Local search is booming, period.A few years ago we didn’t really go to the web to find brick and mortar businesses, but WE DO NOW. With searches like “restaurant Nix Boatyard in St. Augustine” actually delivers in the first spot, my favorite restaurant in St. Augustine Florida - The Creekside Dinery, but sometimes the name just escapes me.

I know that it has happened to you, too. Is there a time that you just couldn’t remember the business name, or perhaps you didn’t know the business name, but you are searching for a business type in a very specific area of your town? Guess what? Your potential customers ARE doing the same thing, too.

Let’s take that one step further, Jacksonville Florida is a large city, in fact the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States. We don’t have tiny towns one next to another like in many other parts of the U.S. We really don’t even have “suburbs” as much anymore. Verbally it is often referred to as the Metro Jacksonville Area or the First Coast made up of 5 counties. Well if you haven’t visited us before our First Coast is nearly 70 miles from the North to the South and 50 miles from the East to the West. Bottom line — it’s HUGE.

For special occasions I will make the 47 mile trek to St. Augustine to enjoy an Oak Plank Oven Grilled Steak at The Creekside Dinery in St. Augustine, but that is not my usual place to eat - and I bet your customers are the same way.

Years ago I served time (read: held a job) in the marketing department for a commercial real estate firm and learned some pretty interesting facts. Most traditional retail business measure the demographics in 1, 3, and 5 mile radius loops around their location. Small retailers (including restaurants) will draw the majority of their customers from people who work and live within that range. Big box retailers and national restaurant franchises draw from a larger area, however a concentration of their business is still very likely within a 10 mile radius. That’s probably no surprise to you - but did you tell your web designer?

When you are laying out your website, do you include neighborhoods, towns, nearby places to be included? If not you may be missing the boat. If you have a mobile business, is your service area limited to a section of town? Include that on your website.

Help your customers find you when they are looking by including “clues.” The search “italian restaurant jacksonville, fl” turns very different results than “italian restaurant san marco jacksonville, fl” even on the Google map. In the past I have discussed the idea that you can include a ZIP code in the Google search and get VERY TARGETED results.

Some creative ways to include neighborhood information:

On your Find Us page include directions from nearby areas where you may attract business. In Jacksonville it may be:

• From Jacksonville Beach …
• From Atlantic Beach …
• From Arlington …
• From Orange Park..

Or how about including a nearby thoroughfare or large neighborhood?

• Conveniently located near Queens Harbor Country Club just off Beach Blvd

What about the nearby towns - this is especially great when you have many small townships close together

• Proudly serving our customers in Green Cove Springs, Penny Farms and Middleburg for more than 20 years.

And this isn’t just for RESTAURANTS, either. It can work for the Hardware Store, the Florist or any other kind of brick and mortar business that attracts customers to their location. And even mobile businesses that work a specific area:

• Our mobile detailers serve Downtown Jacksonville, The Southbank and San Marco

Even for me, in SEO consulting, I am not actually limited to a geographic area, but certainly clients really like that I am nearby and I will be working harder to let folks know that I am available in the small towns around Jacksonville, too. If you search Google for SEO Orange Park (which is the next closest town) we show up in the Google Local Results - not because our office is in Orange Park (yet) but because no other SEO companies are in the Google Local listings with addresses in Orange Park.

Google Local results are really local — unless you are geographically close to me, the results you see typing in SEO Orange Park are not the same results I see - not on the Google Map and not on the Organic SERPS and not in the Pay Per Click. Yes, even Pay Per Click can be localized. (More on that later).

If you do not have enough customers beating down the door to your local business (and are there really ever enough?) you really should think about how you can leverage the Google Local and Google Map to draw more traffic in. And oh, by the way, Yahoo and MSN have local search now, too. So don’t forget them as part of your efforts.

I purchased this online quick training on how to get your business on the Google Map in 4 hours. The information is solid, the presentation could be laid out better, and I will be updating my next client listings  based on several tips in the training.

How do you know if you need a “Local” presence for your website, here is a really simple test.

• Are the products and services you provide useful or usable for customers in your area?
• Do you have a cash register / service log to ring up walk-in transactions?
• Do you deliver, install, or provide mobile service customers in your area?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions. You may want to seriously consider making your website more “Local”

What companies may not benefit from “Local” … Companies that don’t offer any walk in services and never have direct in-person contact with clients may not need Local. For instance Amazon.com - they serve an international office and don’t need local visitors.

What about B2B? Well you probably do still need to think about local. While you are selling to a Business, it is still a person that is researching to find the products and services you offer.

The old saying seems most appropriate now … Think Globally - Act Locally.