Look how old this is! I post at SearchCommander.com now, and this post was published 19 years 4 months 10 days ago. This industry changes FAST, so blindly following the advice here *may not* be a good idea! If you're at all unsure, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and ask.
It still seems to be a relatively low percentage of businesses that are really maximizing the internet as an advertising medium. I think many businesses are losing sales every minute of every day.
You’d be surprised how often the company with the largest ad in the Yellow Pages is barely visible in the search engines. Smaller, locally owned businesses are dominating the search results and even the “sponsored listings” on the local search result pages.
For example, if I search Google for “tires portland” or “tires portland oregon” I don’t come up with either Les Schwab or Goodyear (Two large chains).
The same holds true fora search for “portland mattress” or “portland mattress sale”. Where are Northwest regional giants Mattress World and Sleep Country?
When I Google for “auto repair” or “oil change portland”, Midas, Firestone, Oil Can Henrys are all conspicuously missing.
Many of these same businesses spending tens of thousands of dollars a month on TV and radio, not to mention the Yellow pages, and they appear to be ignoring the internet.
Why is that? I suspect it’s because some don’t fully realize that the internet is fast replacing other forms of advertising, and their smarter competitors are just eating them alive obtaining new business.
In 2006, more than 45% of the US Citizens has BROADBAND high speed internet access, and they use the internet to search for everything they want. Although I can’t cite any statistics, I’ll bet more people reach for their mouse instead of for the Yellow Pages. And millions of people now fast forward their way past commercials, and subscribe to commercial free sattelite radio.
I help businesses of all sizes market themselves through the search engines. Whether you need to improve your rankings in the “organic search results” or you want to obtain new business through “Pay per click advertising”, I can help you get maximum exposure for your marketing dollars.
