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A guide to local search optimization for the small business owner. Helping businesses direct more customers to their businesses by using mobile marketing, local search and general online marketing.

This Week In Local Search

Drew Barnes - Friday, July 15, 2011

This week in local search…

Locksmiths Local Spam Embarrases Google Maps

Anyone in the SEO industry, especially those that focus on local SEO, know that the locksmith category is one of the most heavily spammed keywords within Google Maps.

David Segal from the New York Times decided to publish an article on it over the weekend. It is named Picking the Lock of Google's Search although NY Times SEO'ed title tag for the story is "Lead Gen Sites Pose Challenge to Google - the Haggler."

The article tells a story around Bob Strom, a legitimate locksmith in the Seattle area who loses out to lead generation sites selling locksmith services to under qualified companies or individuals who rip off customers, at least according to the article. Who's at fault? Google?

Red the full article here:

http://www.seroundtable.com/google-maps-locksmiths-13684.html

Google+ Articles


Andrew Shotland over at Local SEO Guide has been all over the Google+ situation there are a bunch of interesting articles on everything from tips and shortcuts to creative uses on his blog.

Here's just a taste … Go over and check it out at: http://www.localseoguide.com/



Google Plus Google Places Times SMBs Equals…


Justin Sanger, CEO of JoinHere, an interesting new SMB “Social Engagement Platform”,  puts it thus:
“A G+ and G Places integration will create the most powerful discovery, publishing, and social suite the marketplace has seen to date. The G maps algo will undergo more change as content contribution, followers, and +1s begin to affect discovery – rightfully so, as we move closer and closer to an algo that mimics the real world. A G Place will be the heart of G+ just as the personal profile is today and the company will begin to contribute content in the form of tags, deals, and informational posts. G will also bring to bear its mobile assets to complete the suite. For those that have been long-term players in the local space and for those that have watched and embraced the birth of social, the next year will prove to be a watershed period in how we view the space and how we service businesses through what will be a transformation.”



Google Launches Indexed Local Directory Portals


Google has just released city-specific business directories that are clearly going to compete with Yelp, Citysearch, and all the other IYPs in terms of highlighting popular local businesses.

These are indexed, rankable pages within Google’s search results (here’s the proof).  When Place Pages first came out, we were surprised Google chose to index them…which they quickly chalked up to engineer error.  Something tells me these might be here to stay in the search results, though.

Here's the link to Austin's portal: http://www.google.com/austin/

read the full article here: http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/local-directory-portals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mihmorandum
+%28Mihmorandum%3A+Local+Search+%2B+Web+Design%29



New York Times & Digital Due Diligence Target Google's Local SEO Spam Problem


Over the weekend, The New York Times continued what is seemingly becoming a monthly affair of alerting the general public to questionable search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, this time reporting on the problems that exist in Google Maps and on Places pages.

The Times was assisted once again by Digital Due Diligence, which recently outed flower companies for attempting to game Google for Mother's Day as well as startup Milanoo – and DDD's Doug Pierce also was a key figure in the outing of JCPenney, the Times story that started this new wave of SEO exposés and outings back in February.

Read the full article here: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2094113/New-York-Times-Digital-Due-Diligence-Target-Googles-Local-SEO-Spam-Problem

The Most Important 4 Inches Of Real Estate In The World

Drew Barnes - Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Can you guess what is "The Most Valuable 4" of Real Estate in the World"? Go ahead take a stab at it. What did you come up with? Let me give you a hint it's not on the ground at all, it's in your hand right now. That's right your mobile phone screen.

There are more than 5 billion cell phones in the world. That's more than the total number of PCs and TVs put together. If your business is not trying to take full advantage of new mobile marketing technologies like SMS text marketing, your missing out on a huge opportunity.

Entrepreneurs and business owners should follow the best practices for mobile marketing and treat that 4" of real estate like diamonds or gold. Don't mess around being cute or silly just get right to the point and make sure to offer some value with every mobile marketing campaign.

Make sure to research your competition, new campaigns and engagement techniques. This will help businesses create better mobile campaigns as well as track your results. In most cases just starting a mobile marketing strategy now will give your business an edge on the competition. However this will not last for very long. Now is the time to take action.

There's a reason why many people call 2011 the year of mobile. Right now companies that are developing mobile strategies are going to be the big winners. Those that apply the "wait and see" approach are going to be playing catch up or spending big dollars to get on pace. Just take a look at a few mobile marketing case studies.

The mobile phone is a very personal device, it reaches an audience where they are and often within minutes not hours or days. Mobile response rates are typically five times those of comparable web campaigns, and several tools exist that gives advertisers transparent control of both cost and return on investment.

The cost of experimenting with mobile is low compared to most traditional media. This is attractive to skeptics. Very often they come back for more after experiencing firsthand what mobile marketing can do for them in terms of customer response rates and ROI.

Those who can refine their mobile strategies now will be better prepared in the future to dominate the "Most Important 4" of Real Estate in the World." It's a small space so get there first. Start a mobile campaign now and start benefiting from this new frontier.

Mobile Marketing and Local Search Optimization from TurnUp Local

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