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Category Archives: Local Search

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Small Business SEO

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Affordable Small Business SEO Packages

As a small business owner, you are looking for every edge you can get, and using the endless possibility of the internet is one way to feed your pipeline with sales leads. And while most internet marketing agencies require a retainer to work with you, most small businesses don’t have the budget to pay for their services each month. Webbed Marketing, winner of a shelf full of small business awards, feels your pain.

We offer small business SEO packages with business owners like you in mind. The packages are project based and vary based on the level of involvement that you’d like after the research and analysis phase.

  • Our Basic SEO Package offers the research and analysis of your site, along with some on-page recommendations for your site pages.
  • The Advanced SEO Package provides the Basic components along with off-page work to promote your newly optimized pages.
  • the Custom SEO Package is designed to implement all of the Basic and Advanced components as well as start a Local Search presence for your business. We’ll need CMS or FTP access to your site if you select the Custom package.

And all of our small business SEO packages include access to our Webbed Marketing University, SEO101 online course.  The material will take you through the basics of on-page optimization and show some of the technical aspects of SEO that can adversely affect your site.

To learn more, contact our team of SEO Experts to learn more about our affordable small business SEO packages.

Posted in Google Analytics, Keyword Research, Local Search, Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, WMU | Tagged , , , ,

 

Local Search: The Importance of City-Focused Service Pages

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Local factors are playing an increasingly important role in the search engine results pages (SERPS) as search engines refine their algorithm to serve up results personalized to the user’s location.  That means it is vital for businesses to make sure that their websites are optimized to deliver great locally-focused service information to potential customers.

One of the verticals that I specialize in is local home improvement, and I’ve noticed that the right locally-focused onsite strategy can lead to great results quickly for companies that want to rank for relevant searches in their service areas.  This is due to a couple of factors: first, these local terms usually have a relatively low search volume and very little competition; and second, most competitors usually haven’t yet done a very good job of honing their web presence and SEO.

One of the most effective things a local company can do to help attract organic visitors to its website is this: create individual, unique pages that focus on products and services available to each city in your area.  This strategy is easy to implement, helpful to your customers, and can quickly lead to an increase in relevant organic traffic and conversions.

Here are some simple steps to follow when creating city-focused service pages on your site:

Make a list of every single city that your company services.

Don’t just include the big cities; make sure that you list the smaller towns and communities, as well.   Potential customers in small towns are looking for your services, too, and having a page dedicated to their community can lead to some unrealized revenue for you.

Create a simple service page for each one of the communities in your list

Make sure to include the city name and your main services in the page title.  The page itself doesn’t need to have a huge amount of content; just describe your company and the services that are available to the people in that particular location.

Make sure that the content on the page is completely unique (not copied from another page on your website) and try to include some information that is specialized to that city or town.  Additionally, make a point to mention to zip codes in the city that you service, as well.

Link to the new pages from another location on your site

It’s fine to link to the individual city-focused pages from your homepage if they aren’t too numerous, but you don’t want to clutter things up with too many links.  If you have a lot of city pages, it might be best to create a page called “Our Service Areas” (or something similar) and link to each city page from there.

To find out more about how your business can optimize its website to capture more leads, please contact Fathom Online Marketing about our local search optimization options!

Posted in Local Search, Search Engines, SEO

 

Google Offers Now Goes to 11! (Cities)

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In a time where Yelp, Facebook and others have been slicing and dicing their deals functionality, Google continues to speed up. Just yesterday, Google announced that Google Offers has lanched in Denver, Austin, DC, Boston, and Seattle, bringing the grand total of Google Offers locations to 11.

Clearly not content to stay still, Google has been kind enough to provide a handy list of cities that will be joining the Google Offers game in the near future right there on google.com/offers. You can see that list of 27 “Coming Soon” locations in the graphic below.

