Local SEO: How To Rank Your Local Business
Columnist Matthew Barby shares this handy primer on local search engine optimization.
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SearchCap: Bing Images & Places, Yahoo Testing & Google Mobile Lite
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Places Adds Several Agency-Friendly Local Business Listing Tools Agency dashboard offers local listing management, sharing with clients, features for chain businesses and more. Is Yahoo Testing Non-Bing Powered Search Results? […]
SearchCap: Facebook Search On Android, Apple Maps Adds TripAdvisor & Content Ideas
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Facebook Post Search Is Finally Coming To Android Devices Facebook’s updated search product was launched for iOS, web and mobile web in December. It’s still only available for users of the […]
Apple Maps Adds New Review Sources, Replacing Yelp Outside US In Many Cases
TripAdvisor and Booking.com reviews now appearing in search results.
SearchCap: Google Maps Pac-Man, Google/Baidu China & Senator Lee FTC
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Click-to-Call Deep Dive: Best Practices from Search Experts – April 16 Webcast Tips for search marketers trying to turn mobile callers into customers. Google’s PAC-Maps Gets April Fools’ Ball Rolling Early, […]
SearchCap: Yahoo Search Share, Google Red Slow Icons & Green Stars
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Study: Google Now Displays Rich Answers For 19.45% Of Queries Rich answers are now displaying for targeted queries at a rate of 19.45% for targeted queries, according to a new study […]
Why You Should Attend Local Search And Geo-Marketing Intensive At SMX West
SMX West is coming up fast. On March 2 there are a number of workshops and intensives being held before the main conference starts on Tuesday, March 3. One of those is the Local Search Advantage. In truth every digital marketer should be interested in location-based search and marketing — 94 percent of conversions happen […]
As Apple-Google Deal Expires, Who Will Win The Safari Default Search Business?
Will it be Bing, Yahoo or Apple itself that supplies Safari's search engine?
10 Things I Learned About Local SEO In 2014
We may not be in school anymore, but as we in the SEO business know, the education process never ends. With that in mind, I’d like to share with you some of the things I learned about this bizarre trade we practice over the past year: 1. Never Again, Google; Never Again First they came […]
From Novelty To Foundational Product: The Evolution Of Google Maps
Until Android came along Google’s most important product after search undoubtedly was Google Maps. I know it sounds heretical to say this but in some ways Maps is more strategic to Google than search today. That’s because Google Maps bridge the physical and digital worlds and because Maps are more “useful” to mobile users than […]
Close More Clients With A Quick Local Site Audit
We all know it — selling local SEO to clients is tough. After my “simple math” post back in October, I’ve gotten a ton of questions asking for more details about our sales process. As we all know, small business owners assume that their site is the best and that they should always rank at the […]
Glimpses Of The Future: 10 Fringe SEO Predictions For 2015
It’s that wonderful time of year when blogs and social media are cluttered with predictions of what the new year will bring. Whether it’s Social Media Predictions for 2015, How SEO Will Change in 2015, or the catch-all Digital Marketing Trends in 2015, it’s all been done — many times over. After a while, the predictions start to […]
SearchCap: Firefox Picks Yahoo, Apple Maps Partners & Bing Home Page HD
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Free Ride? In Europe, Google Will Remain Firefox Search Default Despite No Deal How much does it cost to be Mozilla’s Firefox search provider in Europe? Perhaps nothing — because Google […]
Apple Maps Using New Partners For Multiple-Location Map Submissions
In October Apple launched Apple Maps Connect, intended to allow individual business owners to edit or add local business listings directly into Apple’s database. Apple told me at the time that it wasn’t intended for webmasters or outside agencies to manage multiple locations or listings on behalf of their clients. However I knew that would immediately arise as a question. Accordingly, local SEO Andrew Shotland […]
Apple Webcrawler: More Potential Evidence Of Search Ambitions
