Local Search Marketing WARNING! « The Blog of Matthew Loop

Local Search Marketing WARNING!

Discover the ugly truth that local search marketing online directories would rather you NOT know. Before you select a local business marketing company that promises you the world, definitely watch this first.

 

 

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About the Author

Matthew Loop is an author, speaker, investor, philanthropist, and the highest paid social media revenue strategist in North America. He helps brands, startups, and small business owners multiply their influence, impact, and income by harnessing the power of the Internet. Since 2005 he’s trained over 21,000 clients in 25 countries. Millions have viewed his free business growth tutorials online. Connect with him on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter.

Comments

19 Responses to “Local Search Marketing WARNING!”

  1. Hi Dr. Matt!

    Thanks for the info. I used one of these directories (SuperMedia Online Yellow Pages) for 1 year at ~ $50/month and got ZERO results. When annual renewal time came around, I promptly fired them.

    Thanks for explaining why it didn’t work. It’s appreciated.

    Carpe diem!

  2. Matthew Loop says:

    You’re welcome, Dr. Todd… Many get suckered and hard-sold into participating because they don’t understand consumer search habits on the web.

  3. Thanks like always Matt. I see so many doctors trying to beat me with spamming, and writing their own reviews, but as I keep putting out more quality content, the patients can see right thru it all.

  4. Dana says:

    Great video, Matthew. Sounds like you have your finger squarely on the pulse of the latest local search strategies. One thing that we place great emphasis on (depending on the industry) is marketing the clients phone number. In many cases, not including the latest Places Search/blended results update from Google, a website may not be as important as having a phone number available at the exact moment that a customer is seeking out your services. Maps does a great job of this, but a phone number should be clearly displayed in the of an organic search result as well. Getting back to your point of “one click” optimization, the phone number fulfills this nicely. Heck, your customer doesn’t even need to click once 😉

  5. Matthew Loop says:

    Thank you, Dana… Yes, local search marketing is a big passion of mine. Very good points about having the phone number available even before they click through to the actual site. This helps since consumers are highly instant gratification oriented.

  6. Dr Jeff Labrado says:

    Hello Matt,
    Thanks for the great information. You are awesome as usual.
    I do have a question for you though.
    I did purchase the Market Samurai as you requested because I am working on having a website for my office. (Finally!) Well, I am a little slow or illiterate with the program and wondered what or how is the best way to use this program for local (city) markets? It looks as though it is geared towards state markets rather than city. How do we best utilize this program? I know you will have some great knowledge of how to properly use this as a chiropractor.
    Thanks,
    Dr Jeff

  7. Matthew Loop says:

    Thanks Dr. Jeff… They have video tutorials on how to use Market Samurai on their website. Make sure you watch them, as they guide you step by step. You can definitely use it to access your local competitors. You can check back-links (how many / where they come from), you can analyze SEO factors, and a whole host of other things.

    Start with a popular keyword like (your city) chiropractic and see what the software pulls back. It will show search volume and provide you synonyms or related keywords, too. Then, you can find out exactly what you need to do to overtake your competition for those specific keywords. It really takes the guesswork out of it.

    By the way, if anyone is reading this and is new to this post or blog, you can check out a short video on why you’ll want to use this powerful market / keyword research software here

  8. Hi Matt,

    Having been in practice for over twenty years I remember well those days of paying thousands of dollars a month to phone companies to be in their yellow pages,usually with little to no return on investment. I don’t want to fall into that trap with internet “yellow pages”. Thanks for letting us know what really works on the internet and saving us lots of money.

    Have an amazing day!

  9. Michael Beck says:

    So not only are the yellow pages quickly becoming a dinosaur offline but online as well. One should always choose wisely where they are spending their money and time.

  10. RC says:

    Based on your demonstration, your points about how the consumer takes one second would also eliminate almost all organic searches for any website particularly in regard to local businesses. Simply put, you would need to have an ad or be on top of Google Pages or rank ahead of Google Pages if you are correct. You are actually below the fold with your videos and twitter site at this moment which means you would expect very few people to find you based on a local search. Google will likely dominate the local search results as they do now after you made this video. So really based on your vid, it would seem that spending a number of dollars on organic search SEO may be unwise. It’s a matter of finding out the ROI.

    I also wonder if you have compared large local directories (I think with less print directories, this is a major overall marketing issue for local business) to small targeted niche directories in your thinking. If you are on page 2,3,4 of a local directory, you will not likely be found. Imagine if you are on page 5-10 or more. In the future with no print directories (which are easier to flip through and read and much quicker), how will people find local businesses? Will they always go to the first or second listing?

    I also wonder if you consider those consumers who do comparison shop. Not sure they are just going to look at the first listing although they aren’t likely to search through page after cumbersome page.

  11. Matthew Loop says:

    Thanks for the comment, RC. Yes, these instant gratification oriented consumer habits eliminate most organic searches for small business. Aside from the maps listing, it’s a good idea to be in the top 2, as far as the organic search results are concerned.

    In regards to those that prefer to review, like one would do on Amazon.com, that’s what Google places listings are for. Online searchers are still making very fast decisions even they’re comparing.

    I would absolutely still do organic SEO. It’s even that much more important now to do your market research and create a strategic plan where you can get to #1.

  12. Cindi says:

    I absolutely received value from this video and as a person who uses the Google search hundreds of times throughout the day, I agree with you 100%. I would hate to admit that I’m lazy or require split second gratification but there are only so many minutes in the day right? So if I need information quickly, then I “expect” it quickly, not only information but information that I can use. Same is true for what you are highlighting here in this video, we are all consumers and many more are using the search feature in Google to find information or a resource for their needs and contrary to popular belief, people really don’t want a variety of choices, they want answers to their questions. I compare it to going into Starbucks …so many choices; but all I want is just a hot cup of coffee!

  13. Of course with a Yellow Page online listing, it is even worse. They will have other doctors advertising on the same page they direct you to.

  14. Great post! Thank you.

  15. I have been following your blog for some time now and enjoy implementing all of the knowledge you provide. Thanks

  16. Matthew Loop says:

    Glad you’re finding the content valuable, Jason!

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