Local Search Optimization, Google+ Local, and the Future of Local Search
Mike Wiltonwww.plasticsurgerystudios.com@psurgerystudios@mwilton13#AAFPRSLocal
AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Who Am I?
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Internet Marketing Manager:
Writer:
AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Doctor searches made up 27% of the total local business searches conducted by consumers last year.(Source: Bright Local's Local Consumer Review Survey 2012)
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Local doctor searches saw a 6%growth over 2010 data, second
only to restaurants.
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Consumers find local listingsto be the most relevant andtrusted in search engine results
(Source: 5th Annual 15miles/Localeze Local Search Usage Study)
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
How Do You Get Your Piece of the Traffic?
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Build a Local Presence
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
The Anatomy of a Local Listing
1. Owner-verified business data in Google+ Local
2. Data via citation sources3. Approved User Generated Content4. Scraped data
(Source: Joel Headly, Google Maps team, June 2009)
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Local Listing & Citation Best Practices:
● Claim and complete your listings● Keep your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistent● Create one listing per location● Use unique phone numbers for each doctor/location● Utilize categories (e.g. "Plastic Surgeon", "Facial Plastic Surgeon",
"Facelift Surgeon," etc.)● Don't get spammy
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Local Citation Sources and Local Listings on Google, Bing, and Yahoo Generated an Average of 8% of the
Total Website Traffic for Our Doctors in 2011.
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Build an Authoritative, Locally Relevant Website
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
Local Search On Site Factors
In February 2012, Google launched theVenice update, which improved thetriggering of Local Universal results byrelying more on the ranking of main searchresults as a signal.
Additionally they launched a system to findresults from a user's city more reliably.Allowing Google to better detect when bothqueries and documents are local to a user.(Source: Google Inside Search, Feb. 2012)
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
On Site Factors That Influence Local Relevance
● Website authority● Localization of website content● Website contact matching local listings● Microformatted contact info● KML Files
"By using structured markup to describe a business or organization mentioned on your page, you not only improve the Web by making it easier to recognize references to specific places but also help Google surface your site in local search results." (Source: Rich Snippets for Local Search, Google)
"KML is a file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser, such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Maps for mobile. You can create KML files to pinpoint locations, add image overlays, and expose rich data in new ways." (Source: Google Developers KML Documentation)
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
The Future of Local:Google+ Local
● Bridges the Social/Local Gap● Creates new signals
○ +1's○ Engagement○ Reviewer Authority
● Unifies Business Data
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
The Future of Local:Siri & Apple Maps
● First major competitor against Google formobile map space.
● 4.758% of all local searches take place on Siri(Source: David Mihm/GetListed.org)
● Apple Maps has partnered with Localeze,Axciom, and Yelp for business listings andreviews
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AAFRPS Fall Meeting Washington, DC | September 5-8, 2012 | #AAFPRSLocal
The Future of Local: Yelp
= Siri Rankings
=
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Resources: bit.ly/OEc43W
Mike Wiltonwww.plasticsurgerystudios.com@psurgerystudios@mwilton13#AAFPRSLocal