Google vs Yellow Pages on the Streets
Most people know what the Yellow Pages are. It has been around for years and is still a valuable aid that people can use to locate items or services that provide the answers to numerous daily needs. It is worth asking though whether the Yellow Pages is still the best product search tool. Competing online services like Google and other search engines are starting to show signs of taking the lead. In a Google vs Yellow Pages scenario, whose side will you take?
Presently, there are no well known research studies that provide comparative figures related to the use of search engines and printed materials. A quick survey done by Melbourne SEO Service however has shown that there may be real changes to the way people look for products and service. The survey presented in one of the best viral marketing video campaigns is almost surprising.
A whopping 53.85% of respondents said they never turn to the Yellow Pages for answers. About 92.86% shared that they prefer to look up consumer items in Google. Every single one of them said that they access the search engine on a daily basis. From all appearances, the Yellow Pages and similar print media resources may be in danger of going extinct. It’s clear that more and more people now prefer the convenience of internet searches.
Business owners should be quick to identify what survey results imply. Anyone who owns a business, even if it is a physical offline one, now needs to pay attention to search engines. Google now places entrepreneurs in the unique position to have their products and services found almost instantly online.
The full survey didn’t stop at putting boxing gloves on Google and the Yellow Pages. It also answered the question of how people use internet engines. Surprisingly, even at an age when the internet is in full bloom, only 7.14% had some understanding of SEO. This implies that regular folks on the streets don’t really want to know the inner wheels of search engines. They just want to find what they are looking for and they trust Google to give them the most relevant sites to look into.
Aside from asking about SEO knowledge, respondents were also asked which sites they clicked on after searching. A good 46.15% said they clicked on the first few sites on results pages. All the respondents never went beyond the first page of results. The additional implication of this finding on businesses is very significant. If you want to be found and to generate better sales, you need to make sure that you get to the top of Google results, or at very least, the first page.
The bottom line is simple enough.
Business owners now need to pour some effort into building strong SEO campaigns. Even the lack of interest for SEO is no excuse because there are people and companies that now specialize in SEO that can generate explosive profits.
The Google vs Yellow Pages bout is far from winding down. From all appearances, the Yellow Pages is putting up a good fight. It might take a couple more years before it completely goes out of the consumer radar. Business owners though will be doing themselves a favor if they start taking advantage of search engines now.