'Net Features : local search

3 Key Steps to Optimize for Local Search

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Because there are fewer competitors, local search engine optimization is not nearly as challenging as broader categories -- but it still has its challenges. Many of the same core SEO rules still apply, but thanks in part to improvements on the part of search engines and the intersection of search and social, it is far simpler than at any time in the Web's short but rich history to optimize for local search.

Be Everywhere That Matters: From Google Places to local directories, local links and user citations are the primary influencers of high rankings for geo-specific terms. Local users go deep for information, so even small, seemingly low-volume destinations can result in quality links. They may not receive a lot of traffic individually, but a few links from relevant blogs can go a long way - on the search result pages and even in your local community.

Ask for Reviews: If you're a local business and are not collecting reviews, you won't be in business long. Search engines rely on content, and in the eyes of search engines today there is no more reliable signal of businesses' authority and relevance to an individual query than the presence of reviews. You don't just need to ask for reviews here and there, you should consider making it part of either your business processes or marketing campaigns. If you run a dry cleaning business, what's 25 percent off your patron's next visit for a review? You don't need hundreds, but in order to remain fresh and relevant, your review assets do need to be constantly appended.

Set Up a Schedule: It sounds basic (perhaps overly so), but ask the next local business owner you encounter when was the last time they checked their position on the search results pages for keywords and phrases relevant to their business. The answer will likely be "it's been a while". Setting up a schedule to monitor position and the impact of individual promotions, just like spending time delivering paychecks to your employees, is a neccessary function of business.

Local Search to Generate $8.2 Billion by 2015

Linc Wonham — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Local search advertising revenues will increase from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion by 2015, according to local media analyst BIA/Kelsey.

That’s a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent that’s driven by the continuing increase in local search activity. By 2015, the firm expects that 30 percent of all search volume will be local in nature.

“Local search ad revenues hit an all-time high last year, driven primarily by better product integration across search engines, especially Google,” says Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director of BIA/Kelsey. “Revenues will continue to grow as better targeting, increased mobile usage and improving integration drive up local search activity.”

As smartphone and tablet use picked up in 2010, increasing amounts of consumers took to browsing the Web on their mobile devices, lending to a significant increase in local search. As these devices and mobile search habits embed themselves further into the mainstream, local search will continue to gain momentum – to the benefit of most local and regional brands.

According to comScore’s most recent Explicit Core Search Share Report, more than 16 billion such searches were queried in April 2011, with nearly 11 billion of those taking place on Google. Yahoo sites accounted for nearly 3 billion core searches and Microsoft had just over 2 billion.

BIA/Kelsey’s Interactive Local Media advisory service provides research, analysis and evaluation of quantitative and qualitative data as it relates to the locally focused digital media and advertising marketplace. Visit BIA/Kelsey to learn more about the Interactive Local Media advisory service or to gain access to the full report.

Google’s Place Search Could Be a Local Favorite

Linc Wonham — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Local search is currently one of the fiercest battlegrounds on the Web, which means we can expect nothing less from Google than its best shot. That’s exactly what it fired this week with the unveiling of Place Search, the new feature from Google Places – formerly the Google Local Business Center.

Place Search is rolling out in more than 40 different languages this week, offering enhanced functionality for users and increased visibility for millions of local businesses. A search query for sushi in Chicago, for instance, will yield the familiar Google Map marked with red pins, but will also contain more relevant information than previous searches and often as many as 40 links related to individual restaurants on a single results page.

The new information is presented clearly and can be easily digested by users to make quick and easy comparisons, saving an average of two seconds per search during the testing phase. Place Search results will also appear automatically when Google’s technology predicts the user is looking for local information, but there will be a new link for Places on the left-hand panel of the standard search page to activate the local search feature.

There are more than 50 million locations in Google’s Place Search database, which places it high among the multitude of local information services provided by Foursquare, Yelp, Facebook, Gowalla and many others.

