The Yellow Pages has pretty much become a household name. For the longest time, this was the preferred resource to refer to if people needed to find services or products. The question now though is whether it still is the undisputed consumer reference tool. Search engines like Google are now top contenders. If there was a real Google vs Yellow Pages bout, which of the two would come out with the champion’s belt?

Presently, there are no well known research studies that provide comparative figures related to the use of search engines and printed materials. A quick survey done by Melbourne SEO Service however has shown that there may be real changes to the way people look for products and service. The survey presented in one of the best viral marketing video campaigns is almost surprising.

A whopping 53.85% of respondents said they never turn to the Yellow Pages for answers. About 92.86% shared that they prefer to look up consumer items in Google. Every single one of them said that they access the search engine on a daily basis. From all appearances, the Yellow Pages and similar print media resources may be in danger of going extinct. It’s clear that more and more people now prefer the convenience of internet searches.

The survey results present a crucial insight for entrepreneurs. Anyone who owns an income generating project both online and offline need to be found by Google. Being in a Google results pages is the best modern way to make sure that interested people and paying customers find your products and services instantly.

The full survey didn’t stop at putting boxing gloves on Google and the Yellow Pages. It also answered the question of how people use internet engines. Surprisingly, even at an age when the internet is in full bloom, only 7.14% had some understanding of SEO. This implies that regular folks on the streets don’t really want to know the inner wheels of search engines. They just want to find what they are looking for and they trust Google to give them the most relevant sites to look into.

Aside from asking about SEO knowledge, respondents were also asked which sites they clicked on after searching. A good 46.15% said they clicked on the first few sites on results pages. All the respondents never went beyond the first page of results. The additional implication of this finding on businesses is very significant. If you want to be found and to generate better sales, you need to make sure that you get to the top of Google results, or at very least, the first page.

Everything points to one important fact. Entrepreneurs need to spend time and resources on SEO methods and techniques. If you aren’t inclined to learn the ropes yourself, you have to tap the right service providers to help you out. Skip SEO and you will be skipping the chance to make profits.

The Google vs Yellow Pages bout is far from winding down. From all appearances, the Yellow Pages is putting up a good fight. It might take a couple more years before it completely goes out of the consumer radar. Business owners though will be doing themselves a favor if they start taking advantage of search engines now.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Online Business, Promotion and Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.