Google Adwords

As far as we can tell, people are slowly moving away from using the old style directory books and business directories and are Googling everything. This includes finding stores. Getting high rankings on the Google free listing section is becoming very competitive and more difficult as more merchants get on line and are competing for the same space on Google.

However, when people are looking to buy merchandise from a store - they usually look at the Google Sponsored links. You can buy your way into this place by Google Adwords. Ranking in the Sponsored system is via action. The more you offer per click - the higher you get on the list.

Depending on your store and what your competitors are actioning for Adwords, generally a budget of $100 at 30cents a click can get you started with good results. Some of our small business clients are finding that $100 budget lasts them 1 to 3 months. You only get charged if somebody clicks on the Ad.

Yellow Pages Australia

YellowPages is a old school business directory book trying to compete with new technologies such as Google Adwords.

On March 2011, YellowPages was charging $864/year for a basic Value Package including a phone book entry (print listing) and online listing (digital listing) on their website with keywords. (Please see Yellow Pages directly for up to date costings).

For $390/year you can get a phone book entry with your website address, plus a basic online listing - but with no yellowpages keywords. Here's the catch - unless you have your keywords are in your business name, finding your business with yellowpages online is difficult (an in our opinon a waste of time and money).

For $489/year your can get an online listing (only) on the YellowPages website. You won't be printed in the book.

One thing to note nowadays is that people are not browsing through categories anymore. People like to search for keywords - like "Plumber", "Electrician Perth", etc - and hit the search button. Unless you have "Plumber" as a keyword, or is in your business name, you won't be found.

YellowPages does have free listings - however they don't allow you to advertise your website address or email address.

As a result of these costly and complex advertising plans, we are seeing more small businesses moving away from YellowPages - opting for building their own websites and advertising with Google Adwords.

But YellowPages cannot be overlooked if you have the marketing budget. The Budget Starter package at a minimum.