Making All Search Local

Administrator — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:15:00 GMT

Three ways to optimize your Internet presence for local search queries

:: by John Faris, Red Door Interactive ::

Former U.S. Congressman Tip O’Neill famously coined the phrase, “All politics is local.” In much the same way, retail and service companies are quickly coming to realize that all marketing is local. With the recent rise — and soon to be explosion — in GPS/mapping-enabled smart phones as well as the drastic changes in the way Google searches trigger results, local search is rapidly becoming a critical marketing channel. If ignored, it may mean the difference for an organization being visible or invisible to potential customers.

The concept is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Most marketers are savvy enough to claim their listings in Google Places, but most don’t do anything beyond that. Instead they opt to focus their efforts on optimizing for general search queries.

However, claiming your listing is only the first step in a comprehensive strategy, since the majority of location-specific searches don’t even take place on Google. Many consumers use other outlets such as online yellow pages, local directories and city guides like CitySearch or Yelp, as well as search engines including Yahoo and Bing, to conduct their searches for local businesses. Even if Google were to start dominating local search like they dominate general search queries (and they probably will), their results are heavily influenced by these other local sources.

So before missing the boat entirely, here are three things marketers can do today to optimize their Internet presence for local search queries.

Stake Multiple Claims. Organizations should establish their local listings on all three major engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo! Maps. If a company has more than 10 locations, they can avoid Google’s postcard/phone verification process by submitting a spreadsheet for bulk upload. Once the listings are uploaded, the verification process can be initiated by submitting a request at http://bit.ly/GoogleVerification.

Be aware that this still triggers a manual process on Google’s side and doesn’t result in instantaneous verification. The process can be accelerated by registering your Google Places account using a company-owned email address, as opposed to a Gmail account or other third-party email address.

Beyond search engine map listings, marketers should increase the number of “citations”, or mentions of a company name in association with the location-specific phone number and address, on third-party sites. They are crucial in improving the rankings for your map listings. Google puts more weight on citations from trusted resources like Yelp, CitySearch, YellowPages.com and Local.com, but citation authority is industry-specific in many cases.

As an added benefit, top-tier Internet Yellow Pages and city guides get a fair amount of their own traffic and provide excellent outlets for consumer reviews. Google often pulls reviews from third-party sites into their listings and the number of reviews a location receives can impact the 10-pack rankings. Locations with high customer ratings typically see a lift in click-through rates as well.

Illustrate and Amplify. Optimizing for local search is a constant care and feeding process that will require marketers to keep on top of the latest developments by both mainstream and vertical search sites and enhance their listings accordingly. As far as Google Places is concerned, the first step after claiming and verifying your locations is to enhance your profiles by building out the listings with comprehensive information, including pictures and videos.

Companies can even add unique coupons to their listings that provide incentive to customers and helps with tracking. One of the most critical data points is the category that is associated with the business. Choosing the right one helps to ensure that your locations show up for the right search terms. The more complete the profile, the more trusted it becomes by both Google and the consumer. If you still aren’t showing up for your priority local search terms, consider advertising in the map results via Google Adwords Local Ad Extensions pay-per-click services or through Google Places Tags for a flat fee of $25 per month. Neither of these advertising options will push your listings into the 10-pack, but they will help your listing get a bit more exposure in the result pages in Google Maps.

Take Chances. There’s good reason to, so do experiment with incentivizing consumer actions through mobile applications like Twitter, far beyond simply chasing the latest fad. In July, Biz Stone, co-founder of the popular social media phenomenon boasted that Twitter now supports 800 million search queries per day, more than twice that of Yahoo! and Bing combined. Many of these searches have local intent and can be leveraged for both branding and direct response. And while it is nice to have a large following of engaged users that you can reach directly, Twitter search has the possibility of making the micro-blogging site a useful marketing vehicle independent of your communitybuilding skills.

In the same light, marketers should start considering location- based mobile applications like Foursquare and similar services like Double Dutch, as these services afford companies the opportunity to tap into users’ geographic locations. Companies can use that information to serve up offers and information for nearby businesses and points of interest. Some savvy marketers, like those at Tasti D-Lite, are even using social-local apps to power their loyalty programs, providing incentive for both social and financial transactions.

