When will local come to Australia; Despite the prominence of small business in Australia we have still failed to capitalise on local and small business marketing on the internet. With the exception of hospitality (which has had a long history of user generated reviews) Australia is still not embracing websites that combine official business information with user generated content, reviews and comments.

How long until this expands to other forms of small business – could we have a system where tradesmen are reviewed? Or many people just want to find a good hairdresser or beauty salon? It is after all just a matter of time before there is a web 2.0 incarnation that will satisfy our needs of information, yet where is it?
Some of the bigger directories like HotFrog may have gotten it right with better quality listings than traditional business directories, yet they are still not that open to user generated content. Same for AussieWeb – it is nothing more than a huge business directory with contact information. These sites, in essence are providing nothing that the yellow pages hasn’t provided for decades.

True Local is perhaps the best example of a site that is on its way - at least it has tried to start a reviewing system, the problem is 99% of businesses do not have any reviews. It is a chicken and the egg problem; if small business embraced local search better consumers would start using it, and if consumers started using it small business would embrace it… In the end we have to ask, is it us that is the problem or is it small business? One of the reasons that local SEO has undoubtedly not taken off is that we are all too lazy to offer the infrustructure to support it, that is, online spaces that small businesses can use for promotion, reputation management and as a public relations tool.