Skinflint Internet Marketing Guides

Skinflint Internet Yellow Pages

For most small businesses, a Yellow Pages listing is their only advertising expenditure. It costs several hundred dollars a year, but it's a proven way to get customers, so it's worth it. But you might be noticing that the printed Yellow Pages directories don't work as well as they once did, for a couple of reasons:

• Printed directories are fragmenting. Where once you had to get a listing in one local Yellow Pages directory, now you might have three or more directories covering the same area. That means each one is chasing fewer customers, and it's hard to justify the cost of the ads.
• More of your customers are searching the Internet. Sure, they are using Google, but they're also using Internet Yellow Pages sites.

Just as with printed Yellow Pages directories, IYP sites are fragmented among many providers. But that's OK, because it costs nothing for your business to get an IYP listing. So the first thing to do is to make sure your business is listed in as many of these directories as you can find. Check out this report from comScore that shows the US IYP leaders.

You might be wondering if it's worth the trouble, but studies show pursuing IYP listings are a wise use of your time. According to the Akelsey Group, one quarter of all IYP searches are for merchants near home or work. 74% of all searchers say they've conducted local searches, with 45% of local searchers intending to buy. You need to be listed.

Many businesses are already listed in IYP directories, because they often contain the business white pages listings from local phone books. But IYP directories are far more than simple listings. Their most important feature is location—they show maps and provide directions for customers to visit your business. If you're willing to pay, you can do much more.

With Yahoo's IYP, your business can add your company's slogan, a detailed description, links to your Web site, and up to 10 photos for just $10 a month. Most of their competitors offer similar features, with traditional printed Yellow Pages vendors offering online tie-ins with their print advertising plans.

Each IYP vendor has different twists to their offerings. YELLOWPAGES.COM charges for premium ads, such as tile ads, priority online listings, and even video ads. Superpages also offers a set of premium ads to choose from.

Internet advertising can sometimes be expensive, Internet Yellow Pages provide free listings for any business and offer premium ads that can fit into even the smallest marketing budget.

Want more tips to raise your Internet marketing success? Check out Search Engine Marketing, Inc., which contains a complete step-by-step program for successful search marketing for your business. For more ways to improve your overall Internet marketing, take a look at Do It Wrong Quickly, an indispensible guide to the new ways of marketing on the cheap.