Find the Weird in Austin:
The How and Why of Local Search
y
Cory Barbot: Senior Natural Search Specialist, Apogee Search
Ian Strain-Seymour: Director Product Strategy, Apogee Search
Strategy

Introductions

Agenda
g
What is local search & why you care:
Definitions, Facts, Figures
How to take advantage of local search:
Turning Thought Into Action
Where is this all leading?
g
What Next?

WHAT & WHY

Terminology
gy
Graphic created at www.wordle.net

Map Search
p

Map Search
p

Map Search
p

Map Search
p

Map Search
p

Map Search
p

Universal Search

Universal Search

Stretching the Boundaries
g

Stretching the Boundaries
g

Stretching the Boundaries
g

Going Mobile
g
Mobile ads = web ads + user location

HOW TO

Google Local Business Center
g
3/3/09

Google Local Business Center
g
3/3/09

Google Local Business Center
g
3/3/09

Google Local Business Center
g
3/3/09

Additional Options
p
• In addition to Categories and Hours of
Operation f t
O ti features, you can also add:
l dd
– Payment Options
– Photos of your product or storefont (limit of 10)
• Tip: Host photos on Flickr and geotag images
– Videos (limit of 5)
• Tip: Host videos on Youtube and optimize
– Additi
Additional D t il
l Details

Listing Validation
g
3/3/09

Listing Details
g
3/3/09

Tagging
gg g
Goal is to...
Accurately describe content of page
C eate unique
Create u que tags for each page
o eac
Keep tags short when possible
Include city within tags to improve association and local ranking
Title tags – very important to SEO. Inform both search engines and users about the content of your
page. It' the i t bit of information to appear in search results.
It's th irst fi f ti t i h lt
– <title>Keyword City, State | Company Name</title>
Meta tags: keywords and description – like title tags, provide information about content of page.
Keywords viewed by search engines, description sometimes pulled in search result.
<meta name=”description” content=”Located in City, State, Company Name specializes in
–
Keyword...” />
– <meta name=”keywords” content=”Keyword” />
Header tags – on-page elements provide information about content of page as well. Given extra
eade o page e e e ts p o de o at o co te t o e G e e ta
weight by search engines
<h1>Keyword</h1>
–
– Vary from H1 to H6, most important to least important
Alt text tag – specifies text that will appear to search engines since images cannot be rendered
– <img src=”images/Keyword.jpg” alt=”Keyword”>
URLs – not a tag, but can be tagged. Use static URLs and include keywords in URL along with dashes,
not underscores: /austin-custom-software, not /austin_custom_software

Title Tags
g
3/3/09

Meta Tags: Keywords and Description
3/3/09

Header Tags
g
3/3/09

Alt Text
3/3/09

URLs
3/3/09

On‐page Optimization
pg p
• Keywords – important content of each page
contains its targeted keywords.
keywords
– Do not overdo inclusion of keywords, though.
Content should be interesting enough to entice
users to link to website
• Address – make sure each page of your website
contains the address of your business – use both
regular
• HTML and hCards
d hC d
• Internal Linking – it's inevitable you will use
keywords on a page it does not target. Don t
target Don't
fret! Turn that keyword into a link pointing at the
page it does target.
3/3/09

Internal Linking
g Red Toys
Toys
Blue Toys
Toys
Toys
y
Red Toys
Red Toys
Blue Toys
Green Toys
Green Toys
Toys
3/3/09

Microformats
• What are microformats?
• A web-based approach to semantic markup
bb d h k
that seeks to re-use existing XHTML and
HTML tags to convey metadata and other
attributes.
• The take the calculation out of meaning.
They calc lation o t meaning
– In laymens terms, it means: the content contained
in this bit of code is without a doubt, my address,
is, doubt address
my telephone number, my URL...
• For Local Search we'll discuss hCards
Search,
3/3/09

Microformats
hCards (HTML vCard): Microformat for publishing
contact details about a person, place, business...
person place business
Contact information in HTML

Microformats
Contact information in hCard microformat:
<div class=\"vcard\">
<a class=\"url fn\" href=\"http://www.themagiccamp.com\"></a>
<div class=\"org\">The M i C
di l \" \" Th Magic Camp</div>
/di
<div class=\"adr\">
<div class=\"street-address\">7306 Scenic Brook Drive</div>
<span class=\"locality\">Austin</span>,
<span class=\"region\">TX</span>
<span class=\"postal-code\">78736</span>
</div>
<div class=\"tel\">(512) 288-1596</div>
</div>
/
Hcard Creator: http://tantek.com/microformats/hcard-creator.html
3/3/09

Citation/Link Building Strategies
Citations Explained
•
Incoming Links
•
Major Local Search Data Centers
j
•
Local Search Sites
•
Local Business Directories
Local Business Directories
•
GetListed.org
•
Google Analytics
•
3/3/09

