Interactive Marketing Blog

While reading some recent research around local search, I found some really interesting views on why companies should have a local search strategy and what factors contribute to ranking well in those results. Based on some recent research, it appears almost 20% of searches performed on Google are location based. GetListed.org claims it is closer to 40%, which I feel seems a bit high.

Then I began to think, since local search results also appear on the first page of Google universal search results, what other way can you gain 20% additional free exposure on Google’s first page? Organic SEO typically takes months to see dramatic improvements to reach the first page. Paid search is of course paid.

Companies with store and office locations should definitely take full advantage of this local marketing opportunity. For starters, one easy way to see if you have local listings is to check the online service “GetListed.org”. This tool will tell you if your company name is listed on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other local listing services. Try a few variations of your company name just to be sure the tool picks up the right listings. Below are a few tips for getting the most out of your listings:

1. Company Title – Make your company title simple, perhaps include the city name (ex: Jim’s Roofing – Cleveland)
2. Company Description – Include a few important keywords for your business but do not stuff this listing with keywords
3. Tagging – Tag your listing with a few important keywords but again, try not to spam the tags
4. Images – Include images of your business, the more complete your profile the higher it will generally rank
5. Reviews – Encourage happy customers to add positive reviews to your profile, these reviews will help promote your business and begin improving your rank
6. Verify – Verify your business within these services, very important step in promoting your listings

For more information on the topic, check out the websites below.

• Local Search Ranking Factors
• How many local searches in June 2010
• Get Listed

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Lately there has been a lot of discussion around social media and it’s influence on search engine rankings. Much of the chatter is around recent changes made at Google and the attention being paid to social “signals” picked up by search engines. To me, this makes a lot of sense. If you have a high ranking website for a group of competitive keywords, then your site should also have some general buzz around your products and services. If you have great content/products and people are sharing it through their social profiles, then it would make sense that “social karma” should have an impact on rankings.

What’s Next?

It’s likely signals and influential social profiles will become a greater part of search engine algorithms. Since so many other aspects of SEO are easier to influence such as links and on page optimization, search engines may have no other choice but to rely on “word of mouth” in the form of social signals.

What to Do?

Does this mean that marketers should run out and create a ton of social profiles and point signals back to their website? This tactic will likely have little value since much of the value lies in the most influential social profiles in each niche.

Example

Say you have a twitter account focused on sports and your profile has been live for over a year, posting relevant links and sharing tips. That profile has developed moderate influence for the sporting goods niche. Each link shared or brand mention is now a “signal” to search engines. These signals are collected and given some weight in determining rankings.

What type of influence have you seen from social profiles on your online marketing efforts? Do you measure and track social traffic along with your keyword rankings?