'Local Search' is a term that is gaining a new perspective among today's businesses (even though the model is over 100 years old).
 Question is, what does 'Local Search' mean?

I am going to join Greg Sterling (Greg's blog) and agree that the defenition is: "Reaching particular people in particular places — who will typically buy something or do something in a physical location."

For you and me in the 'green industry' the term 'locally' drives the bus:
    ~ Contributing locally with people
    ~ Contributing locally with products in and products out
    ~ Contributing locally with services in and services out

It's not like most of our businesses are branded multi-location businesses. Most in this industry have a local flavor.

Reaching 'particluar people' in 'particular places' means you have to meet them where they are, when they are.

The Internet is where they are - locally, and they are looking for you.

This survey drives that point home:
"A Nielsen survey in May 2008 found that among a representative group of people who had recently made consumer electronics purchases in a brick and mortar store, 80 percent bought from a store whose Web site they visited first. Further, 53 percent purchased from the retailer on whose Web site they had spent the most time." (Here is the link)




Here is a table that shows the preferred source of Information gathering

Table 1: Information Sources ranked by Preference among Consumers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preferred Information Source                   Percent of Consumers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet                                                                 58
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit to local stores                                                    25
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviews in newspapers/magazines                                           8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friends and family                                                        8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other                                                                     1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Nielsen Online

There are lots of things happening in the 'green industry' that will make your web site 'more visible'.

Best bet is to have a professional web site and engage those who are visiting it in a professional manner.

Yes, it is The Information Age, and our businesses need to serve it up with a local flavor.


Steve




  

Survey Results - What do people do on the Internet?

Survey Results - Who is using the Internet?

Should you have a web site?

Small Companies are finding a home on the web

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (Definition)

URL Configuration

URL's, or Domain Names are a significant piece of the SEO puzzle.

It is important to choose URL's that are keyword sensitive.

For example: Landscape Services - I've seen many a web site that says they provide 'Landscape Services' such as pruning, mowing, etc. The URL for this page is typically in this format:

www.yourcompany.com/landscapeservices.html

The problem: people don't search for landscapeservices (or landscape services for that matter). It would be much better to optimize the page for 'landscaping' and have the url in this format:

www.yourcompany.com/landscaping.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, I want to explain how to configure two-word URL's.
When dealing with 'landscape design', flowering plants and red flowering shrubs, configure the URL's in the following format:

www.yourcompany.com/landscape-design.html
www.yourcompany.com/flowering-plants.html
www.yourcompany.com/red-flowering-shrubs.html

By separating the words with a dash tells the search engines that individual words are represented.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Database driven sites often create dynamic URL's. These dynamic URL's lack keywords. Consider masking the dynamic URL for SEO purposes.

Here is an example of a dynamic URL:
www.yourcompany.com/results.asp?cc=KGYH&b=30&catID=11

Here is the same web page using a masked URL:
www.yourcompany.com/The-Best-Products-Money-Can-Buy.htm

Library

Recent and Relevant Reading

 Recession Marketing
"There are four crucial investments you need to make to ensure a long-lasting return on your internet marketing."

SEO Tips for Product Pages
"The SEO benefits of product pages can often be overlooked, with many just offering basic product details, photos and a brief description."

The Basics of Local Online Advertising
"With all the avenues available for reaching customers online, it's important to be able to determine what is working and what isn't."

Website Design - The In's and Out's of Using Flash for Flare
"While Flash can radically enhance the appeal of website, it does come with a couple of caveats. If you're a business looking to employ Flash to add spice to your website, there are a few things both positive and negative to be aware of that may affect you depending on what your target goals are."

Designing or Redesigning Your Web Site - Has The Time Come?
"Whether you've had your Web site for two years or ten, it might be time for a change."

