5 Revealing New Local Pack Click Through Studies. Reports of a massive change to the design of local search results in the serps started to surface around August 6th worldwide.
Of course I was at a family reunion in the mountains of Idaho…. So I came home to the usual social media storm that usually happens when I go off grid. Some are declaring it the end of the world, some (including me) thinks this is a foreshadow of a wider movement for google to start monetizing most local packs, and others are still trying to figure out what the little ballon thingy’s are: The Click Through Study Enough with the intro. “Pretend you needed an (industry) in (location). 2. 3. 4. 5.
Overall Numbers Desktop Numbers (excluding crazy San Fran Sponsored pack) Mobile Numbers My Thoughts Organic should be the main focus and Google just can’t kill it. I started doing these click through studies a long time ago and every time i have ran tests organic results always outperform my expectations. 25 Principles of Building Effective City Pages for Local SEO. How to Perform the Ultimate Local SEO Audit. The author's posts are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Every business that competes in a local market and who competes for the display of localized results in SERPs will likely find the need to conduct a local SEO audit at some point. Whether you've hired an SEO in the past or not, the best way to beat the competition is to know where you stand and what you need to fix, and then develop a plan to win based on the competitive landscape. Google's Pigeon Update Solves Yelp Problem, Boosts Local Directories. As the analysis continues on yesterday’s Google local search algorithm changes — that we’re calling the Pigeon update — one thing appears to be clear: Local directory sites are getting better visibility in Google’s search results.
More specifically, it looks like Google has fixed its “Yelp problem” and is now showing Yelp pages at the top of search results when queries specifically include the word “Yelp.” You might recall Yelp’s recent accusations that Google was manipulating its search results to show Google’s own local listings and content ahead of Yelp pages even when users specifically included “Yelp” in their searches.
Yelp’s report specifically looked at the search term “gary danko yelp” (Gary Danko is a San Francisco restaurant) and showed how Google listed the restaurant’s official website first, along with several links to Google+ content such as reviews and its Google+ page. Today, that “problem” is fixed. Forget SEO: Top Five Online Marketing Strategies Every Brick and Mortar Business Must Do.
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What's the secret sauce for small businesses to market online? Is SEO the answer? I get asked a lot about how businesses can be found online by their customers. What SEO tactics or online marketing strategies should they undertake? So-called brick and mortar businesses – those that have a store front or a physical location for people to engage with them need foot traffic. GetListed Tool Relaunches As Moz Local.
Last year, David Mihm’s GetListed service was acquired by then SEO Moz (now Moz).
Today, it relaunched as Moz Local. It’s a similar service with a number of enhanced capabilities, the most important of which is local listings submission. Agencies and business owners can use the tool to research where their listings appear online, manage claiming and verification and listings submission. Moz Local has also mapped Google Places categories to headings or categories at other directory sites (this tool is free). The back end of GetListed has been upgraded to manage submissions to a range of data aggregators and directory sites. InfogroupNeustar LocalezeAcxiomFactualFoursquareSuperpagesBest of the Web LocaleLocal. Google Working On A Softer & Gentler Panda Algorithm To Help Small Businesses. Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced at Search Marketing Expo that his search team is working the “next generation” Panda update that would appear to many as being softer.
Cutts explained that this new Panda update should have a direct impact on helping small businesses do better. One Googler on his team is specifically working on ways to help small web sites and businesses do better in the Google search results. This next generation update to Panda is one specific algorithmic change that should have a positive impact on the smaller businesses. Matt Cutts didn’t mention when the new update is coming out but rather they are currently working on this update. My feeling is that it is far off from being launched, like maybe in two to three months at best, but that is my gut. This would not be the first time Google released a softer Panda update.
6 Factors to consider when selecting local search citation sitesBrightLocal. We’ve been in the directory submissions/citations game for over 4 years.
In that time we have completed more than 300,000 submissions and have learned a lot along the way. Before we became a dedicated SEO tools business BrightLocal started off life as a search agency. In both these guises we have tested numerous approaches, solutions, internal structures and outsource partners in our quest to find citation-perfection*. 5 Essential Tactics For Long-Term Local SEO SuccessBrightLocal. The world of local search optimization is always changing and the tactics we use today may not work, or have the same impact, in 12 months time.
However there are some actions that I believe will stand the test of time and remain relevant & effective while others shine bright and fade into ignominy. 1. 5 Essential Tactics For Long-Term Local SEO SuccessBrightLocal. Google Places Guideline Update: Now Allowing Descriptors in Business Title. Local SEO Survey ResultsBrightLocal. Welcome to the BrightLocal SMB Internet Marketing Survey 2013.
Through this piece of research we aim to better understand the attitudes & usage of ‘Internet & Mobile Marketing’ by small & medium sized businesses (SMBs). This research was conducted in partnership with ChamberOfCommerce.com and we thank them and all participating businesses for their time & assistance. Without them this survey & insights would not have been possible. About the SMB Internet Marketing Survey 2013 In October 2013 we contacted 20,000 US based businesses and asked them to participate in the survey.
People Claiming To Be Ex-Yelp Employees Discuss Review Filter, Blackmail. Last week, a study from Harvard Business School came out looking at Yelp review fraud, suggesting that about a fifth of Yelp restaurant reviews are fake.
Do you trust reviews you read on Yelp? Let us know in the comments. It received quite a bit of attention, even making it pretty high on the front page of reddit, where thousands have commented. Local search term research - 10 tactics for pinpointing best local terms. After the Google Venice update in early 2012, local search became more integrated into the search results than with any other update. Since that time, local results have become a natural part of the search ecosystem and if you’re not optimized for these local terms then you are losing potential business. Before this update, the searcher might have to add a geo modifier such as a city name to see the local results. The Good, Bad & Ugly of Internet Marketing. Nine More Expert Guides to Local SEO. August 19, 2013 Local search rankings are vital to businesses that rely on drawing customers from within a radius of a few miles.
