Profiting From Local Search
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Most Companies Have No Clue About the Web
Been a long time since I have posted, but that’s because I have been busy with the day-job, a dozen affiliate sites, some new client work, and most of all, spending my hard earn affiliate dollars on remodeling and renovating my bachelor pad. Now, I am not a handyman. I prefer to hire folks to do this sort of work, as I will make way more money doing other things with my time, like making money online.
One of the first things I wanted to take care of this summer was getting some central AC for my house. I hate sweating, and with summer right around the corner, it was starting to get hot, and therefore I was starting to get sweaty. So a few weeks back, I jumped on to Google and type in a search for “My Hometown Air Conditioning.” To my surprise, the results were bleak.
After numerous different keyword searches, and digging on a bunch of crappy sites, I managed to find a half dozen companies (of which only half got back to me…what crappy service). But it certainly was not easy and if it wasn’t for some of the Google Maps results in the One Box area, I probably would have found even less.
Life Hands You Lemon’s Make Lemonade
Frustrated, cranky, and buzzed from one too many Red Bull and Vodka’s, I had an epiphany - I bet companies offering AC would pay a mint to be listed in a directory of “MY Hometown Air conditioning companies”, that was easy to find on search engines like Google (because it ranked #1 for relevant keyword search terms), easy for users to search for hyper-local AC companies, and where they could solicit quotes from users (and where users could receive multiple quotes.).
I went a little further, did some keyword research about not only AC, but other trades, and then proceeded to drop over $1K on associated domains…all of which had to do with just MY Hometown. Domains in hand, I decided to pitch the idea to the AC representatives who were coming over to give me a quote. The result? Six verbals on a $99.99 per year listing on a directory that is yet to be created, with one company willing to pay up $50 per lead.
Here’s How to Profit From Local Search
In one week, I managed to A) find a huge problem for local searchers, B) find a proposed solution to the problem, C) find someone to pay for the solution to the problem to be created, D) find a customer base, E) corner the marketplace, and F) get my damn AC installed so I can quit sweating.
So how can you do the same thing?
- Go to Google and typing Your Hometown something (something being a trade, place, product, service, etc.)
- Check out competing sites (chances are they suck)
- Use a keyword research tool to find the most popular searches related to “Your Hometown Something”
- Go to a domain registar like Godaddy.com and try to buy all of the direct search phrase and generic domains related to “Your Hometown Something.”
- Build the sites
- Market them
- Contact companies who offer the “Something” with advertising or promotion opportunities
- Put the profits into your Thick Wallet.
- Repeat as many times as needed.
While you might not get rich immediately or from just one site, cornering a local market by leveraging local search traffic on the Google, Yahoo!, and MSN, will eventually be extremely profitable, as at some point every business will have invest in doing business online. If you own all of the top spots, most of these service/trade companies will elect to rent your space as it is more time and cost effect than them learning to build their own presence online and try to out perform your site. Cha-ching!
See ya later millionaire.
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