Got Duplicate Content? Don't Let It Dilute Your SEO Efforts
"There's really nothing wrong with having multiple versions of a page co-exist on your website. Sure, there's some redundancy, but it won't break the Internet. However, the problem arises when the same page lives in different sections on your site AND it has different URLs. Then it's considered duplicate content by the search engines."

Sound Investments For Your Web Site
"Regardless of the purpose of your website, selling stuff, getting leads, or page views, utilizing these three methods of website improvement will pay off far beyond your investment in a specialist, in-house training, attending a seminar, or however you choose to get it done."

10-20 Media, Inc. is an Internet Publishing Company with specialized knowledge in Database Development and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). We have specialized knowledge in the green industry.

The 10-20 Media, Inc. mission is to be the authoritative aggregator of fragmented green industry data and utilize the Internet to deliver structured data to the trade and to consumers so that the industry may grow, and consumers may know, that we realize the full potential of the industry's environmentally beneficial and mentally stimulating products and services.

 

Internet Publishing Company - we publish several web sites serving the green industry

   ~ www.LawnandGardenSearch.com - a directory of Lawn and Garden consumer products and services

         ~ GardenViews - a blog network about lawn and garden topics for consumers and businesses

         ~ BrandMAX - a unique advertising that places brands in local search. Here is an example.

   ~ www.GreenIndustrySearch.com - a directory of Green Industry trade products and services

   ~ www.VirtualPlantTags.com - a searchable database of plants

 

Database Development

   ~ All of our web sites are database driven. That means that the pages are created on the fly by a computer.

   ~ Our databases are developed and published using the Microsoft platform.

Web Site Design – Our award winning web site design team has the creative knowledge to make your look good and deliver the message needed to develop relationships with customers.

 

Search Engine Marketing

   ~ We Search Engine Optimize (SEO) web sites using our graphic design department and our technical design department.

   ~ We act as a SEM agency on behalf our clients to give them visibility in the search engines. We are an authorized reseller of the Google Adwords™ program.

 

Specialized Knowledge of the Green Industry

Data Fragmentation - We have specialized knowledge in the green industry (lawn and garden). Our services aim to address a severe fragmentation issue found in the green industry. For example, each plant has a Latin name (Example; Acer rubrum 'Red Sunset'). The same plant has a common name (Example: Red Sunset Red Maple). Then the same plant has a trade name or patent name (Example: Franksred Maple). Fragmentation can be aggregated using computer databases by standardizing and structuring data.

Company Fragmentation - Companies in the green industry may have multiple profit centers under one roof. It is entirely possible that one company could do the following: Landscaping, Landscape Design, Landscape Construction, Nursery, Greenhouse, Garden Center, Lawn Maintenance and Arborist Services. Some might include paving and pool installation as part of their portfolio.

Missed Opportunities From Fragmentation - The Yellow Pages Association has 5,000+ categories that make up their Yellow Pages books. When a company advertises in the Yellow Pages, they have to select the categories that best define their company. The Lawn and Garden category (is not really a category in YPA data) is broken into 11 categories across 5,000. If you were to aggregate the 11 categories together and call them Lawn and Garden, Lawn and Garden would be the 7th most popular category with 296,000,000 (two hundred ninety six million) look-ups annually - ahead of the Automotive category. That is a huge number of eyeballs looking in just a few categories. Categories that are absent from YPA data are one's like Annuals, Perennials and Shrubs for starters. Then there's Hydroseeding, Lawn Renovation and Erosion Control too. Bottom line is the language of the industry is missing from the data structure.

10-20 Media, Inc. uses its industry knowledge to create and manage categories that truly represent the fabric of the green industry. This data is then stored in databases and blended smoothly into web sites that are user friendly and advertiser friendly.

 

Business Model

Our business model (revenue) is earned by advertising a company at the right time and the right place (when the Internet user asks for it). We do not charge a fee to those who want to use our site for information. There are no barriers to entry such as user names and passwords. Use our web sites all day long for FREE. Fees are paid by advertisers only.

