With the interest in hyper local, the internet community has recognized the value in domains that may get only 10-100 unique visitors each month. For a local professional, owning a hyper local domain is a low cost alternative to advertising on vertical directories. If 1 out of every 10 visitors converts to a lead (by filling out the contact us form) and 1 out of every 3 leads converts to a paying customer, a domain with 30 unique a month would mean 12 new customers each year. Not bad for a domain name with an annual cost of $10-$20.

In the past week, my company has gotten leads on the following domains:

BaltimoreReception.com
SyracusePhotographers.com
CincinnatiVideographer.com
ProvidenceDJs.com
OaklandDJs.com
AtlantaOfficiants.com
DenverOfficiants.com
CharlotteOfficiants.com

All these domains were available for registration by local photographers, videographers, djs, and wedding officiants. We regged the domains to generate leads for our local advertisers. They could have easily been regged by local professionals looking for new customers via direct navigation traffic. All these domains, except SyracusePhotographers.com, were available until last summer. There are still many other hyper local domains available for registration. Each day, internet users type hyper local addresses into their browser, only to be disappointed when it does not bring up a local businesses’ web site.

Spend 15 minutes of go daddy and see what hyper local domains in your specialty are available for registration. If you are an lawyer, you can procure new customers without owning Lawyers.com

Had this domain been purchased by a photographer in Syracuse, these leads would have gone to that business. Many professionals report booking 70-80% of leads generated by users filling out a contact form on their web site. Even assuming a conservative 10% conversion rate, with a average booking rate of $1,500 per event, a photographer could have easily paid for the SyracusePhotographers.com within 12 months timeframe.

A friend of mine, who is a photographer in Western NY has leveraged a network of geo domains to drive new clients for his business. Leveraging a network of 20-25 geo domains, my friend averages 2-3 bookings a months from these sites. At $10 annual cost per domain, his ROI is better than any other advertising medium.

This begs the question, why do many small businesses spend money on AdWords or SEO, while ignoring unregistered geodomains that are pertinent to their profession. The answer is that most small business owners don’t appreciate the SEO benefits and natural direct navigation that can be found on many geodomains. Even if the geodomains gets 3-5 unique a month, provided that one person buys from your business each year – then you geodomains represent a low cost alternative to many advertising solutuions. Geodomains represent an excellent source of new business and pay for themselves (sometimes in spades)

One thing I have noticed is that most small business owners keep tabs on their competitors. Even in large cities, the number of companies offering a similar service is manageable. Potential clients are a great source of Intel about competitors because most clients touch base with a handful of competitors, before making a final purchase decision. During a meeting with a prospective client, you might overhear a comment that one of your competitors is not accepting new clients because they are going retire.

If one of your competitors is going out of business, I would try to buy their domain name. While contacting a competitor and inquiring about a domain name can be awkward, there is a way of discretely procuring domains without picking up the phone. If a domain isn’t renewed, chances are that it will show up on sites like Snapnames.com and Namejet.com. These sites allow people to catch domains before they drop off the active roles and expire. Normally, you can pay between $50 and $100 and pick up your former competitor’s domain name.

Why it is important to acquire domains from former competitors? Well, there is a good chance that your competitor has spent significant resources trying to drive traffic to their site. If you own the domain, you can take advantage of their hard word. As long as an active site is maintained, the old back links will continue, providing a continual stream of traffic to your business.

Another advantage is that you can take advantage of their SEO placement. If the competitor has a higher rank on Google, Yahoo, or Bing for preferred hyper local keywords – then you can take over their position in the results by building a landing page that links users to your primary website. You can also use a request more information form to convert users into leads – enabling you to call the prospective client and introduce your product or service.

So next time you hear that a competitor is going out of business, check the expiration date on their domain names. After their domain expires, perform periodic searches on Snapnames.com and Namejet.com to see if you can get your hands on this valuable asset before it is lost forever in the vastness of cyberspace.

There is no law that prohibits your business from operating multiple web sites or owning more than one domain name. However, most local professionals utilize a single domain name for their internet marketing strategy. This approach is based on the conventional wisdom that you want a single brand representing your business. While a single brand strategy is important for focus, to achieve reach it is best to develop local landing pages all built around a network of geo domains.

