The Local Search Ecosystem in 2012 | Local SEO. MIHMORANDUM NO. 1365 | February 22nd, 2012 Amazingly, it’s been nearly two and a half years since I first published my Local Search Ecosystem infographic back in October 2009. With the 2012 conference season kicking off in earnest with SearchFest on Friday and SMX West on Monday, I thought it was high time for an update. All references for these sources are noted at the bottom of this page. 5/1/12 Update: My friends north of the border may be interested in this post detailing the Local Search Ecosystem in Canada I’d like to think that the original graphic has stood the test of time pretty well…but there have definitely been some changes worth noting in the last 900 days or so: The Rising Influence of Localeze Pretty much every major local search player that’s come on the the scene in the last couple of years (Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Siri) is incorporating Localeze business data in some fashion.
The Waning Influence of Acxiom Those are two major losses for Acxiom. The Twitter Places API. Webinar: The SMB Guide to Choosing a Business Listing Partner. ]In this session, David Mihm, Director of Local Search Strategy at Moz brings data and insights to a discussion with Deepak Thakral, VP of Ad Platforms at YP. Business listings providers as well as SMBs won’t want to miss this free session. Key takeaways will include: •Understanding how using a breadth of channels for business listings is essential for strong local search ROI. •The important role mobile plays in business listings results. •How and why outsourcing a business listings strategy and implementation to a partner is not just efficient — but far more effective in driving new business.
•A side-by-side comparison of partners. Directory submissions done Right | Right Hat SEO. Directory submissions used to be a basic part of any SEO plan. The free, easy submission ones were…well…easy, free and good. The ever-so coveted DMoz listing was a golden ticket. Oh, how times have changed. Now, directories can be seen as scary, penalize-able and outright worthless. Yet, for some niches, I still see a substantial percentage of directory backlinks passing a lot of juice, which means they still must be useful for SEO.
So let’s get down to business of directory submissions done Right. I really like what Cyrus Shepard said regarding directories An intelligent directory strategy provides depth to your SEO campaigns and offers tangible benefits including:A more diverse link profileQualified referral trafficCitations for different vertical ranking algorithmsTrust/Authority Signals… and, of course, the link. Directory submissions is an old art that many SEOs now overlook. When to Submit to Directories Submit to directories when your competitors have submitted to directories. 1. InfoGroup Category List. There are two business listings you absolutely can’t screw up if you want to get visible in Google’s local search results: The first one is your Google+Local listing (duh).
The other is your InfoGroup listing. InfoGroup – AKA InfoUSA – automatically feeds your business info to sites all over the local search ecosystem. If your InfoGroup listing has info that’s inaccurate or that differs significantly from what’s on other sites, the chances are excellent your local rankings will be lousy. The data InfoGroup has on your business also gets piped right into Google. Ever wonder what causes duplicate Google listings to show up? Or how a business can have a local listing on Google even though the owner never created a listing?
That’s usually because of InfoGroup. The bottom line is you need to take two steps with your InfoGroup listing: 1. 2. Many of the categories aren’t even relevant to “local” businesses. That’s why I’ve put all 9,854 InfoGroup business categories into one list. Excel Text. The Four Keys To Post-Penguin Directory Submission Happiness. The Google+ Local launch came out while I was working on this piece so it merits a brief mention. While Google+ Local will be a big deal, at the moment for most local businesses, it is not a huge deal. Thus far, there does not appear to be much change in Google’s main local rankings algorithm besides the fact that Google+ Local pages will be indexed versus the old Places pages which were pseudo-indexed. It seems as if this update is mostly about getting us ready for changes coming down the road, where social activity gets even more ingrained in Google’s algo. If you’re interested in the subject, you can read some more thoughts on why Google+Local may be a ghost town and some prognostication from about a year ago that I think is still pretty much on the money.
Of course, the local searcharati has plenty to say on the matter. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming… Quality Make sure to check and see if Google has the directory indexed. Relevance Diversity Timing. Getting Started With Link Building. Link Building is a Pain in the Butt Prior to creating the SEO Book training program I conducted a survey of SEO Book members.
One of the questions was, "What is the biggest thing stopping you from improving your website rankings and traffic? " The most common answer to that question was "link building". If links are so important how do you build them? Here are some great techniques for providing content that people will actually WANT to link to: Quality Links You Can Build Today One of the easiest ways to start building links is to submit your site to leading general web directories and directories in your niche. Don't just think of directories as being places that accept websites. Would some of your business partners be willing to link to your site? Web Directories This video covers directory submission. Here is a list of some of the most well trusted online web directories Yahoo! SEO Book subscribers also have access to a list of a dozen more top web directories & tips on how to find more. Reviewwed List Of Directories. 6 Tools SMBs Can Use to Update Digital Directory Listings.
