February 6, 2009

SEW Experts: Local Search Tactics for Tough Economic Times

What tactics and best practices can improve our local search campaigns in these challenging times? Local search marketing efforts focus around ensuring you're the one chosen when the question of "where to buy" arises. In today's local & mobile search column, "Local Search Tactics for Tough Economic Times," local search expert Gregg Stewart shares a checklist of local search marketing tactics to help your firm weather today's economic environment.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 9, 2009

SEW Experts: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Over the past year, I've been in numerous meetings with advertisers, agencies, and online media vendors, and I'm often amazed at the confusion surrounding how local search campaign analytics are reported, and sometimes twisted, to create a desired story. In today's local & mobile search column, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics," local search expert Gregg Stewart lays out the basics you need to know to implement useful Web analytics for your local search campaigns.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 14, 2008

SEW Experts: Offline and Online Conversions Tracking: Increase Your ROI

The accountability of online marketing is only as good as the analytics an advertiser employs. In today's vertical search column, "Offline and Online Conversions Tracking: Increase Your ROI," local search expert Gregg Stewart explains that tracking conversions -- both online and offline -- can be tricky, but it is an important part of any online marketing program, especially for businesses with a local presence.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 24, 2008

SEW Experts: The Future of Online Ads: Location, Location, Location

Location awareness -- the concept that a device knows exactly where it is -- is changing the way mobile search works. Search applications are being developed to tap into this capability and serve more locally relevant content. In today's vertical search column, "The Future of Online Ads: Location, Location, Location," local search expert Michael Boland discusses this trend, and outlines the next steps for national advertisers and ad networks: to serve ads that are actually useful and actionable for local users.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 17, 2008

SEW Experts: Making the Most of Your Local Search Marketing Dollars

Clients often ask where they should spend their marketing dollars: online or offline, search or display? The problem with these questions: they assume there's one or only a few sources for all local sales leads. In today's vertical search column, "Making the Most of Your Local Search Marketing Dollars," local search expert Gregg Stewart explains that the question isn't "either/or;" it's about how much of each.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 19, 2008

SEW Experts: Getting to Know Local SEO

Local SEO is a must for businesses that sell products locally to a specified geographical area. In today's vertical search column, "Getting to Know Local SEO," local search expert Gregg Stewart shows how the channels consumers are using to search are changing. Is your marketing strategy adapting?

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 29, 2008

SEW Experts: For Local Search, It's All About the Online-Offline Gap

Though search volume continues to rise and capture a growing percentage of product research, more than 95 percent of actual purchase behavior in the U.S. still takes place offline. In today's vertical search column, "For Local Search, It's All About the Online-Offline Gap," local search expert Michael Boland explains that the need to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds is a key issue in local search.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 8, 2008

SEW Experts: Local Search for Little Biz

For many small businesses, commercial transactions don't take place on the Web. Anything that you'd traditionally look for in the print yellow pages becomes a local search on the Internet. In today's small business search engine marketing column, "Local Search for Little Biz," Carrie Hill shows small business owners that there are steps they can take to influence many of the factors that positively affect local search rankings.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 27, 2008

SEW Experts: Creative Messaging in a Direct Response World

Should a company focus on building their messaging around their brand image, or on driving direct response via their Web site and online media? In today's Vertical Search column, "Creative Messaging in a Direct Response World," local search expert Gregg Stewart shows that branding and direct response messaging can co-exist online, and local business profile pages are a good place to meld writing techniques for both.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 26, 2008

SEW Experts: Link Building Ideas for Local Auto Dealers

The beauty of certain industries -- and the challenge -- is they're international, national, and local all at the same time. Such is the case with auto dealers. In today's Link Building column, "Link Building Ideas for Local Auto Dealers," Justilien Gaspard shares two link building ideas for a local auto dealer that can be applied to various types of local businesses.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 6, 2008

SEW Experts: Winning the Local Search Battle

Want to enjoy lower cost-per-sale and offer a better user experience? A highly customized, localized marketing approach is vital to your keyword strategies. In today's Vertical Search column, "Winning the Local Search Battle - Part 2," local search expert Gregg Stewart looks at some winning search marketing strategies for local campaigns.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 4, 2008

SEW Experts: Leveraging Traditional Media Placements in an Online World

Online media and Internet-based search continue to grow at the expense of their offline counterparts, newspapers and magazines. Because media placement options are continuously growing, smart local marketers need to leverage this major transformation of how people consume media in some creative ways. In today's Vertical Search column, "Leveraging Traditional Media Placements in an Online World," local search expert Gregg Stewart explains that fragmenting media options will continue to force smart marketers to stitch together sales opportunities from an ever-increasing number of sources.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2008

SEW Experts: Social Media Meets Local Search

Despite the growing traffic to social networks, local search tools for users of those sites are surprisingly few and far between. That doesn't mean you shouldn't stay active in those communities. In today's Vertical Search column, "Social Media Meets Local Search," local search expert Gregg Stewart take a look at emerging local search products/applications on the heavily trafficked social platform/portal sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

February 15, 2008

SEW Experts: Universal Pictures: Optimizing Video for Search

We hear a lot about universal search and how it will keep SEO professionals on their toes with constantly evolving ranking algorithms. So how can local online advertisers take advantage of universal search? In today's Vertical Challenge column, "Universal Pictures: Optimizing Video for Search," local search expert Michael Boland explains that creating optimized online video is a great opportunity for local marketers that are on top of their SEO game.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

February 8, 2008

SEW Experts: The 411 on Local Search Data for Business

When incorrect listing information for your company finds its way into the local listing database of some data provider, it can start spreading like wildfire from local search site to local search site. In today's Vertical Challenge column, "The 411 on Local Search Data for Business," local search expert Gregg Stewart tells you how to keep your business' data accurate, and prevent your local search sales leads from going out the window.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

January 9, 2008

SEW Experts: Local Search Revelations

News flash: people buy stuff on the Internet. It's too bad people still buy a lot more stuff anywhere but on the Internet. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Local Search Revelations," Kevin Ryan shares new research from Nielsen/NetRatings and local interactive advertising firm WebVisible that seeks to shed some light on the developing local world.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

