Big Business Potential in Thinking Small

June 17, 2009; 10:36 AM

Published on Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Search Engine Optimization studio foresees big rewards in helping small business leverage the benefits of being small, online. Montreal, QC, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 — chr32 Digital Strategies (www.chr32.com), a Montreal-based search engine optimization and search marketing firm, today announces their intent to pursue an under served niche, and to concentrate their efforts on local search optimization for small business. Says Lead Strategist Martin Preikschas, "For businesses, search engine ranking has evolved into a popularity contest where budget and departments and number of outlets determines popularity. Small, local businesses can't compete in that arena. Local search is the one field where small business not only has a chance to prosper, but should be concentrating their efforts."

At the end of February, 2009, the search engine optimization world lit up with reports of a fundamental shift in Google's general search results, which seemed to be pushing big brands to the top of the listings. In what was to become known as the Vince Change, Google's Webspam team leader, Matt Cutts, later confirmed that search results would now give more weight to the assumed "trust" and "authority" of web sites. While presumably beneficial to searchers, the Vince Change effectively knocked local and small businesses out of the game for ranking well on general search engine queries.

Then, at the end of May, 2009, Microsoft released their largely reprogrammed Live search engine, now re-branded as "Bing". While being promoted as a more intelligent and intuitive approach to search, Bing truly showed its strength in returning commerce-friendly topics such as shopping, travel, health and local business.

"What we are seeing is the search engines algorithmic acknowledgement of the enigmatic intent of searchers" observes Preikschas. "If someone searches for 'red leather lingerie', what is their intent? To find pictures? To find information on the history, or safety, or social prevalence of such apparel? To get their ya-yas? Or to find a store to buy the item? Both the Vince Update and the launch of Bing represent strong opportunities for local businesses to separate the shopping-searcher from the herd; to engage those searchers who are looking for a place to spend their money."

As of the beginning of this year, survey results and statistics from various sources including Google, the Kelsey Group and comScore, suggest that over 1/3 of all online searches are local, that 2/3rds of Internet users use search to find a local business, and that more than half of local searches result in a transaction.

Says Martin, "At this point in time, businesses with very small advertising budgets, or no budget, or even no web site can still rank well in local search. It's an open field. There will come a time when local search will become a challenging competitive arena, but that time is not now. Local search is now where general search was 5 or 7 years ago - a place where a few skilled and knowledgeable individuals could gain huge profile with relatively little effort. I intend that the chr32 studio be there to help local businesses take advantage of this opportunity".

ABOUT chr32 DIGITAL STRATEGIES — Since 1999, chr32 has been helping various organizations, large and small, achieve a polished an effective web presence. chr32 currently manages a dynamic variety of auditing, analysis, reporting and consulting tools to provide clients with a clear and effective strategy, and the knowledge and skills to employ that strategy.

Contact: Martin Preikschas, [email protected]
Lead Strategist, chr32 Digital Strategies
(514) 573-9803 Pocket Office
www.chr32.com