While our native Cleveland isn’t on the list (yet), our new friends at Webbed will be able to play with Google Offers in Columbus in the near future. I think its safe to assume that Google Offers will be expanding to an even broader list of locations by the end of the year.

If you happen to be in one of the 5 new locations, then enjoy your Offers! The rest of us will just sit here quietly and wait to join you.

Posted in Google, Local Search | Tagged , , , , ,

 

Are You Targeting Your Local Audience? Fathom’s Local Search Package Increases Brand Visibility

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When you want to reach customers in particular locations, you need an Internet marketing company that can give you the local influence you’re looking for. Fathom Online Marketing’s complete Local Search Package gives you the power to market directly to customers in specific geographic places.

Our strategy increases your brand visibility in targeted local areas, so you can attract potential customers in the exact places they’re looking to buy what you’re selling. Local search efforts increase your influence consistently across the Internet, making you and your brand more accessible. We can help you optimize your website, increase your visibility across the Web, and drive specific local traffic to your business.

 

At the same time, we’ll leverage local profiles and location-based social media like Foursquare and other check-in applications. You’ll also get your company listed in Google Places, Yellow Pages and Yelp, and we’ll make sure your business can be easily found on every type of device. We can help you increase customer loyalty and improve your return on investment.

With Fathom’s local package, results are closer than you think. Start maximizing your marketing efforts today. For more information on how local search can benefit your company, visit our local package product page today!

Posted in Fathom Company News, Local Search | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

 

Simplified Holistic Online Marketing: PPC & SEO Working Together

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In my previous post about simple holistic online marketing I stressed how keywords are the strong foundation for your website. Anyone in the search marketing industry knows that keywords are the driving force behind paid and organic campaigns. In this post I’ll focus on how a PPC and SEO campaign can be optimized together to achieve keyword visibility that delivers results and revenue growth.

Paid and Organic Search Working Together

Higher visibility and conversion rates when both paid & organic listings are present
This strategy is pretty straightforward. Often we hear companies want to reduce paid search spend if they obtain a top organic keyword ranking; however, there is the risk of losing prime real estate in competitive search spaces. If your ROI is remaining positive for both, then why would you want to pause your paid campaign? Let both listings support each other for optimal results.

Share top-converting keyword data
Keyword research tools provide part of the data needed to pick quality paid and organic keyword sets. The most actionable keywords and opportunities are the ones that are converting at a higher rate and turning into sales. Make sure to share this information between teams to build new content that can be found organically, and to create new ads for people in the final buying stages.

Use best-performing paid CTAs in organic Title Tag, Meta Descriptions and content
This is such a simple concept, but it can provide a nice boost to click-thrus from your organic listings. Optimizing a page for rankings, traffic and conversions is an art form and can take time, but real-time results from paid search can be applied to organic pages for a quick boost at a low risk. Your best- performing ad calls-to-action can take out some guesswork on writing an enticing Title Tag and Meta Description. Once you find a version that is improving conversion, make sure to tweak your on-page content and conversion funnel paths.

Segment keywords for different initiatives
Paid search provides timely information about specific campaigns tied to highly relevant landing pages. For example, a person that downloaded a whitepaper may be in a different buying stage than someone that is scheduling a demo. Placing these keywords into segments can help create specific organic landing pages that will improve conversion rates. Many times we place all call-to-action funnels on one page and hope for the best. Serving up the best page for these different types of visitors at first entry can drastically increase the chance they convert rather than bounce.

Integrate shopping feeds
On the organic side of search we help our clients manage e-commerce shopping feeds in the major search engines. By connecting this feed to your paid ads, you can make them stand out and get people directly to product checkout pages. Any way you can reduce the number of clicks it takes people to find what they want is important to the conversion funnel. It’s important to stay current with the beta tests Google and Bing continue to roll out for shopping results.

