Tag Archives: san diego web marketing

Google Maps/Local Marketing on the rise

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A recent blog post from the SEOmoz blog, described tips regarding improving your ranking on Google Maps and increasing local search optimization. Rand, the CEO of SEOmoz, walks internet marketers through the research and strategy development internet marketers must take to ensure the best results for a dominant presence in local search results.

He recommends using the following steps to improve your ranking on Google Maps::

Step 1: Do Lots of Searches Related to Your Business & Region

Actively search and understand your competitors within your business and understand what they are doing online, where they are located online within local directories, and how they are getting to the top of Google Maps. You’re seeking results that show competing or closely related businesses in local search results, so get creative and do a thorough search of the local market.

Step 2: Identify a Handful (or a Few Dozen) Businesses that Consistently Get Top Rankings

You could build a formal spreadsheet and perform tracking to identify these top ranking competitors or start with gut feel and expand later on in the process. For less competitive listings, an informal approach may work just fine but what you want to do is get a full understanding of why the top competitors are on the top!

Step 3: In Google Maps, Go to the Local Business Profile for Each of These

Don’t click the name of the listing itself. Instead, follow the links to the “reviews” about each of your competitors’ businesses. You’ll get a page with information about the business, reviews and lists of data that Google has found about them.

Step 4: In the Business Listing, Click on the Links to “More About this Place”

The “more about this place” section of the business listing shows brief snippets, titles and URLs where Google has found relevant information pertaining to the business. This is your potential goldmine for discovering listing sources.

Step 5: After Reviewing Relevant Listing Sources, Go to those Sites & Get Your Business Added/Updated

The domains that are listed are places where Google is pulling information about your business. This is where the Maps algorithm comes into play – it relies on not only the number of listings, but the quality of the sources and the consistency between them. You want every listing to perfectly match one another, right down the the suffix on the reservations phone number and the formatting of your suite number (e.g. 1221 E Pike Street vs. 1221 East Pike Street vs. 1221 E Pike Street Suite 200 vs. 1221 East Pike Street #200 are all DIFFERENT – don’t make that mistake).

In addition to the potential local ranking boost, a majority of these sources offer the potential to earn links! Even if you don’t care much about the local results themselves, this is a pretty terrific way to get some good quality, trusted sites linking to you.

Step 6: Repeat Step 4 & 5 for the “Reviews” and “User Content” Sections

If you’re hungry for even more sources, you can look at where listings come from on other competitors and/or go back to the business listing’s page in Google Maps/Local and choose from the “reviews” and “user content” sections for even more potential spots. Much like manual link building back in the late ’90′s, perseverance and careful attention to detail will take you far.

There are automated services out there to help with this process, but I haven’t yet seen one I feel completely comfortable about. The biggest issue is the dramatic value of and need for consistency in the listings. When automated systems submit, they can mix in a suite number in the wrong place, cut off a phone number because the form doesn’t accept hyphens or confirm a URL that doesn’t match what you’ve submitted elsewhere. For now, I recommend playing it safe and spending the hours (even if that’s a dozen or two) to get those 50-250 listings correct. Google will reward you with local rankings and high quality traffic.

Essentially, you want to research and understand what your competitors are doing to receive high rankings on Google Maps and mimic they ways they are receiving links, gaining customer reviews, and other methods that help them get to the top. Hope this series of steps can help get your business on the map, literally!

Information Provided By: Rand, SEOmoz

Ten Tips to a Successful Landing Page

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Essentially the goal of a landing page is for visitors to take action, such as filling out a lead form or making a purchase. Often times a landing page will be your company’s first impression to your online audience and you only have a few seconds to make it a lasting one. If done correctly, customers will get the information they need to make their purchasing decisions. Below is a short and easy checklist to ensure your landing page functioning properly:

1. Are there any obstacles to scanning the page?
2. How hard is it to leave the page or get sidetracked?
3. Does the page have a fold?
4. Are you gathering unnecessary data?
5. Is there enough white space on the page?
6. Are there testimonials on the page? Is there a link to Privacy Policy?
7. Is it obvious which button to click on?
8. Does it take too long for the page to load?
9. Do the images on your page compliment your messages?
10. Are your landing pages available for indexing by search engines?

Written By: Sam Kim
Information Provided By: www.visibilitymagazine.com

SEO Best Practices 2008….Were you following them?

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Here are a list of Best SEO Marketing Practices from this past year. How can you tell if your site is up to par with current SEO best practices?

You may not answer “Yes” to all these question but the more “Yes” answers the better.

Lets run through the list:

  • Are the keywords you’re targeting relevant to site content?
  • Are targeted keywords popular phrases used in search engine queries?
  • Do page titles start with your targeted keywords?
  • Does your site employ H1 header tags for prominent content titles?
  • Is your permanent body copy contextually sufficient and keyword-rich?
  • Do text links include targeted keywords that point users to pages within your site?
  • Do you use CSS image replacement in graphical navigation on the site?
  • Do graphics used in the site have descriptive, keyword-rich alternative attributes that are useful for visitors?
  • Does your Web site have a site map with text links?
  • Do the URLs of your dynamic, database-driven pages look simple and static?
  • Does your site have a flat directory structure?
  • Do your site’s home page and other key category pages have PageRanks?
  • Is your site listed in Open Directory?
  • Do you routinely list your site in other trusted, human-reviewed online directories?
  • Do all the pages in your Web site have keyword-rich meta descriptions?
  • Does your site have a custom error page?
  • Do the site’s filenames and directory names include targeted keywords?
  • Does your site avoid using pop-ups?
  • Is the exact same content visible to both users and search engine spiders?
  • Do you avoid free-for-all linking offers?

WebitMD advises clients to always be weary of those companies and freelancers that seem to “guarantee” placement or rankings and very often cease to deliver. I have heard dozens of horror stories and throw away marketing budgets because of this.

Stick with a trustworthy and local source for your Internet marketing needs….go with WebitMD!