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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Learning Local Search Via Twitter

Last week Minneapolis hosted the latest installment of LocalU, a traveling local search marketing show put together by GetListed.org, David Mihm, Mike Blumenthal, Matt McGee and other local search notables, including Aaron Weiche of MN’s Five Technology.  For those of you who couldn’t make it out to the show I thought it would be useful to relay the top takeaways from the conference via the magic of Twitter:

@Mike Blumenthal @AaronWeich leading search ranking is like BigFoot….very blurry

@Mary Bowling There is no trick to SEO. It’s a process. Make your website unblurry

@Deluxe Corp With inbound links, consider the credibility of those sites linking to you!

@Mike Blumenthal @AaronWeiche the secret to ranking on the Search engines is that there is no secret

@Lindsey Tibesar @AaronWeiche Proving your credibility is a process.

@Deluxe Corp Provide good unique content w/links. Make your site easy to use for visitors. Combine best practices. Prove & earn credibility

@Deluxe Corp Claim your business listing! Remember: Google local business center is now Google Places.

@Mary Bowling Controlling your business’ Search Engine presence is probably more important than what your do with your own website. Jeral (Google )

@Aaron Weiche No matter if you have a website, you NEED to claim your Google Places listing & add all your info. take control.

@Mike Blumenthal google recommends using an email address at your domain to claim your places Page

@Aaron Weiche Many are not aware that your Google Places listing will display photos & VIDEO. Maximize the opportunity.

@Deluxe Corp When you claim your business on Google Places, you can place coupons on your listing!

@Mary Bowling 148% increase in searches for coupons in 2009 Jeral (Google)

@Deluxe Corp Google Places analytics shows you how many times you show up in the search results as well as the action people take on it.

. @Deluxe Corp Mikko Ollila from Bing now, promoting cute Otters

@Deluxe Corp Claim your listing on Bing Local Listig Center. If you don’t give them the info, they’ll get it from someone else. Ensure accuracy

@Deluxe Corp Tag your listing, don’t talk about your business in your terms, use your customers words!

@Julie Gordon Claiming your biz listing is most important step in building trust with #Google

@Mike Blumenthal bing has upgraded backend so that mail verification is now happening much more quickly

@Deluxe Corp 95.8% of search traffic is driven to page 1 search results. Now, how do you get there?

@Caroline Melberg @mblumenthal from Google says Maps is the new Yellow Pages. It’s a vacuum cleaner and a stereo.

@Deluxe Corp Your listing is important across channels. With the increase in mobile & voice search, top results and accurate info gain weight

@Julie Gordon Be consistent, consistent, consistent w/your business name & address info to be more searchable (& trusted).

@Aaron Weiche Great statement @mblumenthal: DON’T chase the search algorithms, run your business correctly, integrate proper online marketing.

@Deluxe Corp The panel is railing against keyword stuffing. Love to hear that!

@Deluxe Corp If it’s confusing to a user, it’s going to be confusing to Google or Bing.

@JanetRoper Strive to rank in top 5 in seo, otherwise missing about 75% of biz

@Deluxe Corp The algorithms are different between Google Places and Google organic. Google Places gives local businesses an advantage

@JanetRoper Don’t skimp on keyword research

@Deluxe Corp Inbound links are more important than keyword optimization in the organic results, making your content more important than ever

@Aaron Weiche Oh BOY! @marybowling is breaking down keyword research & data on plastic surgery & breast augmentation. Never saw that coming.

@Deluxe Corp Use Google insights for your local keyword analysis

@Mike Blumenthal @mattmcgee provides links related to his preso @ GetListed Local University – Twin-Cities Attendees http://tinyurl.com/34ffa6r

@Mike Blumenthal my articles related to GetListed Local University – Twin Cities preso http://tinyurl.com/28opnbj

@Julie Gordon If you want the search engines to catch important info, be sure it’s in text format.

@Deluxe Corp Analytics is not reporting. Analytics is gleaning information that will make you more money!

@Julie Gordon Google analytics blog is phenomenal! via @ed_reese http://bit.ly/tqGoJ

@Diane Kulseth Ed Reese tells #localu crowd to follow @avinashkaushik

@Mary Bowling If you don’t have anything to say don’t blog. @mattmcgee

@Deluxe Corp Get hyperlocal with Twitter and location-based networks like @foursquare. Follow trends, sentiment and share incentives

@Deluxe Corp From @mattmcgee: Most reviews are positive. Don’t fear the review sites.

