Local Search provides the latest news and information about the growing segment of local search marketing, including tips on how to take advantage of local directory providers and online yellow page listings, mapping tools and location based services to help users uncover real-world merchants, franchise locations, locally owned small businesses and community places. Columnists cover geo-targeting, zip code and map data being used by searchers and search engines to provide locally relevant results.
Sign Up To Receive This Column Via Email:
May 20, 2013 at 11:06am ET by Chris Silver Smith
Last week at the Google I/O developer conference, a newly redesigned Google Maps design was introduced. While a number of online commentators have virtually gushed about the new interfacing from an end user perspective, there may be a less-than-rosy view for many local businesses.
Thus far, the new version of Google Maps is pretty much in beta, rolled out by invitation or to select user groups. So, some parts of the design may still be in flux for a while.
However, the direction of the development is likely crystallized sufficiently to be able to make a number of observations and deducti [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Local Search
May 15, 2013 at 12:19pm ET by Chris Silver Smith
Last week, Alex Chitu at Google Operating System blog reported on some screengrabs that were apparently leaked from Google Maps. The images indicated that new Maps interfaces could be in the works, and it was supposed that these might be officially announced at Google I/O today or tomorrow. This morning, Mike Blumenthal reported on new Google Place Results pages that are rolling out in Europe and appear to be closely related in look and feel to the leaked images.
Compare a closeup detail of one of the leaked images on the left, with a screengrab I just took of the map portion of the results [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Local Search
May 13, 2013 at 9:25am ET by Andrew Shotland
One of the more desperate requests I get from clients interested in Local Search is wanting to rank well in Google for local queries when they don't have a physical location in the searched city.
The challenge is that Google appears to not want to show businesses that are not physically located in the searched city if they can avoid it. And, in their guidelines, they are fairly explicit about trying to game the listings, particularly with easily faked addresses like P.O. Boxes:
"Do not create a listing or place your pin marker at a location where the business does not physically exist. P.O [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Place Pages | Google: SEO | Local Search
May 6, 2013 at 9:00am ET by Myles Anderson
Last week, we published the findings of the BrightLocal Local SEO Industry Survey 2013.
The objective of this survey is to gain greater understanding about the health and nature of the local SEO Industry. Through this survey, we aim to find out what life is like "on the ground" for those in the local SEO industry and share those findings publicly to help improve the knowledge and insight within our industry.
This is the 2nd wave of the survey. The 1st wave was conducted in 2011 and looked ahead to 2012. Wave 1 survey results can be viewed here.
About The BrightLocal Local SEO Industry [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Local Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | SEM Industry: Stats | SEO - Search Engine Optimization | SEO: Local
May 1, 2013 at 8:30am ET by Neg Norton
Earlier this month, local search marketing leaders from the U.S., Canada and 12 other countries gathered in Las Vegas for the Local Search Association’s 2013 annual conference, "Search Starts Here."
Over several days, attendees engaged in informative discussions about the numerous opportunities and challenges facing our industry, ranging from the growing importance of original digital content to the rise of mobile and social media.
In this month’s column, I will highlight my key takeaways from the LSA conference, which are focused on both the strides I believe local marketers should [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: AdWords: Enhanced Campaigns | Local Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | SEO: Local | SEO: Mobile Search | Social Media Marketing
Apr 22, 2013 at 9:23am ET by Chris Silver Smith
I began working for a particular type of traditional business industry recently, and I noticed that a great many of the small businesses operating within it were still proceeding as though it were pre-Internet days. They did promotions as though they were a one-way transmission instead of a dialogue.
Unfortunately, that's not the only industry where this mindset persists. In order to achieve better sales, attract more potential customers, and, yes, improve your search engine rankings, you need to incorporate "Conversational Marketing" as a primary tactic.
The Cluetrain Manifesto came out [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Social | How To: Social Media Marketing | Local Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | Social Media Marketing
Apr 15, 2013 at 10:15am ET by Andrew Shotland
With the announcement of Facebook Home, Facebook has pushed the accelerator on its local mobile strategy, which was already in high gear, thanks to Facebook Local Search and its big brother, Facebook Graph Search. By the end of 2013, I expect the social media giant to further strengthen its hold as the #2 local search app; so, it might behoove local marketers to get a handle on exactly how their businesses are showing up in Facebook these days.
There are numerous ways that local business data makes it into Facebook, including:
"Link" buttons on local business sites
"Share on Facebook" [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Facebook | Facebook: Facebook Search | Facebook: SEO | Local Search | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local
Apr 8, 2013 at 12:09pm ET by Myles Anderson
Recently, Google announced some significant changes to their Google Places dashboard. The wires have been humming ever since, and the reaction has ranged from fall-off-seat excitement to 'humph, is that it!?'
[caption id="attachment_154764" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Dashboard images: Local Search Forum[/caption]
Whatever the opinion, the truth is that these changes signify a big development in the way Google handles 'Local.' Google has been talking up the importance of local for an age, and the increased real estate given to local results in SERPs backs this up. They have also upd [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Place Pages | Local Search | SEO: Local
Apr 1, 2013 at 11:44am ET by Natalie Wuchenich
This week, the Local Search Association is releasing our “Local Mobile Search Study,” which overviews the evolving mobile environment in the U.S. and the growing role of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices in the local search experience.
The 2013 study, which features 2012 data compiled from several comScore digital and mobile metrics databases, demonstrates a significant shift in how consumers are accessing the Internet and emphasizes the importance of local businesses embracing mobile platforms as yet another venue to reach consumers.
