A recent study, Local Search Usage Study, by comScore shows that more consumers are doing their research online while purchasing offline with a phone call or a visit to the local store. The study found that once online research was performed 39% of consumers contacted the local business via phone, 32% visited the local business, and 12% contacted the local business online. The number one source for research was Search Engines (31%), followed by Print Yellow Pages or White Pages (30%), then Internet Yellow Page Sites (19%), and finally Local Search Sites (11%). The study also found that Internet Yellow Page (IYP) sites accounted for 60% of local IYP business searches, while Local Search sites accounted for 40%.
The study goes on to talk about how the explosive growth of mobile and voice search is already having an impact on local search. They found that 1 in 5 local business searchers with an Internet-accessible mobile phone have conducted a local search via the mobile Web. There are currently 228 million mobile subscribers in the U.S., representing an increase of 45% in mobile browsing year-over-year.
As local search grows, local business owners need to understand that they need to include local search into their marketing plans.