Remember when Yahoo was the top search engine?  Now, Google dominates the arena.  At one time, MySpace was the preferred Social Networking site.  Now, everyone talks about Facebook.  And recently, Twitter has been receiving all of the Social Media rage.  A year from now, a new and better website will have the spotlight.  And so goes the Circle of (Online) Life. 

For businesses, constant change online can be a real headache.  I mean, who can stay on top of the next new thing while still reaching your target consumers?  Fortunately for us, a certain segment of the online world has been on top of all the changes…Internet Yellow Pages. 

Many of us know how Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs) work.  Go to the site.  Search for the type of business you’re looking for and the geography.  Receive business listings based on your search criteria.  Advertising on IYPs is a great tactic for lead generation.  However, lead generation is only one piece of the marketing puzzle.  What about brand awareness, PR, etc.?  Though it’s important to be visible under many forms of online media, IYPs allow businesses to stretch their money more than they probably realize.  Here’s a list of media sources that IYPs can distribute your business information to:

Distribution Networks
Besides showing up on the main site, business listings are distributed to partner sites as well.  This is a great way to reach consumers who are searching for your business type on other sites.  For example, some of YellowPages’ current alliances include AOL Yellow Pages, AreaGuides, and Mapquest.  When a user searches on one of these partner sites, some of the Yellowpages’ business listings will show up in the sponsored results section.  Talk about hitting two birds with one stone. 

Organic Search Results
Since most consumers start their online search on a search engine, it makes sense for IYPs to focus their SEO efforts to ensuring their business listings pages are visible within the organic results.  A search for “insurance” in Milwaukee, WI reveals several IYPs visible on the Google search engine results page.  Each of the IYPs’ links will take the user to a page listing business information.

Mobile
Given that there is virtually an iPhone app for everything, why not some for IYPs?  Superpages, Yellowpages, Citysearch, Yellowbook, and DexKnows all have an app that allows users to search for local businesses on the go.  For mobile users who have yet to drink the iPhone kool-aid, the above IYPs offer search capabilities on other phones as well.

Social Media
It’s becoming increasingly more important for businesses to engage in social media, and IYPs are covering their bases on this as well.  Citysearch, one of the first sites to join Facebook Connect, allows users to log in to both Facebook and Citysearch with the same username and password.  This collaboration also allows users to share business information with their “friends” on Facebook.  With DexKnows, a business can upload a video, showcasing its products and services, onto YouTube which can then be added to the business’s profile page on the DexKnows website, free of charge.  And recently, Superpages has added the ability to search its website via Twitter (see Superpages Leverages Twitter to Power up Local Search Results).  As time progresses, it’ll be interesting to see how IYPs make their sites more social media-friendly.

Other
There are also other ways that IYPs are distributing local business information.  For example, YellowPages and DexKnows offer their own ad-supported directory assistance services.  Both 1-800-YellowPages and 1-800-calldex allows users to listen to business listings for free. 

Another way that YellowPages is reaching consumers is through cable television.  As a division of AT&T, YellowPages is also available on U-verse.  With just a few clicks of a remote control, consumers can access millions of business listings on their television. 

Today, stretching marketing dollars and ensuring a good ROI are important as well as reaching your target consumers.  IYPs offer the best of all worlds and should be included in every online marketing program.