One thing’s for sure with local search marketing programs: consistent care, maintenance and optimization will not only increase online traffic, but offline sales at various locations. Make sure that you continually update your listings across the Web if and when any of your location details change. Keeping the information up-to-date and accurate is key to establishing credibility with the search engines. Such practices can be the difference between making noise and making it rain.

About the Author: John Faris is the Online Acquisition Supervisor at Red Door Interactive, an Internet Presence Management firm that helps organizations profit from their Web initiatives. Clients include Petco, Qualcomm, Overstock.com, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill and Cricket Communications. He can be reached at jfaris@reddoor.biz.

Yahoo! & Dex One Extend Local Agreement

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Yahoo! and Dex One announced an expanded partnership where businesses advertising on dexknows.com will now be able to have their online listings appear in Yahoo! Local search results.

The expanded partnership doubles the geographic area covered by an existing relationship formed in 2007. The previous agreement between Dex One and Yahoo! exclusively covered the 14-state region where Dex One is the official print directory publisher for Qwest.

“Yahoo! is committed to helping local businesses unlock the potential of digital advertising,” said Regan Senkarik, Vice President of Channel Sales, Yahoo!. “Expanding our agreement with Dex One will provide their clients with greater exposure in local communities and more consumers with detailed information on local businesses.”

Yahoo! collaborates with a variety of partners, with collaborations including Yahoo!’s strategic relationship with a consortium of 800 American newspapers — consisting of 52 percent of all U.S. Sunday circulation — which use Yahoo!’s behavioral targeting tools to sell display ads on consortium member sites and on the Yahoo! network.

“This strengthens a great strategic relationship with Yahoo! and broadens the reach of our local advertiser network,” said Sean Greene, senior vice president of interactive, Dex One. “Through the network our clients’ online business information appears not only on DexKnows but also in prime locations on many of the Web’s most popular search sites, including Yahoo! Local.”

Manage Local Business Listings With New BRM From Localeze

Linc Wonham — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:41:00 GMT

An upgraded Web application from Localeze, the largest business listings directory provider for local search, is designed for businesses to better manage their local listings while delivering more accurate data to local search engines.

The new Business Registration Manager includes an updated design and interface that allows users to enhance listings with descriptive keywords and links. The BRM upgrade gives businesses complete 24/7 access to update, revalidate and manage their local search listings, and Localeze will now proactively notify clients of the status of their listings so they can provide corrective action.

Localeze currently manages 14.5 million local search business listings and distributes the data to more than 90 local search platform partners. More information on the BRM upgrade can be found at localeze.com.

Twitter Goes Local

Mike Phillips — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:30:00 GMT

Twitter has added a new trending topic functionality, this time with a local tilt. On the right side of your Twitter home page, you will see a notification of trending topics that you can change (at right). Click the arrow and then choose a region. Then you will see topics and hashtag keywords and phrases that are currently popular in that region (see current available regions below).

By choosing local trending topics, businesses can get an idea of what's being discussed and shared on Twitter, and there's more. Traditionally, trending topics on Twitter align closely with hot topics across the Web. This presents a good opportunity for keyword research of sorts. Discover current trends and use this to your advantage in blog posts, social profile updates, links, etc. And, don't forget that Google and Bing are indexing social media content on SERPs.

The advantage of local trends is not only good for local businesses to connect with local consumers, but it also lets businesses peer into a community where they might not have a strong presence - opening a potential new audience. Include the local trends keywords into your profile updates and you might just develop a loyal, local following.

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Dex Knows Local; Maponics Neighborhood Data Added

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:54:00 GMT

Local search provider DexKnows.com announced it will be using Maponics map data to offer neighborhood-level search for its individual city pages. One of the issues that has held back local search was its inability to bring context to location. For example, I know that downtown Chicago is called the Loop, but If you asked me what zip code a particular business is in I would not be able to tell you. Maponics data gives DexKnows the ability to provide a neighborhood-level context to consumers, and most importantly, advertisers.

Maponics Q309 Neighborhood Boundaries release features boundary data for over 70,000 neighborhoods in 2,800 cities in North America and Europe. Also included is the industry’s first Neighborhood Classification Schema, which provides important neighborhood zoning and social use information, and allows search sites and applications to selectively filter for neighborhoods with profiles that best match searcher intentions.

