Do You Use Local Search?

A September 2006 Comscore analysis found that 63% of US Internet users (approx. 109 million people) performed a local search online in July 2006. That’s a 43% increase from July 2005. 30% of those are conducted through Google. 29% through Yahoo! And 12% through Microsoft.

As more people become comfortable searching the internet, they’re going to sites like Yahoo! Local and Yelp rather than turning to the yellow pages. In fact, market share of Yelp was up 91% and Inner Pages was up 34% in the last 6 months according to Hitwise.

Personally, I use CitySearch.com, which just bought popular local search site, Insider Pages whenever I’m looking for a new restaurant or salon to check out.

I’m not alone. The statistics say that nearly 60% of searchers look for a restaurant or other form of entertainment, 52% search for a business address or phone number, and 41% look for local services like lawyers and dry cleaners.

These types of local directories offer basic webpages for companies for a nominal fee as well as a place for customers to leave reviews about their services. If you’re looking for a restaurant, the reviews can be quite helpful if there are enough of them. For companies, the reviews can be a source of valuable customer feedback – though the drawback is that people are free to post negative reviews.

The biggest problem with the local search market is that it’s extremely fragmented and easy to spend lots of money getting listed with all the different sites out there. Do some research before you jump on every advertising opportunity that comes your way – where are your customers finding you? Where are your competitors advertising? And make sure your company’s website is optimized for local keywords so that you do get listed in the major search engines.

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