November 9, 2007

SEW Experts: Local Search for National Brands

National brands that empower their local sales channel can generate more sales, leads, and conversions. In today's Vertical Challenge column, "Local Search for National Brands," local search expert Gregg Stewart shows that simply providing a dealer locator is not a comprehensive local search strategy. Instead, the smart national brands engage and educate your local sales channel on how to leverage the local search channel and maximize lead generation and sales conversion.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

October 2, 2007

SEW Experts: Taking the Offline Business Online

Is your small business hiding offline? In today's Little Biz column, "Taking the Offline Business Online," Carrie Hill shows you some ways to make it easier for you to be found in search engine results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

September 20, 2007

SEW Experts: Link Building for Local Search

In today's Link Love column, "Link Building for Local Search," Justilien Gaspard imagines a search engine-free world. Would you still build "links" to increase local traffic? He shares some radical link building strategies for local search.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

September 14, 2007

SEW Experts: Real World Trumps Online in Local Search

In today's Vertical Challenge column, "Real World Trumps Online in Local Search ," local search expert Gregg Stewart reminds you that if you don't know what your customer is doing, your customer will probably end up someplace else. Tracking local search online and offline is key.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

August 24, 2007

SEW Experts: A Tale of Two City Guides

In today's Vertical Challenge column, "A Tale of Two City Guides," local search expert Michael Boland reviews recent plans announced by Yahoo Local and CitySearch to enhance features and content, making local search a more competitive landscape.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

August 21, 2007

SEW Experts: Won't You Be My Neighbor?

In today's Little Biz column, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?," Carrie Hill tells you how to build a well-focused Web site to maximize traffic and succeed in a competitive online marketplace.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

August 17, 2007

SEW Experts: This Just In, Google Recruits Local Sales Force

In today's Vertical Challenge column, "This Just In, Google Recruits Local Sales Force," Gregg Stewart gives you a heads up on Google Local Business Referrals and continues his review of local search strategies by covering underutilized local media sources.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

August 7, 2007

SEW Experts: Don't Be a Local Yokel II – Enhancing Your Yahoo Local Listing

In today's Little Biz column, "Don't Be a Local Yokel II – Enhancing Your Yahoo Local Listing," Carrie Hill tells you how to enhance your local listings in Yahoo! Local to bring more traffic to your site.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

December 26, 2006

Vertical Strategies in Local Search

Just before the holiday weekend, Bill Slawski had an interesting post at his SEO by the Sea blog. The qualities of online search make it a natural fit for local he contends. This can be seen by the degree to which local has been emphasized within Google (Google Local), Yahoo! (Yahoo! Local), Microsoft (Windows Live Local), and most recently, Ask (AskCity).

But the real opportunity in Local could be in vertical segmentation, he argues. Increased verticalization has in fact gained steam over the past year with the introduction and development of many successful vertical destinations such as Zillow and Trulia in Real estate and Oodle and LiveDeal in classifieds. This “verticalization” of Local Search was a pervasive theme at the Kelsey Group's ILM:06 show last month.

Some of the advantages of a vertical search strategy include a refined corpus of data which increases the likelihood of relevant results within a category that a user is presumably interested in (going by their presence on the site in the first place). This increased relevance can lead to higher click through rates and higher intent to buy.

Some local shopping destinations such as NearbyNow enjoy these advantages because someone searching for “sunglasses” in their local area is more likely to be looking to find a place to buy them. Compare this to a Google search where the user's intent isn't as easily discernable (they could be in a research stage, many steps before a purchase decision and, ultimately, a transaction).

So vertical search can be valuable, but it also doesn't come without its own set of challenges. Use cases are different across vertical categories so different rules and interfaces should be applied for optimal experiences. This challenge is particularly relevant to the local products of search giants mentioned above. These local search offerings are all grounded in a map interface, however a map isn't as relevant in some categories as others.

A map that plots the locations of local landscapers isn't as valuable as one that plots local movie theaters (landscapers come to you). However the map interface dominates search results in both of these categories (and all others) in Google Local, Yahoo Local, et al.. For landscapers, plumbers, roofers and other service categories, user reviews or credentials might represent a better use of this space.

Still, there are many challenges in creating these rules and varying interfaces across vertical categories. The same challenge faces internet yellow pages companies such as yellowpages.com. Smaller vertical players can meanwhile create experiences that are more customized to the use case of that category, but they can't scale to the degree that a Google or a Yahoo! can.

Perhaps the best of both worlds is to build a “house of brands” strategy that brings together many individual vertical brands under one roof. The Classified Ventures family of online classified destinations (cars.com, apartments.com, HomeGain) has done this to some degree, but many believe the slow moving nature of their newspaper owners (Belo, Gannett, McClatchy, Tribune and Washington Post) has held this consortia back from reaching its potential. It's still an interesting model and one to watch – and possibly model after - in the coming year.

Posted by Mike Boland at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 22, 2006

Bringing Small Businesses Online

TheStreet.com has an article on the growing trend of small businesses advertising themselves on Craigslist. As opposed to individuals buying and selling merchandise, this involves local businesses creating posts that list business information or possibly product or inventory info.

Essentially, this utilizes Craigslist as a place to have a free landing page. But this kind of advertising precariously places such pages where they can be bounced around as newer posts push them down chronological listings.

More effective for some small businesses have been free landing page and microsite offerings that have grown in number over the past year, as the name of the game for many search engine marketers will be to get more small businesses online.

This comes with the thought that a significant chunk of revenue growth for search engine marketers will come from new business - those local and small businesses that have thus far steered clear of online marketing because they aren't inclined to do it, or they simply don't have websites. Bringing a business online with free development and hosting tools is thought to hook them, and to develop early loyalties as a place to also do their online marketing.

Enter the free landing page development and hosting offerings. Yahoo! has done this for a while with its free local listings product, and Google came out with Page Creator in February which it recently upgraded with its new "hosted business pages" tool. Companies that have introduced similar solutions include vFlyer and Affinity Internet.

