2011YEAR OF THE RABBIT

by LELA PHOMMASOUVANHShout out to Amelie Collins-Vance, Brian Ledis, Justin Blase and Michael O. Hill for sharing ideas

Predictions For 2011• Websites must

identify business location.

• Reviews and ratings even more important.

• SMBs get service from Google.

• Expanded support of rich snippets.

WTF is an SMB?

Small and medium-size business (SMB) marketers, much like their enterprise counterparts, find that challenges — like limited budgets, resources, and customer insight — interfere with their ability to successfully execute interactive marketing programs.

- Shar VanBoskirk. “Interactive Marketing Priorities For SMBs”, Forrester

Marketing Opportunities for SMBs1. Organic SEO for Local Search2. Google Place Opportunities3. Rich Snippets

1. ORGANIC SEO FOR LOCAL SEARCHWebsites for local businesses need to send stronger signals to search engines about their location.

Geo Modifiers

Google Place Search

Organic SEO Still Important for Local Search

Google Place Search

Pre-Google Place Search Google Place Search

2. GOOGLE PLACE OPPORTUNITIESRatings will be an even more important factor in gaining visibility for SMBs.SMBs will get more attention and possibly more service from Google in an effort to push Google Place products.

Google Places for SMBs

Google Hotpot

Google Tags

Google Boost

Google Hotpot

Google Tags

Google Boost

Google Hotpot

• Gaining visibility is less about keyword stuffing, it’ll be more about categories and reviews.

Google Hotpot Added to Search Results

Google Capitalizes on SMBs• SMBs spend an average of $230,000 on interactive

marketing.• In 2007 there were over 17 million SMBs in the US.

Google Hotpot

Google Tags

Google Boost

Google Tags

Google Tags help make local businesses stand out and can increase “actions.”

If 25% of SMBs buy a $25 Google Tag Google would make over a hundred million dollars.

Google Sales Reps =

Service

Google Tags Reps

• They’ll help you setup your Tag.• Not the most helpful for technical support.

Google Hotpot

Google Tags

Google Boost

Google Boost

Google Boost is a set it and forget it Google Adwords program for SMBs with limited budgets, resources, and customer insight.

Google Boost Reps

Go big with your budget if you need technical support.

3. RICH SNIPPETSSearch engines will expand their support of rich snippets. Local business reviews and local info will appear in rich snippets for broader websites—these sites will gain higher click-through rates.

Rich Snippets• Google currently supports the following information types for rich

snippets: • Reviews• People profiles• Products• Business listings• Recipes• Events

Sources: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99170http://knol.google.com/k/google-rich-snippets-tips-and-tricks#Tips_and_tricks

Rich Snippets Stand Out

Capture a Wider Audience• Currently rich snippets only appear for

results from big social media, profile and shopping websites.

• Later in 2011 rich snippets might appear for smaller sites.

What All of This Means For Your Clients

• 20% of searches on Google are related to location.

• If local search is not part of your search strategy then you are missing out on that audience.

• Those that standout will capture a wider audience.

Tips• Optimize your website for local search to

capture a piece of searches related to location.

• Make it easy for people to provide a review.• Optimize your local listings and use local

products to get service.• Code appropriate pages on your site for rich

snippets to improve CTR.

Tricks• Include Google Place QR code and link in email

signatures.• Operator Add-on for Firefox: Allows you to debug

and reveal microformatting.• Rich Snippets Testing Tool: Preview how page might

appear in search results.• Request Inclusion of Rich Snippet: Rich snippets from

new sites will be enabled automatically from this request list over time. Currently many sites properly marked up are still not displaying rich snippets within Google’s results months after submission.

Resources1. Organic SEO for Local Search

– http://microformats.org/wiki/geo 2. Google Reps

– Google Tags Reps 1-800-838-7971 (9am to 8pm ET, Mon – Fri)– Google Boost Reps 1-877-613-4505 (9am to 8pm ET, Mon – Fri)

3. Rich Snippets– http://microformats.org/wiki/google-rich-snippets

-examples

Discussion