Local Search Column
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.
Which local citation sources matter now?
An informal poll of local SEOs yields some answers -- and disagreements -- about spending time on...
The importance of an effective review management workflow
Brands are at the mercy of third-party review management sites so it’s important to monitor and manage this process as best you...
Google’s inconsistency with third-party reviews is a confusing user experience
Google would be better off removing “reviews from the web” because the lack of enforcement with their own guidelines makes it difficult to...
The convergence of data quality to consumer discoverability
Data cleanliness and accuracy must be a priority for brands because it will affect marketing performance at the local level....
Why is there so little innovation in local?
The alpha and omega of local is now...
New research shows strong link between Google My Business photo quantity and search performance
Here's what analyzing 580,853 images across 15,191 Google My Business listings taught us about how GMB images could be impacting user...
5 tactics that encourage customer reviews
Make sure your business pages are claimed and ready for reviews – then be ready with a strategy to respond to...
When bad user-generated content happens to good businesses
Monitor and create a triage for how you’ll handle questionable UGC content including reviews, photos and Q&A forums with incorrect information...
What two big studies tell us about the state of local marketing
New research from SOCi and FreshChalk point toward best practices and reveal how most local marketers are failing to execute....
What do you do if Google My Business doesn’t understand your business?
Pop-up shops, mobile by design, are legitimate businesses but Google has no easy way to help you find...
What’s it like to be a Google Gold Product Expert?: An interview with Ben Fisher
Ben Fisher explains how he became a Google product expert and the benefits of being a tester and providing feedback to make tools better for...
Nextdoor emerges as a location marketing destination
Claiming pages and managing your reputation with customer ratings and reviews on this hyperlocal platform calls for a closer look from local...
Should we be paying for Google My Business features?
Paying for GMB features would be a handy new revenue stream for Google, but how it manages trust features - and spam - in a pay-to-play model is...
The time has come to optimize for IRLs rather than URLs
Drive-to-store strategies have reached a tipping point where they can play a significant role in improving performance of online marketing due...
The majority of listings for car accident attorneys on Google are fake
Google’s ranking algorithm has a huge flaw in its local results that lead generating companies have been using for their own...
The rise (and further rise) of Google My Business spam
Google's machine learning tool verification is just not working for GMB listings as spam is constantly slipping through the net. Here's how you...
How call tracking is becoming ‘conversational intelligence’
Marketers have really only scratched the surface of what call analytics can do....
What do the symbols mean in Google’s Map Pack and Local Finder?
Over the past couple of years, Google has been consistently expanding upon its functionality for extracting information and displaying in local...
SMX Overtime: The new realities of local search
SEO expert Damian Rollison offers insights into the sites that matter for local search and ranking besides Google My Business, and why you...
Google My Business messaging problems continue
When messaging is set up in the GMB app, it doesn't work for listings that belong to location groups in the...