Use internal site-search data to create highly targeted, branded paid ads
A paid search landing page may not always be the best option to get someone to a very specific page on your site when they are looking for information crucial to the buying process. Consider using internal site search data to mine for keywords people are using once they arrive to your site. Finding the right information on large websites can be a challenge… so before people even get to your site search, attempt to serve them up a highly targeted paid search ad to save them time. A good example of this can be for someone searching for technical specs or reviews for a costly product. Once they have all their questions answered and feel comfortable in the product, they are ready to buy!

Google Places and local business extensions
People that are looking for your company in your geographic vicinity can be top conversion prospects if you get them all the information they need. Having an optimized Google Places page ensures the searcher knows your exact location, store hours, forms of payment, and can read helpful customer reviews. Syncing this page with your local paid extensions improves visibility and increases the chances that person will visit your location in person.

Combat negative PR
People are going to talk about your company online whether you like it or not. Disgruntled customers or even cut-throat competitors will threaten your online reputation. Organic search listings and items like Google Suggest can be hard to influence for your brand if others are writing negative reviews and articles. A timely defense mechanism to offset damage is to set up paid campaigns for your brand along with modifiers that are affecting you. Words like “reviews,” “complaints,” “scam,” and “rip off” should be targeted as soon as you see them pop up. You may be surprised at the traffic you can generate to your own properties by placing some creative ads to help answer customer questions for negative PR.

Social media visibility (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube)
On the organic side of search we spend a lot of time helping our clients optimize for the major social channels for both branded and non-branded keywords. Each of the major social channels allows for paid ads that can help increase the visibility of the social profiles. Use paid options to send more targeted traffic to your Facebook page and Twitter profile. Make sure your pages/profiles offer something of value like a white paper or contest to keep your audience engaged and coming back for updates. LinkedIn ads also can be a great way to promote a timely white paper to a specific audience. YouTube also offers nice text- and link-overlay calls-to-action on your videos when you connect your Google Adwords account with a minimal daily budget. Don’t be afraid to spend money to make money! Properly tracking all these efforts will quickly show you what works and what does not.

Test the long-term viability of organic keywords
Paid search allows you to show up quickly for keywords in top positions while you are working towards a top organic ranking. If you are seeing these keywords convert from the paid side, then they are likely good candidates for organic optimization. Take action on these keywords by weaving them into your content and creating keyword-focused landing pages that solve searchers’ problems.

Test lead-capture forms on paid landing pages and apply them to your top organic pages
Learn the qualities of a top-converting paid landing page and incorporate the best elements into your organic landing pages. Tools like Click Tale and Crazy Egg will show you how people interact with your pages. Are people clicking on a graphic without a link and expecting something? Simple tools can uncover usability issues across your entire site to fix in order to improve conversions.

What works for your campaigns?
I’d like to encourage readers to leave comments about the holistic online marketing tactics that have produced results and revenue for their campaigns. Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts in this holistic online marketing series!

Posted in Conversion Optimization, E-commerce, Keyword Research, Local Search, Online Marketing, Paid Search, Reputation Management, SEO, Social Media, Usability

 

Google Insights for Researching Local Search Keywords

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OK, here is a classic math problem with a “local search” twist:

  1. At 10:45 a.m., Jim gets on a computer in Norfolk, VA and searches for real estate license information.
  2. Pam gets on a computer in Charlotte, NC one hour later and searches for real estate license information.
  3. What does an Internet marketer need to do to target both of these audiences?

Answer? Local SEO campaigns (sorry, the “time” element of the equation was irrelevant).

There is little debating that local search is the future of search engine optimization – and, more generally, the future of Internet marketing. There are already a number of different tactics and techniques that are all part of a savvy marketer’s toolkit. These includes claiming and optimizing Google Places listings for all of your physical businesses.

But relying solely on Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Yelp, and other local listings will significantly limit your local search campaigns (especially if your business doesn’t have traditional brick-and-mortar locations).

