Amsive

PUBLISHED: Oct 9, 2009 2 min read

The Importance of Local Business Listings

James Connell

James Connell

Group Director, Media + Analytics

According to a new study, nearly two thirds of searchers expect search engine results pages to list businesses within 15 miles of their home or work. That expectation is up from 52% in 2007.  More importantly for your business, 83% of local search users contacted businesses offline (46% call, and 37% visit).

Online Information Leads To Offline Conversions

These statistics come as no surprise to Amsive Digital. Our Call AmsiveDigital call-tracking technology shows that many of our local business clients receive the vast majority of their paid search advertising conversions through phone calls. In fact, many of our clients prefer phone calls to any other type of lead, especially if the person answering the phone is good.

Will They Find Your Business?

The expectation of local results highlights the importance of making sure that your local business is included in the local business directories of the major search engines and/or that you have a paid search campaign. Consider Larry in Long Beach, NY who needs his rugs cleaned.  He goes to Google and types in ” Rug Cleaners Near Long Beach NY.” The results page features 7 local rug cleaners with their locations noted on a map as the top organic result.  Surrounding the map are ads for rug cleaners, most of whom aren’t included in the organic listings.  With this one search, Larry found all the information he needs to schedule a cleaning.  If your business isn’t listed, Larry won’t be calling you.

Be Easy To Find

Make sure that Larry calls you.  Create a local listing in the search engines and build out your profile so that it ranks well.  Also, consider having a paid search campaign so that  you can own two pieces of real estate on the results page.  The more visible you are, the more likely it is that Larry calls. Give us a call if you need help or have questions.

James Connell is Search Director at Amsive Digital

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