The Internet is a global platform.
While search engines do take your history into account when listing results, it's still possible for company and service provider listings from all over the world to come up as well.
This can mean that a high percentage of search results are irrelevant for the user.
Moreover, local businesses aren't being easily found by the people who need them the most, which is a lost commercial opportunity for them.
What is the solution to this problem for both the business and the individual searcher? Internet based companies like ReachLocal have been built to help solve some of these problems.
They connect advertisers, publishers, and creative solutions providers together on one platform.
They have developed a technology which selects media, then tracks, optimises and reports results for local advertising campaigns.
Moreover, they have a team of trained consultants provide guidance for local advertisers and provide support for solutions providers and publishers.
Essentially they make sense of the internet for searchers and businesses alike.
Our globalised marketplace has connected our world in a way no one could have predicted.
Not only can international trade take place easily, and foreign workers be employed by overseas companies without having to leave their home country, but as a people, the human race has the opportunity to learn about each other's cultures, source the greatest resources and make considered business decisions, in a (hopefully) politically and environmentally responsible way.
While this is all very positive there is something backward about a London-based business serving clients all over the world but not knowing their own neighbours.
After years of building a globalised marketplace, we're now back-peddling and investing time and energy into ideas such as the hundred-mile-diet, and local community building for businesses.
Offline, a business might be interested in setting up informative free workshops for local businesses; they might throw a street party or get involved in local charities.
Online they might join or build a forum for their industry, where customers' questions could be answered and useful resources could be provided.
They could also improve their local search engine results.
Local search results can be improved by, making sure that your website is crawler friendly; including your business address twice on the page; soliciting local links; verifying directory information- adding your site to local online directories; or creating separate web pages for different cities or regions.
Using social media platforms as a way to get to know people in your community, launch competitions, and add value is another effective way to use the internet channels available as well as improve search results.
There are a number of ways to use the internet to your advantage.
Before you launch a website, consider who you want to target and how you can leverage the relationship you're trying to build with them.
While search engines do take your history into account when listing results, it's still possible for company and service provider listings from all over the world to come up as well.
This can mean that a high percentage of search results are irrelevant for the user.
Moreover, local businesses aren't being easily found by the people who need them the most, which is a lost commercial opportunity for them.
What is the solution to this problem for both the business and the individual searcher? Internet based companies like ReachLocal have been built to help solve some of these problems.
They connect advertisers, publishers, and creative solutions providers together on one platform.
They have developed a technology which selects media, then tracks, optimises and reports results for local advertising campaigns.
Moreover, they have a team of trained consultants provide guidance for local advertisers and provide support for solutions providers and publishers.
Essentially they make sense of the internet for searchers and businesses alike.
Our globalised marketplace has connected our world in a way no one could have predicted.
Not only can international trade take place easily, and foreign workers be employed by overseas companies without having to leave their home country, but as a people, the human race has the opportunity to learn about each other's cultures, source the greatest resources and make considered business decisions, in a (hopefully) politically and environmentally responsible way.
While this is all very positive there is something backward about a London-based business serving clients all over the world but not knowing their own neighbours.
After years of building a globalised marketplace, we're now back-peddling and investing time and energy into ideas such as the hundred-mile-diet, and local community building for businesses.
Offline, a business might be interested in setting up informative free workshops for local businesses; they might throw a street party or get involved in local charities.
Online they might join or build a forum for their industry, where customers' questions could be answered and useful resources could be provided.
They could also improve their local search engine results.
Local search results can be improved by, making sure that your website is crawler friendly; including your business address twice on the page; soliciting local links; verifying directory information- adding your site to local online directories; or creating separate web pages for different cities or regions.
Using social media platforms as a way to get to know people in your community, launch competitions, and add value is another effective way to use the internet channels available as well as improve search results.
There are a number of ways to use the internet to your advantage.
Before you launch a website, consider who you want to target and how you can leverage the relationship you're trying to build with them.