The need for companies to be easily found online is ever increasing in a competitive online landscape where millions spar for top spots in search results. This is not limited to companies only conducting business on the web. In fact, in terms of internet usage, local search has become one of the fastest growing activities. It is becoming increasingly vital for local businesses to feature themselves in online local business directories, as less and less people rely on traditional printed yellow pages books for their primary informational needs.
TMP Directional Marketing, local marketers for over 40 years, have conducted surveys and studies regarding the importance and popularity of
online local search. While this data is USA based, it is logical to extrapolate the information to all online markets. TMP DM found that the total amount of local searches in the USA between June 2008 and June 2009 jumped by almost 31%. According to the research, only 17% of local consumers who went through with a transaction had conducted their research offline.
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Furthermore, an article by SBI M Online stated that 54% of Americans are now using the internet and local search engines instead of their printed local phone books. This translates to considerable online commercial searches. SBI M also found that 90% of these online searches result in a local offline transaction.
With such clear and compelling trends in local search, it is very evident that listing in online local directories is a key strategy in being found on the internet. Many options exist, some free and some not. Usually, a directory requiring payment offers faster approval as well as increased exposure with better chances of being found online and is therefore worth the nominal fee it charges if the directory is of good quality.
Findtarget Local Directory allows businesses to submit a complete business profile. This includes logos, pictures, videos, large text descriptions, links and much more. The listings are also featured in bold text and at the top of results, as well as featured homepage placement. This benefits the business due to increased exposure and visibility, but also for SEO as featured links on the top as well as on the homepage are most likely to be crawled and therefore appear in results.
Incoming links are very important to a site for SEO purposes, especially when these links come from a high quality site in your category. The great thing about local directories is that they are categorized, so featuring links to your site and business on a high quality local directory translates to a high quality, highly relative link to your site.
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Submitting to local directories is essential to any well balanced SEO strategy for businesses looking to acquire local customers online.
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