Three Tips for Allocating Local Search Budgets
This is a guest blog post by Matt Insley, a Senior Account Executive at TMP Directional Marketing who specializes in Print and Internet Yellow Page programs.
What was the first search engine that you used?
Did you Webcrawl? Were you a Yahoo! original? For the past few years, has the word “search” been replaced by the word “Google” in your vocabulary?
Believe it or not, you were using a search engine years before the idea of the Internet popped into Al Gore’s head.

I give you the Yellow Pages. Think about it…how did people find a product or service before computers? The book works just like a search online. A heading replaces the search term and the book is already filled with local businesses in your area.
But, let’s face it. Unless you are selling pizza, wrenching cars or fixing leaky toilets, the Yellow Pages should really be used to compliment your other marketing efforts. Over time, searches in the Yellow Pages have given way to searches online with search engines and Internet Yellow Page (IYP) sites, like yellowpages.com or superpages.com.
While the printed Yellow Pages are still a viable lead generator, the question facing most businesses today is how to incorporate online advertising with print in their marketing mix.
1. Prove Results
The greatest advantage to local search advertising is that the results are very easy to track. Call tracking lines can be put into your yellow page ads both online and off to see exactly how many calls your ad is generating and who is calling you. Internet Yellow Page placements offer even greater levels of tracking, giving you impression counts and click through rates. Having this information can go a long way in determining your ROI and what your level of investment should be in the future.
2. Take Advantage of the Climate
While print usage is on the decline, Internet Yellow Page usage continues to grow. Each of the major print publishers has an online platform. To increase content in their sites, publishers are offering incentives to print advertisers to begin shifting their dollars online, while maintaining a presence in the book for little to sometimes no added cost to the advertiser. This allows the advertiser to dip their toe into the online world without overextending their budget.
3. Find Balance
If you find your print ad not returning the bang for your buck, scale back and re-invest those dollars elsewhere. But, do not cut just to cut. Whether the money goes toward IYP or search engine marketing, have a purpose in allocating your budget.
Once your correct local search mix is found, leads will increase, costs will be controlled and ROI will be maximized.
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