LOC@L SEO GUIDE

I am thinking Google must be pretty sensitive to people spamming Google Maps.
Earlier this week I posted about how SEO Champion had created fake addresses to show up for local searches for SEO in Pleasanton, CA and the surrounding areas. Mike Blumenthal followed up with his own mapspam investigation and found these guys […]

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I have been following the recent mapspam sightings with great interest. Location is a key factor in local search, so it’s no wonder that “entrepreneurial” marketers are doing there best to screw with Google’s (and other’s) fabulous mapping creations. To some extent I am willing to look the other way when a fellow […]

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A reader recently asked me how to generate buzz locally online. If you are going to promote yourself locally one of the first things you need to know is how to find a local audience. So I thought it might be helpful to put together this list of local online media:

General Web Search […]

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If you are thinking about generating a lot of reviews for your business on Google Maps’ write a review feature, I recommend you read this post about a business who lost all of their reviews on Google Maps.  As Miriam Ellis of SolasWebDesign tells it, Canoe Sport in Houston, TX asked their customers to review […]

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A while ago David Mihm asked if I could provide guidance on how to optimize a business with multiple locations in the same geographic area. Well Dave, here at Local SEO Guide we aim to please, eventually:

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With Google’s recent introduction of 10 yellow pages-like listings in Web search results for local queries, it is going to be harder for local search sites which depend on “category in city” search queries (e.g. “Plumbing Supplies in Pleasanton, CA”) for a lot of referral traffic from Google to get that traffic. If I […]

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Miriam Ellis just put together a fantastic post on all of the sites that Google Maps is using as sources for review information for the hospitality industry. Here’s the list:
10best.com
Aol.com
ChefMoz.org
Citysearch.com
Dine.com
DiningGuide.com
Dinnerbroker.com
Frommers.com
Gayot.com
Giatamedia.com
Greenopia.com
Holidaycheck.com
Holidaycheck.de
Holidaycheck.es
Holidaycheck.fr
Holidaycheck.it
Holidaycheck.nl
Holidaycheck.pl
Holidaycheck.ru
Hotelchatter.com
HotelGuide.com
Hotelguide.net
Insiderpages.com
Menupages.com
Mytravelguide.com
Priceline.com
RestaurantRow.com
Travelocity.com
Travelpost.com
Tripadvisor.com
Virtualtourist.com
Yahoo.com
Yelp.com
Zagat.com
I recommend checking out Miriam’s post for some great insight into how to use this list to your advantage.
My $0.02 as your Local SEO Guide […]

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As you may know there have been numerous sightings this week of expanded Google Local results in Google’s Web Search. Previously when Google detected a local search they were displaying 3 Google Local business listings before the organic results, but now they are starting to show ten. So that’s why all those yellow […]

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