Thunder SEO Local Search Presentation - ARCSI Las Vegas, Fall 2008

Max Thomas | max@thunderinternetmarketing.com | (800) 819-6894
ARCSI
Local Search and SEO for Local Businesses

Today’s Topic
Local Search & SEO for Local Businesses
Or –
How to Make Your Phone Ring!!

Take-Away Goals
Understand What is Local Search and Why it Matters to Small Business
How to Rank on Google and Search Engines for ‘Local Search’ Results
How to Get Traffic and Calls from ‘Local Searches’ on the Web
How to Implement a ‘Local Search’ Online Strategy for Your Business

Online Search & Commerce
67% of Americans bought a product or service online in 2007* - that’s 200 million online buyers
10 billion searches in US in Feb 08**
5.9 bn searches on Google, 2.1 bn on Yahoo!**
Sources: *compete.com **comScore

Search Term: “house cleaning services”
AdWords – Pay Per Click (PPC)
Organic Search Natural Listings

www.merrymaids.com
www.mollymaid.com
www.house-cleaning-services.com
www.maidbrigade.com
www.maids.com

www.weekendmaids.com
www.merrymaids.com
www.servicemagic.com
www.thecleaningauthority.com
www.maids.com

Weekend Maids – referral agency

merry maids – ‘lead generation form’

servicemagic – lead generation form
Creepy!

The Cleaning Authority – lead gen form

Question
How Does a Local Business Compete?

Answer
Welcome to Local Search!

Why Local Search Matters
80%+ of searches start with a search engine1
Over 25% of searches are local in nature2
Over 1.7 Billion Local Searches Conducted Each Month in 2007 (42% increase vs. 2006)4
78% of local consumers using online search to research a product or service, make the purchase from a local business offline3
Local Search = Phone Calls + Walk-In’s
1 SMX 2008; 2 Screenwork: Setting The Record Straight, 2008; 3. WebVisible and Nielsen//NetRatings survey, September 2007; 4. comScore & DoubleClick Study

Search Term:“house cleaning services san diego”
“10 Pack” Map(Organic Search)

PPC Local Ads
PPC National Ads

Local Search Optimization
Step-by-Step Guide
Off Page

Step 1 – Claim + Optimize Google LBL
Setup Google Account
Goto ‘Local Business Center’ (under ‘My Account’)
If listing is already there, click ‘edit’ to optimize and claim; if not, click ‘Add new listing’
Google will pull information from other sources so take control and optimize your listing!
Off Page

Off Page

Company/Organization (Business Name) – use target keywords (result in ‘map’)
Description – use target keywords
Categories (up to 5) – use terms that create ‘map’ results or target search terms
Photos – add 10 (use stock if necessary)
Video – add if you have
Off Page

Off Page

Important!!!!!
Use as much information as possible in your Google Business Listing.
It helps to create ‘authority’ and ‘trust’ with Google
This ‘authority’/’trust’ is the KEY to local search
Off Page

Step 2 – Google Sitemaps
Setup WebMaster Tools on Google
Submit XML Sitemap
Submit KML Sitemap
Why? To build ‘trust’ and ‘authority’ with Google.
Off Page

Step 2 – Google Sitemaps
Off Page

Important!!!!!
Local Search results pull from 100+ online directories, databases and review sites
Primary goal is to make sure all your business information is uniform across all platforms
Google Maps also pulls from other info sources but Google should be optimized separately from the other listings
Off Page

Local Search Listings Universe
Internet Yellow Pages/Local Directory Submissions
Specialized Directories (Industry verticals, Social media sites…)
Mobile Application Providers
Major Search Engines:
Organic Website Optimization;
Sponsored Search;
Local Search ListingsManagement

Step 2 – Feeder Directories
Claim and optimize ‘primary’ ‘feeder’ directories
All of these offer free listings; buy paid listings only if site traffic merits placement or Google counts inbound link as citation
TrueLocal
Off Page

Important!!!!
YellowPages listing – Select categories here first and then use for all listings.
Most all directories use your YellowPages category – be sure it is accurate and the same for all directory listings
Off Page

