Guest Blog by Rebecca Buscemi
I’m sure with the big social media movement, you have heard from others to “Forget the Yellow Pages.” There is a general assumption among many out there that social media and the Internet just may replace print one day. And who knows? There is definitely signs that print has started to decline. But there are 
some forms of print media that have decided to embrace, instead of fight, the Internet and New Media. Once example is the Yellow Pages or YP.com.
Embracing with open arms, YP.com is definitely on the forefront of Internet Local Search and integrating New Media. You might be asking, “What is Local Search?” So here is a simple way to look at it: If you would take all of the information out of the Yellow Pages, take an online map and match the all of the addresses with details, such as pictures of the street, the business, aerial photos, then add patient testimonials and place all of them on the Internet where people can search and find what they are looking for in a matter of seconds, you got Local Search!
Creating powerful connections between businesses and the people that are searching for them, YP.com has integrated some of the following strategies:
- Facebook connect which allows visitors to quickly connect and essentially ‘log-in’ to YP.com through their Facebook account.
- YP.com apps for the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Palm and Adroid. To get these apps, all you have to do is simply go to YP.com on your mobile device.
- How about the power of Local Search on your TV? Check out YPTV!
- To add to the simplicity of searching for a business, YP.com has created the YP.com toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Ready to add your business to YP.com? It’s simple to do! (And it’s FREE!) Here are the steps to get you started:
- Go to YP.com and click ‘Advertise With Us’ at the top of the website.
- On the next page, click ‘Get Started’ and fill in the required fields.
- Once the required fields are filled out, you can then enter more detailed information about your business. Some of the things you will be including is your address, business categories (up to five categories), website, products, services and (one of the most important to me) any and all social media sites.
- After adding the additional information about your business, you are able to finalize and confirm your listing and It’s live!
Now your customers can find you on YP.com, write awesome testimonials about you and also connect with you on all of your social media sites on one site! Welcome to Local Search!