Rise Of Connected Devices Provides [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Local Search | Search Ads: Mobile Search | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | Search Marketing: Mobile | Stats: comScore
Mar 25, 2013 at 10:43am ET by Chris Silver Smith
Many small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) focus heavily on their organic search rankings. After all, it's "free," and if you enjoy a high ranking, you can derive excellent business from it. But, even if your business ranks well in local search (and especially if you don't), there are great reasons to consider some paid search advertising, aka "PPC."
While I have a reputation as a local search optimization specialist, but I consider myself to be broader in that I am a marketer, period. As such, my philosophy is that companies should promote themselves within as many channels as they reasonably [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Mar 18, 2013 at 11:54am ET by Andrew Shotland
Two weeks ago, Greg Sterling and I published "YQ," a study on the state of location data for Yext, where we discovered (surprise!) that the state of business location data on the Web is pretty messy. The study provided us with the opportunity to look at patterns among thousands of Yext's customers, and I thought it would be of interest to share some more detail on what we saw in that data.
In the December 2012 YQ Survey, we found that consumers regularly encounter incorrect location data for businesses. It’s clearly a big problem, not only for consumers, but also for marketers.
Given t [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Mar 11, 2013 at 12:00pm ET by Myles Anderson
The staggering growth in smartphone and iPad/tablet usage is changing the way consumers behave. Having these powerful devices glued to our hands 18 hours a day changes how we manage our lives, stay in touch with friends and consume media.
It also affects how we find and engage with businesses and services, and no more so than at a local level.
We (BrightLocal) conducted a survey with our consumer panel to find out just how consumers use their mobile devices to find local businesses and what content was most important to them when using their mobile devices (we specified 'mobile phones [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Mar 4, 2013 at 11:55am ET by Wesley Young
If you’ve followed headlines about the online deals industry over the past year, you might wonder if the phenomenon has lost its appeal. The coverage often goes something like this:
Major players in the space are restructuring. The addition of hundreds of redundant and niche sites have saturated the market. Local businesses are moving on after being burned by offering steep discounts that failed to generate repeat business. Consumers are fatigued by the onslaught of deals by email offer services not relevant to them.
Yet, while the young industry faces its challenges, both lo [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Feb 25, 2013 at 10:58am ET by Chris Silver Smith
In the past few weeks, I've been confronted multiple times by the question of whether social media is truly worthwhile for local businesses. The question comes from companies feeling the pinch of costs while also desiring to promote themselves adequately. The ROI may not be clear in many cases, so let's examine it.
First of all, businesses have been propelled toward being involved in social media because marketers are attracted to any channels or arenas that large swaths of consumers gravitate to. As the usership of various social media services has grown, the rule-of-thumb is that their wo [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Feb 18, 2013 at 1:29pm ET by Andrew Shotland
While we usually talk about how to rank well in Google, there are plenty of non-Google local search engines such as Yelp, YP.com, CityGrid, etc. that have a significant amount of highly-qualified consumer search traffic.
Each of these sites has its own proprietary search algorithms. It may make sense to study the algorithms of the biggest; but, in general, there are a number of standard basic ways to provide data about your business that can influence how you rank in any local search engine.
Relevancy Signals
These are signals that tend to be directly related to the phrases input into a s [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Feb 11, 2013 at 11:01am ET by Myles Anderson
While many industries and businesses are struggling to survive and grow right now, that can't be said of the SEO or online local advertising industries. It's boom time for our sector as more and more businesses turn to the Internet and mobile as their primary marketing channels.
[caption id="attachment_148135" align="alignright" width="270"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption]
But, it's not just businesses that are wising up to the opportunities which online holds. Hundreds of new SEO agencies and freelancer operators are popping up every week as people leave their old professions behind [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Feb 4, 2013 at 10:51am ET by Wesley Young
Recently, Facebook and Foursquare announced new features that will drastically change the ways local businesses leverage the social networks to build customer loyalty and drive new sales.
With Facebook, the introduction of Graph Search provides businesses with greater incentive to invest time and effort in their presence on the site so they can appear among the top search results for a wider group of potential customers.
With Foursquare, changes in privacy policies provide businesses with access to more information that will help them analyze customer trends and better reach loyal custo [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Jan 28, 2013 at 10:01am ET by Chris Silver Smith
For local business listings, ranking well in Google search results is highly important. So, many proprietors attempt all sorts of things to get their businesses to rank well, and they often unintentionally break Google's rules in the process. Yet, there's no real means to get forgiveness once their listing is burned. Confusion surrounding this further exacerbates the issue.
For years now, I've provided recommendations on how to improve one's local business rankings in Google. (Your business listing with name, address and phone may appear embedded in the regular keyword search results along wi [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Jan 21, 2013 at 1:33pm ET by Myles Anderson
During the regular online training sessions which I deliver to our customers, I inevitably get asked the same question. Actually this question comes in a few guises.
What should I focus on more - citations or links?
Are reviews an important factor for local ranking?
How many citations should I build for my client?
How do I know the best categories for my client to be listed in?
But, they are all asking the same basic question: What do I need to focus on to improve my client’s rankings?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a silver-bullet answer because there isn’t one. Every clien [...]
Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To | How To: SEO | Intermediate | Local Search
Jan 14, 2013 at 2:04pm ET by Andrew Shotland
When speaking with SMBs and companies that sell marketing services to SMBs, I hear over and over again how a business wants to rank #1 for important local keywords.
Then, I look at their website and have visions of money being poured down the drain, horses being led to water sans drinking, Sisyphus rolling a boulder up that damn hill, and a variety of other cliches.
While SEO is an important channel, the ROI that can come from improving customer conversion rates on your website can't be beat -- assuming you actually have people coming to your website in the first place.
Most SMB websi [...]
Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search
Get Our News, Everywhere!
Follow @sengineland