Yesterday’s post went quite a bit into detail on the major local search engines (Yelp, CitySearch, MerchantCircle, and many more). Hopefully you have taken the time to go to each of the sites listed and submit your business information so you can start driving traffic today. However, if you haven’t yet taken advantage of those sites, here is a list of hyper local search engines that will also help your local SEO campaign.
- ConnSearch — By far, the largest search engine for Connecticut. This site, which operates like a directory is a little difficult for users to navigate, but does have the potential to drive a good amount of traffic to your site (and business) due to the very specific categories and towns within the directory. The one major downfall is that the front page looks a bit spammy due to the advertisements.
- CT-Info — A great hyper local search engine for CT businesses, and the best part is that the listing is for free! During the site registration process you have the opportunity to add one category (wish it was more, but this helps with overall organization for the site), site and business information, a description of no more than 200 characters, and what appears to be an unlimited number of keywords (don’t abuse this, though).
- CT Clix — In order to submit your site you need to be a member (and be approved by a moderator), but this is one hyper local search engine that has it all so take advantage. The moderator assures me (as it should you) that the spam sites are not getting into this directory which makes the user experience significantly better (which consequently means more traffic for you).
- FindItInCT — One of the more modern looking layouts for the hyper local search engine market. It is a bit tedious to submit your business information as the site requires you to become a member (which is free), then submit an e-mail, and then add your business information. However, with the layout of the site I can see that the submission is well worth it (the traffic to your site).
- Fairfield County 411 — If your business is in (or near) Fairfield County, you need to take full advantage of this site. It doesn’t have the greatest layout, but submitting a site/business is free and easy to accomplish. Along with that, it has high rankings within the search results which is always good for your site as well (to have a backlink from a high PR site).
- Connecticut Yellow Pages — This is more of a generic Yellow Pages site, but has a great ability to drive traffic to your business (both foot traffic and web visitors). With that said, it is a free registration with an outstanding list of towns (and their service providers) within Connecticut.
While search engine optimization continues to be a major discussion throughout every business in Connecticut, there are several opportunities that are missed. One of the most important areas that gets overlooked on a fairly regular basis is the ability to list business information with local search engines and hyper local search engines (like the ones listed above). Instead of missing the boat with this one, take the time and develop a stronger local search engine optimization campaign by adding (and/or updating) your site to these directories. It is worth the time and the money (which they are all free!).