Step 3 – Review Sites
Claim and optimize listing – allows for businesses to respond to reviews
All of these offer free listings; buy paid listings only if site traffic merits placement or Google counts inbound link as citation
yelp
Off Page

Review site chart
Off Page

Encourage customer reviews – try not to ‘buy’ reviews; explain how much this helps you; thank them
Ratings over rankings – users trust rankings
Off Page

Step 4 – Local + Vertical Directories
Local Directories – search for local directories in your area and sign-up for free listings; great if url includes geographic term (e.g., ‘SanDiegoBizMart.com’)
Vertical Directories – search for ‘cleaning’ directories and sign-up for listings (e.g., www.cleaningdirectories.com); if there’s a fee, look if Google counts as inbound link; great to have a link from url that uses ‘cleaning’)
Off Page

Step 5 – Mass Distribution
Submit to all 85+ ‘mass directories’ via
1) UniversalBusinessListing.org - $30/year or less through seo agency
Or
2) Localeze.com – depends on seo agency
Pro’s – affordable, wide spread distribution
Con’s – no guarantee directories will pick up data feed, time lag (up to 60 days)
Off Page

Step 6 – Title + Description Tags
‘Title’ Tag – every page ‘title’ tag should be unique, include company name and city/state
‘Description’ Tag – every page ‘description’ tag should be unique, include company name, call-to-action, phone and physical address
Google uses Title + Description Tags in search engine listings – so think of them in terms of promoting your message (e.g., Call 1-800…)
On Page

Step 7 – Link to Your Listings
Link from your site to directory listings using keywords as anchor – if site is new or weak, Google + Yahoo! will index your listing.
Example – We welcome online reviews from our clients about their catering experience. If you’d like to post a review on InsiderPages please click here. Or, click the following to share your review on Yelp or click the Kudzu logo below. Thanks!
On Page

Step 8 - Ongoing
Check competitor ‘Citations’ on Google
Watch your rankings
Check Webmaster Tools for errors
Review Google Analytics to see where traffic is coming from
Look at ‘directory’ listing stats – Google, Merchant Circle, etc.
Consider call tracking to know where phone calls come from
Ongoing

Suggestions
Put keyword in url (use hyphens over underscores)
Search is not a ‘branding’ marketing channel, it’s ‘transaction’ focused
Ongoing

“green house cleaning san diego”
Map results varies by search – no “map” results

“green house cleaning san anselmo”
Map results varies by search

Search Engine Ranking FactorsAn overview of the seomoz.org 2008 study
Top 10 Positive Factors
Keyword use in title tag
Anchor text of inbound link
Global link popularity of site
Age of site
Link popularity within the site’s internal linking structure
Topical relevance of inbound links to site
Link popularity of site in topical community
Keyword use in body text
Global link popularity of linking site
Topical relationship of linking
Top 5 Negative Factors
Server is often inaccessible to bots
Content very similar or duplicate of existing content in the index
External links to low quality/spam sites
Participation in link schemes or actively selling links
Duplicate title/meta tags on many pages

Google Puzzle – How it all fits together
SERP’s – Keyword Rankings
Pass Authority
Searchable Content & Keywords
Increase in Site Traffic!!!
Off Page
Inbound Links
Social Media Sites – tags, links & traffic
Review Sites – reviews, links & traffic
Directories – links & traffic
Blogs – links, mention and traffic
On Page
Content
Internal Links
Title Tags

Tracking (at minimum)
1. SITE
Page Views
Visitors
Unique Users
2. SEO
Keyword Rankings
Page Rank
Inbound Links
SMO Tags/Mentions
Referring Sites
Keyword Searches
3. SALES
Online Application Requests
Request To Hold/RealtyDataTrust
Emails – spam potential
Calls – VoiceStar tracking (show online)

Website Structure
Content Management System (CMS) – facilitate adding content on a regular basis; consider Joomla or Wordpress site
More searchable content on pages
Lead Generation – phone number, form and ‘check availability’ on every page (see NJP, PMF examples)
SEO friendly url’s (?, &, = …stop bot searches)

Thank You!

Thunder SEO Local Search Presentation - ARCSI Las Vegas, Fall 2008

by Max Thomas on Feb 17, 2010

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