A truly effective local search campaign requires a local content strategy. And by local content strategy, we mean:

  • Identifying your target regions
  • Performing local SEO keyword research for your top products/services in these regions
  • Creating unique content tailored to the search demand of each region

What we DO NOT mean by local content strategy is creating 20 versions of the exact same page by simply substituting the names of different cities and states. This kind of local search strategy is scrutinized now more than ever by Google following the Panda update.

But white, black, green or blue hat tactics aside, the most important part of any local content strategy is keyword research.

The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a good place to start, particularly when you want to find and compare search volume on keywords using a geographic modifier:

Local SEO and Local Search Keywords

The keyword tool also attempts to estimate the amount of local search volume for your terms. However, this number is based on Google’s estimate of search traffic in your current location (so in our case, people in Columbus Ohio searching “real estate license nc”). This is not very helpful if you are not physically in the location of your research target.

In order to justify adding a region to a local SEO campaign (or maybe even to justify creating one in the first place), you are probably going to need more detailed information.

Enter Google Insights for Search.

This tool allows you to compare the search “interest” of various keywords over time in multiple geographic areas. You can also fine tune your comparison and filter by search type (web, image, news, or even product).

Google Insights for Search

Once you enter your search term(s) and select the regions you want to compare, the tool first provides you with a graphical representation of the interest in your search term(s) over time in the selected regions:

local search keyword research

Under this graph, you can view a more specific breakdown of each state selected. The interface provides you with a map of search “interest” broken down by the top metro areas in the state. The tool currently will include some metro areas from other states if they are geographically close (e.g. the map below includes the New York City and Washington metro areas).

local SEO keywords

Finally, the tool also provides a list of top search keywords for that state, related to your initial keyword term(s). It even goes so far as to provide insight to search terms that are rising rapidly in search volume.

local search keyword ideas

Obviously, the tool provides ample possibilities for comparing as many different data sets as you can imagine – which, of course, is a true SEO keyword researcher’s dream.

Things really start to get interesting when you use Insights for Search and the Adwords Keyword Tool in tandem. Use the Keyword tool to find an initial set of data and then migrate that to Insights for Search for deeper analysis. Then, take the recommended keywords from Insights to explore more possibilities in the Keyword Tool. After a few rounds of back and forth you should be able to create and ultra targeted keyword list for each region in your local search campaign.

For example, you may find that the phrase “real estate license + the abbreviated form of each state” is a good keyword to use on all pages. But then you may find different variations are better in different areas. So you might determine that the best strategy is to target “real estate classes” in Pennsylvania, but then target “real estate license renewal” in North Carolina.

You can also check out Google Sets for even more local keyword research ideas.

Now that you have your dynamic list of regional keywords, you can begin creating your content strategy. Need help determining how to use these keywords in the creation of your content? Webbed Marketing can help.

Posted in Google, Keyword Research, Local Search, Local SEO, SEO | Tagged , , , , , ,

 

Fathom to Host May 24th NEOUPA Local Search Marketing Event

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Google Places… QR codes … NFC devices … 5-star reviews.

As search engines get “hyperlocal,” the businesses that know how to be found by and connect with local customers stand to gain the most. Learn how to put your best local foot forward at next Tuesday’s meeting of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the international Usability Professionals’ Association (NEOUPA).

The May 24th event, hosted by Fathom Online Marketing, will feature Fathom’s own Kurt Krejny and Joe Fox explaining how to improve your local search visibility. Quick facts:

Topic: “Engaging Your Best & Closest Customers: Understanding Local Search Marketing Success”

Date: May 24, 2011 (next Tuesday)

Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Address:

8200 Sweet Valley Dr., Suite 100
Valley View, OH 44125

Registration: Free for NEOUPA members, $10 for non-members. Register at NEOUPA.org.

Hope to see you there!

 

Posted in Conferences and Events, Fathom Company News, Local Search, Usability | Tagged , , , , , ,

 

Fathom to Host Upcoming NEOUPA Event: Local Search Marketing

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Google Places… QR codes … NFC devices … 5-star reviews.

