Find The Best Local

Local Advertising

Promoting your business is challenging and sometimes frustrating. The cost of advertising can be substantial. There are many web sites that you can advertise on or at least list your business.

Your options include:

Portals - Sites such as AOL, MSN, Comcast, etc. People often start with these portals as their home pages. They have a search feature as well as today's news and weather.
Search Engines - Sites such as Google, Alta Vista, and Yahoo. Most people search for what they need initially with these sites.
Directories - Some search engines are actually directories and vice versa. Search engines use programs to go out to the world wide web to fill their databases. Directories are created by people submitting their sites into predetermined categories.
Niche Directories - There are large national directories such as Google and Yahoo. There are also many directories that specialize in a certain hobby, special interest, or product. There are directories focussed on parents, children, homeowners, car enthusiasts, etc.
Local Directories - These are smaller directories that focus on a specific state or region.
Phone Book Directories - Sites such as yellowbook.com or superpages.com fall into this category. The phone companies simply put their database of names and addresses out on the net.
Magazines - Many large and small magazines have developed a significant online presence.
Newspapers - Both large city and smaller town newspapers have developed web sites.

What if you do not have a web site? You can still list your business address and phone number on the various directories. You really would not be able to list your business on the search engines or portals.

Which ones should you list on? If you find sites that you can be listed on for free, then I would go ahead and get your business listed. Just be wary if you need to provide personal information. Of course listing your phone number on the internet means you will get tele marketing calls. Listing your email address might lead to spam. Definitely do not provide personal information or a credit card number unless it is a business that you recognize.

Also be critical of the site. Look for a business in your area that provides the same service as you. How easy was it to find the information? Did you get errors or incorrect listings? If you found the site difficult to use, then your potential customers would also get lost.

The best online choice is similar to the best off line choice. If you can ship your product nationally, but it has a target audience, then advertising in a magazine might be your best choice. If you provide a service, you might be better off advertising in local newspaper sites and local directories.

What does it cost? Many directories allow you to list your business for free. Some require you to add a link to their web site from your web site. This is a challenge if you do not have an active site. Advertising costs range from $10 to $200 per month. I would provide a table of these prices but the prices change too quickly and many of the sites were difficult to interpret.

If you do have a web site, definitely submit your site to yahoo, msn, google, altavista, and dmoz.org. On some of these directories/ search engines you will see your site show up right away. On others (i.e. google) you might not see your self ranked for several months.

One way to research your options would be to walk ( or rather surf ) in the customer's shoes. Go to a few different search engines. Type in your type of business and location, e.g. "Roofer Saugus" and see what you get. Try this on AltaVista, Yahoo, and Google. You may find several directories related to your business. Then investigate them with respect to ease of use and navigation. See if they offer a free business listing and how much they charge for advertising.

And of course, we have the best deal in our area. So check out Find The Best Local. If you wish to advertise send us an email at findthebestlocal@comcast.net

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Local Advertising