Learning Local Search Via Twitter

We've sifted through the best tweets from the latest LocalU conference to get the latest on local seo and local search marketing.

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Last week Minneapolis hosted the latest installment of LocalU, a traveling local search marketing show put together by GetListed.org, David Mihm, Mike Blumenthal, Matt McGee and other local search notables, including Aaron Weiche of MN’s Five Technology.  For those of you who couldn’t make it out to the show I thought it would be useful to relay the top takeaways from the conference via the magic of Twitter:

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal@Mike Blumenthal @AaronWeich leading search ranking is like BigFoot….very blurry

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling There is no trick to SEO. It’s a process. Make your website unblurry

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp With inbound links, consider the credibility of those sites linking to you!

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal@Mike Blumenthal @AaronWeiche the secret to ranking on the Search engines is that there is no secret

Lindseytibesar Normal@Lindsey Tibesar @AaronWeiche Proving your credibility is a process.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Provide good unique content w/links. Make your site easy to use for visitors. Combine best practices. Prove & earn credibility

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Claim your business listing! Remember: Google local business center is now Google Places.

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling Controlling your business’ Search Engine presence is probably more important than what your do with your own website. Jeral (Google )

Aaron Weiche 230 Normal@Aaron Weiche No matter if you have a website, you NEED to claim your Google Places listing & add all your info. take control.

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal @Mike Blumenthal google recommends using an email address at your domain to claim your places Page

Aaron Weiche 230 Normal@Aaron Weiche Many are not aware that your Google Places listing will display photos & VIDEO. Maximize the opportunity.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp When you claim your business on Google Places, you can place coupons on your listing!

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling 148% increase in searches for coupons in 2009 Jeral (Google)

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Google Places analytics shows you how many times you show up in the search results as well as the action people take on it.

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Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Claim your listing on Bing Local Listig Center. If you don’t give them the info, they’ll get it from someone else. Ensure accuracy

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Tag your listing, don’t talk about your business in your terms, use your customers words!

Twitter Head Shot Normal@Julie Gordon Claiming your biz listing is most important step in building trust with #Google

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal@Mike Blumenthal bing has upgraded backend so that mail verification is now happening much more quickly

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp 95.8% of search traffic is driven to page 1 search results. Now, how do you get there?

1185  Melberg Email      Normal@Caroline Melberg @mblumenthal from Google says Maps is the new Yellow Pages. It’s a vacuum cleaner and a stereo.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Your listing is important across channels. With the increase in mobile & voice search, top results and accurate info gain weight

Twitter Head Shot Normal@Julie Gordon Be consistent, consistent, consistent w/your business name & address info to be more searchable (& trusted).

Aaron Weiche 230 Normal@Aaron Weiche Great statement @mblumenthal: DON’T chase the search algorithms, run your business correctly, integrate proper online marketing.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp The panel is railing against keyword stuffing. Love to hear that!

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp If it’s confusing to a user, it’s going to be confusing to Google or Bing.

17  350  Www  Normal@JanetRoper Strive to rank in top 5 in seo, otherwise missing about 75% of biz

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp The algorithms are different between Google Places and Google organic. Google Places gives local businesses an advantage

17  350  Www  Normal@JanetRoper Don’t skimp on keyword research

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Inbound links are more important than keyword optimization in the organic results, making your content more important than ever

Aaron Weiche 230 Normal@Aaron Weiche Oh BOY! @marybowling is breaking down keyword research & data on plastic surgery & breast augmentation. Never saw that coming.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Use Google insights for your local keyword analysis

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal@Mike Blumenthal @mattmcgee provides links related to his preso @ GetListed Local University – Twin-Cities Attendees https://tinyurl.com/34ffa6r

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal@Mike Blumenthal my articles related to GetListed Local University – Twin Cities preso https://tinyurl.com/28opnbj

Twitter Head Shot Normal@Julie Gordon If you want the search engines to catch important info, be sure it’s in text format.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Analytics is not reporting. Analytics is gleaning information that will make you more money!

Twitter Head Shot Normal@Julie Gordon Google analytics blog is phenomenal! via @ed_reese https://bit.ly/tqGoJ

@avinashkaushik

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling If you don’t have anything to say don’t blog. @mattmcgee

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Get hyperlocal with Twitter and location-based networks like @foursquare. Follow trends, sentiment and share incentives

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp From @mattmcgee: Most reviews are positive. Don’t fear the review sites.

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp When it comes to free monitoring in social media, you cannot skip SocialMention. Better than many paid tools.