Many of the small businesses in this boat are service businesses that traditionally advertise in the yellow pages. In many cases these businesses are better equipped to handle a phone call than a click, which can be an abstract concept to some. A recent study done by Nielsen//NetRaings and WebVisible suggest as much.

So in addition to more free website development and hosting services, we could see more click-to-call functionality in paid search. In the last month alone, we've seen this from Google and LiveDeal. Look for more to emerge throughout '07.

Posted by Mike Boland at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 16, 2006

More on the Intersection of Local Search, Mobile & WiFi

Today's SearchDay article, Coping with Convergence: Local Search Meets Mobile and WiFi, Part 2, continues the coverage of the SES Local Edition conference, describing the unique opportunities that are emerging for search marketers as local search becomes more ubiquitous for web users on the go. Didn't see part one? It's Coping with Convergence: Local Search Meets Mobile and WiFi, Part 1.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 1:05 PM | Permalink

October 6, 2006

Free Local Search White Paper From TeleMapics

Consulting firm TeleMapics is offering a free local search white paper, which you can get here. Called "Local Search: Time for a Tune-Up?," the document is 62 pages and provides a fairly detailed overview of the state of local search. For those already working with local search, there's nothing here you probably won't already know. But it's a good primer for those who aren't very familiar with the area -- and it's free.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 8:18 AM | Permalink

October 3, 2006

vFlyer Seeks To Overcome Classifieds Fragmentation For Sellers

From a marketer's point of view, one of the undesirable characteristics of the Internet in general and the local Internet in particular is audience fragmentation. Like other segments in local, classifieds are growing -- dramatically according to comScore (99% year over year). The firm also shows 37.4 million users in July to 10 high-traffic "classifieds" sites. But, in reality, there are many millions more users going to sites not part of comScore's segmentation that fall within the top three traditional newspaper "classifieds" categories -- Jobs, Cars, Real Estate.

Craigslist has become the 800-pound gorilla in online classifieds. But there are many more sites out there that are meaningful in terms of traffic and value delivered to sellers. Reaching this disaggregated market can be time consuming and challenging.

A new site and service from a company called vFlyer seeks to provide tools and distribution to create better-looking ads, using pre-designed but customizable templates and one-click distribution to a broad range of sites (including Craigslist) -- all free to sellers.

Each templated ad has a unique URL and is being optimized for SEO. So, effectively, these are microsites or landing pages for search distribution too. The business model isn't fully baked, but largely based on advertising although premium services may be offered. Postlets is a competitor.

Here's more on the company from the NY Times.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 2:40 PM | Permalink

August 15, 2006

Google Maps Gets Coupons

Hmm? How do you prove to local merchants who lack tracking software or even web sites that search converts? Coupons! That's right, the conversion tracking tool that requires no internet connection, cookies or software has come to Google Maps.

Google provides more information on how merchants can get going with coupons at its local business center here (for those logged in with a Google Account). They're available for free to anyone with a local business listing on Google Maps.

How do you get those free local listing? Easy. If you're logged into Google, provide your real-world location information here (for the US, UK, Canada, China & Japan). Then a letter will get sent to that location with a PIN to verify your listing. Once that's added, you can assign coupons to your locations.

To kick things off, Google's already seeded the maps with coupons through a partnership with Valpak, as described more in the press release below. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any live and in the wild. It would have been nice if there was a feature added to Google Maps to search and indicate you want to see only businesses offering coupons. Heck, I don't even see consumer-facing help information about coupons offered yet at Google Maps.

Here are some details from press stories:

• Google to distribute discount coupons on mapping service: From the San Jose Mercury News, it provides a bit more detail about the Valpak partnership.  
• Google Maps offers discount coupons for US stores: From Reuters, some details on how this might challenge coupon rivals such as CoolSavings. I'd say it's not going to be much of a challenge unless a feature to easily find coupons at Google is offered. Hunt-and-hope browsing for them isn't going to cut it.  
• New at Google: Local Coupons: From the New York Times, has some quotes from Google on how this is intended to help small businesses who might lack web sites.

And here's the Google press release:

Print and Save – Coupons on Google Maps

Today, Google announced printable online coupons on Google Maps. When searching for local information, discount coupons from businesses are now displayed on Google Maps search results and business listing pages. These coupons can be printed out directly from a computer and redeemed at a physical store location of a neighborhood or local business. For users of Google Maps, coupons provide additional relevant business information and ultimately contribute to a better local search experience. For businesses, coupons provide another way to reach customers online.

Google has partnered with Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, to provide coupons from current Valpak advertisers on Google Maps. These coupons include savings from local businesses throughout the United States including dry cleaners, dentists, vets, pizza places, car washes, oil changes, handymen and home remodelers. New coupons from Valpak advertisers are added on a nightly basis to ensure the most recent offers are available immediately to consumers.

Coupons are available in Google Maps at no cost to businesses and consumers. Businesses simply need to log into the Local Business Center at Google Maps to enter in coupon information www.google.com/local/add. In addition, businesses can easily add or update their local business listings on Google Maps from the Local Business Center. Once coupon information is entered, the coupon is displayed on Google Maps within hours. Businesses do not need a web site to participate.

"We're very pleased to be the launch partner with Google to offer Valpak's print-at-home online coupons to more consumers and to give Valpak merchants valuable enhanced distribution tied to their existing listing on Google Maps." said Todd Leiser, Vice President and General Manager for Valpak.com, Valpak's online coupon portal. "Valpak's blue envelope has been a North American institution for nearly 40 years and has the type of real consumer value that is perfect to support Google's mission statement of organizing the world's information".

In addition, Google AdWords advertisers can use coupons through the Local Business Center. In the coming months, AdWords advertisers will be able to drive traffic to their coupons on Google Maps. By driving additional traffic to their coupons the advertiser can reach more customers.

To find a coupon for a business in your neighborhood please visit www.maps.google.com. For businesses who want to try coupons on Google Maps please visit www.google.com/local/add.

