Great article on how to optimizing your google local listing for your business |
If I was to take a crack at Google’s local search algorithm and reduce it to a Layman’s equation, it would perhaps look something like this:
Ranking = Location + Information + Corroboration + Input + X
Understanding these variables is a critical part of successfully marketing your business online. SMB’s have just two meaningful representations in the local search space: a website and a business listing or “LBL”. I’m dismissing social media presence because it is primarily a representation of a single user rather than what we conceive as a traditional brick and mortar business — functioning as more of compliment to website SEO anyway. The latter of the two local search presences is worth discussing in detail.
Business listing optimization and improving your “findability” in the local search space is the hot market right now. Local search is mainstream. And If you’re not already convinced of this, all you have to do is measure the real estate Google allots to their Map-packs (listings that appear adjacent to the large map of business locations) in the universal results - on many screens almost pushing the index-based results below the fold – the 7-pack being the most frequently seen. Last year, the major engines saw a whopping 2.6 billion local searches conducted per month1.
But surprisingly, only about 11% of SMB’s have even claimed their business listings. And roughly 25% of the existing NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) representations floating around online are incorrect. These NAP’s appear primarily in local results. To be more specific, local results are the product of online consumers looking to find qualified local businesses, by entering “top of mind” keywords, phrases and geographic modifiers on major search engines, IYP’s (Internet Yellow Pages) and other online directories.
Let’s take a look at the anatomy of a local search results page and see where local business listings fit in. For this example I did a Google search for “cleaners boston ma“…
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With this kind of first-page exposure for local listings, there is a reason they call it the Lucky 7. For any local search, the major search engines (e.g., Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, Bing Local) all use their own “black box” algorithms to deliver results they determine are most-to-least relevant. From what I can tell, the 7-Pack algorithm is mostly based on the Maps algo, but also has a layer of Universal on top of it. From extensive research in local search optimization, I’ve found a handful of factors that influence rankings. |
Ranking Factors: What Determines the Ranking Results in Local Search?
Back to my equation: Ranking = Location + Information + Corroboration + Input + X; X being defined as the consistent unknown and ever-evolving factor contributing to the unpredictability we see in results. The definition of X might as well be stored in the same vault as the Coca-Cola recipe. The other criteria of the local search equation are better understood. |
| 1. Location: Distance from “Centroid” (the geographic center of the area searched) - the closer your business is, the higher you rank — well kind of. |
| 2. Information: Listings containing more robust information and links rank higher in results (e.g., a website link, keyword-rich content, media, etc). Enhance your listing with keyword-rich content targeting the top keyword phrases prospective consumers may use to find you. |
| 3. Corroboration: How many other local search engines or directories have your same listing published? Each time the information contained in your listing matches the NAP and description on other “relevant” sites, your listing gets a “citation” (award) — the more citations you have, the higher your business ranks. |
| 4. “Objective” Consumer Input: How many consumer reviews/ratings or other sources of user input does your business have on “relevant” sites? How many are positive/negative? To maximize citations and achieve the highest possible ranking you need to get as much positive feedback as possible. |
| Negative ranking factors: Avoid using an 800# or multiple phone numbers across listings for tracking purposes (consistency in NAP is key); non-local area code; use of a P.O. Box; multiple LBLs with same phone number and/or DBA and/or address; stuffing geo-targeted keywords into non-related categories or fields; high percentage of bad reviews. |
I will be speaking at the Viva Business Networking event in Luton on 24th June 2010 - would be great to meet you there. The talk will focus on local search marketing and the power of the internet for local business owners.
Event Date:
Thursday, 24 June 2010 - 12:00pm
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Come and try Viva for a fun, relaxed and fresh way to Business Network.Our experienced host Gary Lester, will ensure that your afternoon is both productive and enjoyable.Viva is about more than just business referrals… we are a support network for local business.Join us for lunch and a chance to discuss ideas and problems, with other business owners, who will be able to assist you in making your business the best that it can be.Our guest speaker this month will be the wonderful Diane Corriete, from http://www.inspirationalguidance.co.uk Diane is an internationally recognised Internet marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur, Property Investor and Master in creating LOCAL Search Results. Diane is a professionally certified Life Coach who specialises in helping people build an internet business online by teaching them proven methods that will save them time and make them money. Whether you are interested in selling information products, developing online community engagement through blogs/social networks or starting an online business that you may one day sell Diane can support you directly, or indirectly by suggesting other services that can help. Are you ready to change to the way you network forever?Come give Viva a go!! SPECIAL OFFER: Only £15.00 if booked before the 19th June 2010!
