All posts in local search

Sometime last month, my friends and I did what most people do on a Friday night. Yes, we went out to blow off some steam and in the process, popped in to Pizza Hut to grab something to eat. The problem was, we probably dropped by at a bad time. The waitress seemed like she’d be anywhere in the world except serving at our table. Don’t get me wrong, my friends and I weren’t expecting 5-star treatment, but is a little courtesy or even a smile too much to ask for? Like most people who simply wouldn’t bother to complain about how rude the waitress was, we just grit our teeth and left as soon as we could. Fast forward to the next morning and one of my friends suggested that we go to a local restaurant named Joe’s, located in Oxford’s Summertown (isn’t that the best ever name for a town?) so we paid them a visit.

From the moment we entered the restaurant, we were made to feel welcome. The food was absolutely divine, their attention to detail was impeccable and their service was amazing. In fact, their receipt had a handwritten ‘thank you’ along with a smiley face on it!

joe's receipt

Apologies for the low quality mobile phone image.

It’s amazing how little effort can make a customer happy. Having enjoyed the food and the service, I felt I must run to the top of a hill and announce to everyone that these guys are amazing and that all my friends should check them out too; or at least the modern method of doing so, which is to tweet about them or to mention them on Facebook. Unfortunately I couldn’t tag them in my tweets or Facebook status as they didn’t have a presence on Twitter and Facebook. So here I was, a satisfied customer, looking to give this restaurant a big ‘thumbs up’ and a recommendation to my friends about how awesome they are, but with no natural channel to do so. So I thought I should compile a list of quick and easy ways small businesses can help customers become their advocates. (Please note that Joe’s, to their credit, have now set up a Facebook page).

*

Just a few years ago SEO was really simple. You had to be in the top 10 or rather in the top 3 for relevant keywords. Then the traffic came and with it the leads, sales or whatever you wished. Today there is no real top 10 anymore. Even if you are at #1 in the organic search results, you might be below the “fold” so that users have to scroll to see your site on the Google search results page aka SERP.

Google has introduced so many changes to most SERPS that you can’t ignore them and go on as if it’s still 2005. You have to change your SEO strategy accordingly.

While many people already have noticed that Universal search is all over the place, and images, video or news results get displayed frequently, many still behave as if SEO was about checking rankings and aiming for #1 in organic search. These 30 Google SERP changes impact your SEO strategy in a way you can’t ignore.

When speaking to small business owners, I often find myself being told that SEO isn’t right for them. Unsurprisingly, I rarely agree. So I thought I’d write about the five most common reasons people give for not adopting an SEO strategy and outline why I think they’re wrong.

Reason one:  I’m just a small, local business

There’s a common misconception that SEO will only benefit companies that are already operating on a national or even international scale. Many small businesses only want to attract customers in their local area. Casting a wider net would be a wasted investment as the firm can’t cater for a non-local customer base.

Why you’re wrong

From an SEO perspective, it’s actually much more effective to target geo-specific keyword phrases. Geo-targeting will help attract visitors in your own local area when you optimise your website for search queries with a geographic preference, such as ‘Cheshire chimney sweep’.

 

Ingredients*

Back in the day, SEO was quite a simple process consisting of three parts:

  1. Market and keyword research
  2. On-page optimisation
  3. Link building (off-page optimisation)

In 2011, it’s not that simple anymore. Depending on what niche or industry you are working in or rather what kind of site and business model you have, SEO can be a lot of things. SEO can or even has to consist of more disciplines.

Recently I  bookmarked a good entry level SEO glossary of current SEO terms. A few weeks ago I complained ​about some people still using obsolete and inaccurate SEO terms such as “keyword density”.

Additionally, I missed many new or important terms on this list which I read about and often use, but many people, on the Web at least, don’t. Thus I won’t assume that everybody knows them already. Instead I want to define here 30 (new) SEO terms you have to know in 2011.

Some of them have been around for years but have been largely ignored by the SEO industry. Others are well known by SEO practicioners but completely off the radar for the general public, it seems. Last but not least there are terms from adjacent industries we now have to deal with in SEO. It’s 2011 – we have flying cars by now! – so it’s time to adopt new terminology as well.​


Wicked by xlorddashx.

Black hat SEO is both a myth and a reality we have to face sooner or later as SEO practicioners. While I abide by probably one of the strictest SEO codes of ethics around and SEOptimise is a clean white hat SEO company company itself we still can’t deny that there is black hat SEO.

The sheer existence of black hat SEO techniques must be acknowledged for several reasons.

As Rishi Lakhani noted on his new SEO blog: You need it at least to know what to avoid or to know how competitors who perform worse than you still manage to outrank your site.

Hosted by imgur.com

Google changes faster than you can blink right now. Just some buzzwords that will bug you in 2010:

  1. Google Caffeine
  2. Google Real Time search
  3. Google Personalized search results
  4. Google Living Stories
  5. Google Phone

I could go on like for a while. It’s not my intention to confuse you even more though. I want to shed some light on the near future of Google, search and SEO. It’s a daunting task as I’m overwhelmed as well.

Thus I picked 30 resources on Google, search & SEO changes in 2010 from around the search industry and some main stream sources.

Local business success story Naked Pizza

Update July, 3rd 2009: Added 12 local SEO & search resources suggested by readers in the comment section and on Sphinn + some newly researched links.

The most obvious trend when it comes to SEO is “going local”. Ever since Google introduced Google Maps and Local Business Center and later added local search results to Universal Search displaying them on top of everything else businesses everywhere strive to be there. Additionally the proliferation of smartphones and netbooks accelerates this development even more.

You have to perform in local search and on sites that enable users to find local businesses in their respective area. Classic SEO is just not enough anymore for small business owners and location based big business.

Roughly two weeks ago I elaborated on the 10 non-Google SEO ways to promote your business online in 2009 and presented a list of 35 non-Google SEO how tos, tutorials & other resources. They covered only half of the strategies I suggested as the non-Google SEO ways.

Today I collected links for the remaining 5 non-Google SEO strategies:

  1. Shopping search engines
  2. Yahoo Answers
  3. Review sites
  4. Local sites and local search
  5. Niche communities

A common question we’re asked by clients is how can they improve their rankings for Google Maps local searches?

Oxford Pubs

Having analysed many listings, in my opinion the main factors to Google Maps listings in the UK are as follows:

  • 1) Proximity to location – The closer your registered business address is in distance to the centre of a town or city, the more relevant Google will find your listing to a locational search.
  • 2) Keywords within company name – Using product/service keywords within a business name appears to be a very important factor towards obtaining an improved Google Maps ranking.
  • 3) Categories selected – Being listed in a relevant or closely related category to a keyword can make an impact. Keeping the number of categories selected concise should also improve the likelihood of being listed for relevant searches.
  • 4) Local telephone numbers – This may be coincidental, but I’ve noticed local telephone numbers such as 01865 (Oxford) appear to outrank listings which use 0845 style of numbers. I’ve just updated the SEOptimise listing so will test this out.
  • 5) Having a full profile/reviews – Listings which use images, descriptions and contain reviews generally appear to rank well in Google Maps. A high number of positive reviews is also likely to have an influence.
  • 6) Locational information on website – Ensuring your website address details correspond with the companies Google Maps listing.
  • 7) Strong SEO – This doesn’t appear to be of high importance at the moment, but as the Google Maps algorithm develops we may see the relevancy and quality of a website’s content and link popularity becoming a major factor.

If you’re feeling sneaky you could always add a slightly inacurrate business name, so that it contains important keywords, and register a PO Box address located in the centre of your city! ;)

← Older Entries