in. We offer a variety of services designed to bring your business into the 21st Century and help you take advantage of these new marketing strategies that are becoming a requirement, not a luxury, in today's marketplace.
We would be honored to discuss how to bring your business into the new world of local on the Internet. Like it or not the electronic marketplace is where our economy is going and we all have to be positioned to take advantage of this shift or we will be left out of the equation.
And by the way, Bing and Yahoo also have Local pages and we will be happy to set you up with their programs as well. You cannot ignore the major players on the Internet or you will be ignored by your customer base.
So, please take our survey to see where you are currently in your marketing and then give us a call at 931-268-8639 or send us an e-mail and let's talk about how to bring your business to the local Internet!
You also may download our Powerpoint presentation that more fully describes our services.