Going Local Down In London

Last week the Evening Standard reported that local retailers in London were getting visibility through a local review site called We Love Local – The report suggested that the site was inspired by The Standard’s “Save Our Small Shops” campaign…

Actually, welovelocal.com is one of a number of websites trying to capitalise on the trend for local search providers cropping up and being a resource of local services, recommended or reviewed by other users. A kind of Tripadvisor.com for you local area if you like.

Tipped and Qype are others trying to tap into this market – it’s a nice idea but needs some critical mass of reviewers and reviews before they really get going.

It’ll be just a matter of time before they get snapped up by a bigger search provider though.

It’s interesting that The Standard’s angle comes at the same time that Microsoft released research into SMB’s advertising online – or rather investing in websites that never get seen.

I remember in 2001 a high profile CEO of a European DotCom based in London, left to join a company whose business model was to knock on doors in the high street offering to set up and maintain websites for small shops, hairdressers and independent traders.

We laughed at the time….but it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea now…

SMX London post coming soon…but enjoy the below from the guys at Site Visibility – Cheeky beggars!