When Victoria, B.C. consumers abd customers search for local businesses services, how important is a geographic marker?
Huge.
According to a recent survey by PEW Internet, 1,087 adults (age 18 and older) were interviewed about their habits when searching for local businesses and restaurants. They were asked about both their online and offline searches and which they were more likely to do.
Approximately 60% of respondents say they get news and information about local businesses other than restaurants and bars. When they use the Internet, 47% say they rely most on search engines (36%), specialty websites (16%), and social network sites like Twitter (1%).
Other respondents relied on newspapers (31%), word of mouth from family and friends (22%), local TV broadcasts or the websites of local stations (8%) and local radio (5%).
As users move away from traditional media and resources such as phone directories they require clear and concise information on location and local availability.
It is important to market your business to every local citation site available, including Google Place, Yelp, Yellow Pages, City Search, and many other sites will help boost your rankings.
Also, be sure that when listing on local Google Places like sites, you are listing everything exactly the same. So, if you have a Victoria website, ensure that your address, phone number, and all information is the SAME in all Victoria, B.C. indexes. This will help you rank better and come up above your competitors. If anything is different, it will not help you as much as if everything is exactly the same on all local listing sites and indexes.