LOC@L SEO GUIDE

 On Monday, my SearchEngineLand column will preview the results of a new Google Places Ranking Factors study conducted by Bizible.  Aaron Bird, CEO & Night Janitor of Bizible, approached me a month or two ago about the study and I was intrigued by his approach. The study is a scientific complement to David Mihm’s well-known [...]

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I am guessing this is some sort of glitch, but just saw this double rating result in a search for “auto repair concord”. It appears that the data being displayed comes from AutoVitals.com.

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SearchEngineLand just published Google Plus Connections Are The New Link, some thoughts of mine on how local search co’s and SMBs may try to leverage Google Search Plus Your World to improve local SEO. After rereading it, it seems clear that as more and more organic results are deemed to have “local intent”, the only [...]

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Since Google Places started adding more photos to Place Pages I have been noticing a fair amount of wackiness.  So the tip of the day is to check your Place Page and make sure the photos are to your liking.  As Mike Blumenthal found things can go from Rated G to Rated X in no [...]

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A frustrated practitioner of bail bonds SEO laments about Google Places, Where Crooked Businesses Take Over: “Here’s another great example of the wonder of Google Places and Google’s dealings with Local Search. Type in Google, “Santa Clarita Bail Bonds.” (this example could be done for many other keywords if you care to try) You will see [...]

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The NY Times reports on the epidemic of open businesses that are reported as “closed” in Google Places and name checks Linda Buquet and Mike Blumenthal, who successfully changed the Googleplex’s Place Page status to “closed” a few weeks ago (SEO Badass award goes to you Mike). Howard Lerman, CEO of Yext, sees an opportunity [...]

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I haven’t pontificated on last week’s changes that removed most of the third party data from displaying on Google Place Pages – I basically agree with David Mihm’s assessment of the situation – this is an interface update, not an algorithm update. This article by FT.com implies that Google removed 3rd party reviews from Place [...]

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Phil Rozek has a great post on The 1st Annual Google Places Freakshow: “Whatever your ranking, I suggest you pay attention to how your Google listing comes across at a gut level.  Ask friends, family, or customers who haven’t seen it to take a look and give you their first impressions.  You’ll ensure that YOUR [...]

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From Mike’s post today entitled Some Days Are Shittier Than Others: Someone uploaded pictures of poo on my business listing and I can’t get them off!!! Fortunately Google took notice and brought out the pooper scooper. Of course this probably only happened because Mike’s post brought it to GOOG’s attention which will likely leave a [...]

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Nyagoslav Zhekov has been adding some thoughtful comments to the blog as of late and I thought this post on his take on the Local Search Ranking Factors was worth a read.

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