Apple Insider reports on the discovery of a web-crawling bot originating from Apple’s servers. It was first “outed” by developer Jan Moesen. This is what Moesen saw: Moesen reports that the bot is only crawling HTML, “not the CSS, JavaScript or image files.” Then he asks whether this is an “official Apple project” or just “someone crawling the web […]
Google Redesigns Maps, Adds OpenTable Reservations, Uber Estimates
Google continues to evolve its Maps for mobile. It has gone well beyond the rudimentary local search and navigation product it once was and become an increasingly sophisticated local discovery tool with an array of content types and improved functionality. Now Google has made Maps more “actionable” with OpenTable reservations and Uber pickup and price estimates built into the app. For […]
SearchCap: Bing Emoji, Google Webmaster Guidelines & Gmail Messages In Search
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Now Lets You Search By Emoji Want to search for something using popular emoji characters? Microsoft’s Bing search engine now supports this. Bing announced the news in a post today, […]
SearchCap: Apple Maps Connect, Foursquare Data & Yahoo Search Personalized
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Yahoo Search Now Shows Your Flights, Events & Packages In The Search Results Yahoo announced that Yahoo Search, as well as Yahoo Mail‘s Today section will now show you your upcoming […]
Apple Launches “Maps Connect” Self-Service Local Listings Portal
This afternoon, Apple notified us of a new self-service portal to add or edit local business listings: Apple Maps Connect. It’s intended for small business owners or their authorized representatives (though not agencies) to be able to quickly and easily add content directly into Apple Maps. The service is free and the listings (or corrected listings) appear […]
SearchCap: Upcoming Google 3rd Party Policy Changes, Quixey Announces Alibaba Deal & More
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Agencies Take Note: Google Third-Party Policy Changes Coming Nov. 2014 Last month, Google rolled out an updated policy center for all advertisers. Starting in November, agencies and other third-party firms and […]
Google Maps Navigation Now Covers 104 Countries
Android Police points out that Google has expanded navigation for Google Maps to 20 additional countries. These are mostly in Africa, the Caribbean islands and South America. From Algeria to Venezuela, the addition of these 20 brings to an impressive 104 the total number of countries where Google Maps offer navigation services. Google Maps is the fifth most […]
Apple Watch Brings Local Search To Your Wrist
We don’t yet know how popular the Apple Watch will be when it goes on sale early next year. A “flash survey” conducted immediately after the announcement showed 33 percent of 1,000 U.S. respondents were potentially interested in buying one. The device carries a wide range of apps and features. Among them are Siri, Apple […]
SearchCap: Negative SEO Extortion Scam, Apple Maps Dominates Google & Bing Ads Top Movers
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Responds To Mass Negative SEO Extortion Emails There are widespread reports within the industry of negative SEO extortion emails being sent to website owners, webmasters, SEOs and others. The emails […]
Apple Maps Represents 70% Of UK Mapping Traffic According To UK Cell Data Provider
According to a report released by U.K’s largest mobile network operator, Everything Everywhere (EE), Apple Maps represents a crushing 70% of mapping traffic across it’s whole network. The report reads: Traffic on the new Apple Maps now represents 70% of mapping traffic on the 4G network, from 60% in the second half of 2013, taking […]
SearchCap: Apple Maps Choices, Google RTBF Solicitations & AdWords PLA Test
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Reassess How You Prioritize Your E-Commerce PPC Campaign BuildsOver the last couple of years, the prioritization of e-commerce PPC campaign builds has shifted dramatically. With the rise of Google Shopping and […]
Apple Maps To Offer Choice Of Google, Others For Directions
According to Cult of Mac, Apple is doing something very interesting with iOS 8 Maps. It’s giving people a choice of apps to use for directions. A GIF in the article shows that once a destination is located users will be able to choose directions from, presumably, any mapping-related app installed on their iPhones: Starting […]
Report: Apple Accelerating Crowdsourced Maps Improvements
According to a couple of reports (Reddit and MacRumors), Apple has stepped up the pace of map-data corrections and improvements. The MacRumors report, from a couple of weeks ago, says that changes are being implemented weekly. The Reddit thread says they’re happening nightly — at 3 a.m. Eastern: Over the past month, Maps were being […]
