By |Published On: June 1, 2012|

It’s no secret that people turn to the Internet to search for information. In fact, there are more than three billion searches conducted on Google each day. Online local search has become so ingrained in our culture that the company name has become a verb: “Just google it,” we say.


What most small business owners don’t realize is that 20 percent of those 3.4 billion searches are local searches … someone looking for a specific type of business within a given geographical area.

Local Search vs. General Search

Let’s suppose you were thinking about buying a treadmill. You might start out doing some research by typing something like “best treadmills” in the Google search box. Or you might search for “NordicTrack T57 reviews” to find out more about that particular make and model. That’s a general search.

But when you’re ready to buy, you’ll most likely search for a sporting goods store like so: “sporting goods columbus oh” or “sporting goods 43201” That’s a local search.

And you wouldn’t be alone in doing so—59 percent of consumers use Google every month to find a local business.

As I said before, 20 percent of all searches are local searches. That’s 680 million local queries on Google each day, more than 20 billion a month!

What’s more, local search is growing faster than overall search. Local search grew by 58 percent in 2008—and has continued to grow every year since.

Marketing has changed. Are you changing with it?

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