“DexKnows.com delivers a unique, local search experience letting users search by precise locations, such as neighborhoods and landmarks, and by specific needs and service areas,” said Sean Greene, senior vice president of interactive at R.H. Donnelley, which publishes DexKnows.com. “We partnered with Maponics for neighborhood map data because they provided the solution to deliver the user experience we wanted.”

Krillion Provides Toshiba with Local Search

MaureenA — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Krillion, a search engine for local shopping now works with Toshiba’s laptop division. Customers can search for Toshiba laptops and find out prices and availability of online and offline merchants. The announcement comes just in time for school shopping and the upcoming holiday season.

When a customer clicks on a product, results populate with store names, contact information, pricing and availability. A map view is also available which shows locations of products on a map.

According to its website, those interested in partnering with Krillion can do so as a manufacturer, using a publisher widget, or custom integration. Krillion provides localized search for electronics, computers, lawn and garden, tools, and appliances. Consumers can search for product information in more than 40,000 U.S. locations.

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Yahoo! Local Shortcuts Enhanced

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:18:00 GMT

About 20 percent of online searches have a local intent, where users are looking for businesses, organizations, events, and other information in a specific geographic area.

Yahoo! has taken some pages from the Bing and Google search playbooks and enhanced the Yahoo! Shortcut for local businesses to include links to information user’s care most about (reviews, an overview, photos, and directions) and an overlay that displays that content directly on the search results page.

For example, we took a few of our sales staff out to lunch at Carlucci’s in Rosemont to celebrate their birthday’s yesterday. If we had searched for that restaurant on Yahoo! today we would have seen the following search result:

Yahoo! also enhanced its category searches. Say for example we had had not known about this restaurant but still wanted to go to an Italian restaurant, we could have searched for “Italian food in Rosemont IL” and been presented with the following:

If you haven’t added your business to Yahoo! Local (or any of the other local search resources, it is apparent now that you’ll need to start if you want to remain competitive as search engines provide deeper exposure to businesses within local results.

Seven Steps to Local Search Success, Part 1

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:26:00 GMT

As a small business in a lackluster economy, making the most of your marketing dollars is critical to your bottom line. Using a local search engine, you can target customers in a particular region while maximizing your marketing investment. Local search is more targeted and less expensive than other forms of online and offline advertising, which can translate into more leads and customers for less money. In addition to offering inexpensive, relevant advertising dynamics, local search also provides an audit trail to measure results, and other opportunities to increase revenue. As a result, it has enjoyed steady, annual growth and is proving to be a solid marketing tool for growing small businesses. Here’s what you’ll need to know to get started on the road to local search success.

STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR ONLINE GOALS.
Before you begin, determine what you want to accomplish when you go online. Are you looking to garner name or brand recognition for your company? Do you want to grow your business or be found by your customers? Once you’ve defined your online goals, stick to them and keep them as simple as possible.

STEP 2: DEVELOP YOUR PROFILE PAGE.
Think about how you want to describe your business and then use this information to develop your online profile page and advertise your business. What do you want future customers to know about your products and services? How are they better than the competition? Determine the methods of payment, driving directions, maps, product photos and other content. To leverage your efforts, you can also embed your category and keywords into product and service descriptions. Adding this specific information about your business will help you reach potential customers, and improve rankings on the major search engines.

STEP 3: DETERMINE YOUR TARGET CUSTOMERS AND REGIONAL REACH.
Think about who you want to purchase your products or services and what geographical regions you want to serve. Numerous reports cite 80 percent of a person’s income is spent within 20 miles of their home. So there is a good opportunity to reach exactly who you want using the right local search strategy. If possible, consider using market research that supports your industry or have your employees ask their customers how they found your business. Was it an ad or other placement that prompted them to take action?

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Yahoo! New Local Ad Sales Force

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:30:00 GMT

AT&T Interactive and Yahoo yesterday announced an agreement under which AT&T’s 5,000 strong sales force will sell Yahoo! display inventory across the United States. The companies have existing relationships across a variety of industries including portal and mobile services as well as powering Yahoo! Local with advertiser content from YellowPages.com.

