"More folks turn to the Internet than any other medium—including newspapers, TV, or word-of-mouth—for local information," writes Tom Shapiro in an article at MarketingProfs. "Furthermore, a whopping 83% of local search users contacted businesses offline ... and half of all local business searchers eventually made purchases."

These days, a basic local search strategy isn't enough to bring them smiling to your storefront; no, your business needs to adopt a "hyper-local" approach.

Shapiro shows how to boost your search strategy to hyper status:

Greet customers at numerous online destinations. Extend your reach well beyond the sites and profiles you control. Write compelling guest posts at favorite local blogs. Contribute to local newspapers. Syndicate content to websites that serve local communities. As a ubiquitous resource, you'll become an obvious first choice when consumers shop for your product or service.

Always provide a phone number. Don't assume that potential customers who find you in a local search will want to continue the buying process online. As noted above, the lion's share of local search users take their business offline.

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