It is a trend that will probably continue, said Kevin Banet, president and CEO of the Chicago-area firm TreeFrogClick, Inc., which provides the service, known as TFC SearchRank.
“The online directories can’t keep up with our aggressive content updating service,” said Kevin Banet. The client, a counseling center, had been running both YellowBook ads and the TFC SearchRank program at the same time, Banet said. TFC SearchRank offers this client custom-written news stories three times a month, in addition to posting news releases on publicity websites.
The program, which uses search engine optimization, or SEO, techniques, was begun for the client last June, and more recently, the YellowBook ads for the counseling center were shut down for the past several months. Since then, all of the center’s paid online advertising was coming from the program run by TreeFrogClick, Inc.
“We suspected that our program was doing all the muscle work, and now we know for sure,” Banet said. “The number of people that came over the internet for my client more than doubled in January compared to the month before, according to their records,” he said. “We’re blowing the competition out of the water for searches in towns surrounding the center.”
Banet added that local search, using “natural” or “organic” search techniques, as opposed to pay-per-click search, is growing. He said that businesses and non-profits should take note that the old method of using print ads and even online directory listings is just old hat, depending on one’s own particular market. “If it’s not working for you, dump it,” he said.
“Our news service is tailored specifically to the client’s services or products and is localized to bring in area searches,” he said, adding that clients like the individual attention given to them, and that the cost is less than that of a budget for online directories. Banet said he can save his clients thousands of dollars a year, and can work with clients anywhere in the country.
Although the recession has seen a slowdown in online advertising this year, local online spending is still expected to grow by 5.4% in 2009, according to media-research firm Borrell Associates.
The tested techniques of such promotion can be learned by downloading the free whitepaper, “Seven Proven Ways to Drive Visitors to Your Website,” at http://www.treefrogclick.com/
http://www.treefrogclick.com.
