It’s always preferable to get search engine users to find your site before they find an intermediary like an online yellow pages, but there also can be an advantage to using the SEO expertise of other sites to help you dominate search engine results pages (SERPs).I noticed a SEO company in Charlotte, NC, Top Rank Search, advertising with Local Launch, a sister co. to the online yellow pages DexKnows. Local Launch and other companies like it provide advertisers with mini-websites for lead generation. Thanks to Local Launch’s SEO tactics, Top Rank appears twice on page one of Google’s SERP for the term “SEO Charlotte NC” – once for its own site and once for the Local Launch mini-site.

Google typically only allows a site to appear twice in any SERP and those results are often clustered together with one result indented below the other, but if you have your business info appearing on two different websites run by different companies, then both of those sites can show up on the same page in the results and grab more traffic from your competition.

Check out the image to see what I’m talking about or see the SERP here:

top-rank.png
The moral of the story: Get your data out there and use other sites’ well-SEO’d platforms to your advantage.

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14 Response Comments

  • Brian  October 9, 2007 at 11:14 am

    Good post, Andrew. Noticed that your link to the SERP at the bottom of the article has http: listed twice. Other than that, keep up the good work!

    Brian @ NowSourcing

  • Andrew Shotland  October 9, 2007 at 11:16 am

    Thanks for pointing this out Brian. Obviously my post about QA does not apply to blogging.

  • Tom Tsinas  October 10, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    Great post! This has been the case on Google.ca ever since Yellow Pages Group in Canada began working with Google in 2004, when they struck an agreement granting Google access to its databases.

  • Michael Dorausch  October 11, 2007 at 5:25 pm

    Nice stuff Andrew. Always good to see these kinds of local posts. Lot’s of crumbs to be had in those serps.

  • Brandon Adciock  October 12, 2007 at 6:06 am

    He is also listed as britishchap in those results as well. He has 3 of the results

  • Brandon Adcock  October 12, 2007 at 6:07 am

    Can’t even spell my own name right

  • Clint Dixon  October 12, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    That is great except it is truly based on low level keyword competition and local search.

    Let him try it for a real term like search engine optimization then it may be worthy news.

  • Andrew Shotland  October 12, 2007 at 8:08 pm

    Good point Clint. In more competitive markets and terms it is rarer to see Local Launch-like pages ranking well.

    That said there are plenty of terms and markets where this strategy will work. Not everyone is going for “cosmetic surgeon in beverly hills”.

  • Eliena Andrews  October 14, 2007 at 10:07 am

    really nice ifnormation for starters like us. thanks for sharing with us ..

    Eliena Andrews

  • SEO Charlotte  February 3, 2008 at 1:51 am

    Andrew, guys that business is mine and I only want to work local. I really don’t want to be top for “search engine optimization” – globally as I just want local small business. Does that make sense?

    I don’t want too many clients as I am am a Mom and Pop outfit and have been seen since I started up in 1997 just up the road from Andrew in Pleasanton (Walnut Creek)

    SO to just show up around the Charlotte NC and SC area is fine with me.

    Cheers David

  • SEO Charlotte  February 3, 2008 at 1:54 am

    The British Chap site was registered when I lived in Calif and I was a professional DJ – that’s how I fell into SEO – my DJ site was top on Alta Vista and Excite etc (back in the day)

    Lots of people remembered the name and still find me using it so it’s hard to give up a dom name that a few people know and have suddenly “discovered” they need the SEO I was talking about (in excitement!!) back in 97 etc……

    David

  • Erin  February 18, 2008 at 10:44 am

    Optimizing for local search gives you a head start on the market you target. Therefore, I wouldn’t say this is based on “low level keyword competition.” There are plenty of localized keyphrases that still raise competition.

  • SEO Charlotte  February 19, 2008 at 7:05 am

    Erin – there some shoddy outfits here (and everywhere) that tack on SEO as an afterthought and charge way too much for nothing.

    I think we all know that – at least I give anyone that hires me a bloody good job with no smoke and mirrors 🙂

    So, really, I should be ranking well as it’ll save possible clients getting burned elsewhere

    Best

    David

  • charlotte seo  January 7, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    there are a ton of overnight seo’s out there, people who worked at a company who thought they were doing seo, then when they get layed off all of the sudden that person becomes an seo expert. It’s truly mind boggling. People need to be very careful who they choose and look for portfolios and major accomplishments