Research online, shop offline locally...

In a post today by Greg Sterling on his Screenwerk blog (local search) he discusses the trend of consumers doing their research online and then shopping offline at a local stores for many types of products and services. I believe this has been a trend for quite some time. However, to Greg's point, part of the problem is that many large online retailers are not doing a very good job of being relevant to the consumer's search. Large retailers need to start showing local inventory levels. If they don't consumers will look elsewhere.

We want to encourage the trend of having consumers research local businesses online, but have the results be local, relevant, and trustworthy to them. Meaning, if they are looking for a plumber to fix a leaky faucet the search results should be, close in distance to them (within x amount of miles), specific to their needs (a leaky faucet) and come highly recommended (read recommendations by several of their friends and neighbors).

This is exactly what we are working toward - business search results that are local, relevant and trustworthy.

Research your needs online and shop offline at a local business.