As search engines get “hyperlocal,” the businesses that know how to be found by and connect with local customers stand to gain the most. Learn how to put your best local foot forward at next month’s meeting of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the international Usability Professionals’ Association (NEOUPA).

The May 24th event, hosted by Fathom Online Marketing, will feature Fathom’s own Kurt Krejny and Joe Fox explaining how to improve your local search visibility. Quick facts:

Topic: “Engaging Your Best & Closest Customers: Understanding Local Search Marketing Success”

Date: May 24, 2011

Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Address:

8200 Sweet Valley Dr., Suite 100
Valley View, OH 44125

Registration: Free for NEOUPA members, $10 for non-members. Register at NEOUPA.org.

Hope to see you there!


Posted in Conferences and Events, Fathom Company News, Local Search, Usability | Tagged , , , , , ,

 

Localize Your Content Strategy

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Pizza places in Cleveland, Manhattan hotels, Nail salons near Atlanta. Local searches are growing in popularity. Search engines recognized this growing interest in localized searches and have made it even easier for searchers.

People no longer have to specify their location to get localized results. Search engine sites will automatically do it for the searcher, making search results more relevant. So, how can you compete in this local search world?

While there are a variety of important factors that contribute to your presence in local searches, keeping your content fresh and local-focused is a major component.

Localized Content for Localized Searches

Keeping your content fresh and updated will automatically make it stand out more to search engines. On an on-going basis you should be working to add new pages to your site and update your existing content. Whether that means creating a blog or just editing pages on a regular basis, the fresher your content is, the better chance you have of showing up in search results.

To target your content to users in specific cities, develop a content strategy that surrounds your geographical area. Use your content and link structure to tell search engines that your site is relevant to users in a specific geographical location.

Some new localized pages that you can add to your site include:

  • Shipping rates
  • Sales tax differences
  • Store locations
  • Content focused on different climates
  • Directions to your locations

Focus your existing content on your geographical area by highlighting community events and linking out to local sites using specific cities and neighborhoods as your anchor text. Incorporate the names of cities and suburbs on your pages and be sure to have a page dedicated to your address, a local map and directions to your business.

The main goal of your localized content strategy should be to offer users real value by providing relevant and valuable information specific to your location. Not only will you increase your presence in localized search results, but by targeting your focus to local users, you may actually increase your conversions.

Image courtesy of WPromote.

Have any local strategies of your own? Feel free to share them in the comment section below.

Posted in Content Creation, Local Search, SEO

 

The Changing Dynamic of Google Search – What Does This Mean for PPC?

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Lately Google has been making a slew of changes, but how many of them are helping AdWords performance?

It began in early September with the launching of Google Instant, which changed how our PPC ads are displayed. Then in late October, Google integrated “Google Place Search” into the SERP’s which threw PPC another curve ball for the following reasons:

  1. The Google map (promoting competitive businesses) now appears on the top right hand side of the page and floats over the paid ads when you scroll up and down the page.
  2. Reviews are now integrated into the organic search, as well as phone numbers, addresses, and other information steering more users away from the paid ads.

Unfortunately, this means our PPC ads will be generating a similar amount of impressions but now potentially receiving fewer clicks. This would then hurt CTR and Quality Score significantly.

What is the impact for PPC Managers? I’m glad you asked.

  • Due to the floating map, it is now more important than ever to make sure our paid ads appear in the top three positions. This means more competition and thus we pay a higher CPC.
  • We should setup various types of Ad Extensions to capture the users’ attention in order to compete with these organic listings.
  • PPC ads must become more localized given the changing dynamic of the SERP’s.

In conclusion, Google seems to be putting the organic experience ahead of PPC. While these changes are frustrating, there are plenty of opportunities for fast-acting advertisers. Don’t get left behind!

Posted in Google, Keyword Research, Local Search, Paid Search | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

 

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