Archive for the ‘Local SEO’ Category

Most businesses of a certain size start flirting with the idea of having a company newsletter. Newsletters began as a way to disseminate information to employees when meetings weren’t practical. But newsletters grew as a way to cultivate the existing customer database.

Notices of sales, new employees, new products, location changes, community participation; these are points of interest hailed as perfect fodder for newsletters.  With eNewsletters being emailed out, a convenience was placed on the poor postage meter and the content …

This past week members of the SEO Boy team attended the SEOmoz ProTraining Seminar in Seattle, WA. Among many impressive presentations, David Mihm gave a very valuable presentation on local search strategies. David’s presentation uncovered the importance of local search, insight into the local search algorithm, and best practices for local search strategy. This blog post will focus on the basics: the why’s and how’s of local search optimization. Keep an eye out for more advanced topics …

You’re probably wondering “what does email have to do with local SEO?” To wit you would reply “Ok, what do email blasts have to do with Local SEO?” Well, little as far as ranking, but a lot as far as branding and branding has a lot to do with Local SEO. As I mentioned before, Local SEO should not and cannot rely on regular on-page and off-page optimization techniques like SEO.  Local SEO builds off of several …

Local SEO. I both love it and hate it. I like the challenge. I hate the complexity. It has tremendous rewards and has disastrous consequences.

Unlike Organic SEO, the denomination of Local SEO brings a lot more variables to the game. A lot of SEO advice winds up short. It’s more difficult because more is involved, more is at stake and you need to act fast.

So how does one screw up local SEO?

I’m glad you asked! I’d like to discuss a …

One of the advantages of working in Local SEO is that you can use the events in your community to theorize an increase or decrease in site traffic.  Of course, you need to be acutely aware of how your business site is tied to your community.

A client of mine is one of the largest HVAC companies in central Kentucky.  Their business is very weather-driven.  What that means is that once the temperatures hits 80 degrees, the phones start …

The past two weeks have been run-of-the-mill marketing.  Getting an ad ready, talking with designers, mapping latest website visits, blah blah blah.  Yanking levers and pushing buttons is something you get use to as you do a constant marketing push.  Sometimes you wonder if what you are doing is making a difference.  Well, my friend, I’m hear to tell you it does!  It even goes beyond measurable results.

One of my clients produces … let’s just call them Home Widgets to protect the …

In my previous local SEO post, I mentioned how local businesses can gain previous ground back from e-commerce. What’s simply mind boggling is that this can be done without even having a website.

When conducting a local search  you may get that Google Maps block that shows where you can probably find whatever it is you’re looking for … usually. What should pique your curiosity is that these results don’t mirror the regular Google Natural Search Results. To further …

Local SEO is an odd duck. It’s hard to fake. It doesn’t play by the same rules. It’s listed reviews carry unheard of clout. And to top it off, a business doesn’t need to a website to rank high. What? Yep. A business can rank in the Google Map results without anything called “page rank.”

The Power of Local SEO in Tough Economic Times

I have a story. The knob on my clothes dryer broke off and because I couldn’t download a …

Search Engine Optimization as a whole has certain methods and measurements that are understood to measure success.  For years, it’s been PageRank.  PageRank was a measure of a website’s importance by way of how many authoritative sites linked to it.   But what about its importance in Local SEO?

This rank created whole employment positions of “link builders” and sites called “link farms.” Exploitations were found.  Site bannings commenced.  PageRank became this precious commodity like spices of the East Indies.  If your site …

Taking up the torch for the 2nd year straight, David Mihm has put together an updated (and inspired) list of Local Search Ranking Factors.  Twenty-six contributors and 49 criteria later, David unleashed the results of the survey earlier this week.  The survey’s criteria included everything from local business listings to on-page optimization and even negative factors like negative reviews and using 800 numbers.

Let me be clear, this is a monster of a local search report.  But if you are …