Proof that all local businesses need online marketing and SEO to succeed.

April 9, 2012 - PRLog -- In the modern online oriented world it’s almost taken for granted that we use the internet to find information on anything and everything we like! The accessibility of the internet and ease of use we have at our disposal today means, for the majority of us at least, the internet is an integral part of our daily lives. We can’t have a good old fashioned difference of opinion these days without someone “Googling It” for Pete’s sake! The question to be answered, however, is “Do people in small towns really search for local products & services online?”

One of Ireland’s latest up and coming local online marketing companies, Local SEO Ireland, recently took to the streets of Derry to find out. Sean Fullerton, Local SEO Ireland’s senior marketing consultant remarked
“A lot of business owners in our local town, Buncrana and throughout Donegal are very traditional in terms of the methods they use to promote their business. Many (not all) still rely on the Golden Pages and local newspaper ads for their leads and are sceptical when offered the option of promoting their business online. Many aren’t convinced of the advantages of ranking highly in local search results and so we decided to find out for ourselves how many local people search online for local products and services”.
Before delving into the findings of the survey it’s important to point out that there were only 28 people surveyed therefore it is merely to give a brief insight into consumer behaviour and not to be taken as an authoritative study.

One of the most significant findings was that 89% of surveyees use Google alone to find local products and services. Over 50% or Irish mobile phone users now own a smartphone, and a recent study by Google/Ipsos found 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information, and that 88% of these users take action within a single day.

These figures alone should be enough to convince any local business owner to make sure they’ve got a good online presence. 79% of your potential customers are searching online for your products and services, and if they can’t find your business there is a high risk of losing them to your competitors.

Another interesting finding by the survey was that when asked:
“Are you generally happy with the results you get from Google?”
89% of respondents said they were generally quite happy with the results they received, but not one of the respondents knew what the term SEO means. This proves that people trust Google to give them the most relevant results but have no idea how Google decides which results deserve to rank the highest in the search engines.

A recent study by SEOMoz further concretes the importance of improving your business’ visibility online. They used state of the art eye tracking technology to track users eye movements when presented with local search results. The findings are very interesting.

It’s clear that users are drawn directly to the Google Places local listings even if organic listings appear above them on the search result page. If ever there was proof of the importance of having a well optimised Google Places listing this is it.

To find out how your business can improve your internet marketing campaign head on over to http://localseoireland.ie/ and get a free no obligation business appraisal. If your business hasn’t already started an online marketing campaign it’s about time you did!