Local SEO Archive

The Ten Commandments of Online Marketing for Small & Local Businesses

No. 72 • April 15th, 2008 • 38 Comments

Step-by-step instructions for the small business just trying to get a handle on this whole internet marketing thing. In honor of the recent passing of the former president of the National Rifle Association, I submit to American small business owners the following ten essential action items for a successful online presence.

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Danny Sullivan Highlights Importance of Local Search in SMX West Keynote

No. 71 • February 26th, 2008 • 1 Comment

Danny featured a slide showing Google's result for 'hotels santa clara ca'. For those heavily involved in the Local search space, the "10-pack" is nothing new. Danny and others have been telling us that it, or something like it anyway, has been coming for some time now. But the fact that search marketers from the entire spectrum of SEM were just awakened to the importance of Local by the godfather of the industry speaks to the notion that 2008 will finally be the tipping point for this vertical.

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@Search Engines: How to Improve Your Local Search Interface

No. 66 • January 22nd, 2008 • 4 Comments

Mike Blumenthal's been all over the recent experimentation with the Google Local OneBox Ten Pack, first made public by Paul Jahn, in the last several days. Mike accurately notes that while displaying a larger number of businesses seems to level the playing field. In my opinion, this is mostly a good thing, as it helps defray some of the impact that the poor quality of Google's Local algorithm currently has on small businesses.

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The Most Brilliant Google Local Post I’ve Ever Read

No. 64 • December 13th, 2007 • 4 Comments

Tim Coleman lays out a VERY convincing argument for why certain businesses (and certain businesses' reviews) show up at the top of the Google Local algorithm, and why others don't. It's the most salient, actionable piece of advice I've ever read for small businesses looking to get a leg up on the competition in the new Map + 3 interface that's become ubiquitous in Universal Search.

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Top Local / Small Business Takeaways – PubCon 2007

No. 54 • December 10th, 2007 • 4 Comments

Brian Gil of Yahoo Local mentioned that they are now actively spidering the hCard format to gather information about geographic location. Yahoo in particular is “multi-sourcing” local content; the more sources they find the information, and the higher the quality of those sources, the higher their trust in your small business and the better you’re […]

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The REAL Problem with Local Search

No. 43 • October 25th, 2007 • 12 Comments

Nearly all of the Local Search Marketing experts agree that the problem with Local Search is that "It's too fragmented and too complex." This post examines why that's only a part of the problem, and why Google and the other search engines actually WANT small businesses to succeed online.

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Patent Expert Shares Insight on Google’s Local Strategies

No. 21 • August 14th, 2007 • No Comments

Bill Slawski, who is probably the world’s foremost search engine patent expert, authored a post today that spoke to some of the factors Google looks at when deciding to display local information. Bill’s article isn’t necessarily concerned with advice on how to use Google’s patent to your advantage, but rather a more objective look at […]

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Marchex: Friend or Foe to Local Business?

No. 1617 • July 2nd, 2007 • No Comments

Noted Local SEO analyst Greg Sterling recently detailed Marchex’s launch of 100,000 local search sites for Search Engine Land. (The official Marchex release is here.) Marchex describes itself as “a leader in delivering vertical and local online traffic to merchants.” Awww, cute and cuddly as a teddy bear, right? Not so fast…note the careful wording […]

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New Post on Google Local PPC over at SEOmoz

No. 1616 • June 19th, 2007 • No Comments

My first YOUmoz article was promoted to the main SEOmoz blog today — thanks Rebecca (and Rand)! The skinny is this: Google shows an entirely different set of ads for Google Local search results than they do for traditional Web Search results, as long as there’s at least ONE advertiser who’s taken the time to […]

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