Postscript: Mike Buckley's gotten one of the ads going and describes the process over here. The coupons don't actually appear in the pop-up box on the map, as I thought. Instead, try this search. Look to the left-hand side, at the textual listings. See the word "Coupons >>" under each listing. Click on one like this, and you'll see how coupons are listed for display.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:36 AM | Permalink

August 10, 2006

Custom Map Icons Added For Google Local Business Ads

The Google Blog announced a new feature for Google Local business ads, named "custom map icons." Basically, for the pinpoints found in Google Local/Maps, you can customize that pinpoint with a favicon like image. You can see an example of this implemented and more details on how it works at the Google Blog.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 6:27 PM | Permalink

July 19, 2006

11 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Site

Rand at SEOMoz writes up an excellent post he named 10 Remarkably Effective Strategies for Driving Traffic. He has given us 10, plus one bonus idea for driving traffic to your site. I will list them in summery here, but Rand has posted the "ingredients", "process", "results" and "examples" for each listed traffic driving strategy at his post.

10) Targeting Unmonetized Searches 9) Creating Controversy 8) Maps & Mashups 7) Event Coverage 6) Top Ten Lists 5) Online Tools 4) Graphic & Web Design 3) Leveraging Social Networks 2) Blogging & Blog Comments 1) Reporting Remarkable News *) Offering Something Incredible

Now get on implementing these ideas. Yea, where to begin. :)

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:19 AM | Permalink

July 10, 2006

Click Packages Draw Local Advertisers Into Search

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports on the "bundle of clicks" search distribution packages that all the major yellow pages publishers in the U.S. are now selling to their local advertisers. Here's an amazing quote from Simon Greenman, SVP of digital products at R.H. Donnelly, "Our strategy is to connect our customers with their customers wherever they may be."

That's a radical statement for a yellow pages executive to make because he's not asserting that print yellow pages is the best lead generation vehicle "and we also have Internet." He's saying Donnelly is "agnostic."

Some will read that and be skeptical. But to the extent that Greenman can make that kind of statement to the Journal on behalf of Donnelly it reflects a culture shift.

All these products (click packages) are not created equal; some are budget based and some are pure arbitrage. The former will survive, the latter won't. Some involve SEO and SEM, some only involve paid search. Most have been in the market for more than a year now, with fairly high renewal rates according to anecdotal reports I've heard.

These click packages radically simplify the process of buying search for local advertisers. There's no setup and no campaign management; it's all outsourced. It's yellow pages as SEM firm. And the demand, based on interviews I've done with executives, has been significant. Fulfillment in some cases is a challenge, however. (Local traffic is fragmented and not all aggregated at Google and Yahoo! by any means.)

Almost all of these packages include phone tracking to substantiate the clicks, making the whole proposition feel more like delivery of "leads" or "customers" rather than anonymous clicks. But clicks and calls are not 1:1 and there is some sloppy language in some areas being used by the yellow pages sales force ? referring to clicks as "leads" ? according to some folks I've spoken with.

In addition to yellow pages, there are verticals (e.g., ServiceMagic, HomeGain), webhosts (MarketHardware, Affinity, Web.com) and newspapers (McClatchy, Hearst) that offer a version of this same product to the market today. But get ready for local cable companies, local TV affiliates and potentially radio to do the same tomorrow. Everyone that has local advertiser relationships and/or a local sales force will eventually be selling Google and Yahoo! (and MSN).

For search engines that's both good and bad. For now, however, it's good because they wouldn't get these advertiser revenues in the absence of this type of program.

If you want more information on who's making these products available to the market and on how they work, read a longer post on my blog.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 7:02 AM | Permalink

June 20, 2006

A Web of Local Search Services

The major search engines tend to capture the lion's share of press, but there are dozens of other players in the local search space, offering myriad opportunities for search marketers trying to get in front of people searching for local products and services. I've got a review of an excellent guide to many of these services in today's SearchDay article, Who's Who in Local Search.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 8:47 AM | Permalink

June 14, 2006

A New Local Search Marketing Guide

I've often been amazed that there isn't a more organized effort by search engines and others targeting small business advertisers to "educate" them about online marketing. There are independent efforts here and there, but all players would benefit from a concerted initiative. Until then, small businesses have to rely on more informed colleagues and the serendipity of discovering resources online. One such resource, put together by Matt McGee, is the relatively concise Local Search Marketing Guide.

The Guide targets small businesses and provides a helpful explanation of the options on search engines and a few other sites: MerchantCircle, Citysearch and InfoUSA. But there is a dizzying array of other options. For example, the Guide doesn't get into Internet Yellow Pages, social search-directory hybrids (InsiderPages, Judysbook, Yelp) online newspapers or the ever proliferating vertical segment, which often offers some of the most targeted ad inventory for particular industries. Some of these other options are covered in the Yellow Pages Association's Local Search Guide, which is more of an industry showcase than a small business primer however.

All of these other online segments have local advertising for small businesses. To be fair, McGee has put together a "local search" guide and covered the options on the major search engines. I would recommend including at least some of these other places to advertise. But of course you have to draw the line somewhere.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 11:06 AM | Permalink

June 9, 2006

Brands, Search and Local

ClickZ local columnist Phil Stelter wrote a piece this week about brands taking notice of local search. Geotargeting online is something that all brands are waking up to and will need to address. Like all politics, most spending is local; 97% of consumer buying behavior still happens offline, despite the impressive growth of e-commerce. But the Internet's and search's influence over that offline spending increases daily. Tracking that growth and a true picture of consumer behavior is what prompted comScore to launch qSearch Retail this week. (On a related note, ClickZ's Kevin Lee has a nice article on search, multi-channel retailing and some of the practical steps marketers can take now to track offline conversions.)

Beyond the top search engines and a few of ad networks, buying local online right now is very inefficient if you're a large brand marketer or their agency. It's hard to get the reach and exposure you've historically been able to get from traditional media, like print newspapers. But expect it to get substantially easier over the course of the next 12 months. According to comScore, brands and trademarked terms represent only about 20% or 25% of search query volume. But they convert much better than the "generic" queries that comprise the remaining 75% to 80% of search. That's generally because consumers signal they are typically "farther along" the buying cycle when using those terms. There's a much longer discussion of how to market against that behavior that is beyond the scope of this post.

