PremierGuide Adds Microsites to Private-Label Local Search Solution

August 23, 2006; 02:58 AM

PremierGuide, the leading provider of private-label local search solutions to local media companies, announced today that it has added microsites. Microsites allow PremierGuide customers, such as newspapers and TV stations, to create richly detailed online information pages for local businesses in their markets and drive local search traffic and advertising revenues.

Microsites provide everything a consumer needs to consider when selecting a local business, including service details, products carried, brands offered, amenities, business hours, credentials, qualifications, awards, testimonials, payment options and contact information. Microsites also provide an excellent vehicle to consolidate multiple advertising media in a single place on the web, including photos, multimedia ads, newspaper ads, Yellow Pages ads, radio ads and TV ads. View a microsite example at http://loqal.com/Rancho+Motor+Company.262131.111654006.home.html.

Why Local Media Companies Need Local Search with Microsites
As consumers shift their local information searches from traditional media, such as Yellow Page directories and newspapers, to the web, local media companies are responding by adding local search to their websites. Adding local search to their websites enables media companies to provide a local alternative to national websites such as local.google.com, citysearch.com and yellowpages.com. Local media companies have a distinct advantage over these national sites because they are known and trusted by local consumers and local businesses. This places them in a unique position to build rich local business content that attracts local search traffics and drives new online advertising revenues. Microsites are the primary local search vehicle for creating and managing rich local business content.

PremierGuide Microsite Benefits
PremierGuide microsites offer the following features and benefits:

•    Benefits for local media companies
Content is king in local search. PremierGuide microsites allow local media companies to create and control richly detailed online information pages for local businesses in their markets. Owning unique local business content is the key to driving significant local search traffic and advertising revenues. PremierGuide’s flexible microsite configuration tool enables local media companies to create custom tabs and fields that organize and present information according to the unique requirements of each business. A restaurant microsite might include information on popular menu items, whereas a local auto dealer microsite might include detailed brand and product information on the auto parts and accessories they carry. PremierGuide microsites also provide an excellent way to consolidate multiple advertising media in a single place on the web. For example, a realtor’s microsite might include multimedia presentations of the homes they are selling, their local newspaper ad, their local Yellow Pages ad, their local radio ad and their local TV ad.

•    Benefits for local businesses
PremierGuide microsites provide local businesses with a compact, comprehensive presentation of all the information they need to make available on the web in order to attract online customers. If the local business already has a website, a microsite provides a useful complement that gives them a second chance to be found online. If the business does not yet have a website, their microsite becomes their primary presence on the web, allowing them to be readily found by the growing number of consumers who are researching and selecting local business online.

•    Benefits for local consumers
PremierGuide microsites provide rich information for multiple businesses, logically organized in a standard format, making it quick and easy for local consumers to research and select local businesses.

"Local media companies must take the initiative to own unique local business content if they want to participate in the multi-billion dollar local search opportunity," said Malcolm Lewis, CEO and co-founder of PremierGuide. "We look forward to helping them translate their strong local brand into content-rich local search offerings that provide compelling alternatives to national portals and drive significant local search traffic and revenues."

“Our goal is to be the premier provider of rich, actionable local business content in our markets,” said Wendy Barnes, Director of Internet Sales, Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI). “We are excited about the addition of microsites to our PremierGuide-powered local search directories and look forward to offering this powerful new advertising vehicle to local businesses in our markets.”

"More than 50% of small businesses that advertise now have Websites, but they still need to be found by search engines and directories, and they need their customers to see all their marketing messages pulled together in one place.” said Peter Krasilovsky of Krasilovsky Consulting, a leading New Media consulting firm. "PremierGuide microsites enable all that. With their new microsite offering, they are riding the next wave of small business marketing."

About PremierGuide
With more than 250 customers, PremierGuide (corp.premierguide.com) is North America’s largest and fastest-growing provider of private-label local search solutions. PremierGuide’s solution enables newspaper publishers, TV and radio stations, and city portal operators to build traffic and grow online advertising revenues by adding local search functionality and content to their websites. PremierGuide’s solution can be deployed in as little as a day and requires no setup or monthly fees for qualified customers. PremierGuide customers include Belo Corp., Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI), Freedom Community Newspapers, Freedom Metro and Swift Newspapers, Inc. PremierGuide is a privately held corporation based in Bellevue, WA.