will scott local search association webinar on local presence management

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© Search Influence, LLC 2011

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Local Presence Management

Location, Consistency, Customers

Will Scott – Search Influence

@w2scott


@w2scott


About Search Influence

• Helping customers successfully market online since 2006.• Thousands of clients, directly and as a provider of white label

solutions to newspapers and publishers.• Platform + Service

• Search Influence:• 45+ full-time employees• 60+ contract writers• 12 Adwords Certified Staff• Based in New Orleans, LA

• Reputation:• 2011 Inc. 500 honoree, 2012 Inc. 5000 honoree• Recognized leader in social media for local business• Over a decade in online yellow pages

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As Seen In

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About Our CEO: Will Scott

• First website online in 1994• Deployed over 2,500 customized web sites in 18 months (with a

production staff of 12).• Former Vice President of YPsolutions (now Local Matters)

• Online Directory vendor to 20 independent

Yellow Pages• Deployed over 300 online yellow pages a year

with print “look and feel”• Part of team which took Sprint BestRedYP from

zero to 1,000,000 monthly visitors in 18 months• Uniquely qualified to help publishers’ online

marketing

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IMMR/YP/STREET FIGHTInteresting Data - http://corporate.yp.com/insights/white-papers/

http://corporate.yp.com/insights/white-papers/

http://corporate.yp.com/insights/white-papers/

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More Devices = Greater Local Search Volume

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Customers’ Use of Local Search

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Where is Local Search?

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Mobile & Tablet Catching Up

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“Local” is Relative

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Why Local Search Is More Important Than Ever

Local search = new customers and a great way to keep in touch with existing customers.

– 70% of U.S. households now use the internet when shopping locally

– 61% of local searches result in purchase – TMP/comScore

– 82% of local searchers follow-up offline via an in-store visit, phone call or purchase – TMP/comScore

– 54% of Americans have substituted yellow page phone books with the Internet and local search – comScore networks

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Why Local Search Is More Important Than Ever

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Local Search:More Important Than Ever

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Understanding the Search Results

PAIDSearch Results

LOCAL Search Results

ORGANIC Search Results

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Essential: Consistent NAP

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The Anatomy of NAP

What is a local citation?N A P + W

Name

Address

Phone #

Website

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Why is Consistent NAP Essential?

Don’t Confuse Google!

• Your NAP should be in each of these places:• Website• Social media pages• Business directories – called “citations”

• Number of citations is Important, but consistency is more important

• Your NAP is your local search fingerprint

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What Else? Content!

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Audit Your NAP

How Can an Audit Help?

–Determine Local Search strengths

–Find weaknesses that affect rankings

–Discover optimization opportunities

–Prevent duplication & data corruption

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Audit Business Information NAP First!

Confirm Name• Multiple variations?• Check Secretary of State

Confirm Address• usps.com/zip4

Confirm Phone- One per location- Should be local- Avoid call-tracking numbers

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Getting Ready forGoogle+ Local

• One listing per location using official NAP:– Firms with multiple practitioners: one listing

per practitioner also. • Complete Data: description, website,

categories, photos, etc• If you find duplicates

– Use Report A Problem/Edit Details – Escalate to Google Troubleshooter– Check the Google+ Local Forum

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Getting Started

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Digging Deeper on Citations

• Whitespark Local Citation Finder• Brightlocal Citation Tracker• Google:

– "business name" + "phone number" • Organize citations so you can see NAP

data errors• Clean up duplicates / erroneous citations

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Inconsistency & Duplication of Citations

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Fix Inconsistencies

• Check InfoGroup, Localeze & Acxiom for incorrect citation information– InfoGroup: http://expressupdateusa.com/ – Localeze:

http://webapp.localeze.com/directory/get-started.aspx • Channel partners get better pricing

– Acxiom: http://mybusinesslistingmanager.com/ • Duplicate citations are bad

http://expressupdateusa.com/

http://expressupdateusa.com/

http://webapp.localeze.com/directory/get-started.aspx

http://webapp.localeze.com/directory/get-started.aspx

http://mybusinesslistingmanager.com/

http://mybusinesslistingmanager.com/

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Citation & Data Aggregator Management Tips:

• Keep track of login information• Use one email account for communication

with citation sources• Be ABSOLUTELY sure your NAP isn’t

already listed before adding citations• Periodically monitor citations• Get rid of duplicates

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On-Site Local Optimization

• Is NAP on website readable?• NAP should match Google Plus Local page NAP• Additional phone numbers should be non-

crawlable• NAP should be structured data, either hCard or

Schema– To Create: http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator – To Validate: http

://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets• One hCard / Page to keep NAP signals clean.

http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator



http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets



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Schema & hCard Example

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Improper or Non-Existent On-Site Local Optimization

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Multi-Locations & Local Landing Pages

• Local landing page for each location• Use local landing page in Google+ Listing• Factors to include in a local landing page:

– NAP in hCard or Schema– Embedded Google map– Locally optimized title tags and H1/H2 tags– Meta description with address and phone included– Testimonials and Reviews– Locally optimized url naming structure

• Eg: domain.com/pizza-falls-church-va

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The Power of Landing Pages

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Multi-Location Deployment

• The same rules apply for multi-location businesses

• Process must be scalable and automated– Have to assure consistent NAP on a grand scale

• Content pages must be unique • Focus on your top-level categories • Do location-specific keyword research• Use robots.txt and site architecture to guide

the engines

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Final Thoughts

• Be thorough and organized• Set a schedule to check in

– Log into your accounts to view progress• Be patient

– Responses typically take from two weeks to two months• Stay informed on issues, trends and Google

updates• Allocate budget for expert guidance• For multi-location / directory providers, involve IT

Early

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Local Presence Success

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Let’s Meet in LA

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Thank You!

Will Scott•SearchInfluence.com/blog•[email protected]• twitter.com/w2scott

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

will scott local search association webinar on local presence management

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