In the near term, manufacturers will need to work with retailers to drive people to local stores where they can buy their brand merchandise. There are a number of tactical ways to do this via paid search and other local vehicles (online newspapers, Internet yellow pages). And shopping engines are a potentially fruitful area for brand marketers and manufacturers, though most aren't yet set up to offer local store options where consumers can buy offline. By contrast, ShopLocal, CNet, Froogle and Yokel are to varying degrees offering product inventory information and where you can buy offline, locally. This is consistent with the dominant consumer use case (shop online, buy offline). And as of last night, Google has integrated enhanced product data and brought it into Maps through a partnership with StepUp.com, which is aggregating local retailers for online distribution.

In the implementation, clicking on a link gives you a way to see images and inventory information about products in local retail outlets. It's not a perfect integration, but it will get better. I write in detail about it on my blog. The larger point is that Google, ShopLocal, CNet and Yokel recognize that after consumers conduct their research online they fundamentally want to know where in their local markets they can buy what they're looking for -- today. Brands need to catch up to that behavior and start marketing accordingly.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 10:23 AM | Permalink

June 6, 2006

Topix Adds Free Local Classifieds

Joining the free classifieds fray, news aggregator Topix.net has added the ability to post listings on the site for housing, jobs, private party items, services, events and "local shops." Here's the ad-entry interface and here's an example of where and how the ads appear.

This program has been going on quietly for a few months but is now gaining notice.

Marketing VP Chris Tolles told ClickZ that while the ads are merely geotargeted today they will potentially be vertically targeted as well going forward. The article also says that Topix is adding roughly 300 listings per day, which relatively good given that there isn't much visibility or promotion on the site for the offering.

Topix has other ad units that appear on local news pages. On this page the top and bottom content are contextually and locally targeted ad units. Regarding classifieds, Topix will likely be able to charge for featured listings at some future point when classifieds reach some level of "critical mass." The site may also create a "marketplace" or entry point where users can enter and search or browse classifieds directly by location.

The real news here is why aren't Topix's newspaper owners (Gannett, Tribune and, now McClatchy) doing more to leverage the distribution and community content (8,000 posts a day) that the site has built up?

Posted by Greg Sterling at 10:35 AM | Permalink

June 5, 2006

MerchantCircle: SEO-Friendly Services for Small Businesses

What is MerchantCircle you ask? It’s an online “marketing solution” for U.S. small businesses. Depending on your definition, that category could include anywhere from 10 million to 17 million or so entities. Like many others, MerchantCircle takes aim at the yellow pages services market and hopes to lure local advertisers with a range of cost-effective offerings: a rich, structured landing page, blog, newsletters, online couponing and search-marketing. There are two packages: $29 per month and $99 per month, beyond a limited free offering. The site is not a consumer destination, but a hosted platform intended to help businesses be found in search results and communicate with customers.

The landing pages, which are intended as a substitute for a website (but could be a complement to one), are highly SEO-friendly according to CEO Ben Smith. A random search of listed merchants produces mixed results in terms of where they appear in SERP rankings. But as the content grows on the directory, which Smith likens to profile pages in MySpace, those SEO rankings should improve.

The site officially launched today. For more detail, see my blog post.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 12:45 PM | Permalink

April 13, 2006

Small Businesses Getting Local

Local Search Advertising Pays Off For Small Marketers from BusinessWeek taking a short look at how small businesses are looking more to search engines now that they can buy locally targeted ads.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:33 AM | Permalink

April 7, 2006

Eva Longoria In Google Earth & Other Google Earth Deals

I skipped the entire iPod from outer space thing last month because it was clearly a hoax. But Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria being viewable in Google Earth is not. Well, sort of.

Suburbia pointed out that men's magazine Maxim is touting a giant cover of their 100th issue that's was constructed in the desert outside of Las Vegas. No, it wasn't shot from space. It was constructed on the ground, photographed and made viewable in Google Earth through an overlay file. Jossip has a nice rundown, along with some facts from the Maxim press release.

Sure, anyone can make an overlay file for insertion into Google Earth. But not anyone can get Google Earth to promote it. Clearly there's a deal in play here. The Maxim page about the Eva photo has a promo box pointing people over to Google Earth to do downloads of the software. And did you do the download? If so, you'll get this thank you page telling you to check out the Maxim cover as a featured item in Google Earth.

If you don't want to download Google Earth, you can get a sense of the cover here. But with Google Earth, you can zoom in much more.

If you're a Search Engine Watch member, the longer version of this post looks at some other Google Earth deals, including thoughts on them going into cars and taking ads along the way.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:17 AM | Permalink

April 3, 2006

Greg Sterling Leaves Kelsey, Starts New Blog

If you read stories on local search, you've heard the name Greg Sterling, a long time Kelsey Group analyst on the subject. Greg's now headed off on his own to consult and research on local, search, small business advertisers and their move from traditional to online. He's also got a new blog here, and news of his new site will be posted there in the near future.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:36 PM | Permalink

March 24, 2006

Google Tests New Image Ads In Google Local

Shimon Sandler found that Google Local is testing another form of PPC ads in Google Local. If you search on booksellers nyc at Google Local, and if you look at the map you will notice some results have little coffee icons. If you click on the coffee icon within the map, more info pops up. This pop up contains a header named "Sponsored Link" and with local information and a large Barnes and Noble logo.

PostScript: Shimon also says that this is named "GeoAds." Reportedly, it is available to all, if not most business segments. How do you sign up for your business? Well, I am not 100% sure. You can go to Google Base and do a bulk upload of your multiple business listings or add/edit your local business listing. I tried the local business listing, but was unsuccessful in adding a sponsored listing or logo to my result.

If you are a Mac user, like myself, you most likely won't see the coffee icon, in either Safari or even Firefox. But if you are a PC user, you should see the result on both IE and FireFox. Here are screen captures if you are like me.

