Formic Seminar: Going Places with Google

Formic Media Seminar Series:Going Places with Google

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Oregon Business

Upcoming Seminars

April 13th – Google Analytics May 11th – Elements of Sales Success June 8th – Website Clinic

Agenda Local Search Overview Factors Affecting Local SEO Local SEO Optimization Tips Local Social Local Advertising

Local SEO Overview

Local SEO Overview Why is Local SEO so important? Roughly 20% of all searches have local intent June 2010

Google = 10.1 billion searches Yahoo = 2.9 billion Bing = 1.9 billion Total of Big 3 = 14.9 billion searches

2,980,000,000 searches had local intent!

Local SEO Overview So what, what does that mean for me? 50 million Google Place pages globally Only 4 million have been claimed globally

2 million in the US (out of roughly 25 million in the US)

Huge Potential and Opportunity!

Local SEO Overview

Local SEO Overview

Local SEO Overview

Requires a different mindset than traditional SEO Organic SEO is about optimizing websites/off-site

factors Local SEO is about optimizing locations Local search has its own set of ranking factors

Local SEO Overview

Traditional SEO Ranking algo consists of on-site SEO and off-site (i.e.

inbound links) ranking factors

On-Site Ranking Factors (Title/Meta/etc)

Off-Site Ranking Factors (links)

Local SEO Overview

Local SEO Many more properties to be concerned with

Top Five Positive Factors Affecting Local SEO

Claiming Your Place Page Verify your listing as the owner of the business

http://www.places.google.com/business

Claiming: Enter business info. Verify your listing.

Business Address Matches City of Search The only time this doesn’t matter is when there are

not enough results to satisfy the search Although it appears that distance to the centroid matters

less, there is still a border around the city that matters

Associate Place Page with Proper Categories Provide at least one category for your business

Categories should say what your business is (e.g. Restaurant), not on what it does (e.g. Cook Food) or things it sells (e.g. Draper Valley Free Range Chicken). This information can be added in your description or as custom attributes.

Categories should not contain location-based information. Only one category per entry field – don’t try to stuff the fields

Reviews Google places a huge focus on reviews – listing them

in multiple locations

Off Page / Off Listing Criteria Make sure you have consistent information across all

listings

Having a properly optimized, well-built site should be at the center of all online marketing efforts

Top Five Negative Factors Affecting Local SEO

Multiple Listings with the Same Phone Number Make sure all listings are consolidated into one,

optimized local listing

Google uses this as a way to control spam

Even if running multiple businesses from the same phone number you need to define a distinct local area code number for each business

Not Showing Address Google will bury you in the listings – only showing

business name specific searches

If you don’t want to be found why are you optimizing a local listing page in the first place?

Multiple Listings with Same Address Becomes an issue with offices & business located in

the same building

Suite numbers help

Can lead to unwanted merged listings, swapped reviews and the diversion of listing power

Listing PO Box Instead of Physical Address

Too easy to game the system without having a physical address in additional territories

Multiple Pages with Same Business Title Easier to avoid for small business – more difficult for

chains Google will not allow one business to dominate all

results

Local Optimization Tips

Local Search Strategy & Optimization

Important Elements to Ranking in the “7 Pack”: Claim your local listing

Ensure that your company does not have duplicate listings

Ensure that your listing is properly categorized Include keywords in the local listing Title Proximity of the business to the city center

Google Places service areas Complete local business listing profile

Number of citations

Claim Your Local Listing

Trust is a huge signal for Google Only 2MM claimed in U.S. so far http://www.google.com/places No duplicate listings! Do the same at Yahoo (listings.local.yahoo.com) And the same at Bing

(ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx)

Claim Your Local Listing

Claiming:

Enter business info. Verify your listing.

Include Keywords in your Title

Add Keywords to your Title:

These will be bolded in results. Help to increase CTR, similar to PPC

advertising.

Categorize Your Listing

Add Relevancy Factors:

Search Engines use categories to help define your business accurately.

Proximity to City Center

Proximity:

Having an address in the city and close to the city center helps with local ranking.

Importance is determined by competition.

Service Areas & Home Based Businesses

Add Service Areas:

Extremely helpful for home based businesses. Good for businesses that serve specific areas.

Complete your Local Listing Profile

Add Profile Content:

Reviews Photos Videos Coupons

Off-site Optimization: Get Citations!

Key Citation Sources:

Yellowpages.com Superpages.com GetFave.com Hotfrog.com Local.botw.org Citysearch.com InsiderPages.com CityVoter.com Judysbook.com Kudzu.com ShopInCities.com

Off-site Optimization: Get Links!Submit to Free and/or Paid directoriesAdd & verify business information with local Data Providers

Off-site Optimization: UBL

Universal Business Listing (UBL) Services

Off-site Optimization: UBL

Universal Business Listing (UBL) Reporting

Off-site Optimization: hcard

Rich snippets and hcard formatting on your website

<div class="vcard"> <div class="adr"> <h2>Contact</h2> <div class="street-address">300 NE Failing St.</div> <span class="locality">Portland</span>, <abbr class="region" title="Oregon">OR</abbr>&nbsp; <span class="postal-code">97212</span> </div> <div class="tel"> <span class="type">Work</span> +1-503-517-9059 x122 </div> <div class="tel"> <span class="type">Fax</span> +1-503-517-9068 </div> <div>Email: <span class="email">info@formicmedia.com</span></div> </div>

Off-site Optimization: embedding a map

Copy the Link code from your Google maps listing(note it will generate exactly how you are viewing it, ie. zoom %, business clicked, etc.) Then simply paste it into your websites code.

Reviews & Social

Google HotPot, Place Search, Foursquare

Why Are Reviews Important?

Why Are Reviews Important?

Why Are Reviews Important?

Where to Get Reviews

Where to Get Reviews

Where to Get ReviewsServices

Yelp

City Search

ePinions

Where to Get ReviewsProducts

BizRate

Buzz Millions

ePinions

Responding to Positive Reviews

When you get a rave review: Be gracious and humble Make sure you let them know that you appreciate the kind

review Consider rewarding comments with discounts or promos

Responding to Negative Reviews

Respond when: You know your company is in the wrong A review is misstating facts The reviewer is justifiably upset

How to Respond: Be honest – if your company is in the wrong, admit it Be calm and friendly Figure out a way to make amends and direct them to a

contact that can help offline.

Google HotPot

Geo-Social Tools

• Geo-social tools can count as Citations.• Claim and optimize your business!• Encourage full participation!

Local Advertising

Pay-per-Click (PPC), Google Boost, Facebook

PPC: Google AdWords

Sponsored Ads (PPC)

PPC: Google AdWords

PPC: Google AdWords

AdWords Location Extensions

PPC: Google AdWords

Google Boost

PPC Pin is RED

Google Boost

Local AdvertisingGoogle Boost

Google Boost

Google Boost

Google Boost

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads

Questions?

Contact:John McPhee

www.formicmedia.com503-517-9059 x122| johnm@formicmedia.com