Search Engines are important to Local Business

Although search engines can be used to enhance your web site's business it is the quality and content of your site that has a greater impact on potential earnings. It is also very necessary to enhance a web site through meta tags, content description and proper search engine optimization. The marketing strategy of the web site, ease of navigation and appearance can also effect a site's ratings. My experience has shown me that referrals resulting from visibility on major search engines varies from 20% - 98% of all referrals.

Some sites have as low as 20% repeat business from existing customers, so obtaining new customers for them is essential. If people can't find your site they won't buy. It takes steady traffic to continue in business as conversion rates are low for all sites. The web site provides you with leads, but it is necessary for you to close the sale. A good search engine listing can get visitors to your web site and brand, but it is the sales people who either make or break the business.

Why have a local web site for local people at all? A local user will use a search engine to find your company if he or she remembers your name, but not your URL (Universal Reference Link, the phrase that appears in the top box of the browser). If you use search engines appropriately local people will find you by looking for your URL or by entering the name of the community, then the product. Count on word of mouth and handouts. Give customers your business card with your web site and e-mail address on it. Obtain your customers' e-mail addresses and send occasional follow-up notes. Ask them to forward it to friends.

Use locally focused sites: www.castlegarbc.ca, www.columbiariver.ca, www.virtualcommunity.ca, etc. that are used by people in your city or town and publicize or advertise your business on it. The focused local web site lists your own Web URL and e-mail address.

The Web supports other efforts to get new business, rather than being a primary tool that gathers new customers by itself. Use the Web and e-mail to support your local advertising and networking. What about people who travel and are looking for restaurants, hotels, shops, etc.? For example put in "real estate" and "your town name" and you'll get some relevant results. Search engines are not regionally oriented, but searchers themselves can be. If the site is structured correctly, regional optimization can work. Just because you get a dozen visits rather than one hundred visits doesn't mean the small numbers should be ignored. For example an inquiry into Castlegar / Trail hotels or motels will bring potential customers to their site. Most local businesses CAN benefit from targeted search engine placement. Directories ( i.e. Yahoo, LookSmart) are more useful because searchers can restrict their search to a specific region. So don't neglect SE's in your marketing plan, but at the same time, be sure your expectations are realistic.