Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Local search continues to be a hot topic that is being discussed by many in the search industry.  The major search engines as Google, Yahoo and ASK all continue to improve their local search offering.  Look for big things to happen with local search from Google Local, Yahoo Local and other local search services in 2008.

As I begin writing about local search here at Global Thoughtz, I thought I would begin at the beginning.

I spent a few minutes looking over the notes and articles I have collected over the year and am amazing how things have changed so much. Some sites/services have appeared while others have faded away. The overall message I take away from things, is that local search as a marketing technique is here to stay and will continue to grow rapidaly over the next few years.

One of the best definitions of local search came from Greg Sterling “Local search is a process where users seek information online, the ultimate intention of which is an offline transaction at a service or business level.”

Because of this, small businesses need to step up to the plate and begin to embrace local search marketing. So many small businesses are “afraid” or “unsure” of online marketing, they shouldn’t, but I do understand there can be alot of confusion about Internet marketing in general. I am hoping via this blog and others, information on local search will get out there and clear up some of the confusion.

Manoj posted a huge list of sites and search engines to review for those looking for local search information or help.

I wanted to add to that list:

Promote Your Business Locally by Stacey Williams
Brian Wool’s column on local search at Clickz
Local Only Column at Search Engine Land
Locally Type by Frank Fuchs
Local Point -from Marchex

How Much Is ‘Local Search’ Really Worth? nice article on financial forecasts