Supercharging Your Business Through Local Search

Houston IMA February 22, 2011

Brian Combs, CEO ionadas local LLC @BrianPCombs

www.ionadas.com

Some Questions…

1.  Do you have a locally focused business? 2.  Do you know what your keywords are? 3.  Do you have a Google Places listing? 4.  Do you have a Yahoo Local listing? 5.  Do you have a Bing Local listing? 6.  Is your website search engine optimized? 7.  Have you built citations? 8.  Have you built links? 9.  Do you have an effective review program?

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Table of Contents

1.  What is Local SEO? 2.  Determining Keywords 3.  Google Place Pages 4.  Yahoo Local 5.  Bing Local 6.  Website Optimization 7.  Citation Building 8.  Link Building 9.  Reviews 10. Questions & Answers

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What is Local SEO?

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What is Local SEO?

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What is Local SEO?

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What is Local SEO?

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What is Local SEO?

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Should You Optimize for Local Results?

•  If you want any of the following from people in particular geographies:

–  Website visits –  Phone calls –  Foot traffic

•  If your keywords return local results •  If your keywords should return local

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Find the Right Keywords

•  Create a List of Potential Keywords •  Are Map Results Being Returned? •  Attempt to Find Balance Between:

–  Potential traffic –  Competitiveness –  Semantic appropriateness –  Current ranking

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Long Tail Keywords

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•  Less competitive •  Good search volume in aggregate

Find the Right Keywords, cont. Google AdWords Tool

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

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Google Places Pages http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter

•  Does It Already Exist? –  Create or claim the listing

•  Use Your Keywords and Locations –  But Don’t Overuse Them

•  P.O. Boxes may be Depreciated •  Upload Images and/or Videos •  Verify by Phone or Mail

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Google Places Pages, cont.

•  Company/Organization •  Main Phone •  Description •  Categories •  Service Areas •  Additional Details

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Yahoo Local http://listings.local.yahoo.com

•  Using Yahoo login preferred •  Keyword usage opportunities limited •  Categories very important

–  But keep them accurate •  No verification

–  But reviewed by Yahoo staff •  Reviews are critical!

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Bing Local https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

•  Create login before creating listing •  Good opportunities for keyword usage

–  But listing will be reviewed •  Categories very important

–  But keep them accurate •  Verification by phone or mail

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Website Optimization

•  No longer optional! •  Optimize for locations as well as keywords •  Keywords and locations in Title Tags •  Phone number and address on every page

–  Especially important for LBL landing page •  Contact Info page

–  Include directions –  Use map pulled from Google –  Create separate pages for multiple addresses

•  hCard Microformat

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Citation Building

•  Established you company’s importance •  Trusted pages that list company name,

phone number, and address –  Link not required! –  Major IYPs –  Local Directories –  Vertical Directories

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Citation Building, cont.

•  Ten IYPs in which every local business should be listed:

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•  Localeze •  OpenList •  Yelp •  MerchantCircle •  CitySearch

•  BotW Local •  SuperPages •  InfoUSA •  InsiderPages •  Local.com

Link Building

•  It still matters –  Critical for competitive keywords

•  Keyword usage –  Anchor (linking) text –  Text around link

•  Google PageRank and TrustRank •  Reciprocal links •  Paid links •  Social media linking

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Link Building, cont.

•  Should look natural –  Very the destination page, anchor text, and

text around the link –  Contextual match with linked page –  Don’t mislead or deceive –  Start out slow with new site –  Can be citation as well

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Why Are Reviews Important?

•  Impact Rankings –  Quantity matters

•  Impact Conversion –  Quality matters

•  Feedback Channel

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Things to Remember

•  Be proactive •  Be transparent •  Be ready for that bad review!

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Places to Get Reviews

•  Google, Yahoo, Bing •  Third-Party Sites •  Diversity is Good

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Where to Push Reviewers

•  Search Engine or Third Party? •  Which Third-Party Websites?

If the customer already has an established account with a review system, a review there might be worth more.

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Ways to Encourage Reviews

•  It’s a Mindset •  Make it a Process •  Be Ethical and Transparent •  Be Creative

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Keywords in Reviews

•  Definitely Impact Rankings •  Added Real Estate for Content

–  Good for Long Tail –  Great for Blocked Terms (e.g. “Google”)

•  Be Careful When Manipulating Review Content

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Review Velocity

•  Clearly Part of Ranking Algo •  Shows Viability of Business •  But, Every Review Helps

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Google Filtering Reviews

•  Questionable reviews removed •  Algorithmic, not human driven •  Are reviews from “private” users

devalued?

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Responding to Reviews

•  Listen to what is being said •  Should you respond? •  Calm down before you respond

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Types of Complainers

•  Legitimate Complaints •  Unrealistic Expectations •  Lunatics •  Former Employees

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If you Engage

•  Expect to make mistakes •  Pick your battles •  There are no secrets!

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hCard Microformat Reviews

•  Indexed and aggregated by Google •  Open to all players •  Does it impact ranking? •  How does Google handle the spam?

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Things to Avoid

•  Don’t Self Review –  Very easy to spot –  Could be fraud –  Don’t become an example!

•  Review Services

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Controversial Issues

•  Rules are Vague •  Incentivized Reviews •  Encouraging Reviews at Multiple Sites •  Entering Review at Place of Business •  Can You Pay to Remove Reviews?

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DemandForce.com

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DemandForce.com

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DemandForce.com

•  For Dentists Only •  Becoming Cost of Having Seat at Table •  Higher Quantities may be Nerf’ed •  Does Google Continue to Allow This?

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Closing Thoughts

•  If your business sucks, you might not want to encourage reviews…

•  If you found this presentation informative, I’d appreciate a review of ionadas local of Austin, Texas at Google Places, Yahoo Local and/or Bing Local…

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Thank You

Brian Combs Founder and CEO ionadas local LLC Email: combs@ionadas.com Web: www.ionadas.com Tel: (512) 501-1875 Twitter: @BrianPCombs

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