Local Search Marketing Mistakes

Local Search Marketing Mistakes

Just because you only service a certain small area does not mean that your customers aren’t looking for you on the world wide web. After all, your business does exist somewhere in the world. Read more

Local Search Marketing Blogs

Local Search Marketing Blogs

As I have alluded to in previous blog posts, learning an Internet marketing discipline is not just a step-by-step process but, it also requires constant ongoing learning. This fact is especially the case with the heavy fragmentation and consolidation of local search properties. While my local search marketing definition and explanation of what is local search optimization offer an immutable foundation of knowledge from which you can initiate the learning process, the evolution of the industry demands continuing education. Staying abreast of and utilizing local search tools aid in accelerating that path of education and the next steps toward executing winning campaign strategies. Yet, to truly remain in tune with the rapid changes in this Wild West of The Web, local search marketing blogs are the best source of up-to-date information. Below, I have included five top local search blogs that I track for the latest news and happenings in the space. Read more

Local Search – How Men Ask Directions

Local Search – How Men Ask Directions

To date, we have spent many blogs discussing the benefits of local search and the pitfalls of the numerous systems in place. I have called it the Wild West of the Web, Andrew Bart has shown you the tools for a successful local marketing campaign, and we have explained what content to use. But we have not hit about the main reason why local search is so important. It finally solved the age old issue of men refusing to ask for directions. After years, decades even centuries of aggravation, battles, wasted time, missed dinners, date stand-ups (the list can go on and on), men finally are able to get to their destination.
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Local Search Marketing Definition

Local Search Marketing Definition

Whether you are lawyer, doctor, small business owner, or a large corporation, in a mobile world, local search marketing has become an essential force for connecting with consumers.  The power to present a tap-to-call phone number, display GPS route guidance to your place of business, and highlight a healthy list of customer reviews provides the consumer with actionable items that encourage further engagement with your business.  However, in most cases, sole practitioners and small business owners do not have the understanding, time, or expertise to create and execute a local search marketing campaign.  As is the case with any concept, gaining insight into a local search marketing definition is a reasonable place to initiate the learning process. Read more

Creative Content Improves Local Search Results

Creative Content Improves Local Search Results

I previously covered how Local Search is like the wild west of the web. The places to search are so fragmented and the local results compete with national results, and many times you can’t tell what’s next door and what’s across the country. The main way I discussed before to boost your visibility and to make sure you are found correctly was consistency. I talked about making sure you had the same information anywhere you were listed. Use the same number, address and description, so that no matter how your potential customers find you, they are getting corroborating information. Read more

Local Search Tools

Local Search Tools

Navigating and managing the fragmented local search ecosystem can be a bit of a challenge.  As mentioned in one my earlier blogs on local search optimization, there are seemingly an endless number of review sites, local search feeds, vertical directories, maps, and geo specific directories.  Attacking this disjointed mess by setting up profiles at each spot without careful strategy and not having a local search management plan to handle feedback can lead to a digital public relations disaster and the need to pursue reputation management.  My goal with this blog is to arm you with local search tools that will dramatically increase the likelihood of executing and maintaining a successful local search marketing campaign. Read more

Local Search – The Wild West of the Web

Back when I was a wee lad growing up in primitive times (you know, the days before the internet), there was really only one way for us to discover local businesses (which at that point we just called businesses). Sure we could happen upon it as we drove around aimlessly (since there was no GPS) or hear about it by word of mouth, but the way to find businesses was to look it up in the yellow pages. It was worse than using an encyclopedia to find out an answer to your question, since at least most information in the encyclopedia were facts that did not change. But businesses open and close all the time and hours of operation change. So it was a multi-step process for the consumer, and they were not always getting the the latest information. And forget about adding the term local, since it was only organized alphabetically, and it would be really tough for a physical book to know where you were.

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Local Search Optimization

What is local search optimization?

Local search is a geo-specific query that provides an enhanced list of results often including the name, address, phone number, location on a map, and reviews for businesses that match that query.  Attaining prime position in local search rankings for targeted keywords is an extremely powerful method to gaining online local dominance in your target market. Read more