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Posts Tagged ‘local search’
PubCon South 2011: Local Search and Hyperlocal
John Vantine | April 13th, 2011
Why has there been so much interest in local search lately? Well, for starters, 70% of users look for local information online first, and 20% of all searches are location related. Google has outbound call centers for local listing verification, so you can tell that they care. Local Search Algorithm Continues To Evolve As local seach continues to grow, Google’s local algorithm is changing rapidly. According to Brian Combs, the local algorithm now includes major pieces of the traditional (non local) algorithm because Matt Cutt’s webspam team was doing a better job at fighting spam than the local search team was. Google’s Support For Local Leaves Something To Be Desired Brian Combs said that the “report” feature in Google Places has been broken since February 21st. Reviews come and go – they disappear from the place pages completely sometimes. The “respond to review” functionality is temperamental at best. Some businesses have disappeared entirely from the listings with no explanation. I wasn’t aware of any of these issues, but it sounds like Google Places has a long way to go. What will it take to get Google to focus on support? Brian pointed out that the University of Colorado has the wrong number listed for campus security. He jokingly asked if someone would have to die in order to get Google’s attention. He said that the best way to get help at this point is to talk to a Google Tags sales rep. Good to know. The 3 Methods Of Advertising Continue reading…
Tags: Bing, Google maps, google places, hyperlocal, local search, yelp
Posted in Google, Local Search | 2 Comments
PubCon South 2011: The Lost Takeaways
John Vantine | April 11th, 2011
After writing my first two PubCon South 2011 posts (#1, #2), I still had a lot of notes left over. There was a considerable amount of good info that didn’t make it into the first 2 posts because it didn’t fit the “theme” of either. I’m going to do my best to put all of that information into some sort of digestable form here. Keyword Research Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics and see what core tools/methods other people are using. The same core elements are always revisited, but seeing as how this stuff is at the core of what we do as SEOs, it’s important to revisit and re-evaluate day-to-day strategies. Let’s start off with keyword research. This is (or should be) one of the first steps in any new SEO campaign, so it’s probably a good starting point. Michael Black reminds us that every optimization effort should still begin with keyword research. What does your keyword research routine look like? Perhaps you’ve overlooked one of the following: Client Input – This is a great place to start. Clients may not always be right but its important to get their opinion. Analytics – Find out which keywords are currently sending traffic. Even though they might not be the best keywords to optimize for, they can still provide some insight. Google Webmaster Tools – Some of the data provided by GWT is similar to what can be found in Analytics, but you can also look at things like Continue reading…
Tags: analytics, hyperlocal, local search, onsite seo, pubcon, seo advice
Posted in Conference Recaps, Google, Internet News, SEO, Yahoo! | No Comments
Local Search Takeaways From Pubcon Vegas 2010
John Vantine | November 15th, 2010
Local search is rising. Currently, 20% of all Google queries are related to location. comScore reported that Americans performed 15.4 billion Google searches in March of 2010. If 1/5th of those searches were related to location, that’s a little shy of 3.1 billion location-based queries… In one month. Local search was certainly one of the recurring themes at SMX West back in March. At PubCon Vegas 2010, local was even more prevalant, but there was also more of a sense of urgency attached to the topic. Instead of writing one long unorganized post that covered all of my “takeaways” from Pubcon, I figured I’d do one dedicated to local & mobile search, since several of the sessions I attended were based around those topics. Please note that this is not a comprehensive guide to local search for businesses; rather, this is a collection of the things I found to be most useful and/or interesting. Some of the recent changes that Google has made in how they handle local search suggest that a business with a good web presence AND a good local listing will prevail in the SERPs. If you haven’t already secured and optimized your local listings, it’s more important now than ever before that you do so. If nothing else, use a service like KnowEm to claim these listings, with intentions of leveraging them in the future. Eric Bramlett had some good news: Local search is still easy. He then offered some bad news: It’s getting more and Continue reading…
Tags: google local, local business, local search, local seo, mobile search
Posted in Google, SEO | 3 Comments
5 Trends to Watch for in 2009 and How to Make Them Work for Your Business
Amanda Moshier | December 10th, 2008
As a follow-up to “The Shrinking Divide Between Media and Communication” (yeah, the post is all about Web 2.0, and the Web 2.0 bubble is probably about to burst but one thing at a time here, okay??), today we’re going to look at a quick round-up of five Internet trends to watch for in 2009, and how to apply them to your business to stay ahead of the curve in the new year. Without further ado, let’s begin our countdown! 1) The Rise of Local Search With smart phones everywhere and more and more people relying on mobile GPS to find their way around town – whether to grab a bite, see a movie, or hit the dance floor, local search is becoming the smart way to get your business in front of the right consumer – one who is actively searching for your business, products, and services – and the renewed focus placed on geo-targeting by major search engines proves that. As consumer spending continues to dwindle, what can small businesses like dry cleaners, hair salons, and specialty retailers do to compete? Advertise in the search engines and target customers in your area. It’s that simple. With less people willing to spend and more people spending less, your primary goal during times like these is to get customers to your establishment, rather than the competitions – but they have to know how to find you first. 2) The Prevalence of Online Video YouTube is old (but still good) news, Continue reading…