Lenae Pink Avatar Crop Copy Normal@Social Net Nanny Set up Google & Yahoo Alerts with domain name, variations of your domain name, personal name & variations

Lenae Pink Avatar Crop Copy Normal@Social Net Nanny Purchase domains that R variations of your Business name as well…not all customers remember it exactly

Twitteravatardeluxecorp Normal@Deluxe Corp Learn how to set up a free social monitoring dashboard https://bit.ly/acvY1b

Twitter Head Shot Normal@JulieG_Deluxe Search Engine Land blog is like the #WallStreetJournal of search for #biz. #localu https://selnd.com/1bz4SH

Lenae Pink Avatar Crop Copy Normal@Social Net Nanny Set up Google & Yahoo Alerts with domain name, variations of your domain name, personal name & variations

Logo Plaudit Normal@Plaudit Design Almost half of all US Internet users search online on a typical day – Google stat provided at #localu,

PJ Headshot Tw Normal@Paul Jonas Great pres. By @AaronWeiche main point: think past the tricks and be credible w/your site. Need to build trust with your content.

Ed Reese 1 Normal@Ed Reese @incmagazine has a great biz writing article https://bit.ly/c8b6AH of examples & thoughts of what @AaronWeiche said.

Mike Blumenthal Avatar Normal @Mike Blumenthal Google: provide most direct website and page for your location

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Brad Wellman Rep from Bing discuss Bing Local: “Local is a disappointing category; local doesn’t meet satisfaction expectations for the user”

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling @aaronweiche says your website needs to answer questions

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Brad Wellman Bing’s Local Listing Center, just like Google Places (formerly Local Business Center)

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab Make sure your hours are accurate in your business listing, and prominent on your website. Users care. A lot.

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling Mikko of Bing says studies shows searchers want to know biz hours

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab Bing defaults all new local listings to postcards. Editing an existing listing allows for phone call validation.

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Daniel Hollerung Accuracy is important. 99% right can be 100% wrong.

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Brad Wellman Online Yellow Pages are the Etch-a-Sketch compared to Google Maps’ iPad.

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Brad Wellman There’s no single record for your business on a search engine. Record is assembled from content about your biz from all over the web

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab Map data comes from many sources, and includes a historic record.

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James Svoboda Don’t forget Open to Close hours for local listings!

TwitterProfilePhoto Normal@Brad Wellman Un-merge two merged businesses on Google Places: Go to btm of page; “report a problem”; select “place has another listing”

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab Google doesn’t want agencies claiming many client accounts in one dashboard.

Me Gw08 Normal@Amber Richard A review is independent. Add it your site and it’s a testimonial. Not as valuable. 

Thomas Normal@Thomas McMahon Keyword meta tags are dead. Just so you know.

Twistermc Me10 Normal@Thomas McMahon Flash is a black hole for search engines. See it’s not just Apple who has no love for Flash.

Logo Plaudit Normal@Plaudit Design Local Search gives local businesses an advantage and a way to compete at a proper scale.

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James Svoboda Multi-Location businesses need location pages for each location!

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James SvobodaHeadsmacking keyword tip from Mary B – list every product & service you offer onsite. Me- maybe a few you don’t???

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James Svoboda Note to self – look into Hcard because they keep mentioning them…

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James Svoboda Google & Bing Local – no agency tools coming for local listing mgmt. Bing – none I can talk about (yet?)

James Tie 120x120 Normal@James Svoboda Matt McGee: SMB websites with Blogs – +55% visits, +97% Links & + 434% more pages indexed. #TrueThat

Ehren4 Normal@Ehren Seim Blogs are VERY important for SEO and traffic (if you’re actually blogging). 2 blogs per week recommended

Ed Reese 1 Normal@Ed Reese Great SEO myths vs realities post from @seomoz https://bit.ly/aVm1dG with similar slant as earlier preso from @davidmihm

Mary B SM 4 08 Normal@Mary Bowling @MattMcGee case study: guitar teacher gained international clientele from social media. Guitar lessons via Skype!

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab @mattmcgee should check out what @IzzysIceCream is doing with hyperlocal RFID for ice cream

Doolie Normal@Julie KosbabRT @MaryBowling: agencies should not claim client business listings in their accounts. Business should own their own listings

Doolie Normal@Julie Kosbab Getting rid of dupe Yahoo Local listings: Impossible. For the record.

PJ Headshot Tw Normal@Paul Jonas Wow. #localu was exceptional!

Andrew Normal@Andrew Shotland Now go forth and rank!


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Andrew Shotland
Contributor
Andrew Shotland is the proprietor of Local SEO Guide, a leading local search engine optimization blog and consultancy.

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