Citations Explained
• In local search, a citation is a mention of your business
name and address on a website, even if it isn't a link
d dd bi if i i ' li k
• Search engines do not only look at incoming links to help
determine local search rankings, but also citations
• Citations help search engines validate information they
p g y
have about a business
• Improving the number of citations to your business'
Improving the number of citations to your business
website consists of submitting your site to a variety
websites
3/3/09

Incoming Links
• Acquiring incoming links with keywords as anchor text is
a major component of any search engine optimization
j f h i ii i
campaign
• Acquiring links with the your target location included in
the anchor text is especially important for local search
engine optimization
• Submit website to industry related directories – often
y
allow you to choose your anchor text
• In case you wanted to know
In case you wanted to know...
– http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
– http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/
3/3/09

Major Local Search Data Centers
• A number of websites act as data centers, providing
secondary local search websites with information about
d ll h bi i hi f i b
your website
– After Google Local Business Center, submit info to centers
• Universal Business Listing
– For $30/year, will submit your business information to infoUSA
and a number of other locally focused websites
• InfoUSA
• Localeze
• Acxiom – not able to submit online, search web on their
own acquiring data
own acquiring data
3/3/09

Local Search Sites
• On one level, function as directories in that they help
categorize businesses by their metadata
ibi b hi d
• Much more interactive than directories, social media
directories: Send listing to a friend, social bookmarking,
send to phone, write reviews, create a profile, acquire
friends
• Provide incoming links and citations
g
• Examples: Yelp, Yellowbot, Local.com, TrueLocal, HotFrog
3/3/09

Local Business Directories
• Finding local business directories is as easy as searching
for “[your city] directory”
f “[ i ] di ”
• These directories are highly associated with a city/region
and crawled often by the search engines
• Better Business Bureau functions as a high value, highly
g ,gy
localized business directory
• Provide incoming links and citations
Provide incoming links and citations
• Examples: Better Business Bureau, TheCityofAustin.com,
Austin.com
A ti
3/3/09

GetListed.org
• Provides users with an overview of their local search
presence in all three search engines plus Best of the Web
i ll h h i l fh b
• Not a magic bullet, but does help save time when initially
setting up local search optimization efforts
3/3/09

Google Analytics
• http://www.google.com/analytics
• Not usually thought of as a link building tool
• Helps a business track conversations that have already
p y
taken place or are on‐going
• Example
– Noticed a fair amount of traffic referred to client's website
from bbc.co.uk in Google Analytics.
from bbc co uk in Google Analytics
– Searched “client's URL” site:”www.bbc.co.uk” on Google
– On the forums located within the site someone had mentioned
On the forums located within the site, someone had mentioned
the client's UK website
3/3/09

LOCALIZING PAID SEARCH CAMPAIGNS

Local Business Ads
“70% of US households now use the Internet as an
70% of US households now use the Internet as an
information source when shopping locally for
products and services.
products and services.”
‐ Google

Local Business Ads…
…are Google’s PPC ad format to promote specific business
locations
…use traditional keyword bidding structure
…are cost effective (PPC)
…promote both online and offline conversion

Targeting
g g
•G
Google Maps/Map Text
l M /M T t
– Traditional keyword targeting
– Relevant, location‐specific queries (IP not considered)
Relevant, location specific queries (IP not considered)
– Ex – Any user searching “Austin TX breakfast tacos”
• Google Search/Networks
Textual ads only
T ld l
–
Geographical targeting (IP considered), Customizable Radius
–
Triggered by user with IP near business listing
gg y g
–
Ex – An Austin user searching “breakfast tacos”
–
• Google Content
–Eh
Enhanced and textual ads, contextual targeting
d dt t l d t t lt ti
– Includes sites with Google Maps API + Google Content Network
• Google Mobile

Text
aka Bruce Wayne
aka Bruce Wayne

I’m BATMAN!
I’m BATMAN!

Exposures
p

Informative
Descriptive Title
•
Textual Ad/Description of Location or Service
l d/ f
•
Phone Number
•
Display URL
l
•
Specific Address
•
Exact Visual Location
il i
•
Interactive Geo‐Targeting
•
Fully Customizable Map Marker
ll C i bl k
•
Enticing Visual
•
Direct Site Link
Di Si Li k
•

Campaign Checklist
pg
• LBL (Local Business Listing)
• Keyword List/Ad Copy
– Current campaign
– Separate campaign for easy tracking
<20k, 125x125 pixel picture of location
20k, 125x125 pixel picture of location
•
Google standard map icon or upload your own
•
Landing Page/URL
L di P /URL
•
Tracking Codes
•

RE: Uploads
p
Google’s Interface
Adv: All angles/visuals, immediate LBL approval
Adwords Editor
Adv: Bulk upload, some LBL difficulties
Use both
Use both
Editor for bulk uploads
Google interface for campaign refinement
Google interface for campaign refinement

WHERE NEXT?

Future of Local Search
Increased targeting based on viewers location
•
Increased targeting based on behavior & likes/dislikes
•
Increased targeting based on friends’ behavior
g g
•
Google Latitude
•
– Location of individuals (like mobile)
Location of individuals (like mobile)
– Friend networks = expanded notion of likes

Q & A