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BT Tradespace added one of my articles to their blog. :0) The importance of Local Search |
Getting your local business noticed online using local search marketing |
Over the last year the search engines have started taking notice of something that is big news for your local business. It is called local search and involves a potential customer using the internet to search for a local product or service. |
The search is usually location and/or postcode based and will focus on a product or service that people want. |
| How can you help your local business get found? By making the most of some of services available such as: |
Here is an excellent opportunity to promote your business for free. Create a profile that covers how your business helps, add images and video, set up a shop or an appointment system if you use them. Keep your site updated by providing news about your latest business offers. BT have provided a unique opportunity for small local businesses to raise the profile of their business online. |
The search engines are now doing their best to help local business owners benefit from the opportunity to find new customers using the internet. The biggest three providers – Google, Yahoo and Bing – all provide a local business centre that gives you an opportunity to create a listing and get added on to their local business map. |
Local Business Directories |
Another great facility to help local businesses raise their online profile is to use local business directories that focus on a local area like “City Local” or “The Best Of” – the easiest way to find out what’s available in your local area is to type in “business directory X” with X being your local town or city. You can also use UK business directories too, directories that have more of a social network feel about them like Yelp and others which cater to a specific type of industry like restaurants. |
Online Business Networking Sites |
As a small business owner you probably spend some of your time at local networking events to help enhance the profile of your business. Now there are a number of online business networks, which again give you an opportunity to add your business details and create a profile of what you offer online. If you are already part of a networking group which meets regularly offline find out if there is an opportunity to also add your profile online because the good ones will provide that as a service. |
The” know like and trust” factor of doing business is even more important online. Local search is set to grow and adding local search marketing to the marketing mix for your business is something all local businesses should seriously consider. |
 About the author |
Diane Corriette is an Internet Business Instructor who helps local businesses and service professionals develop a local search marketing plan so they can get found online. You can join her recently set up BT Group and find out how to take advantage of free web based training by visiting her BT Tradespace site. |
Looks as if we could start seeing more adverts on our mobile devices now as research is showing that people really don’t mind it! Consumers Embrace Mobile Advertising [REPORT] |
 Advertisements on mobile devices are both welcome and effective, a recent study from mobile audience media company JiWire revealed.
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This is especially true of advertisements that appear in apps. Of the roughly 1,000 smartphone users surveyed, 52% claim they have acted on an advertisement in an app and 18% have made a purchase directly from an ad in an app in the last month. |
In addition, 53% said they were willing to share their location to receive more relevant advertising and a full 76% said they would prefer to download a free, advertising-supported app instead of paying an upfront fee for the same app. |
“People have a completely different perception of mobile content and advertising when they’re on-the-go compared to when they’re at home or in the office,” said David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire. “With nearly half of the on-the-go mobile audience saying they are more likely to engage with an ad that is relevant to their current location, this is an opportunity brands and agencies are more rapidly embracing.” |
The report also found that more than 40% of those surveyed spend more than one hour per day using apps — the most popular of which is Facebook — and have an average of 22 apps on their devices. |
I am now ready to roll out what I know about using the internet and combining it with local search and local marketing to get results for local business owners and service professionals. My first event takes place in Croydon in June and they will run throughout Greater London.
Currently looking for opportunities to speak at networking groups so if you have any connections in London I can talk to I appreciate the heads up.
