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The New Yellow Pages Part 2

March 6th, 2010 |

Author: admin

The New Yellow Pages Part 2

The good news is that there is a new Yellow Pages the bad news is that it is thank God not one simple solution. If it were one simple solution we would all be stuck like we were with the original Yellow Pages slaves of the advertising man indentured marketing servants. No now like so many other industries the Internet has leveled the playing field for us the small and medium sized business.

There is an infinite amount of things you can do to be found locally on the Internet. Like anything else you can do it yourself or pay someone to do it. When I started doing my comparison between Merchant Circle and Local Ad Link that is an example of paying someone else although Merchant Circle is free. And just to wrap up the comparison here is a summary of my findings.

The biggest difference between the two solutions is cost. Merchant Circle is free. Both solutions use a very common model for increasing local traffic: you get a listing in their directory you can edit your own listing and they work to drive traffic to your listing and then to your website if you have one if you dont call me. That is the basic model for most of all paid and free local traffic building solutions

With the free version of MC you can do a lot of things and I mean a lot. For all intents and purposes it is a website much more than your listing at LAL. You can upload images write a newsletter create coupons create and manage a blog and a ton of more stuff all free. One of the biggest differences between MC and LAL is that MC is actually a database driven solution like a mini version of Linkedin. It will prompt you to connect with other members in your area invite other businesses to join MC etc. LAL does not have this feature.

MC has been around for about 5 years and is not without it critics. The company has its own agenda and it seems like it steps on the toes of the client from time to time but I did not find anything that was a major issue. If you do all the work you can do with MC it beats LAL hands down. If you actually pay for some of the services of MC there is no comparison to LAL.

I found LAL to be bloated overpriced and a terrible deal for the unsuspecting consumer. Heres why; the consumer doesnt know anything about local search or SEO if they do they will find their own solution for those of us in the business they are depending on our counsel and guidance. They dont know any better. The LAL solution is expensive with 40 to 50 of the money going into the salespersons pocket. Even without the huge commission it is expensive for what you get.

I am working a local search firm based in Southern California that has been doing local search for about 5 years. LAL started about 6 months ago and has been plagued with problems that run the gamut technological administrative corporate they are all well documented online take a look around and Google Local Ad Link Scam. It is also a Multilevel Marketing model which is just funky it just doesnt have to be.

So without getting too deep on baggin on LAL suffice to say thumbs up for MC thumbs down for LAL any questions please email me for more details.

The local search solution is less of an actual solution and more of a process.

Any customer can effect and enhance their own results by many simple things to start off with that dont cost anything and could garnish the same results of a paid solution.

One of the main things is to register with Google Maps or Google Local pretty much the same thing. Just Google Google Local to find out how to register your business you will need to involve your webmaster and need to have a website it is not a listing. You can do the same thing with Yahoo Local. Then just register your site with MSN. Those are the big three. Once you add your site to Google Local/Maps you will pop up in the top results on page one of Google along with 9 of your competitors. :

Two other simple things you can do yourself for free that will get you on page one of Google:

One is to just include the name of your city and your search term in the title of your website. Instead of Joes Shoes Home as your title of your site change it to New Shoes Anytown Any city.

The other is to include the name of your city a few times on your homepage in a headline in the first paragraph along with your key phrase/keywords.

My next article is going to be on some good paid solutions and what you get for your money and how they work.

Good luck getting your listing higher save your money no Local Ad Link and thumbs up for Merchant Circle.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;About Martin WalkerMartin is a Certified SEO Consultant CEO of Wilshire Publicity Inc. a leading SEO firm in Southern California and founder of the Ontario SEO Development Group.Wilshire Publicity Inc.is a hybrid company that integrates online public relations distribution techniques White Hat search engine optimization and SEO friendly website designed to serve one purpose for it’s clients: Internet PublicityMartin is also a former standup comic and musician is married and lives in Redlands with his wife and business partner Kim.