We currently use a flat-fee subscription model on the trade web site and a performance-based model on the consumer web site.

 

Since 1998

We started this journey in 1998 as Green Industry Online, Inc. We then became Green Industry Yellow Pages, Inc. in 2001, and expanded into 10-20 Media, Inc. in 2007.

The changes we've made along the way (including our names) are many. However, the changes have been made with the sincere desire to provide products and services that are easy to use, affordable and effective.

 

Steve

 

 

"The Increasing awareness about the personal, community and economic benefits of choosing local, independently owned businesses FIRST."
~~~~~~~~~~~

The combination of 'Big-Box Influence' and 'Organic Influence' is creating an awareness of the importance of buying local.

I think there is a real opportunity to sell landscapes where the plants are locally grown (and I don't mean locally distributed).

I have sat through a number of consumer focus groups that say they are willing to pay a higher price if their 'purchase power' positively influences the local economy and the environment.

The day is coming when the consumer will ask for (or we graciously offer) a 'Carbon Footprint' value on the products supplied.

We as an industry need to be able to provide the answer, as well as the 'Oxygen Footprint'value as an antidote.

Steve

I had a fascinating 2 weeks in December as I traveled to Los Angeles for the Kelsey ILM:07 Conference and then to Chicago for the Search Engine Strategies Conference.

Without question, there is a growing movement of the SMB (Small-Medium Business) to the Internet. At ILM:07 one of the speakers (CitySearch) noted that they are finding that marketplaces with advertisers that traditionally spend little on advertising, are finding that Internet Advertising is an effective channel for them.

Well H-E-L-L-O.

For the first time ever, there is an affordable vehicle for getting your advertising message out to the "local masses". Every form of traditional media is invasive - it interrupts your mission. Watching TV ? - Interrupted by advertising. Reading a magazine ? - Interrupted by an ad.

Internet Search is totally different. So I go online and search for something to address my (immediate) need, and behold, there are potentially advertisers on the page that can address my need (at least that is how it should work).

Enter niche content, or vertical publishing or however you want to say it. Bottom line is that now there are web sites out there that address a theme, hobby, interest, business etc.

While the big search engines fragment into their "universal search" experience, the niche players refine - creating silo's of information that meets the very need of its users. Cool.

There is an unprecedented opportunity here for brands and local companies of all shapes and sizes (and budgets) to be heard.

What are you waiting for?

 

Steve

 

As I reflect on 2007, I can’t help but notice a sound - a sound that is growing louder by the day.

 

The sound is the beating drum of environmental awareness. In the last week I have heard of plans at the University of Maryland to engage ‘sustainability’: turning the campus into an arboretum, working on the rooftops with plants, recycling etc.

 

Also, our allies at Maryland Cooperative Extension are proposing a Green Building at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman wrote a $250,000.00 dollar check to kick off Howard County’s support of this Green Building.

 

When completed, Stanton Gill and his team will have the “real deal” of an environmentally constructed facility. Here are some of the features (terms): a breeze funnel, rain collection, living roof, daylighting, earth sheltering, reflective paving, greenhouse, solar chimneys, bio-filtration, earth tubes, silo wind generator, wind blocks.

 

It is time for us, the green industry, the stewards of the environment, to join the beating drum with our instruments and make some music!

 

It is in this spirit that I offer a thought for your consideration: The excessive consumption of fossil fuels, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and its negative effect on the environment has all been boiled down to one phrase: Carbon Footprint.

I know you’ve heard it before. It is a “kitchen table” term.

 

Our green industry has an opportunity to be a lead instrument in the environmental ensemble. In my opinion, we need a simple message. The consumer is not going to understand what a “green building” is, and certainly isn’t going to understand the “terms” listed above. I don’t understand the terms above, but I know they’re a good thing.

 

How do we say: plants, purification of water and air, water usage efficiency, energy efficiency, recycled waste, efficient use of natural resources?

What phrase makes it simple and a kitchen table term?

 

I submit for your consideration: Oxygen Footprint.

 