SearchCap: German Publishers Against Google, iOS City Tours & Google Music Search In Apps
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Rather Than Opt-Out Of Google, German News Publishers Demand 11% Cut Of Revenue German news publishers are picking up where the Belgians left off, a now not-so-proud tradition of suing Google […]
Virtual 3D “City Tours” Coming To Apple Maps In iOS 8
One of the features in the forthcoming iOS 8 is apparently called City Tours. These are animated flyovers of various cities in Apple Maps. Mostly a novelty, they’ll take users on a 3D tour of key buildings and landmarks in a city. Google Maps/Earth have allowed developers to create animated virtual tours of places since 2009. […]
Apple Drops Google For Bing As “Spotlight” Search Provider In iOS 8 & Mac OS X “Yosemite”
Bing has gained another win with Apple, becoming integrated into a new version of Spotlight in Apple’s forthcoming Mac OS X “Yosemite” operating system and in the coming iOS 8 mobile operating system. Spotlight will also tap into a wide-range of search resources similar to how Siri works on iOS. During Apple’s WWDC keynote today, […]
SearchCap: Ripoff Report Returns In Yahoo, Google Shopping Campaigns, Bing Webmaster Roadshow
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Webmaster Roadshow 2014 Takes Search Experts On 4-City Tour This Summer Bing announced today it will be hosting the Bing Webmaster Roadshow 2014 starting next month, with stops in four […]
Founder: OpenStreetMap Already As Good Or Better Than Google Maps
Steve Coast founded OpenStreetMap (OSM) in the UK in 2004. It’s 10 years old this year. He was inspired by the Wikipedia model and compelled by a lack of available map and location data in the UK at that time. Coast now works for GPS navigation company Telenav, which owns location-based mobile ad network Thinknear. Not long ago […]
Yelp Reports Q1 2014 Net Revenue At $76.4 Million, A 66% Growth Over Last Year’s Q1 Earnings
According to Yelp’s Q1 2014 earnings report, the company’s net revenue for the quarter totaled $76.4 million, representing a 66 percent growth over first quarter of last year. Yelp claims average monthly unique visitors climbed to 132 million, representing 30 percent year-over-year growth, and local business accounts reached 74,000, a 65 percent year-over-year growth rate. […]
SearchCap: Matt Cutts Tells How To Avoid Buying A Domain Name Previously Ruined By Spammers
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s Matt Cutts: How To Avoid Buying A Domain Name Previously Ruined By Spammers In his latest video, Google head of web spam (and, today, Boston Marathon runner) Matt Cutts offers […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 12, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Reviewing “Not Provided,” Withholding Keywords From Organic But Not Paid Search Clicks When Google moved to secure search in October 2011, it was a blow to publishers, who began losing […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 11, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Yahoo Search App Gets iOS 7 Design Upgrade & More Yahoo has pushed out a new update to their iOS Yahoo Search app in the Apple App Store. The new update […]
Better Data, Public Transit Coming To Apple Maps In iOS 8
According to unnamed sources cited by 9to5mac, Apple’s forthcoming iOS 8 will see a number of improvements to its mapping product across platforms. The site says the next Apple mobile OS will offer: Better and more complete points of interest and business data Public transit information and directions (rolling out first to major US cities) […]
German Design Firm Claims Willful Patent Infringement Over Google Earth
A German design firm is claiming that Google and Google Earth have infringed its patent (USRE44550 E1) and is seeking triple damages under the notion that the infringement was intentional or willful. The firm, ART+COM (“ACI”), makes the following claims: The development history of Google Earth indicates knowledge and infringement by key Google employees Google Earth […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 20, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Yandex Reports Revenue Up 37% In Q4, Ad Network Revenue Nearly Doubles Russian search giant Yandex reported a strong Q4 2013 today, with overall revenue up 37 percent from Q4 2012 […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 29, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: People, Videos, News: Twitter Adds New Search Filters Earlier today Twitter announced that it was bringing a number of new search filters to the site. These include: people, photos, videos, news. […]