The LWW Local Wide Web is Here

Remember when W.W.W. meant World Wide Web?

In the days of the internet boom around 1999 the idea was that you could aim to reach a global market through the World Wide Web.

Well forget that!

In only a few short years the internet has gone from being a global phenomenon, to being a popular short-cut for finding local businesses.

Pay attention. The internet has gone local, and more and more people are using it to find local suppliers and service providers. This is the Local Wide Web in action.

So if you haven’t already got a web site, don’t wait for anything else. Now is the time.

The Turning Tide.

Use of the Yellow Pages printed directory books is declining in Australia, the USA and UK.

In March 2005 an American survey by the Kelsey Group and Constat Inc. identified a 21% decrease (over 18 months) in the number of people using the Yellow Pages to search for local merchants. The same survey showed an increase of 17% for the internet, and a loss of 5% for newspapers.

And data from BURST! Media in May 2005 shows that in the USA 60% of people are now using the internet more than they did 12 months ago. Whereas people are spending 34% less time with magazines and 35% less with TV.

Also, in recent months major internet search engines have released tools specifically for ‘local search’ which use Post Codes (ZIP codes) or City names to focus on geographic areas.

See:
Google Local Search
Yahoo Australia Local Search

A Real Life Example.

My own web site is no exception (www.marketingnous.com.au).

As you may realise I offer a monthly email newsletter.

You might expect that I would attract a global readership. After all, readers around the world have similar problems in marketing their services. And email is email all over the world. So I should get my fair share of international subscribers.

But I don’t.

Over 45% of all my readers are located in Queensland, Australia – where I am based. Another 12% live in Australia’s most populous state New South Wales (which is just a few hundred kilometres away). Only 9% are located in the USA, and 5% are in New Zealand.

What Does This Mean For You?

It is clear that most people like to look for information, and suppliers, close to home. It makes them feel more comfortable. It makes more sense.

I suggest there are two important lessons here…

Firstly:
Make sure you are part of this trend towards internet searching. It will continue. Make sure you have a functioning, current, informative, and search engine friendly web site.

Secondly:
If you are seeking overseas customers, maybe you need to consider how you can be “closer” to them. Options include:

Using a country level domain name for their country (e.g. .co.uk for the UK; .co.nz for New Zealand; .be for Belgium)

Hosting your web site in that country (this is noticed by search engines)

Establishing a local office address, phone number or help desk (in some cases low cost options can be achieved using VoIP).

We might be globally connected, but people still like to deal on a local level. Don’t ignore the impact of the Local Wide Web – it is sweeping the world.




The LWW Local Wide Web is Here - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.

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