Perspective Screen Capture:

Zoom In Screen Capture:

This is an alternative form of ads in Google Local. First time we noticed sponsored ads was when Google placed blue pins in the results.

Want to discuss? Join our forum thread named Google Tries Alternative to Blue Pins in Google Local Maps.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:40 AM | Permalink

February 4, 2006

Targeting Local Searchers

Although SEM on local search verticals bears many resemblances to global search marketing, there are subtle nuances and differences in searcher behavior that you need to take into account to ensure a successful campaign. ClickZ columnist Phil Stelter is devoting his next few columns to the art of SEM for local search verticals, kicking off the series with a Q&A with MSN, specifically looking at the Search Local (beta) and Windows Live Local services. Targeting Local Audiences With Search, Part 1: MSN is packed with great advice for reaching people searching in the virtual 'hood.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 3:22 PM | Permalink

January 19, 2006

Pay-Per-Call Needs Local Advertisers to Be Successful

A new Clickz column by Phil Stelter: Local Opportunity Is Calling, offers an excellent look at the meeting of local advertising and pay-per-call advertising. He believes that local is what will "determine" pay-per-calls "fate." For those not up-to-speed on the topic, Stelter's column will also serves as a good overview on the topic.

Numbers Stelter also shares some stats via The Kelsey Group.

• Kelsey estimates 350,000 companies participate in PPC
• Nearly 7 million companies advertise in the Yellow Pages

The Future Phil goes on to list what he believes are several "essential" elements that must be in place for pay-per-call to succeed including, "a model local advertisers and agencies are prepared to adopt" and "a user interface or method that online shoppers are prepared to use." He argues that no one, to this point, has put all of these and other elements together

Players The article includes list and links to key players and initiatives in the pay-per-call space.

Differences What I found most useful is the section where the differences between pay-per-call and similar types of services like click-to-call are explained.

Finally, Stelter suggests taking a look at this new Clickz article: Why Pay-Per-Call Advertising Needs Ad Agencies, where Hollis offers a list of pay-per-call best practices along with a Kelsey Group Report that's summarized in this Clickz article from last June

Kudos to both Phil and Hollis on writing two interesting and very useful columns.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:50 PM | Permalink

January 12, 2006

MSN & SuperPages.com In Local Ads Agreement

SuperPages.com local advertisers now appear in MSN local search results. Type in a query, such as deli, New York or dentist, Dallas and superpages ads are displayed at the top of the page, above local search result listings.

Backfill ads appear to be generic—for example, a search for books in Seattle displays ads for Overstock.com, Simply Audio and discount magazine subscriptions.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 4:25 PM | Permalink

Google Tests New Local Ads On Maps

Google Tests Local Ads on Maps at ClickZ covers David Galbraith spotting that Google now appears to be inserting paid ads into maps on Google Local. For a search on hotels new york, he's spotted "blue pins" that correspond to what may be new sponsored links that come above editorial listings to the left of the map.

On my end, I see the textual ads but not the blue pins. Neither does Gary. A search for pizza san francisco shows a text ad but no blue pins. A few other searches I did also showed sponsored ads but no pins.

As I said, the sponsored links seem new. I don't recall seeing them on Google Local before, but it could be they were there but less noticeable before Google Local and Google Maps merged. We're checking on this and tracking down the mystery blue pins!

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our SEW Forums thread, AdWords Balloons in Google Maps.

Postscript: Statement from Google, "As part of our continuing effort to provide a positive advertising experience for users and advertisers, we are always exploring ways to improve the way we display ads. We are currently conducting a limited test of ads on Google Local. We do not have any other specific details to share at this time." Also, text ads have been on Google Local since 2004.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:56 AM | Permalink

November 30, 2005

Locally Targeted Ads, Links, and Offers Coming to CBS Station Sites

DMNews reports in the article: Viacom Eyes Local Sponsored Links for CBS Station Sites, will soon launch locally targeted ads on CBS sites powered by Kanoodle.

Visitors will see on content pages and search results pages customized links and targeted advertiser offers.

It's at the intersection of local sponsored links as well as the explosion of locally targeted content," said Mark Josephson, chief marketing officer at Kanoodle, New York. "It's fast becoming a de facto component of all content on the Web." The CBS sites will use Kanoodle's LocalTarget product, applying a topic-matching approach to listings on city-specific Web pages.

More in this news release from Kanoodle.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:31 PM | Permalink

September 19, 2005

Can't Beat The Local Search Aggregators? Join 'Em!

Join the Local Search Authorities from Justin Sanger at ClickZ looks at something familiar to many who do local searches at major search engines -- how results from other local search engines like SuperPages, Citysearch and Switchboard always seem to be popping up. Lesson? If you can't beat them, join them. IE, if your local search company can't win for a local search term, be sure you are listed with those who are winning, these local search "authorities," as Justin calls them.

Of course, down the line I expect the major search engines to stop listing aggregators like this. Why would Yahoo Local point at a page at Citysearch that points to actual locally-oriented pages if Yahoo Local can do the same itself? Fortunately, that isn't an issue for the local merchant that's focused on doing well with the aggregators and the local search pages of the major search engines, as well.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:18 PM | Permalink

August 23, 2005

Google Awarded Geocoding Patent

Since patents are all the rage these days I thought I would toss out the following: Google was awarded a patent today. The patent is for technology that allows a geocode (latitude, longitude) to be generated for a postal addresses. Unlike patent applications (which are what usually get people talking) this is intellectual property that has been officially awarded to Google. The patent application was filed for in September 2003.

Title: Address geocoding Patent #: 6,934,634 Abstract: A geocoding component generates geographic coordinate information, such as latitude and longitude values, for postal addresses. A table includes a number of rows, each corresponding to one or more addresses. The geocoding component can quickly locate a particular row in the table based on a number of input address identifiers as the intersection of the sets rows that correspond to each of the address terms. The geocoding component may operate on addresses that are received by the geocoding component or extracted from documents.

A paragraph from the "summary of invention" portion of the patent discusses how the technology can also be used to automatically extract address info from a document.

Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a method for extracting addresses from a document. The method includes identifying possible address terms based on predetermined rules, verifying that the identified possible address terms are address terms by comparing the address terms to a table containing known addresses, and examining a relative position of the verified possible address terms in the document to determine whether the verified possible address terms form a valid address.

It's quite easy to envision how this technology could be used to identify and map info based on what's listed on a web page or other document. It also might be used to help identify local search results, personalized results (based on a users address) and when and where a paid ad would be visible on a results page based on the location of a searcher.

Want to discuss? Visit our forum thread, Google Is Awarded a Geocoding Patent.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:29 PM | Permalink

July 20, 2005

Creating Searchable Text from Geographic Coordinates

If you're interested in geotagging, digital maps and related matters, here's a new article by several members of the Stanford Info Lab that you might want to take a look at.

Title: Assigning Textual Names to Sets of Geographic Coordinates 24 pages; PDF.

Abstract: NameSet is a system that translates a set of geographic coordinates into a textual name based on the geographic regions where the coordinates occur. One possible application of NameSet is to concisely present the geographical scope of a set of geo-referenced observations to a human user. Another application is to generate text to depict a set of coordinates that appear on a web site -- text that could later be used for information retrieval applications. NameSet's computation is based on a simple algorithm, using off-the-shelf and web-based data sources. The system was proven effective in an application that automatically organizes and names sets of geo-referenced digital photographs.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:35 PM | Permalink

June 22, 2005

WebmasterWorld Search & Marketing Conference Recap: Day 1

The first day of the WebmasterWorld Search & Marketing Conference 2005 in New Orleans happened yesterday, and Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Roundtable and Aaron Wall from SEO Book have logged reports. A recap of search-related sessions:

• Keynote - The Search, by John Battelle from Search Engine Roundtable covers John Battelle's keynote, in particular how he sees search as the main driver of the second evolution of the web, or Web 2.0. Webmaster World New Orleans Pubcon - John Battelle Keynote has SEO Book's write-up of the talk in nice, bullet-point fashion.  

• Contextual Advertising for Publishers from SER covers ways of getting more out of AdSense plus how contextual ad delivery is done in general.  

• Local Search - Issues and Opportunities from SER covers what people look for in local search, info on small business take-up, MSN Search talking about its new local product and Ask Jeeves on its largely Citysearch-powered service.  

• Peaceful Coexistence - Writing for the Engines from SER on things to consider in writing content for a site that you hope will help it do better with search engines and avoiding duplicate content issues. SEO Book has its own coverage here.  

• Lead Generation & Tracking & Shopping Search - Getting Listed, Getting Traffic from SER covers tips on tracking and dealing with shopping search.  

• Competitive Intelligence from SEO Book looks at was to understand what your competitors are doing and ways to mess with their heads.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:32 AM | Permalink

May 2, 2005

Gaming Local Search Reviews: Part 2

Earlier this month, I pointed out an article about local search and the merchant review systems often offered in them. Will we see these abused or gamed? Yahoo! Local Reviews Biased has Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable doing exactly that, to give his company a positive review, in a test at how the system works. Barry then immediately turned himself in to Yahoo, and to its credit, the review was promptly removed. But down the line, will see campaigns to skew reviews that aren't easily spotted?

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:57 PM | Permalink

April 26, 2005

Study: Online Yellow Page Searchers Spend More than Local Search Users

An article on AdAge.com (free, registration req.): Online Yellow Pages Users Buy Quicker And Spend More, discusses the findings of a new ComScore Networks study that shows consumers who search using Internet yellow page services are more "likely" to buy that those who searching using local search services like Google Local and Yahoo Local.

Released at the Ad:Tech Conference here at the San Francisco Marriott, the survey found that people do fewer searches on IYP before they buy. Consumers who turned to their online yellow pages directories to find specific retailers in their local area performed five searches before they purchased. On the search engines, they did eight searches...Online, IYP consumers spent on average between 5% and 17% more than they did on the search engines in the category they searched in, the study found. And they spend offline, too -- between 13% and 17% more in brick-and-mortar stores after searching in IYP than searching on an engine.

The study was done independently in 2004 by comScore after a request from the Yellow Pages Association.

Note: If you don't have an AdAge.com login, a copy of the article is available (PDF) on the Yellow Pages Association web site. Media Post and Clickz also have stories about the study.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:47 AM | Permalink

April 22, 2005

Search Marketing In My Kitchen -- Or It's Still Tough To Get The Little Guy Online

We've written before of how the search engines want to tap into the local market, those small businesses that aren't even online. It's a big challenge that I just had illustrated for me first hand a couple of minutes ago.

My wife does garden design work, and her fencing contractor stopped by to talk about a job. She's not here, so I answered the door. While telling him when she'd be back, he spotted "Inktomi Web Search" on an old vest I was wearing, picked up from a visit to Inktomi back when we had Inktomi, many years ago. He asked:

Oh, do you know about this web search stuff then?

He's an older man in about his 50s and just got his new one-page web site up, talking about his family-run company that does small-scale fencing work in our part of Wiltshire, England.

Out of the blue last week, he got a call from someone saying that they'd get him listed on the search engines for a £400 ($750 or so) setup fee, then £5 per month maintenance. Yeah, I can just see all those search marketers getting a smile on their faces. Stay away, stay away!

Listed for what, I asked? He didn't know -- and they, of course, didn't really say. They'd just get him on those search engines he'd heard about.

Feeling curious, I took him over to the computer in the kitchen to do a few quick checks. Yep -- not listed in any of the major three search engines. Being a new site, never submitted and no links, I wasn't too surprised. So I spent all of three minutes submitting him to Google, MSN and Yahoo myself, then charged him only £200.

No, of course I didn't charge him anything. It was my good deed for the day! I then looked at his page. He thought he wanted to be found for "fencing services," but he didn't use those words on the page. He also didn't use the local area he's in or have any local address on the page, strikes against doing well for those who might seek him locally. I gave him a few tips that may or may not make it back to his designer. And if they do, he still may -- or may not -- do well.

