Local Search Trumps Paper

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Local Search Trumps Paper

By: Jordan McCollum
2007-08-03

I bet you thought scissors beat paper"local search beats paper, according to a recent TMP Directional Marketing study conducted by comScore.

If youre having trouble convincing potential clients that the Yellow Pages shouldnt be their one and only marketing method, heres the study for you.

The study found that 33% of consumers consider the Yellow Pages as their primary source of local information"and a whopping 90% of those using search say that the Yellow Pages are still a valuable source for shopping information, as reported by MediaPost. Despite that concession, 60% of consumers turn to the Internet first for local shopping and business information, with half of those consumers turning to a major search engine, more than a quarter heading straight for Internet Yellow Pages and the rest going right to local search sites like Citysearch.

Stuart McKelvey, CEO of TMP Directional Marketing, a local SEO company, stated:

Anecdotally, some of our largest clients have gotten the highest ROI from their investments in IYP -Internet Yellow Pages-. But theres not enough volume there to warrant a dramatic shift in local marketing dollars. An obvious reason for this apparent lack of volume: the study also found that 61% of local searchers go online to make a purchase, but only 6% of them actually complete the purchase online. 40% come in to a brick-and-mortar to convert. And unless your cookies can follow you to the store, youre probably not going to be able to tell them what keyword you used to find their store.

Of course, theres one important short-coming to this study: comScore panelists are more likely to be heavy Internet users. With $15 billion still being spent on paper directories and only $9 billion on the emerging local search industry, it will probably still be an uphill battle for you to convince potential local clients of local SEOs necessity.

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About the Author:
Jordan McCollum is a staff writer for the popular marketing blog Marketing Pilgrim. She has worked in search engine optimization with clients including 3M, Little Giant Ladders and ADP. After graduating from Brigham Young University, Jordan joined the SEO copywriting team at the Internet marketing firm 10x Marketing. After 10x closed its doors in December 2006, Jordan became a freelance writer and Internet marketing consultant specializing in SEO. She also has extensive experience with web analytics, conversion rate enhancement and e-mail marketing.

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