The online power of words

Last week Sensis launched the Australian version of Yelp, a popular US web service that uses customer reviews to find and rank local businesses – particularly cafes, bars and restaurants.

This type of service isn’t new – Yelp itself has been around since 2004 and services like Eatability and Word of Mouth Online have established strong positions. At the same time, local search services such as True Local and Google Places use reviews to drive their results.

Yelp’s launch seemed a good time to compare how well these sites perform for a typical customer looking for a business, so I looked at what brunch venues were around my office on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.

The results were – by and large – terrible. Almost no local businesses appeared in a suburb with dozens of cafes.

Of the cafes that did appear many were across the Harbour Bridge with some event listing places on Bondi Beach, which is as relevant to the average Sydney North Shore dweller as the Upper Amazon.

The bad results were largely due to the right words not being in the business listings and their reviews.

Despite the billions of dollars invested in search by Google and others in developing web search tools, the area is still immature.

Part of that immaturity means words have to be clearly spelt out for search engines to understand what business offer. A venture’s online profiles and websites have to clearly state what products and services are available.

In the case of cafes the words “breakfast”, “brunch” and “lunch” have to appear, and the failure of my local cafes to use these terms means they are missing when someone tries to use the web to find them.

Now customers are online and using the web to find us, we have to figure out what terms they are using so our businesses appear on their screens when they looking for our services.

Ask our customers

The most obvious way to find out is to simply ask. Where did they find us and, if it was through the web, what were they looking for?

Check the competition

Do a quick search on your market and see who comes up first on the results. Those competitors who are coming up higher on the web are doing something better and it’s probably in the words they are using.

Play with the Google Adwords tool

The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a helpful feature that helps you find out what people are searching for and what keywords the advertisers are bidding for. The size of the bids is useful as it gives you some idea of where the money is going.

Improve your listings

Having your own listings correct and using the right keywords is important as Google Places is the main source of data for social media and recommendation services, so claim your business site and fill in all in the details.

We shouldn’t forget our own websites as they are the best way to drive traffic to our business and they need the same keywords as do any social media pages or other online listings.

The reason Sensis has gone into a deal with a US online service is that the old ways of marketing and advertising are evolving as customers move online.

If Sensis have figured this out, it’s time you started taking action as well.

Paul Wallbank is one of Australia’s leading experts on how industries and societies are changing in this connected, globalised era. When he isn’t explaining technology issues, he helps businesses and community organisations find opportunities in the new economy.