AT&T Interactive has existing relationships with many small businesses, many of which have created local online ad campaigns and Web presences around YellowPages.com. The agreement essentially enables those using AT&T Interactive to add Yahoo! display advertising to their marketing.

"Local businesses are looking to drive in-store traffic, and our alliance with AT&T Interactive will help them reach a local audience of highly-engaged potential customers on Yahoo!," said Jim Schinella, Senior Vice President, North America Region, Yahoo!. "As local businesses shift their advertising spend to reach the growing number of Internet consumers, AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! can equip them with the tools and expertise they need to be successful online."

Google's Local Business Center

Mike Phillips — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:09:00 GMT

If you operate a local, brick-and-mortar business, you will want to check out Google's Local Business Center (LBC). No doubt, consumers have learned about your business through a Google search, or found directions to your location through Google Maps, or both. In fact, the use of Google Maps has been rising quickly and steadily over the past several months, according to data from Compete.com. Increased usage means that it's critical to not only be listed, but that information is accurate and descriptive of your business. With LBC, you can take control of that information, and see detailed reporting about how customers are finding your business, where they are coming from, and more. By using this information, you can tailor your offerings, provide relevant experiences based on consumer expectations, even offer coupons. According to the official Google blog, here are a few of the options from Google's LBC:

Impressions: The number of times the business listing appeared as a result on a Google.com search or Google Maps search in a given period.
Actions: The number of times people interacted with the listing; for example, the number of times they clicked through to the business' website or requested driving directions to the business.
Top search queries: Which queries led customers to the business listing; for example, are they finding the listing for a cafe by searching for "tea" or "coffee"?
Zip codes where driving directions come from: Which zip codes customers are coming from when they request directions to your location.

Begin by claiming a new listing, or optimizing your existing business listing here.

Local Search is Booming (Thanks to Recommendations?)

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:04:00 GMT

There has been a surge of annual growth for local search, according to a study conducted by comScore released today by the Yellow Pages Association.

Local search grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches, the study shows. By comparison, overall U.S. Web core searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008. Local searches stand at 12 percent of core searches on the top 5 portals. Local is clearly becoming a focus of marketers looking to leverage every promotional opportunity available.

Some interesting statistics from the study reinforce this:

75 percent of the top 100 keywords searched on Internet Yellow Pages sites were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their search.

Nearly half (45 percent) of Internet Yellow Pages and local online directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008.

But what exactly precipitates these local searches?

A recent survey conducted by Buzfactor might provide some answers. The survey found that a recommendation has 15 times more influence on where a person shops and dines than advertising. Buzfactor also found that customers recommend their favorite local businesses as many as 27 times per year and, with recommendations likely being acted upon 71.2% of the time, each customer evangelist a business has potentially generates 19 new customers for the business. Most important, according to Buzfactor, is the edge that local businesses have over national chains. The survey showed that 86% of consumers said the businesses they most often recommend are local.

Google Goes Hyper-Local

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:44:00 GMT

One of the major issues that local search has had in the past is that "local" really meant "local as defined by the user" - until now. Google has made a major advancement in local search and essentially integrated some basic IP intelligence into local search.

Google has already rolled out the new local search results, which will appear on a Google Map even if you don't type in a specific geographic location along with a keyword query (such as Chicago Thai food). This is a major development for those websites that rely on local traffic. Google is matching user IP address to a broad geographical location (where you are) and presents listings based on that information. Unfortunately, as it stands right now though, it's got problems.

After searching through a few local results, I would have to say the change (despite its major importance and potential) is a pretty significant failure. Based on my albeit limited experience with these results, it seems the listings are based on too broad of a geographic area. Being successful in a town like this and I'm betting other towns as well, will mean narrowing results to neighborhood location or even zip code location which matches IP addresses.

Don't get me wrong: this is perhaps one of the most important local search developments in years. I advise every company (that has not already) to sign up to Google Maps immediately, as the trend towards IP matching is, once again, crucial to your Internet success.

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