Finding Local Help

So, for whatever reason you need help with your computer or Cell phone or other gadget and you either can’t or don’t want to do the repairs yourself.  How do you find a local technician, repair guru or consulting service?

I was going to produce a list on this page until I noticed a problem.  There are so many list of “get help” locations that they overwhelm search results.  I decided that it would be best not to add to this problem.

Instead, I am going to let you in on a couple of things I have figured out that can greatly help you.

First, let’s talk a moment about small operators and big chains.  There is nothing wrong with national chains of repair services.  Good ones will give you a more professional service but will also retain the customer service and relationship aspects that we all want.  Unfortunately not all of them seem to adhere to these principles.  Worse, many of them show up as covering an area when in reality the closest representative or service shop is hundreds of miles away.

Smaller, out of house and small local shops tend to give you a more personal touch and generally at a lower cost, but sometimes they don’t always have the experience they really should have and many are overwhelmed with request.

It’s a trade off either way.  For many people it’s simply a matter of what they are comfortable with.  When it comes to computer and Cell phone issues most people want to be able to take the gadget to someone and pick it up when it’s fixed.  Others prefer that someone comes to their home and does the work while they watch.

In either case how do you find someone close?  Provided that you are not cut off from the Internet a search is the most likely way to find help.  The problem is knowing how.

Lets look at the normal process.  The average person is going to just go to the web and do a search on “local computer repair”. 

It’s a hassle.  Try it.  Go to Google or another search engine and type in “Local computer repair and the name of a city”.  I have done it.  The results are a mess.  What you will get is over 10 million hits and the first several pages will be places advertising directories and list of local computer places.  Now all you have to do is sift through each of them for someone or something in your area.

Hint number one:  If you are a little search savvy you are going to enter “computer repair and the name of your city and state.”  This will filter out some of the directories and the “look here” sites, but more importantly if you are using Google you will notice that there is a map at the top of the search results listings.  Next to that box is a list of computer repair locations in that area.

Hint number two:  Now do the same search on Google but add the word “local” to the front.  Notice that not only did the search results change, but the list next to the local business map changed also.  Most likely some of the national based companies that actually do not have an office or shop in that town were replaced with actual local repair or service shops.

I just did this search and used both Indianapolis Indiana and Franklin Tennessee.  In both cases several of the results in the “Local business results for computer repair near xxxx” list were different.

Hint number three:  Skip all the mess and use Google Maps. You can go to Google Maps and do the search “Local computer repair Indianapolis Indiana”

The locations will all appear on the map and the list will appear on the left.  Only the shops with stores or offices will be listed.   The benefit is that this eliminates the big chain coverage that actually does not have an office or service shop locally, but it also eliminates the home operators and home based service technicians.

Note:  If you use the Google custom search on the left column of this page The list will be cleaner than the results on the Google website, but you won’t get the “Local business results for computer repair near xxxx” The results are also generally the same with or without  the word “local”.

As a service to those home based, small business sites that may not show up in these types of searches we will be offering banner placement on this page for a small yet to be determined fee.  Details will be posted when we are ready.