by Daria Belov
Everything from hotels, airlines, restaurants, nightclubs, churches, and chiropractic offices, are being searched for online. People aren’t necessarily wanting to learn about nightclubs for instance, they want to know if there is one near them, so they can go party like a rockstar. The same holds for popular brands such as Starbucks and Target, most searchers are interested in finding the locations of these businesses, rather than seeking information about the brand themselves.
Recovery Versus Discovery
One that already knows what they’re looking for, is called a recovery searcher, while the person that knows where they want to be, but doesn’t know who is going to provide the service, is on a discovery search. For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll use a chiropractic office as an example, although the principle applies for nearly any local business.
Let’s say someone wants to get some information on ADIO chiropractic in Los Angeles. They already know the name of the office, even though they may not know the name of the chiropractor (or business owner). This could be someone looking at a print Yellow Pages advertisement, who’s doing some business comparisons and seeking more information about a particular office. Maybe it’s an existing client, curious to see if the office has a web site. Perhaps they’re looking to make a referral for a friend or family member, and they needed to grab some office related information. These are examples of recovery search, as the individual seeking information already knows the name of the business.
Regardless of methods, make sure you are providing information in multiple ways, so people can better locate your small-business. A small-business map image (like the chiropractic map seen here) can be made in about 15 minutes using a program like Adobe Illustrator.
Many small businesses function from the mindset of recovery search, simply because that’s what they are conditioned to think. How many times has someone told you the name of their web site as a way of how you could locate their business online? Seems pretty obvious doesn’t it? I’ve had hundreds of local business owners show me how easy it is to find their web sites online. They go to a popular search engine, and type in the name of their business or their web site domain name. I have to hold back the chuckles as I say “aren’t you assuming something?” There could be a problem if there were more than one business with the same name, but that’s a discussion for another article.
What if the person doesn’t know the name of your business, the name of the proprietor, or the URL of your web site? All they know is they are seeking someone in an area near them, and they are hoping to discover you (or more likely you’re hoping they discover you). The discovery searcher knows where they’re looking, but is not quite certain who they are looking for. This could be someone that has moved to a new real estate development, such as Playa Vista in Los Angeles, from an out-of-state location, such as the town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I used those two locations as a real world example since there is continued major development underway in a new residential community called Playa Vista. The development is just around the corner from the above-mentioned chiropractic office, and several new residents have discovered ADIO via this method of search.
The method is not limited to the person seeking service. In the case of chiropractic, or a medical facility, the search could be performed by an attorney looking to find a local chiropractor that accepts personal-injury cases, that they can send their client to. While the attorney could be in San Marcos with no local referral source, their client could be someone working at Sony Studios in Culver City. The attorney or their staff may seek out an office in close proximity to Sony Studios and or Culver City.
To see how this applies to big brands, think back to finding a local Starbucks. Using the new community mentioned above, someone could have moved in and be searching for a Starbucks near Playa Vista. Pretty soon they’ll be in luck, since a Starbucks is expected to open in that area soon. Locals will be able to stop at the Playa Vista Starbucks on their way to the chiropractor (don’t forget the Grande Mocha for the doctor).
Are people recovering information about your business or discovering information? One way to find out, is to check log files for those all important keywords. That’s something you can speak to your webmaster or web host about.
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Planet Chiropractic is hoping to help everyone better locate chiropractors when visiting this web site. You can help us by taking a few moments to see if your favorite chiropractor is listed on a USA State page, and if they are not, have them contact us. Information is available above the listing of states on the local chiropractor pages and there is no charge for anyone to add a chiropractic listing.
planetc1.com-news @ 11:13 am | Article ID: 1191348852
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