Written by: Richard Fong
Published on October 28, 2013
Published on October 28, 2013
For decades, the go-to advertising platform for local businesses wasn’t FacebookA social networking site where users can post comments, share photographs, and links to news or othe... or Google, but the Yellow Pages. With millions of customers in every major metropolis and the ultimate ‘buying mode’ audience, the Yellow Pages was, for a long time, the only way for local businesses to reach people that were interested in buying.
Today, it’s a little different. With Google and Facebook offering ultra-targeted local advertising at very reasonable rates, what reason is there to spend your ad budget on the Yellow Pages?
The answer is fairly obvious: very little. With a declining audience and fees that are massively expensive when compared to online marketing, the choice is clear: move your Yellow Pages budget online and reap the benefits of advertising that’s easier to track, cheaper to implement, and far greater in scale. Check the Cost of SEO Services
AdwordsGoogle’s online advertising platform, now known as Google Ads. is an incredible source of local customers, especially in ‘problem solving’ industries such as construction, plumbing, or dry cleaning. If your business offers a service for consumers, it can reap incredible benefits from Adwords search ads.
Thanks to Google’s new pay-per-call ad metrics, which allow you to pay for calls as well as clicks, it’s easy to make the transition from Yellow Pages to Google. The only difference is the pricing – instead of paying a flat monthly fee regardless of results, you only pay for the results that your ads generate.
Optimizing for local search keywordsWords or phrases that users type into search engines to find information. requires a slightly different strategy from the typical product or service-driven keywords. Instead of competing with corporations and large companies, you’re primarily competing with other small, local businesses.
This means your success is determined far more by smart keyword selection than it is by your budget. Create content that’s targeted to local keywords – even districts in your city – and you’ll be able to capitalize on lucrative, low-competition keywords.
The same is true of SEO – you’ll be competing not with the large corporations of big-traffic search keywords, but small, local competitors. This levels the playing field and makes local SEOOptimization strategies aimed at improving a website’s visibility in local search results. more about relevance and trust than the size of your budget. See more : SEO Package Prices
In a way, the Yellow Pages was a printed precursor to SEO. Instead of vying for the top search position using links and on-site content, businesses fought for the most prominent Yellow Pages position using their marketing budgets.
Optimizing for Google Local is a great way to reach the same audience that used to read the Yellow Pages without paying a cent. Links and content replace what was once a marketing budget, giving you even greater results without the costs.
If you’re beginning to notice declining results from your Yellow Pages ads, consider making the transition today. Your local SEO company can help you optimize your website for local maps and begin attracting customers from Google within weeks. Check about the SEO consultant in Los Angeles.
The readership of directories is rapidly declining, and more customers are turning to search every single day. This makes Yellow Pages advertising the ultimate poor marketing investment for businesses – while the cost stays constant, the audience continues to grow smaller.
It’s time to call quits on offline directory marketing. Take your marketing budget to the Internet and you’ll generate more traffic, attract more customers, and make far more sales. Check out Orange County digital marketing services.
We can help your business replace its offline directory campaigns with a scalable and effective online PPC campaign. Contact us today to learn more about our PPC marketing services and local SEO campaigns for businesses. Learn about the Performance Based SEO Pricing