The Definitive List of Local Search Citations. Citations are crucial to your local rankings in Google. Not only that, but being listed on lots of these third-party sites (AKA “citation sources”) can help you attract customers from a wide variety of sources. You probably know where to get citations, and you may know all about how to go about building them.
If you’re downright serious, you may even use the excellent Local Citation Finder. But you may not know whether you’ve gathered all the citations you need—or all that you humanly can gather. That’s what this list is for. Right now, it’s just a big ugly list of citations. The local-search landscape constantly changes, so I will keep growing and perfecting this list. I’ve broken it up into the following sections (click to jump to a section): US citation sources Data-aggregators Industry-specific sites “Events” sites Ethnicity- and identity-specific sites UK citation sources Canada citation sources Australia citation sources A few quick notes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Or you can check out the sites: BBB.org. How to Squeeze Maximum Google Places Love from GetListed.org Scans. If you’ve ever tried to get a business more visible to local customers in Google Places, you’ve probably used or at least stumbled across GetListed.org—David Mihm’s ridiculously awesome free tool for analyzing and improving your local visibility.
If perchance you’ve never used GetListed, open it up in another browser tab, run a free scan of your business (takes maybe 15 seconds), and you’ll instantly see how it’s useful to you. Done? OK, back to what I was saying… GetListed is handier than duct-tape because it shows you exactly how you can increase your local visibility. Its beauty is it’s free and simple to use—not weighed down with bells and whistles.
You don’t need any tutorials to use it: you can just launch right in and immediately boost your local visibility. However, over time I’ve found a few techniques for using GetListed to the fullest. You obviously don’t need my advice in order to run and benefit from GetListed scans. 6) Play around with it. Ultimate Local Directories List | Right Hat SEOs 50+ Top Picks & 6 Tips. As the internet becomes more and more easily accessible (iPhones, Androids, Tablets, etc.), people, more often than not, turn to the internet to find local businesses for products and services.
They know that they can find helpful peer reviews to help them decide to which of all businesses they should give their money. Are you being found? For any local business to be found online, they need a strong online presence. Local listings and citations do exactly that. They allow businesses to be found online on many different sources and platforms. By including your business’ information in online directories, your marketing reach will greatly expand and business will grow.
The more listings you have, the more opportunities people will have for finding your business. Local listings and citations are easy to create and the ROI is off the charts. 7 Tips for optimizing your local listings Ultimate Local Business Directories List: sum=54. List of directory discounts from the LinkSpiel. In the spirit of the holidays, our directory friends in the US and UK have offered readers of the Link Spiel limited time discounts and submission specials to their directories!
Enjoy the directory discounts and spread the word! :) Alive Directory (www.alivedirectory.com) Discount amount – 20% off all listing types Promotional code - LS20 Promotion ends – January 31, 2012 General comments – Promo code valid on all listing types Avia Directory (www.avivadirectory.com) Discount Amount – $20 off annual and permanent listings Promotion code – holidays11Promotion Ends – Closed Best Of The Web (www.botw.org) Discount amount - 15% off all listing types Promotional code - BOTW15 Promotion ends - March 1, 2012 General comments - Promo code is good for everything including the UK Directory, blog directory and BOTW Local Biz-Dir Business Directory (www.bizdirbusinessdirectory.co.uk/) CanLinks (www.canlinks.net) DirJournal (www.dirjournal.com) Ezilon (www.ezilon.com) GreenStalk (www.greenstalk.com)
The Ultimate List: 50 Local Business Directories. What is a business directory? A business directory is an online list of businesses within a particular niche, location, or category. One way local businesses can get found by online searchers is through inclusion in business directories. Today, Google is inserting itself between consumer and local business websites much more often. You need look no further than Google My Business conversion points, AMP, and featured snippets for proof. So it makes sense to get your local business information into the places people are already going to find businesses like yours, rather than simply hoping they'll find you in search results.
Click here to get everything you need to get your website ranking in search. Getting your local business' NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information listed on directories, online business listing sites, and citation sites helps to improve visibility, but backlinks from these sites can also have a benefit to SEO. Consistent NAP. Free Business Listings.