Webwork - 4:40 pm on Oct 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

Top secret strategy: Buy the county dot com domains while you still can at a reasonable price, i.e., WidgetCounty.com.

I've run some test sites of this kind. I'm happy with the results.

The nice thing about geo-targeted county sites is how well they match the ancient strategy of most yellow pages companies and, therefore, the mindset of many people who have 'looked it up' in their local, county yellow pages for decades.

So, you built the site a bit, build in some free listings, offer to charge a reasonable sum for the additional listings, feature yourself prominently, add a community BBS. The nice thing is how, by serving the community you also bring the community to your 'other business' - front and center. Example: Jeff, the friendly lawyer, just happens to be the only lawyer on the website - but there's plenty of shops, plumbers, etc. (Annoys the heck out of the competition, you say? So sad ;-P)

What's also nice, about WidgetCounty.com, is that it's easy to market in other media to get the local region to buy in. A few signs on trucks, a few bumper stickers, a small but prominent ad in a local rag. The really nice thing is that the domain name as 'a place to look' has a lot of stickiness built into it at the local level. People tend to know and remember the county they live in. Instantly branded. Of course, you want to build out the site a bit before the awareness campaign. If this is all just a bit too easy then there's a million other avenues to try ;-)

Important bottom line: In local search think outside the search box. Since most of your traffic will be local you can get to local eyes and minds in many economical ways without having to be loved by search engines. Also, at the local level word of mouth is so much easier to evoke than at the global level.

Anyone who makes his mark using this approach is entitled to provide me with a supply of Cohibas or to let me sit on a rocking chair on the porch of their beach house, drinking the beer I helped them buy ;-)