Jun 15 2011

Using Local Search to Gain More Customers

Let us assume that you have a restaurant and you have been operating in your area for a couple of years.  You already have your regulars who come into your restaurant and enjoy your food every so often.

But times are rough and you want new customers.  How do you go about doing that?

There are the tried, tested and traditional ways of getting posters up, distributing fliers, and advertising in the local paper.  However, if these are all you do, you are really not maximizing all the resources available to you.

Enter local search marketing. You just need to create or claim your business on Google Local Business or Google Places, put up all the information you can have and voila, you’re all set to go.

The beauty of getting a local business profile is that it is very simple to optimize and get a higher ranking.  Plus, it is a good way to get into Google’s search results.  Just take a look at this example.  Type in “restaurants in Vail” in a Google search box and you will be presented with a search result like this one:


As you can see, Google has now incorporated Places entries into its search results.  The restaurants Sweet Basil, La Tour Vail, and others in the list would not even have a first page result otherwise.  But because they have a Places listing, they are able to get into the first page of a Google search.

As any marketer would tell you, that is a valuable thing to have.

What’s more, you can present your restaurant in the best possible light possible, while also giving out contact information, your website URL, and even direct potential customers to reviews about your restaurant:

Why Local Search Works

1. Local search allows you to get seen on the first pages of related searches on Google search. For a keyword such as “restaurants in (your area)”  there is sure to be a higher level of competition, making it very difficult to optimize to show your restaurant on the first page.   Local search profiles are much easier to create and optimize. Plus unlike in traditional search where you have to fight with travel sites, personal blogs and other different sites, you are only up in competition with other restaurants in your area with local search.

2. Local search is much easier to implement than PPC ads. While you can certainly pay your way to get top level listing on any related Google search, having a local search profile works two ways.  One is that you’re still on the first page of a Google search without paying anything, and two, you save time from having to monitor your expenditures and bids on a full-blown PPC campaign.

3. Local search is a great way to get known. People who are not your customers would have no idea you exist.  Most people discover new restaurants online by searching for generic terms “restaurants”, “bakeries”, “deli” or “diner” in your area, not by specific restaurant names.  In effect, you get found with the best in your industry.

4. Let other people do the convincing for you. The beauty of local search is that it pulls information from other sites, so that you have a link to all the reviews that has been made about your restaurant.  In effect, you have lots of people doing the recommending for you.  Saying that you have the best food in the world would be considered blatant (and suspiciously arrogant) marketing, but having other people say it is a great recommendation for you!

SEO Inc. is a local search engine optimization company located in Carlsbad, CA.  They believe that improving your local search presence can help drive more customers to your business.

2 Responses to “Using Local Search to Gain More Customers”

  1. Damon says:
    June 18, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    Local is certainly changing the game. I have been busy learning how to optimize for google places for the last few weeks because I think I am a little behind the curve on it. When you get a new client, local should be the first thing you go for because you can typically get the quickest measurable result for your client that way.

  2. wayne barker says:
    June 21, 2011 at 7:42 am

    A nice little introduction to local search there – its something that every business that works locally should be doing right now. Over here in the UK it appears that most businesses have not got savvy to it – and might I add a lot of SEOs (what are you guys playing at?)

    Investigate and invest!