Local businesses take note! A BIA/Kelsey report states that around 17 percent of all Internet searches are "local in nature" and consist of consumers who are ready to make a purchase or are looking for local businesses. Some projections have that number growing as high as 20 percent by the year 2015.
Looking to capitalize on this growing section of Internet consumers and help aid local businesses in reaching out to them, Local.com has officially announced Exact Match, a series of local business solutions for small and medium-sized businesses using the 'Net.
Exact Match solutions are designed to aid local businesses move past their traditional business profiles by expanding their presence online, which will enable them to target and reach ready-to-buy consumers looking for local businesses, products or services on the Web.
"Industry estimates put businesses in America spending approximately $136 billion annually on local or regionally targeted advertising," says Local.com Vice President of Product Development Mark Wallin. "Exact Match gives local businesses the ability to boost their online presence, build their brand locally and drive new customers to their stores by utilizing the power of our suite of local online advertising products."
The Exact Match solutions consist of four main products:
- Local: This product is built to help local businesses connect organically with consumers using opitmized keywords and a geo-targeted website. It also provides content creation for their specific local markets. Local.com guarentees prominent, first-page rankings on a major search engine, such as Google, Yahoo! or Bing.
- Mobile: Exact Match Mobile gives Local.com customers a mobile version of their Exact Match Local website that features driving directions, one-click contact information, social sharing features, QR code capabilities and much more.
- Social: Local.com sees the potential in the growing field of social media, and chooses to meet it head-on with Exact Match Social. This product gives businesses a presence on Facebook and Twitter that links users directly to their Exact Match Local and Mobile sites so that customers can find local businesses with social media.
- Display: The final product in the Exact Match line was established to help increase brand awareness through display advertising on Local.com's flagship property, which reaches almost 17 million consumers every month who are searching for local products and services. Local.com provides local businesses with premium, above-the-fold, category and geo-targeted placement that helps them reach out to consumers who really want to buy stuff.
"We continue to use our experience in the local market to develop valuable ad products for local businesses in order to help them reach ready-to-buy consumers when they are making spending decisions within a targeted category and geographic area," says Wallin.