What he really needed was something simple. So I thought I'd show him very quickly how ads worked and grabbed Google as my guinea pig. We quickly found that "fencing services" wasn't something people were looking for in the UK -- but garden fencing was a top term that stood out. And he could get a top listing for only like $1.00 per click.

To me, it would be an ideal way for him to easily find out whether there was even an audience looking for him. Run an ad, set a budget for $25 per month and see how it goes. Do the organic side as well -- but that's a harder thing to grapple with.

Then again, the ads aren't that easy. Set up a region, select terms, make sure you do some negative terms for "fencing" if you don't want those looking for fencing of the sword variety to come for you.

And how to get started? Google Jumpstart is supposed to ease new advertisers into the world of search ads with help from Google, but that's US only. And even if it were in the UK, the $10 per day recommended budget might be too scary. Yes, you can change it -- but, it still might be off-putting. The $300 set-up fee is even more scary, despite the fact you get it all back in clicks.

Overture does have Fast Track in the UK, and the costs are a bit easier. The $35 or so per month minimum might be a bit high, still -- and the $150 or so set-up fee (that doesn't give you clicks) even more so. Still, it's something he might consider.

Maybe I could point him toward Yell, the UK's large local search engine. He can get an ad there for about $300 for the full year, no web site required. It actually looks pretty interesting, but it's sad that unlike with the major search engines, he can't test it out for a small price to begin with, if he were to go the self-serve route.

In the end, the crux of the problem is that he's too small. He doesn't even do yellow page advertising right now, having gained his clients through word of mouth.

People are probably looking for him online, but the time for the search engines to service him really isn't likely there. To get him to a good search marketing company, the same thing applies. Ultimately, he really needs a good individual who won't charge a lot and who is trustworthy. That's a tough challenge. The reality is until the products get more simplified, he's probably not going to jump into the search marketing world for another year or so.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:59 AM | Permalink

April 20, 2005

Study Ties Online Strongly To Offline Purchases

Some interesting stats on local shopping offline and how it is influenced by online are out via a new study (free to read on request) from the Dieringer Research Group. It found that "online information," which I presume is searching somehow for local products and information, influenced an offline local purchase more than any other type of medium.

In the fourth quarter of 2004, "web to store" shoppers were influenced an average of 7 times for the purchases they made offline. Newspaper ads and inserts were a distant second, at 3.5 times. Local TV came in at 2.0. Print yellow pages came in at sixth place, next to last, at 0.6 times.

Moral from the stats? Having a presence online seems pretty likely to help influence those purchases in your bricks-and-mortar stores. So if you've somehow been neglecting online marketing -- including search -- get moving.

The study also looked at "cross media" purchasing activities. The most common found were those who use:

• Internet + Local Newspaper Ads (77 percent)

• Internet + Local TV Ads (67 percent)

• Internet + Local Radio (44 percent)

As for print yellow page users, they were found to be significantly older than those using other media and more likely to be male. When they do go online, that's often to locate the store hours of something they've found in the yellow pages, the study found.

For a somewhat related study, see also our past post, Web Ousts Print Yellow Pages At Top Local Shopping Tool.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:10 PM | Permalink

April 13, 2005

Get A Free Business Web Site at Yahoo

Yahoo Local is making it easy for the millions of U.S. businesses that don't have an internet presence to stake out their own territory on the web. Today Yahoo launched a free business web site program, designed to allow small businesses to get online in less than ten minutes. These web sites will be included in Yahoo Local results, and can also be crawled and picked up by other search engines.

Today's SearchDay article, Yahoo Offers Free Business Web Sites, covers the new program in depth.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:00 AM | Permalink

April 1, 2005

Local Search: Asking For & Maybe Gaming Reviews

You know local search is maturing when local merchants are ensuring that clients give them positive online reviews. As Local Search Grows, So Does Temptation To Post Shill 'Reviews' from MediaPost takes a look. I think it's hardly "semi-guerilla marketing" at all for merchants to ask to be reviewed. That's commonplace for a lot of online sellers at eBay, Amazon and elsewhere. The concern is really more about whether companies will fake good reviews for themselves and bad ones for their competitors. Of course, they will eventually, and it will be interesting to see how local search players respond.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:02 AM | Permalink

March 21, 2005

Fredrick's Dad Makes Him A Believer In Local Search

Fredrick Marckini thought the hype over local search and getting little merchants online was just that, hype. But after watching the experiences of one of his smallest spending clients, Mr. Marckini Sr. AKA Fredrick's dad, he comes away a believer. ClickZ's Local Search: Convert and Win has the story of his father's site, Boston Environmental, becoming a local search convert. Note that Fredrick isn't really talking about any special "new" local search product. This isn't pay-per-call, for example. Instead, it appears to be success with ordinary paid search combined with new local targeting options.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:03 PM | Permalink

March 15, 2005

Google Local Gains Tools For Businesses

Just launched, the new Google Local Business Center allows US business to find their their listings in Google Local (such as this one for Hotties Pizza in a search for pizza 92663) and make edits to it. It also allows those not already listed in Google Local to gain new listings.

The key to the new system is a PIN code that Google says will be mailed to the business's bricks-and-mortar address. Once you've gained a PIN, you'll be able to add or edit things like your address, phone number, hours of operation, type of cuisine, web address and email contact.

Information about the new system doesn't appear to yet be added to Google Local help information, but watch that area, and I'm sure it will be added soon.

Google Local listings recently gained additional details, as covered more in our Enhancements Made to Google Local post.

Postscript: As a reminder, Yahoo Local offers a similar business editing feature covered more here: Yahoo Bolsters Local Search Business Listings.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:08 AM | Permalink

February 14, 2005

Local Search Marketing: New Challenges, New Opportunities

It's tempting to think of local search as merely a subset of a broader search marketing campaign, but best results come with tactics specifically tailored to the uniquely nuanced needs of searchers looking for local information and services. In today's SearchDay article, Local Search Marketing Tactics, Shari Thurow covers a recent Search Engine Strategies panel where experts discussed the unique opportunities and challenges of local search advertising, and offered tips for maximizing both paid and organic search marketing efforts on the local front.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 2:16 AM | Permalink

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