Oxygen Footprint is the antidote to Carbon Footprint. Might we develop an Oxygen Footprint calculator? Architects currently do an energy consumption calculation on buildings. Ideally, an Oxygen Footprint calculation on a building should offset the Carbon Footprint, and the excess sustains life. The thought of consumers being aware of the Oxygen Footprint of their properties would be a good thing.

 

In an effort to spark discussion, I built a web site: http://www.oxygenfootprint.org/ - my desire is that our green industry takes ownership of this idea and leads it to an encore performance at the kitchen table.

 

May God bless you, your family, and our green industry.

 

Steve

Have you looked for yourself lately. You may be lost.

You may be lost in the search engine world, while others are being found in your place.

Go to a major search engine and do a search for one of your high margin products or services and see if you show up. Add a geographic qualifier if / when necessary and see if it helps.

The more keywords you add to a search string the higher the odds are that you should show up.

If you don't show up, you're lost. Lost in on the web. To get out, or to be found, you need a plan, or a map of keywords and pages that are 100% relevant to what you are searching for, and the pages will have to be Search Engine Optimized.

First things first, make a list of words you want to be found for, then do some searching on the web for them. Take note of who is being found first for the query, and take a look at the pages to see "why" they are showing up first. Can you do the same. Can you beat them with some good creative?

Time to start learning how to do this now, as it takes a few months to get results.

Steve

I find it hard to understand the thinking of businesses these days when it comes to their web sites.

I have had this discussion with many a landscaper in a popular message board about it. These business owners are doing their best each and every day to portray a professional image, but when it comes to building a web site, they turn it over to their nephew in high school.

Imagine being a landscape design firm, and having a poorly designed web site. Happens all the time.

There is new data out today that has some real numbers on the influence of web sites on consumers. My friend Peter Krasilovsky summerized the Neilson Net Ratings study for WebVisible in his blog titled "Local Onliner".

Here is the part that stood out to me about web sites:

Website quality also played a significant factor in attracting local commerce. Eighty-five percent of respondents agreed that the quality of a business owner’s website is an important factor in earning the consumer’s trust. Over 75 percent of respondents said they were more likely to make a purchase from “an unfamiliar business with a quality website,” than “a poor website from a known business.”

We recently built a site that took the client from amateur to professional. It is pretty sharp.

If you have not hired a professional to build your web site, you need to do it, starting now, because your customers are making the "first impression" decision about you based on the quality of your web site.

Steve

Brian Wool wrote an interesting article today at ClickZ.

It is titled: Is One Good Web Site Enough for a Local Business?

The thinking behind it is that there are many opportunites to list your business in different directories, and many have profile pages that showcase your business.

As a business person, you should make the profile page as robust as you can make them.

Here is a snippet from his article:

"I don't think these profile pages are meant to -- or can -- replace a well-built Web site. But for some business categories, where in-depth product details, services, or inventory are necessary, profile pages can help drive traffic."

Click here for the full article.

 

Steve

The Purchase Funnel

Above is the classic Purchase Funnel diagram that marketers have been using for years. It has been a tried and true model of the decision making process of the buying consumer.

Not any more.

The "old" purchase funnel diagram does not take into account the influence of the Internet.

The change to the model is happening in the middle tiers of Opinion and Consideration.

Search and the social aspects of the web are making the the center of the funnel bulge. Time to re-stack the funnel or maybe even throw it away, because when using search, the user gets to the tier that says "One make/One model intention" and the funnel comes apart.

Why?

Because brand search is category driven. (I'll address this in tomorrows blog)

What happens now is that when someone searches on the web, their consideration set goes from one to many, as many brands are introduced on the web search. So the funnel gets MUCH wider in the middle.

 

Maybe we need to start calling it something different:

The Purchase Droplet

 

See you tomorrow.

Steve