Although there is some dispute over the exact figures, at least a quarter and possibly closer to half of all searches have local intent. Logo Optimization: A Local SEO Stealth Tactic. When local businesses look to beef up their SEO game, they’re often looking for some clever technical trick. But, one of the simplest and most elegant local SEO tactics is to optimize the site’s logo. Since many businesses are unaware of it, employing it will amount to a “stealth” tactic, giving an advantage over competitors. I’ve written a number of times about SEO for images, and many sites and blogs do image SEO to one degree or another. The logo is one of the most important images associated with a website and with a company, so it should be the most consistently optimized image on websites — yet when I review local business websites, I commonly find the code around logos to be completely lacking basic attention.
If your local business website’s logo is not optimized, it could represent a considerable lost opportunity and potential. Small Business SEO Tactics: Risk vs. Security. With content marketing gaining momentum in 2013, there are many cries that the "new" SEO is really no different from old SEO, it's just better quality and en vogue. This may be true, but there's no denying that Google has made several significant changes to their algorithm in 2013 and, most recently, updated their Webmaster Guidelines. Zagat Redesign Brings Editorial Layer to Local Search. Before the internet was around, one of the best ways to find local restaurants was to open up a Zagat guide and flip through professionally reviewed and ranked listings. In recent years, however, old-school guides like Zagat have lost ground to online crowd-sourced review services like Yelp – which have become the go-to place for many people looking to discover new places. As I discussed in my Search Engine Land column last week, part of the appeal of these online services is that they offer a “vertical” experience.
With only a few clicks, users can browse through a fully categorized directory of local restaurants, view menus and prices, find directions, and make reservations. From discovery to purchase, these vertical services offer a level of convenience that keeps users coming back. In that same vein, Google recently debuted the redesign of its Zagat app and website to include a host of new features.
Be Sociable, Share! How to Create Local Content for Multiple Cities. Thoughts on Local SEO. Google Local Carousel Will Hide Keyword Traffic. The Best Link Building For Local SEO. Since Google rolled out the Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, numerous sites have been impacted or penalized. Google Relaunches Zagat’s Website And Mobile Apps, No Payment Or Registration Required. Google today gave Zagat, the restaurant review service it acquired in 2011, a set of new mobile apps for iOS and Android, as well as a complete facelift on the web.
For the first time, Google says, all of the service’s ratings and reviews are now available for free and without the need to register. Currently, the new Zagat covers restaurants and nightlife nine cities, but Google says it plans to expand this list to over 50 U.S. and international destinations. Today, the site only covers San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Google also plans to expand the range of reviews to include hotels, shopping and “other places of interest,” something the printed Zagat guides have been doing for a while now. Post Penguin 2.0 Local SEO Strategies for Small Business. It is now official that Google has launched Penguin 2.0 on May 22. Penguin 2.0 is a much “deeper” algorithmic update with increased focus on flushing out sites that were benefited from link spam.
It also promises that more sites will be positively impacted by this than by its predecessor, which was launched in 2012. That update kept the websites with unnatural links in check. Penguin 2.0 is especially focusing on backlink patterns, anchor text uses and manipulative link building tactics which can misguide the end users. Local Search Marketing by NGS Marketing. Fake reviews are the plague of Google Places. The search company is reportedly working on improving their anti-spam algorithm, but the status quo (according to my small-scale research) is that over 50% of the reviews are either fake, or not left by the customers themselves (which is against the terms of service).
This percentage may go to over 90% when talking about service-based businesses, and specifically locksmiths, garage door repair, towing, taxis, movers, plumbers, electricians, painters, HVAC engineers, to which we could add bail bonds, personal injury attorneys, escort services, and limousine services. It could be hard for the regular user to know this and to recognize the fake feedback. Comparison Between Manual Citation Building and Yext. One of the most frequent questions I get (especially after this review on Yext) is how a manual citation building services, such as ours, compares with an automated listings distribution service, such as Yext.
I will cover the comparison points one-by-one below. 1. Google Local Carousel Results: Where Do Users Click Most? Google officially rolled out its local carousal results to all U.S. users last week for select verticals like hotels and restaurants, and since then, marketers have been trying to figure out what makes it tick. Study: Google Local Carousel Results Win 48% Of Clicks, While Only 14.5% Of Clicks Were On The Map. InsideLocal: The State of Local Search. Can Local Mobile Customers Find You? 10 Unorthodox Ideas For Local Citations & Links. How To Create Your Local SEO Roadmap Through Research, Benchmarking & Tracking. Why Call Tracking Numbers in Local SEO Make Me Angry. Hyperlocal Social News On Patch. How To Create Your Local SEO Roadmap Through Research, Benchmarking & Tracking. SEO Webinars. Laying the Groundwork for a Local SEO Campaign. Barnes & Noble - Books, Textbooks, eBooks, Toys, Games, DVDs and More.
Local SEO Guide: 15 Marketing Techniques to Promote Your Business Online. Foursquare Intros "Local Updates" And Revamps Merchant Interface. Search Engine Marketing - How to Optimize for Local Search With Post-Venice Citation-Building Strategies. The Local Business Reviews Ecosystem. Best Sources for Local Citations by City (U.S.)
Citation Consistency: The Key to Local Search Rankings. The Complete Guide to Link Building with Local Events. Site audit: Helping a vacation rental company get off the PPC treadmill. Local Directory Submitter-Local Business Directory Submission Service.