Thanks and look out for training in your local area soon. Attention : Local Business Owners and Service Professionals In Croydon - Register to attend
this local marketing seminar |
Don’t waste another second trying to figure out the best way to use the internet to generate new business income. Just attend this
half day local marketing seminar and all your questions will be answered! |
In 2009 it was predicted that 1 in every 56 businesses will fail and yet online spending in the UK has been
forecast to reach £56bn by 2014 as the web defies the recession. |
Most local businesses and service professionals know they have to be online. They also know there are a huge number of
opportunities for them to attract new business using social media. |
The problem is knowing HOW to do this stuff without it becoming a huge drain on time and resources AND
attracting visitors to your site is only one piece of the puzzle. What do you do with them once they get
there? |
Creating An Internet Business Sales Funnel |
Tuesday 22nd June 2010 from 9.30am-2pm in Croydon |
During this half day seminar being run for local business owners in Croydon I am going to show you how to increase
your business profits using the internet and new media. |
New for 2010 these locally run seminars will provide you with enough information to start the process of
effectively using blogs, video, social media in combination to market your business. |
In this 4 hour presentation Internet Business Instructor Diane Corriette will open your eyes to the opportunities that are available online as
she goes through: |
Understanding local search and why your business needs a local search marketing
plan to profit online
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How mobile marketing can help your local business bring in new
customers
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How social media marketing really works and how your business should be
using it
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How to develop an eClub for your local business that you invite
prospective, current and past customers to join
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Using new media including blogs, audio, video, teleseminars and more to
build your audience
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| The one action you MUST take TODAY to ensure your business gets found
online (even if you don’t have a website) |
| Only 35 Places Are Available |
Your business success relies on one very important thing - your ability to make decisions - don’t hesitate or
think you can wait, the internet moves fast and things change on a daily basis. Your business will be left behind unless you
learn this now. |
| Fast Action Bonus For Only 14 Businesses |
Our seminar venue has a state of the art computer room but only 14 chairs. The room has been booked until 5pm. For
the first 14  business owners who book their place on this seminar you will get to spend an additional 2 hours with me
2.30pm-4.30pm and I will help you get your business up on two very important sites, Google Places and BT Tradespace and
two online business networks/directories. |
Yesterday I was looking for a way to build a template using Wordpress and came across this really great theme that is free to download. There is a one time offer that will give you more variety too. It was easy to use and I have so far used it to create a few different squeeze pages based on different keywords.
They all look the same (my choice) but the wording is different.
http://www.internetmarketingmentor.info
http://www.local-marketing.biz
http://www.local-business-listings.co.uk
I got those 3 up yesterday and it took a while for me to get the first one looking the way I wanted it to (mainly due to my video) but once I was there I uploaded the same thing and made slight changes for the others.
It really is simple to use and if you are looking at list building for your local business or you are a blogger who wants to build a list this is a great way to do it easily using Wordpress.
I just think it is very generous too - making the first one free! “For a Limited Time Only, You Can Download My Popular WordPress Blank Canvas Sales Page Theme for FREE to Use on All Your Sales Letters and Landing Pages” |
| Now You Too Can Quickly & Easily Create High Impact Sales Pages with WordPress! |
Here are a few of the features of this POWERFUL free sales page theme: |
| It is a single column theme, which means there is no sidebar to distract your website visitors from your sales message. |
| It is very easy to install and activate. As a matter-a-fact, if you have ever installed a WordPress theme before, then you can handle with one with no problem. |
| It is classic black font on white background, which is widely regarded as the best format for people reading your message. |
| You can easily add headlines in H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 & H6 plus use bold, italics, underline, quote, tables and other formatting with ease! |
| It can be used to build product sales letters for your own products or for products which you own resale or private label rights. |
| It can be used to build Affiliate landing pages for pay-per-click marketing. It’s a known fact that Google and Yahoo love sites built with WordPress. Improve your Google AdWords Quality Score! |
I have been keeping in touch with local search statistics and it is definitely a growing trend. In the blog post below I highlight a few important ones.
Although I write with the UK market in mind (because I am going local myself!) all of this is as relevant and influenced by what is happening in America. Local search statistics for you |
| Below are a few local search statistics that I found on the web which I hope will get your local business seriously considering the internet as a viable place to bring in new customers – but not just that. |
Here are the stats for you |
| A government report highlighted the following |
“In 2009 18.31 million UK households had internet access. This represented 70 per cent of households and an increase of 1.85 million households since 2008. Of all UK households 63 percent (16.5 million) had a broadband internet connection in 2009 and increase from 56 percent in 2008. The number of all households with broadband has increased by 6.6 million since 2006″ click here to download the report. |
The Kelsey Group – provide independent and objective perspectives on local media and found |
| 90% of consumer purchases are made within 20 miles of where people live or work |
| 86% of all local searches are online |
| 90% of these searches result in offline activity |
TMP Directional Marketing found that |
- 61% of those 90% of people searching online then went offline to purchase the product/service they wanted.
