LOC@L SEO GUIDE

One component of the new Google Place Search is the merging of local and organic results in a more blended layout. While local marketers around the world are scrambling to figure out any new algorithm changes that have resulted from this release, a battle royale has broken out amongst otherwise civil-toned SEO bloggers to lay [...]

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It’s still too early to tell, but I track the traffic on a number of local directory sites around the world and thus far I have not seen a significant change in Google referrals. Could it be that rumors of the Yellow Pages death have been greatly exaggerated by bloggers seeking page views? Tweet

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Tweet At first glance, the new Google Local SERPs appear to be a potentially big problem for local directories that rely on SEO for traffic. But with change always comes opportunity. As you can see in the screenshot above, when a city does not have many businesses in a service category, there is still an [...]

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Tweet Thought it might be of interest to catalogue the different types of Google Local SERPs I am seeing: 7 Pack Lite Standard 7 Pack listings with map in right column above ads.  10 Web results below. UPDATE: 3 Pack Lite Standard 3 Pack listings with map in right column above ads.  7 Web results [...]

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Tweet So it appears that the new Google Local SERPs are imminent.  As you may recall, my initial take on this pending event was that it spelled doom for the Yellow Pages and local directories biz.  So I thought I’d take you for a spin through these new SERPs and see what we can see: [...]

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Tweet Fire up an Incognito browser, do some local searches and you might see some new Google local SERPs. It looks like Google may have unleashed the new All-Google-Places local layout they had been testing in more cities (Update: I have reports that this is being seen in Burbank & Australia and others that it [...]

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Sometimes we SEO types forget to take our own advice. Several months ago, after not having touched my Google Places Page for years, I updated the photo. Immediately my edit was rejected and my listing was removed from Google Maps. I misinterpreted this as a problem with the new image and resubmitted the old one, [...]

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I was telling Greg Sterling about how the new meat market in Pleasanton is killing it on their Facebook Page, which was created by a customer, and on Yelp despite the fact that they don’t have a Google Place Page and the business itself isn’t even participating in any of this. From Greg’s The Curious [...]

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Google announced a number of upgrades to its voice search application today.  One of them looks like it could be particularly troublesome to local search directory players.  From TechCrunch: Another feature is the ability to call any business in Google Search. This does not have to be a company in your local contacts app — [...]

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Executive Summary: Who knows? But here’s a data point of one: The Main Street Meat N Fish Market recently opened in Pleasanton.  My wife asked me to find their hours so I went to Google and queried “pleasanton meat n fish market“.  At the top of the SERP was this result from Patch.com (congrats to [...]

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