Local Business Internet Marketing – The Coming Storm

Web Market Authority – Search Engine Marketing

One day in the not too distant future, stacks of Yellow Pages will be displayed at museums showcasing what advertising used to be like for local businesses.

Print advertising may or may not be dying (depending on which side of the fence you are on) yet we all see the Yellow Page Reps and Local Print publications offering “Search Engine Marketing” as a value add to their print products.

Unfortunately, the methods being used by the print publications when delivering Search Engine Marketing are outdated at best and most likely don’t work in terms of real Search Engine results. A bold statement for sure, maybe even one that will upset a few. Letting the results speak for themselves is always the best test of success.

I think it was once said “he who sells everything to everyone, sells nothing to no one” – and it’s the same with print publications offering Search Engine Marketing services – attempting to offer the one product that is killing their print business; the internet, and all the while offering “everything to everyone” which is becoming a recipe for disaster not only to the print publication but to the local business expecting search engine results and getting none.

As a Search Engine Marketing “insider” I have been toiling at the Search Engine Marketing game for 16 years and I can guarantee you I’ve tried everything; failed thousands of times, and along the way found the 20% that produces 80% of the results.

As an owner of over 170 active websites, and 583 test sites I know exactly what it takes to rank a local business at the top of Google, leaving the competition wondering what happened.

However, I won’t lie to you – the local market is wide open and search engine rankings are as easy for me to achieve as blinking and breathing. I’ve taken my bruises attempting to rank for nationwide and even worldwide keywords, yet locally almost no local business is making any efforts to own their local market online.

That’s great news for my Search Engine Marketing company and horrible news for every local business not doing something to shore up their online market share.

In any given local market, it takes me typically 30 days to rank #1, and 90 days at the outer limits. Knowing that, every local business can estimate that in any given 90 day period they could go from a #1 ranking to #2 or worse yet, #4 and below. Only the top three rankings get any discernable traffic; #4 might as well be #400.

Worse yet, knowing that the top “3” are the only rankings that get any traffic, I simply take ranking 1, 2, and 3 and then I own the market. Even if it takes me 6 months to do so it’s worth it – and when I own a local market in 6 months it can be devastating to your business…OR it can be liberating to know you are the local business with total market ownership – depending on who you believed and hired to do your search engine marketing; someone like me who is obsessed with it or a Yellow Page/Print Ad Salesman who dabbles in it at best.

I can confidently make those bold statements simply because if I were to map out the search engine marketing process and show you what actually has to be done to achieve a top search engine ranking, your eyes would gloss over and you’d leave the room screaming. It’s complex, multi faceted, counter intuitive and everything changes on a monthly basis.

It reminds me of the saying “evolve or die” and yet that is so true in business, especially now that the internet is here to stay.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting print is dead – but it’s just not as exciting and shiny as the internet. And in defense of print advertising, if everyone attempts the “me too” type of advertising on the internet that they’ve done for years in the Yellow Pages, the internet will be a failure for them also.

Claude Hopkins wrote “Scientific Advertising” in 1923; that was 87 years ago and it’s still valid to this day – especially while advertising on the internet (I’m glad to provide free copies for anyone interested) and for any local business owner this is a must read.

Ranking #1 for your local market is easy (for me) however what that ranking says, how you position your business and what your website does when a visitor gets there is even more important.

My advice…

When someone offers you a top ranking in Google as an “added bonus” to doing some other form of advertising with them – RUN! And don’t look back. Search engine marketing is entirely too complex to dabble in, and much too “underground” for most to enter without many years of hard knocks behind them.

Here’s my warning…

Did you know that I can steal your potential internet customers’ right out from under you and there’s nothing you can do about it?

Are you a “Dentist in Dallas”? A Chiropractor in Toledo? An “Eye Doctor in Bethesda”?, maybe you do “Bathroom Remodeling in Maryland”…and on and on. I own hundreds of markets just like those and I build out more every month. In my mind, this is war and the competition brought sticks. As I drive up in my tank – I end up wondering where everyone went.

That’s certainly not a threat – but rather a wake-up call.

Why pay-per-click when you can own the “organic” listings outright?

Which would you rather do, ignore this and hope I’m wrong or thank your lucky stars that you found me before your competitors did?

There’s a storm coming – and it’s called “Local Internet Marketing” and it’s backed by Google themselves. They are practically begging local businesses to begin marketing online properly so they can continue to deliver the best search results available.

Will you run for cover and cower in the corner? Maybe blow off local internet marketing thinking it’s another fad? Or will you board up the windows, tie down loose items and stock up on bottled water – ready for whatever the internet marketing storm delivers?

As a local search engine marketing specialist, I enter over a dozen markets each and every month and I won’t be stopping any time soon. I either have already entered your market, am thinking about it, or soon will once your competitors call me. If you’re ready to board up the windows and prepare for the internet marketing storm – call me and I’ll bring the hammer and nails to protect you against the worst part – which is competitors stealing your best customers online right out from under you.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll own your market – I’ll bring my tank and we’ll battle it out together. If your competitors end up hating you, don’t blame me I’m just the tank driver.

Warmest Regards

Terry Lamb

Owner: Web Market Authority