|
Firstsearch Home Page |
Customers Search On-line and Buy Off-Line Do you own operate or manage a business in Wanganui. Do you advertise where people go. Do you have a presence on the Internet because that is where people look Consumers want information, can you assist them, do you sell what they want and most importantly what is your address so they can telephone or walk through your door. We live in a world that is being changed by the power of the Internet. Customers are no longer limited in their choices and seek information via many channels. Businesses ultimately will have no choice but to find ways to get in front of consumers who are using the Internet to find local information. Local Search Searching on-line by local people for local products and services. People are comfortable using the Web to find what they want. They live in a community and naturally would like to purchase the services of local retailers and trades people. What is available Up until now the traditional way have been to list on a national directory but this is not local search. That is spending advertising dollars on an out of town publication. Local search is advertising to reach local customers, using the Internet as the vehicle. Can it be done in Wanganui Yes: firstsearch.co.nz is the local publisher on the Web and is well suited to getting your message out to local customers. Do you offer a service, who do people contact when they need something installed, fixed, or repaired. Where do people shop, can you assist them No Hassles It is essential to advertise on the web to reach the customers who search the web. Maintaining a website, coding, uploading pages and keeping up to date with all the search engine requirements is our business. Operating your business is what you do. So let us take care of your web advertising. The Benefits You can now reach the customers who search online, the ones who want to buy locally Tell them the address of your shop, your place of business. Tell them what you sell or what service you provide. They then have the information to walk through your door. Its Simple To convert the online traffic to foot traffic You may not use the Web but your customers do The major advantage of the Web is that your business information can be viewed 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days of the year. The Overseas Experience Consumers Make Local Search a Reality: Excepts from the article by Greg Sterling I speak at and attend a lot of conferences, often billed as the "local search guy." And people want to know whether local search will materialize or whether it's a bunch of hype. I've been tracking this phenomenon since its inception several years ago and the short answer is: it was at one time but it isn't any more. Skepticism often confronts the advertiser side of the equation: how and when will small businesses adopt the Internet as an advertising medium in large numbers? The response to that question represents a long detour and the subject of a future article. The bottom line is that small business advertisers will be compelled to do so by consumer behavior. To illustrate the point, I'd like to dig into some of The Kelsey Group's most recent consumer data. Two Studies: Then and Now In September 2003, we conducted a telephone-based survey of 1,000 consumers to determine their attitudes and behavior regarding local media. Among many other questions, we asked consumers, "In the past year, which of the following sources of information have you used or referred to when shopping for products or services in your local area?" That study found that traditional yellow pages, white pages and newspapers were the dominant sources of local information. The Internet was then in fourth position. A follow-up survey with 500 consumers earlier this year (2005) found that, remarkably, the Internet had moved into a tie for first position. * Internet Use for Local: The reach of the Internet as a source of local information has increased from 60 percent of total households to 70 percent (equal to traditional newspapers). * Traditional Yellow Pages Usage: Printed yellow pages were rated very highly on providing the phone number of businesses and on finding a certain type of business within a specific location. However, traditional yellow pages use declined from 75 percent to 62 percent (in terms of reach). One should resist the temptation to see Internet adoption as a zero-sum game vis-à-vis print media. Use of the Internet does not mean that consumers have abandoned traditional media. But it does mean that their local influence has diminished somewhat. These data broadly reflect that the local market is becoming more crowded and complex. The Internet introduces fragmentation that previously did not exist. That will only continue as more online competitors enter the marketplace creating greater complexity (and probably confusion) on the advertiser side - especially for small businesses. Yet small businesses ultimately will have no choice but to find ways to get in front of consumers who are using the Internet to find local information. Greg Sterling Search Engine Marketing Columnist Greg Sterling is The Kelsey Group's managing editor and the program director of its Interactive Local Media program. He conducts research and writes extensively about online advertising and local search. Greg came to The Kelsey Group from the former ZDTV, where he conceived and produced the Web site accompanying the first national television show dedicated to e-business and the Internet, "Working the Web." Before that, he was a founding editor and executive producer at AllBusiness.com, a leading small-business ASP and Web site. Prior to that time, Greg was a practicing attorney in San Francisco. He has also worked as a freelance writer and editor on a range of subjects for numerous online and traditional publications. Can any lessons be learnt or taken from the overseas experiences. I believe that NZ consumers will ultimately follow the lead of the overseas shoppers and increasingly use the Internet as the source to find information about local businesses. The implication for local businesses is that they will have to advertise on the Internet or they will not be found by the searching consumer. The Internet is not going to go away, it cannot be ignored. Advertising to reach the New Zealand consumer is more than placing a website on the net. The Web is the 4th media with rules and conventions just like the other media. If you would like to know more, Michael the Editor for Firstsearch.co.nz will be happy to discuss any matters you wish to raise. Selected Retailers on: Contact Us Wanganui Local Search Advertise on the Web New Zealand |