by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media
Local search is here and you need to make sure your presence is optimized. With the rise in GPS/mapping-enabled smart phones as well as the drastic changes in the way Google searches trigger results, local search is quickly becoming a critical marketing channel. It could mean the difference in being found and not found for your company.
You have claimed your listing on Google Places, so that's it, right? Not even close. That is only the first step in a comprehensive local search strategy, especially 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 guides like CitySearch or Yelp, along with search engines including Yahoo and Bing, to conduct their searches for local businesses.
First, you need to stake multiple claims across the Internet. Make sure to establish your local listings on al lthree major search engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo! Maps. If a company has more than 10 locations, they can avoid Google's phone/postcard verificaiton process by submitting a spreadsheet for bulk upload.
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.
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.
Next week we will look at part two of Local Search.
Local search is here and you need to make sure your presence is optimized. With the rise in GPS/mapping-enabled smart phones as well as the drastic changes in the way Google searches trigger results, local search is quickly becoming a critical marketing channel. It could mean the difference in being found and not found for your company.
You have claimed your listing on Google Places, so that's it, right? Not even close. That is only the first step in a comprehensive local search strategy, especially 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 guides like CitySearch or Yelp, along with search engines including Yahoo and Bing, to conduct their searches for local businesses.
First, you need to stake multiple claims across the Internet. Make sure to establish your local listings on al lthree major search engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo! Maps. If a company has more than 10 locations, they can avoid Google's phone/postcard verificaiton process by submitting a spreadsheet for bulk upload.
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.
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.
Next week we will look at part two of Local Search.