Google, Yahoo, and other search engines have revolutionized how we learn, how we communicate, how we shop, and in general have helped billions of people around the world develop the full strength of the internet’s bright glow. Sometimes we may take the strong ability of the local search engine for granted, but what we should do is take the time to appreciate and understand the benefits of local search.
Why is it so important? (We, as business owners and personal explorers, know now that we could not live without its delectable taste and modern ability to make life easier).
Today, there are well over 10 billion unique searches done each month online, and that’s just in the United States! Of those searches,
40% of queries have Local intent (1)
5% use the city and/or state name
2% use informal terms, like neighborhoods
0.5% use zip codes.
Recent research states that on Yahoo alone, 100 Million unique visitors per month search with “local intent” (2). We can extrapolate that there are half a billion unique Local searches per month on Google, based on Yahoo’s ~15% market share (though we’ve not seen any “hard numbers” released by Google about its average Local Search volume). We’ve seen both Google and Yahoo make dramatic shifts in how they return results in 2008, and all the trends point to Local.
WOW!!!
On top of that data, respected technology experts from around the world think the creation of mobile search is ready to take off even further in 2010. Japan is already involved in numerous mobile search technologies. The United States is starting to catch up with more sophisticated devices like the iPhone and future Verizon phones. (Mobile searches primarily pulling their searches from Local Search Engines).
This leads to one overwhelming fact: The potential to attract new customers via Local Search is enormous. Of course it is!
GetListed.org will hopefully help your business get started building and improving its search engine presence. And if you find yourself overwhelmed by the world of Local Search, help is here below for you:
http://getlisted.org/resources/
So, let’s not take these Local Searches for granted anymore, but understand that it is only the beginning of success for you, your business, your personal life, and this world. We are involved in a new world of technological communication that is just beginning to bloom and prosper. This is why Local Search, from the simple to the complex, is so valuable and important! You better believe it and use it to your expense!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.