Unsolicited Comments Show The Value of SEO To Local SW Florida Business

Search engine optimization (SEO) is more important to local businesses than ever before! I’ve seen the statistics, I’ve seen the results, I talk about it all the time … but, today the message was driven home to me on a personal level like never before. I was out running some errands earlier today and had the good fortune to run into a group of about a dozen former coworkers, we were all thrilled to see each other as it has been nearly a year since all of us were together and had an opportunity to talk. I was asked what I’m doing for a living now and I told them I was doing search engine optimization … they all looked at me like I had 2 heads! I don’t think any of them knew what that was, which surprised me a bit, they are all well educated, computer literate professionals who earn a more than average salary and spend a considerable amount of time on their computers at work and at home! I jumped right in and started explaining that if a business has a web site that shows up in a Google search on the 3rd, 10th, or 30th page of the Google search results, I can move their website up in the rankings … usually right to page 1. I went on to explain that this was critical for businesses now because over the past 10 years when a customer is looking to make a purchase, of most any kind, the likelihood has steadily been on the rise that they will search the internet for that information as opposed to turning to the yellow pages …

Up to this point I had been noticing their eyes glazing over in response to my canned “Value of SEO” speech, but, when I mentioned the yellow pages they sat up straight in their chairs, life came back into their eyes, as all of a sudden they got it! They became quite animated and comments were coming from all around the table …

• “I haven’t used my phone book in 2 years”
• “I haven’t used mine in 4 years”
• “I don’t think I even have a phone book”
• “I threw mine out 4 months ago because I never used it”
• “I use mine … but only to find Government listings”

Out of a dozen young professionals not a single one had used a phone book to find a place to spend their money in years!  It was an eye opening experience for me … as I say, I’ve read the reports, seen the statistics, but, this brought it home to me on a personal level, these were people I know well … and have known for years, when they say it I know it’s true!  Of course a dozen people make an awfully small random sample but even at that the message seems clear enough to me, the yellow pages are fading fast and SEO is poised to be a major determining factor in which local businesses are going to be most successful.

Contact Rick Thomas
Social Media Marketing|SEO Consultant
239 896-7020

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