Google or the Yellow Pages? Which one should I use in 2011?

Let’s assume you have a limited marketing budget like most small businesses, and let’s go one step further to assume that these crazy high gas prices have had an effect on your company’s bottom line. You are left with a choice–should I continue paying several hundred dollars or in some cases even thousands of dollars for that yellow pages ad or should I turn to newer online marketing sources to generate leads for my company?
In some regards, that is a million dollar question. As an online marketing firm, you might expect us to blindly promote our services but that simply isn’t the case. Just the other day we turned down a client because we told them they would be better off continuing to marketing using their current means than to do SEO–it just didn’t make sense in their niche.
Google or Yellow Pages However for the vast majority of companies, it makes more sense now than ever to drop the conventional yellow pages ad and turn to online marketing. In a recent survey, 92% of people admitted to using Google over the Yellow Pages. Of those people, 46% admitted to clicking one of the top listings and buying their product or service. 30% said they never, ever go past the first 5 listings on search results, and out of those surveyed, not a single one of them went past the first page of search results.
So what does this mean? Well, it tells us that people trust and utilize companies that show up on the top of search results–in the “money” spots if you will. But that isn’t much of a surprise to us, we’ve known that for years. What is surprising is the number of people turning to search engines over the yellow pages– this number has never been this high before and we expect it to continue to rise as time goes on.
So just what does this mean for your company and your marketing decisions? If you have the budget, at least start to work SEO into your marketing plan. We offer affordable SEO plans starting at just $297 per month– less than virtually any other company out there offering comparable services. We can show you exactly how powerful SEO can be for your company’s website, and you’ll be wondering why you are still throwing money out the window paying for that yellow pages ad that no one looks at anymore.
To learn whether SEO is a good choice for your small business, simply submit the request form for a free SEO analysis and consultation directly to the right or call one of our specialists at 888-918-1665. We’re ready to help bring your business into 2011 and utilize marketing strategies that work in today’s online world and will continue to work into the future.