While this principal obviously applies to physical locations of businesses, location based search applications is one of the more important and under-appreciated trends in web searches today.
As we become more mobile, our devices have become more aware of their location and search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing have begun gathering data to help their customers find things in a given location.
I first heard about Groupon in a story about that company receiving $500 million in funding. Any company that pulls that kind of money is bound to get attention and it got mine. I learned that Groupon provides daily specials (typically 50% or more) to people in a specific area. If a big enough ‘group’ buy the ‘coupon’ then the ‘groupon’ is on. They email one deal out per day to each major city. The business then splits the revenue generated from that special with Groupon 50/50.
In a perfect world, businesses would be able to ask their customers where they found them and get a reliable answer. Not that customers aim to be evasive but there are a lot of businesses vying for their attention. Instead of just saying I found you on the internet, they’d know the specific website they found you. Or instead of saying I found you in Trailer Life because it’s the only name they know when in fact it was a state campground directory. The point is businesses could make sounder advertising decisions if they knew exactly which website or directory or advertisement delivered business.
Would you let your auto mechanic have the title to your car just because he knows how to fix your radiator problem? Would you give your house deed to the lawn care company just because they can keep your yard looking nice?
The answer should be an overwhelming, “No!” Yet many web designers or marketing companies own the domain name of their clients websites. The domain name could be the most important part of the website. Without it no one would be able to find you online. Now, this isn’t a problem for every website, but is something I have seen more and more of as and businesses are building or updating their websites.
I work for TexasAdvertising.net and as a marketing company I’d love to have your business. You’d probably expect a sales pitch knowing that information and I truly think we have the most talented and caring people in the business and would put our employees up against any advertising firm. I think we can do a lot for you to boost your bottom line with greater revenues and lower costs.
However, you already have control over the group of people that will bring you the most business. No ad agency in the world can replace your repeat and referral customers. They will always be the most important and number one source of business for any industry and you have complete control over them.