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Stop and think about that. A massive Sixty One Percent of people who search online then go offline to buy what it is they were searching for and found. What if those 61% of people were finding your business online – what difference would an increase of 61% in new customers do for your business? |
You may also love reading these: |
This is an important experiment for a local business owner to follow if you have been thinking about whether it is worth investing the time and energy into social media marketing/networking.
It highlights the possibilities available from using social medial tools like Facebook fan pages but also it balances that excitement out with very realistic observations.
I always talk about taking an holistic approach to local business marketing. It is not about doing one thing and hoping it will bring in extra customers but about using different tools which come together to help raise your online visibility. So while having a fan page will be great it shouldn’t be the total sum of all you do online!
Even with a company as big as Dessert Gallery (DG) only 2.1% of their customers joined their fan page and this was not specific to DG……
“In an analysis of 50 Zagat-rated Houston restaurants, Facebook pages averaged just 340 fans despite the fact that most of the businesses had tens of thousands of customers.”
Thinking you set up a Facebook fan page and have thousands of people flocking to you is not going to happen but for local businesses who are thinking about setting one up this research indicates that it could possibly help with brand loyalty.
If your customers recommended your business more, spent more on a regular basis and wanted to use only your business despite other competitors being out there - wouldn’t that be great for business!
If you are a local business interested in reading my free report you can get a copy by visiting http://www.localmarketingtips.co.uk/ One Café Chain’s Facebook Experiment |
| Social media are all the rage in marketing, but should they be? |
To begin to answer that question, we did the obvious: We set up one company’s Facebook page and measured the effect on customer behavior. Our partner in this experiment was Dessert Gallery (DG), a popular Houston-based bakery and café chain. |
| We began by e-mailing a survey to 13,270 customers from DG’s mailing list to gather store evaluations and data on shopping behavior; 689 people responded. Then, we launched the Facebook page and invited everyone on the mailing list to become a fan. DG updated its page several times a week with pictures of goodies, news about contests and promotions, links to favorable reviews, and introductions to DG employees. Three months later, we resurveyed customers, this time receiving 1,067 responses from DG’s Facebook fans, |
| As it turned out, Facebook changed customer behavior for the better. People who had replied to both surveys and had become fans ended up being DG’s best customers: Though they spent about the same amount of money per visit, they increased their store visits per month after becoming Facebook fans and generated more positive word of mouth than nonfans. They went to DG 20% more often than nonfans and gave the store the highest share of their overall dining-out dollars. They were the most likely to recommend DG to friends and had the highest average Net Promoter Score—75, compared with 53 for Facebook users who were not fans and 66 for customers not on Facebook. DG fans also reported significantly greater emotional attachment to DG—3.4 on a four-point scale, compared with 3.0 for other customers. Additionally, fans were the most likely to say they chose DG over other establishments whenever possible. |
| t’s important to remember that our results suggest intriguing possible correlations rather than definitive causalities. |
| And even this early research yields mixed news for marketers: For instance, unless the brand is iconic, chances are the company’s Facebook page will not have astronomical sign-up numbers. Only 283 (or 2.1%) of the customers on DG’s mailing list became fans within three months. This narrow appeal is not unique to DG’s customers. In an analysis of 50 Zagat-rated Houston restaurants, Facebook pages averaged just 340 fans despite the fact that most of the businesses had tens of thousands of customers. |
I love Clint Eastwood - he is what I would call a man’s man! And at the end of May he will be 80 years old. Despite that he still looks in great shape and I believe its because he took care of his body. He still enjoys life now and its a message of all of us middle age folks not learning from his example!
I can’t believe the Clint Eastwood is 80. He still looks amazing for his age and for me he represents how keeping yourself in great shape can really help you to enjoy life. For all of those suffering from middle age spread or wondering whether they can bother to begin changing their fitness levels I hope going through the life of Clint Eastwood will inspire you to get going. |
There are many benefits to improving your physical fitness and they include:
Reducing stress |
| Even a little can make a huge difference |
| No matter how bad your current level of fitness ANYTHING you do is better thannothing at all. |
Clinton “Clint” Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American film actor, director, producer, and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and five People’s Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star. Read more at www.squidoo.com |
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