Did you know that there are over 500,000,000 unique local searches performed on Google each month?
That’s HALF A BILLION searches every month!
And here’s another fact about local marketing…
The Yellow Pages suck! Its on its last leg as a viable marketing tool.
This is for 2 main reasons:
- Its expensive…it costs upwards of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars a year. That means it takes a lot of sales to cover your investment.
- Its outdated and irrelevant. I know I throw mine away instantly now…right in the green recycle bin in my garage. Most people under 35 do the exact same thing too. Now, I’m sure some people still use it from time to time, but that number is shrinking fast.
So…now you know that Google local search is exploding and that the Yellow Pages is becoming irrelevant.
Google Local must be really expensive then right? I mean if you were able to steal HALF A BILLION eyeballs each and every month from the Yellow Pages, you would charge a pretty penny, right?
I would too…
But Google doesn’t charge a penny.
Nothing at all. Totally free.
And you will at the VERY top of the search results..above the organic listings.
I made this short video to not only show you how to get listed, but also how to optimize your listing so you can appear at the top of the local search results.
Check out the video and leave me your comments!
I know the video is a little hard to see…but you can get the concepts. 
Author Info: Brian Horn, of HornDog Search Marketing, is recognized by many as the "Glazer-Kennedy Secret Weapon", because of his role in helping not only Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer with search engine optimization and social media, but also many of the top Information Marketers in the world.
Brian shares SEO tips for small businesses over at at his blog, BeOnPage1Blog.com. 
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Thanks for the video. Just got back from google.com/local/add where we added our business…now just waiting for the postcard from Google with the verify information so I hope to be showing up soon. As we only provide service within a 50 mile radius we hope that this will help us gain additional customers.
yellow pages has started doing pay per call programs just to get their last few customers to re ante.
Google has become our number 1 income generator in 2010.
Hey Brian
Watching your great and informative video. Please send me an invite for a free google voice account
Thanks
Joel Helfer
Yellow pages are the dinosaur that refused to die…There are easier ways to attract new & repeat clients. Once you understand the power of dominating your keywords and phrases – And getting a high ranking on google. SEO will Dollar for dollar always win over print ads and do it quicker.
Interesting points… I just had a meeting with my ATT reps the other day. ATT is actually no longer going to publish a physical phone book. It took all of my restraint not to shout “Hallelujah!”.
Very good video about ranking in google. SEO (search engine optimization) can be very confusing but there is some really good information out there on how to do it. A lot of it has to do with finding keywords that aren’t that competitive but could still make you money. Thanks for the great video!
Google maps and the right natural/organic search engine optimization is key if done right. Even if you don’t have a website or in limbo on a site, you can still gain exposure on organics for your contact number or email under any keywords you choose if done right.
So while your competitiors are bruning up pay per clicks you achieve unlimited clicks for free. That can be a huge competitive advantage.
Love my iPad but can’t watch the video….no flash player available. I want to be the top search for Ellensburg restaurant, any ideas? Ok and while I’m working on it top in catering would be great also
wow, Jim, you have a lot of competition. You came up on page 2 for the search I did. Outside of renaming your restaurant to The Ellensburg Restaurant, you may consider zip code searches and placing a list of all the suburbs you serve and all the zip codes your customers come from. as seen at the bottom of the page at http://www.grandrapidsgolflesson.com Also, use city names next to customer names when posting testimonials. write some articles with Ellensburg restuarant key words.
Hey Jim-one of the ways I get myself and clients to the top fast is through press releases, blogs, articles, and videos. By using the right google friendly outlets in a 3rd party writing style way , you can tell people what to look for in a good place to eat and by the way check out this ellensburg restaurant called x for all of those good things.
If done right it will work phenomenal.
Thanks Eric i’m going to start blogging and add some video today.
Thanks Brian for a very informative video. I’ll incorporate these suggestions to hopefully show up in the top local 7. I have a tough time trying to get good back-links that are relevant to my industry. Seems for the most part other sites won’t deal with you unless are at least a PR of 3 or greater.