@Deluxe Corp When it comes to free monitoring in social media, you cannot skip SocialMention. Better than many paid tools.

@Social Net Nanny Set up Google & Yahoo Alerts with domain name, variations of your domain name, personal name & variations

@Social Net Nanny Purchase domains that R variations of your Business name as well…not all customers remember it exactly

@Deluxe Corp Learn how to set up a free social monitoring dashboard http://bit.ly/acvY1b

@JulieG_Deluxe Search Engine Land blog is like the #WallStreetJournal of search for #biz. #localu http://selnd.com/1bz4SH

@Social Net Nanny Set up Google & Yahoo Alerts with domain name, variations of your domain name, personal name & variations

@Plaudit Design Almost half of all US Internet users search online on a typical day – Google stat provided at #localu,

@Paul Jonas Great pres. By @AaronWeiche main point: think past the tricks and be credible w/your site. Need to build trust with your content.

@Ed Reese @incmagazine has a great biz writing article http://bit.ly/c8b6AH of examples & thoughts of what @AaronWeiche said.

@Mike Blumenthal Google: provide most direct website and page for your location

@Brad Wellman Rep from Bing discuss Bing Local: “Local is a disappointing category; local doesn’t meet satisfaction expectations for the user”

@Mary Bowling @aaronweiche says your website needs to answer questions

@Brad Wellman Bing’s Local Listing Center, just like Google Places (formerly Local Business Center)

@Julie Kosbab Make sure your hours are accurate in your business listing, and prominent on your website. Users care. A lot.

@Mary Bowling Mikko of Bing says studies shows searchers want to know biz hours

@Julie Kosbab Bing defaults all new local listings to postcards. Editing an existing listing allows for phone call validation.

@Daniel Hollerung Accuracy is important. 99% right can be 100% wrong.

@Brad Wellman Online Yellow Pages are the Etch-a-Sketch compared to Google Maps’ iPad.

@Brad Wellman There’s no single record for your business on a search engine. Record is assembled from content about your biz from all over the web

@Julie Kosbab Map data comes from many sources, and includes a historic record.

@James Svoboda Don’t forget Open to Close hours for local listings!

@Brad Wellman Un-merge two merged businesses on Google Places: Go to btm of page; “report a problem”; select “place has another listing”

@Julie Kosbab Google doesn’t want agencies claiming many client accounts in one dashboard.

@Amber Richard A review is independent. Add it your site and it’s a testimonial. Not as valuable. 

@Thomas McMahon Keyword meta tags are dead. Just so you know.

@Thomas McMahon Flash is a black hole for search engines. See it’s not just Apple who has no love for Flash.

@Plaudit Design Local Search gives local businesses an advantage and a way to compete at a proper scale.

@James Svoboda Multi-Location businesses need location pages for each location!

@James SvobodaHeadsmacking keyword tip from Mary B – list every product & service you offer onsite. Me- maybe a few you don’t???

@James Svoboda Note to self – look into Hcard because they keep mentioning them…

@James Svoboda Google & Bing Local – no agency tools coming for local listing mgmt. Bing – none I can talk about (yet?)

@James Svoboda Matt McGee: SMB websites with Blogs – +55% visits, +97% Links & + 434% more pages indexed. #TrueThat

@Ehren Seim Blogs are VERY important for SEO and traffic (if you’re actually blogging). 2 blogs per week recommended

@Ed Reese Great SEO myths vs realities post from @seomoz http://bit.ly/aVm1dG with similar slant as earlier preso from @davidmihm

@Mary Bowling @MattMcGee case study: guitar teacher gained international clientele from social media. Guitar lessons via Skype!

@Julie Kosbab @mattmcgee should check out what @IzzysIceCream is doing with hyperlocal RFID for ice cream

@Julie KosbabRT @MaryBowling: agencies should not claim client business listings in their accounts. Business should own their own listings

@Julie Kosbab Getting rid of dupe Yahoo Local listings: Impossible. For the record.

@Paul Jonas Wow. #localu was exceptional!

@Andrew Shotland Now go forth and rank!


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


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