By Tom Swanson
Have you used Yahoo!’s new local-search function? If youhaven’t, you owe it to yourself to check it out. They’veupgraded it with fantastic features geared to make searching forlocal businesses and services a breeze. Some of these featuresinclude user recommendations and reviews of businesses,real-time updates on local event information, and the ability tosearch for businesses, events, and more within specificneighborhoods rather than forcing the user to wade through thesearch results for an entire city. In addition, the searchengine company has also upgraded its mapping capabilities.
Users also have the option to receive updated search informationvia RSS – Rich Site Summary, otherwise known as Really SimpleSyndication – feeds. This particular feature has, arguably,impacted the scope of the heavy-hitting search engines inInternet users’ lives the most. The race between Yahoo!, Google,MSN, and AOL for market share is never-ending, and each hasadded its own brand of improvements. The major search engines’new local-search features are all fantastic for the end user,but what do they mean for local businesses?
In the history of local search, there has been a lot invested inthe form of user-friendly improvements by search-enginecompanies, but these improvements haven’t yielded a noticeablereturn-on-investment (ROI) for the companies. You might recallsearch trailblazers Citysearch and MSN Sidewalk – these twoengines were an early example of the race to improve searchfunctionality – then again, you might not remember them at all.It wasn’t until Google’s explosion onto the search scene inrecent years that the general public really became aware of thepower of search on the web. Now “Googling” is a verb.
Much of the public awareness of Internet search comes fromGoogle’s innovations in technology, but until recently, localsearch wasn’t really a consideration for most Internet users orthe businesses featured in search results. However, theimprovements that the major search engines are adding arechanging that, and if you’re an owner of a traditional localbusiness, you should be paying attention.
More functionality for users means more accountability forbusiness owners. Now that patrons can voice their opinions aboutthe establishments that they frequent, potential customers havean all-access pass to virtually unlimited information about abusiness before they ever step foot inside the door. The days ofbusinesses relying on a fancy façade and some good ol’ TV adsare quickly fading. Now businesses have to be accountable forjust about every step they take, no matter how large or smallthey are. If a patron of a restaurant or theatre or dentist orlandscaper has a bad experience, they have the ability to tell alot of people all about it quickly and easily.
The prospect of being scrutinized at every turn might seem likea frightening one at best, but there is a definite upside. Justas negative views can spread like wildfire, so can positiveperspectives. If you’re putting a concerted effort into yourcustomer service and integrity is integral to the way that youconduct business, you’re bound to get good feedback. And, nowmore than ever, good feedback with go further than it ever hasbefore.
Perhaps more importantly, though, it’s up to traditional localbusinesses to make sure that they have online presences. I livein a mid-sized community, and I was surprised to find as manyreviews about local eateries, mechanics, and events as I did.It’s not just businesses located in large cities that need totake heed. The proliferation of the Internet – and local searchcapabilities – is affecting communities far and wide. Since moreand more people are utilizing the web to find the goods andservices that they want, it only stands to reason that youshould ensure your business is in front of them. These folks areyour potential customers, after all.
There are a lot of ways that you can improve your onlinepresence, but the first step of putting yourself in a positionto grow your traditional local business is being aware that theInternet will affect your business one way or another,negatively or positively. It’s up to you to take control ofwhich way you want things to go. Take some time to surf the web.Use the new features that the search engines are rolling out.Pay attention to what customers are saying about traditionallocal businesses. Accessing that information now will beinvaluable to your success later.
© 2005 Low-Hanging Fruit
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