The Annual Print Yellow Page Page Count And Other Dead Horses
It’s time for the annual print Yellow Page count. And I promised last year to stop beating that dead horse… so this year I will beat several. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Page counts in my local print version have declined once again by over 10%. The good news for […]
Survey: 85% Of SEOs Shoot For 1-5 New Local Reviews Per Month
Managing reviews and reputation isn’t a new discipline for search consultants and agencies to focus on, but it is gaining prominence as reviews take on more significance in the world of local search. Consumers consult online reviews more regularly in their research process and put an…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
2014 Local Directory SEO Content Strategy
This post was originally published on Search Engine Land, but I didn’t like how they rewrote the title so here’s the director’s cut: To: Local Directories From: Google Re: Local Search Rankings Hey guys… You may have noticed that over the past year, a lot […]
The post 2014 Local Directory SEO Content Strategy appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
A (Pretend) Open Letter From Google To Local Directory Sites
To: Local Directories From: Google Re: Local Search Rankings Hey guys… You may have noticed that over the past year, a lot of the organic traffic to your sites has been… well, we guess the right word is “tanking.” As you know, it is our […]
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Why “Barnacle SEO” Is Making A Big Comeback In Local
Although I’d heard of “barnacle SEO” as a tactic at some of the early SEO conference networking events, the first real proponent of it in local search was Will Scott. I want to say that Will originally published this post on the now-defunct Local Search News in early 2008; but…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
The Local Search Event Horizon: Adopt Events Markup For Your Business
This month, Google Maps just announced a new events feature appearing on Android phones which has already been appearing in desktop local search results — for some types of business, events information is now being displayed in addition to the other local profile elements. The focus on events…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google’s “Organic” Algorithm Is A Lot Faster Than Google’s Local Algo
On March 15th, the WP Total Cache plugin on this site for some reason started serving Googlebot 403 response codes (aka “Access Denied”): As you can see organic entrances to my site via the home page have tanked over the past couple of days: While traffic to other pages was down about 20% on Monday, […]
The post Google’s “Organic” Algorithm Is A Lot Faster Than Google’s Local Algo appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
Which Is The Most “Generous” Search Engine To Local Businesses?
Earlier this month, one of our customers asked an interesting question in a training workshop. They wanted to know which search engine displayed the most local results for different types of search terms. Google gets the lion’s share of focus in the SEO world, particularly in Local. They also…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Everything is Awesome in Local SEO!
I gave the following talk on local SEO tactics at SEMPDX’s Searchfest last week and thought you all would enjoy the deck. Searchfest is a great show in a great city. I was joined by Dana DiTomaso of KickPoint. Dana is the real deal. She gave a great talk on local marketing “beyond citations” that’s […]
The post Everything is Awesome in Local SEO! appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
Time For SMBs To Tackle – Or Be Tackled By – Online Reviews
So much of search focuses on being found. But being found doesn’t do much good unless you’re also chosen. The only thing worse than not being found is being found and rejected from consideration. There’s no doubt that online reviews play an increasingly central role in the consumer path to…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Consumer Mindshare and Yelp: An Empire in Local Search Or a Wannabe?
Last week Greg Sterling noted: … Yelp and Google. They’re like Spain and Portugal in the 15th Century — rivals trying to carve up the local globe. The analogy seemed wrong to me as Spain and Portugal were to a large extent equal in their strength. I noted in the comments that “I see the […]
Why Duplicate Business Listings Are Like The Walking Dead
In the Local SEO biz, we spend a lot of time fixing duplicate business listings. Duplicate records of your business appearing throughout the Local Search ecosystem can cause a variety of issues like messing with your Google Local rankings, causing you …
Local Search – Bigger than you think
Last Wednesday (12th February 2014) I had the opportunity to talk at one of the last SES events (before it becomes Clickz Live) in London on Local Search with Gregg Stewart. In the talk I discussed the growing influence of local, with 1 in 3 searches now classified as having local intent – up from […]
Which Sites Do Consumers Use to Find a Local Business? Why YP.com is Facing Headwinds
On January 20th, I completed a consumer survey (n=~2500) asking: Which of the following on-line sites have you used regularly to find local businesses? The obvious winner was Google with the YellowPages.com making a surprisingly strong showing. In a recent article by Greg Sterling, YP.com noted that they were going to compete directly with Google […]
Yelp’s 2013 Results and the Headlines that Weren’t
Yelp announced their 2013 “earnings” last week. I am continually shocked by the rosy headlines and the lack of due diligence often present in the reporting. Some of the more egregious examples of uncritical coverage: Yelp Pushes Through The Controversies With Big Growth And A 5-Star Quarter Yelp shares jump 17.5% on solid Q4 results Management Says Yelp Is […]
“You’re Ad Rep Turned Down A Job At A Gas Station – Just To Help YOU With Online Marketing”
Phil Rozek has been spending too much time on this blog. Great post – IYP Advertising & Local SEO: How Badly Does It Suck? If you are not familiar with Phil’s work, spend a few hours on his site. It’s Local SEO gold.
The post “You’re Ad Rep Turned Down A Job At A Gas Station – Just To Help YOU With Online Marketing” appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
Too Bad Most SMBs Can’t Afford Superbowl Ads
Earlier today I thought I had uncovered evidence that GoDaddy faked it’s “real” SMB quitting their job Superbowl Ad. Perhaps I posted too soon as further research revealed that the profiled puppeteer is in fact real. So let’s use this tempest in a teapot as a teachable moment shall we and provide PuppetsbyGwen.com with some […]
The post Too Bad Most SMBs Can’t Afford Superbowl Ads appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
(Sock?) Puppets by Gwen – Did GoDaddy Rig Their Superbowl Ad?
So Gwen Johnson quit her day job to pursue puppeteer dreams in front of the country last night in part thanks to an awesome GoDaddy website. According to the Superbowl Ad, Gwen has booked about 1,300 jobs via her website (well technically, she says they were “booked online”, but she clearly implies it was through […]
The post (Sock?) Puppets by Gwen – Did GoDaddy Rig Their Superbowl Ad? appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
6 Local Tips For Small Business SEO Success
We all know that a key component of any small business’ marketing strategy is to effectively position its brand in search engine results. But is it possible to dominate search results with content you control — or at least content you’ve influenced? The answer is yes. There are…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Anatomy of a Local SEO Campaign
Source: The Internet Client Information Intake Research > Strategy Recommendations Site Audit > Upgrade NAP/Citation Audit > Fix Issues On Site Content Creation Off Site Content Creation Review Generation Link Research > Link Outreach Clean Up Link SPAM From Previous SEO Firms Rinse Repeat
The post Anatomy of a Local SEO Campaign appeared first on Local SEO Guide.