Small Business Says Goodbye To Yellow Pages

Borrell Associates, the research and consulting firm that tracks local media, recently released a report titled, “Say Goodbye To Yellow Pages”. In it they state that the yellow pages industry will loose $5 billion in annual revenue by 2013!

“Over the next five years, we are predicting that 39% of the ad spending on print yellow pages will vanish as small businesses shift marketing budgets online. After 12 years as an advertising medium, the Internet has finally reached small-business owners with viable marketing opportunities in the form of keyword advertising, interactive directories and low-priced online video commercials.”

Why are we seeing such a dramatic decline in yellow pages advertising? Simply put, response rates are declining because consumers are using the big books less frequently. Consumers are changing their methods of finding and researching local products, services and businesses. They are moving their search and research online – even if they still pick-up the phone, or walk in the door, they are finding local businesses and service providers online.

The change in consumer behavior is so dramatic that in 2007 Microsoft founder Bill Gates said, “Yellow Page usage among people below 50, will drop to near zero over the next five years”.

If you run a small to medium size business it is critical to understand how to attract customers online. The traditional, and usually dependable, methods of getting the phone to ring, or getting customers to walk through the door, are changing quickly.

Here is a quick primer on how to help consumers to find your business online. We are focusing on Google because they are the most popular search engine, but these tips are applicable to Yahoo, MSN and other search engines.

1. Consumers are using search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to search for local businesses and service providers.

2. Search results include “organic” and “sponsored” results. Natural search results are those that the search engine has deemed most relative to the words (keywords) you typed in to the search engine. Paid listings typically appear along the top of the results in a shaded box and down the right side of the page.

3. Organic search results are free to the listed companies. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a huge industry that has sprung up to help businesses and their web sites improve their position in natural search results. A top five ranking in natural search results, for competitive keywords, can save a business tens of thousands of dollars per year in sponsored ad fees.

4. Sponsored (paid) ads in search engine results are what has made Google a $20 billion a year company! Google’s Adwords work on a keyword bid system where an advertiser can bid on a keyword, or keyword phrase, that is most relevant to their product(s) or service. Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad. The amount paid is referred to Cost Per Click or CPC. Popular and competitive keywords do become very, very expensive. One of the most expensive keyword phrases is a geographic phrase – ‘Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer’ at $65.74 CPC. Currently there are 98 paid advertisers competing for that search phrase. Those willing to pay the most appear on the first page of search results – just like the most expensive ads appear at the front of a yellow pages section.

Focus On Improving Organic Search Results

As more small business advertisers move their budgets online important keywords will become more expensive. Just as it is more expensive to have a larger, front of the section yellow pages ad, it will also become more expensive to be on the first page of the paid search results. For these reason it is critically important to focus on improving your organic search results. A strong position in the organic search results can be extremely valuable and important to your business success.

As mentioned earlier, the process of preparing a web site to rank higher in organic search results is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Google has published an excellent free Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide that we recommend to all businesses.

An important, but often overlooked component of SEO is the domain name. A descriptive keyword domain name is an important and relatively inexpensive part of improving organic search results.

In their starter guide, Google refers to URL’s (the full web address of a page, including the domain name) by saying, “Use words in URL’s – URL’s with words that are relevant to your sites content and structure are friendlier for visitors navigating your site.”

A keyword rich domain name such as WashingtonLimousines.com or HoustonOrthopaedics.com, will not only improve search engine results, they are more memorable to consumers and will be a great addition to any online, print or broadcast advertising campaign.

The result will be more people finding your website and business than ever before.

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