Not All Local Searches Start With Google

The goal of any online marketing plan is to cast a wide net, providing the reach necessary to find potential clients. Not all internet users start their local search on Google. Yahoo and Bing have a small, but significant, local search market share. Yellow Page companies, like YellowPages.com, YellowBook.com, and Superpages.com have converted former print yellow page customers to users of their online directories. Vertical Directories, including Lawyers.com and TheKnot.com, have developed a large following by blending editorialized content with local directories.

The key point is that the local search universe is fragmented. To reach potential customers in your local market, you will need to consider all potential sources of traffic. One source, that is underappreciated by most small business owners, is direct navigation traffic.

What is Direct Navigation?

There is a growing number of internet users who view the address bar in their web browser as a local search engine. The address bar is the text box at the top of any web browser that contains the domain you are visiting. If a user is looking for a Louisville photographer, they may type LouisvillePhotographer.com into the address bar to see what appears. The expectation is that LouisvillePhotographer.com will display information, either a directory or the website of a local photographer, that is relevant to their search. If you own this geo domain, you can take advantage of this highly targeted traffic.

Advantages of Direct Navigation

There is data to suggest that Direct Navigation traffic converts better than traditional Search Engine traffic. Considering the dynamics of both searches, that would make sense. When a user conducts a local search on Google, they are presented with many options to consider. Paid local advertisers, listings overlaid on Google Maps, and free local listings could give the user 25-30 links on a single page. Most users click a few links and browse the results. The breath of this experience results in less time spent on your website.

In contrast, direct navigation users have a deeper experience since they are viewing a single website. This depth allows them to focus on your message, resulting in a better understanding of your services, background, and skills. With only a single business to consider, there is a greater chance that the user will fill out your contact form or call you.

Next Week – Part 2 – Geo Domain Economics

Have you ever watched “The Amazing Race” on CBS? The reality show features two person teams racing around the world, performing a series of cultural tasks before they are given a clue to their next destination. During certain legs of the race, teams are given the option of pursuing a “Fast Forward” that will allow them to skip all tasks and go directly to the check-in station at the end of each leg. The “Fast Forward” doesn’t guarantee that the team will win the leg, but it gives the team who secures it a big advantage over the competition.

In Hyperlocal SEO, owning Geo Domains can give your business a significant leg up over the competition.

What are Geo Domains?

Geo Domains are domain names comprised of two subparts: A Geographic Name and either a Product, Service, or Piece of Content sought by internet users. Examples of Geo Domains include:

• WeddingsInBaltimore.com
• BaltimoreChiropractors.com
• MiamiPhotographer.me
• AtlantaNews.net
• TampaBayJobs.pro
• ChicagoRemodeling.TV

Why are Geo Domains Important?

Geo Domains are important because search engines, like Google and Bing, prefer legitimate businesses. Search engines recognize that domains, tied to high search terms, are valuable resources.  The more competitive the search term, the more valuable the geo domain. Owning a great Geo Domain implies that your business is legitimate and worthy of strong consideration.

In your market, there could be hundreds of competitors all vying for top placement. If you are a Chiropractor in Baltimore, and a user searches for “Baltimore chiropractors”, Google must decide which 10 Baltimore chiropractor sites to display to the user.   To determine which Chiropractor sites are more important than other Chiropractor sites, each search engine uses a proprietary set of rules to filter the results.

One rule common to all search engines, is that a well constructed site, built on top of a geo domain, will rank higher than the same site located at a non geo domain name. In our example, a site located at BaltimoreChiropractors.com will have an excellent chance of displaying at the top of the search results for “Baltimore chiropractors”.  Why?  The answer is that only one chiropractor in Baltimore can own BaltimoreChiropractors.com. Since you had the foresight or resources to acquire this valuable domain name, then your business is viewed as more legitimate than a competitor who is targeting the same local search term.

Dot Com domains are not the only domains preferred by the major search engines. While BaltimoreChiropractors.com and BaltimoreChiropractors.net see the greatest SEO benefit, over time, sites built on alternative extensions like BaltimoreChiropractors.pro, BaltimoreChiropractors.me, or BaltimoreChiropractors.TV can take advantage of Google and Bing‘s preference for geo domains.