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In the past 90 days since December 2009 a lot has happened in Local Search on Google.

The local search which shows ten results has now been shrunk to top 7,

A thru J became A thru G.

We are seeing company phone numbers disappearing from the top 7 Local Search results

Top Google Map listings are now ‘paid’ listings in some local markets.

Android 2.0 has made its debut, and it’s making a big impact on "Local Search" !

We have every reason to believe these changes are only the beginning. If you are doing some online marketing (or relying on your web presence as a source) for your business, these changes will impact you. You need to know how to deal with it because there IS a science to it but alas, many marketers or companies aren’t even aware of these changes and happily (or unknowingly) rely on traditional SEO that they did a while ago one time.

I’ve demonstrated this at a seminar that I gave recently at Association of Small Business Enterprise (ASME) of Singapore and one company did it with great results in 48 hours.

Couple this with the fact that Local Search is primed to eclipse the importance of Yellow Pages (if it hasn’t already for many businesses).

EVERY business with a phone number already knows the marketing importance of Yellow Pages, historically speaking, and  it’s easy to conclude these very same businesses are awakening to a monstrous PROBLEM… They are fast realizing that a good listing on Google Maps and Local Search is becoming MORE important than their Yellow Page listing!

…and they have no choice but to pay somebody to manage their Search Listings just like they do their Yellow Page Listing.

Getting a local business well listed, getting them properly verified, and building an arsenal of favorable reviews takes a fair amount of expertise that exceeds what most business owners are willing or able to gain. The Local Search wave is cresting…and it’s about to crush the Yellow Pages…which is destined to drown in a rip current of change and drag down any business that doesn’t make an orchestrated switch from Phone Book to Google Maps.

Ok, I might be a little dramatic but the numbers are showing this to be true.

I’ve talked to businesses which have spent thousands on Yellow Pages and are not able to track or see the results. With omnipresent internet, many are turning to their PC, Smartphones, netbooks and Ipads/tablets to look up a business instead of the yellow pages.  And in online search, Google is king and then the other 2 big search engines Bing and Yahoo take the rest.

Local search , classified sites and directories are fighting for the pie in Singapore e.g Rednano, Mocca, InSing, AsiaOne and in this game, Yellow Pages is not a dominant force.

If you aren’t already looking at putting your business on local search or don’t know how,  you’re losing out on a wave of consumers that are looking for their solution and businesses there.  Here’s a video to get you started if you aren’t already listed. (Many SEO companies charge for his but we like to think our kind of customers are smart enough to do this easily without being ripped off. I included a step by step and some things to look out for.  So here you go FREE of Charge).

There’s more you can do to enhance this to rank it higher in a competitive niche which takes more time and effort. I might cover that in another upcoming workshop for business owners that we are doing and we have a system that we do this for customers.

That’s what I often ask my clients.

I came across this ad from none other than Google and it was a moving story , simple and emotional.

It is very effective in delivering the message of how Google is an integral part of a young person’s life.

I watched it a few times and this is great emotional advertising for a product that is not sexy and there’s no need for distracting models and such. It’s about a story.

We help our customer’s pull out their stories and deliver their message , straight from the heart. More often than not, it’s unpolished and raw. I am often moved when we do this exercise successfully.  You can feel the passion ignited, the original values surfaced and the WHY comes out powerfully.  Nothing pretentious or highly polished.

And guess what, it’s way more powerful than a contrived ‘branding’ kind of ad. Talk to us if you want to try this out.  It’s a great journey of discovery. And we love it.