For this interview we’re talking with Dave Zuls aka Hawaii SEO who publishes a blog over at Hawaii Online Advertising.

Hi Dave why don’t you take a few minutes to tell everyone a little bit about yourself for my readers who may not know you?

I got my first full time SEO job working for a local Hawaii activity reseller. My job was to travel around the islands and experience the tourist activities. I would do something like ride a mountain bike down the volcano, go on a snorkel cruise, submarine ride, or whale watching and finish the day at a popular luau, dinner cruise or whatever. Then I would go back to the office the next day with the photos and write keyword rich sales copy about how much fun I had. It was a rough job but I guess someone has to do it. Now I work at a large Hawaii based airline that only flies too and from Hawaii.

Let’s pretend you aren’t involved in internet marketing for a moment, what kind of local searches do you find yourself doing?

Well… One day my wife and I wanted to check out a new restaurant… so my wife went to look up the address and phone number. She couldn’t find a listing and was getting real mad. She Said… “It’s like they don’t exist! – They’re not listed anywhere! – I’ve looked everywhere! – I’ve checked everything!”

I was puzzled. I asked if she had called Information & looked in the Phone Book? (NO ?!?) By “Everywhere” & “Everything” she meant that she had tried several relevant queries in both Google & Yahoo! but was unable to find the website or a listing in a local restaurant directory. The thought of calling information or opening the Phone Book never even occurred to her.

My wife is not a computer person either. From then on… I knew that Local search was going to take over in a big way sometime soon.

Let’s look at the marketing side for a bit. What sorts of things you believe local webmasters and internet marketers should pay more attention to when designing websites for local business?

That would be “Leveraging the location as a brand” Most locations have been marketed a certain way for a long time and essentially turned the location into a very strong brand that you can apply to your own business. Some locations have such strong brands that people adopt these branding elements for national products. For example: The Chevy Colorado, the Dodge Durango and the Chrysler Aspen. Coors has leveraged the Colorado “Brand” since they started.

So how does this apply to local search marketing you may ask. Brace yourselves… Here comes some Search Marketing Psychobabble…

In my opinion… Internet marketing involves two distinct thought processes on the part of the consumer.

Internal Search:
This is the preexisting “Mental images” or ideas in a person’s brain. This can seriously influence how a person perceives new information. The more preexisting information a consumer has, the more of an influence it will be when searching for new info.

External Search:
This is when the consumer starts to look for more information from the outside world via Search Engines and the Internet, etc.

In general… People are looking for decent match between the internal & external information.
(I don’t know what I’m looking for but I’ll know it when I see it.)

So… Let’s say you were searching for “Denver Restaurants”… You visit two websites that both have similar listings. The only major difference is the look & feel.

The first one is based on a generic Restaurant Guide template but the second one is Orange & Blue like the Denver Broncos, it has an image of the Denver city skyline with the Rockies in the background. It also has photos of recognizable Denver restaurants which are also famous local landmarks.

You would likely be drawn to the second website.

This is called a “Cognitive Consonant”. (Your knowledge, mental image or memory of Denver matches the look and feel of the second website) When your mental image matches the new information source, you’re much more likely to notice the new information.

“Cognitive Dissonance” is the exact opposite. This is when you somehow recognize an inconsistency between the internal and external information. (Somehow… you believe the generic website was built by someone who’s never even been to Denver and may not be a very reliable source of information.)

If you’re using a generic template for your local website, you’re likely loosing business to the website that was obviously designed by a local.

Incorporating the location’s preexisting branding elements into your website can make you appear to be much more local than the guy right across the street. (IMO) There is no need to reinvent the brand recognition state and city governments have spent millions of dollars promoting for the last several decades.

(IMO) These location based branding elements are what people expect and hope to see.

Let’s look into the future, where do you see the local search market headed in the next 3-5 years and do you see any big changes coming down the road?

I’m sure it will have a lot to do with the next generation of cell phones. I saw the iPhone presentation a few weeks ago and my erection is just now starting to subside.

I think GPS will have a big influence on how things work in the near future. You will likely be able define a radius around yourself before you do a search. Google will likely serve PPC & contextual ads based on your GPS coordinates as well. Behavioral targeting might also come into play with mobile devices. Your “Call History” may influence your Google Personalized Mobile Search results, where businesses you call tend to show up at the top of your Mobile SERPS. You’re phone might also start trying to figure out you’re age & gender based on your call/surf/search behavior, so advertisers can target your phone with better ads, etc. (Semi-creepy stuff like that)

You also posted a link to a panel discussion with Guy Kawasaki and a bunch of twenty-somethings a while ago. It was a real eye-opener for me to see how important the cell phone is to their lifestyle. (IMO) this type of dependence on mobile devices will only intensify over time.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today Dave, to read more be sure to stop by Hawaii Online Advertising or join his MyBlogLog Community

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Dave Zuls – Local Search Interview

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In this interview we’re talking with Jason Duke aka JasonD of StrangeLogic.com.

Hi Jason thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, could you tell me a little bit about yourself for my readers who may not know you?

Hi Michael and thanks for asking me to take part in your Local Search series. I’m the MD/CEO/Guvnor of a search business over in London, UK. We are very data hungry search team, and probably collate, analysis and investigate more information than anyone else in our industry, outside the search engines.

I think it’s fair to say that what we do with that data is good old fashioned spam!

Thanks, let’s imagine for a moment you’re not involved with the internet, what types of local searches do you find yourself frequently, and anything you find particularly good or bad about local search results?

I’m a London based guy, but London isn’t just one city, it is often said that it is a “collection of villages” that have amalgamated over hundreds of years into an urban sprawl containing about 13 Million people within it and it’s suburbs. It is HUGE and is the most culturally diverse place on earth I have ever visited. I love it!

But, as a Londonder I don’t search with London as an identifier of my location in a search. I said just before that London is a collection of villages, and most of us that live here still think in those terms.

If I was looking for a widget shop or service, I wouldn’t search for “London widget” I would search for “Romford widget” (Romford is one of those London villages) It seems that I am not alone as log files back me up on this as has every “normal, non search business” person I have spoken to (and observed while they surf & search) about it. So to answer your question my local related searches are based on the town I am in, with a lot of professional services. I have moved house relatively recently and needed some works to be done, so my local search terms have been mostly of the tradesmen kind.

Let’s talk about internet marketing now, many of the engines seem to finally be paying attention to local search, Google for example has started rolling out “onebox” results with maps for searches it thinks are local. From a marketers standpoint do you think this is good or bad?

I think it’s a great thing if I don’t already rank for the phrase and a terrible thing if I already do! Let me explain what I mean.

If I don’t already rank I now know that there is a way to be contained in the onebox, above the fold, right at the top of the page, , higher than the organics, local results. It’s easy, it gets clicks through to the maps URL (which installs further confidence in the searcher as it’s still within Google) and not only shows a map to a location but allows you to add descriptions, phone numbers and a myriad of other fun things. If your business wants leads, then it is brilliant for driving phone calls.

If I already rank then it is a terrible thing, as I have just been pushed half way down the page. It isn’t a huge concern as I can do the same as above, and there are certain techniques which can assist in enabling those listings to occur, speedily, efficiently and cheaply.

I’ve heard you’ve been known to dabble in some “aggressive results oriented optimization” on occasion, do you think the search engines are doing a good job of separating the wheat from the chaff in local search or are they playing catch up?

They are definitely playing catch up but they are starting to get ahead of it. In the days of ESpotting (now owned by Miva) a few years ago, they monetised and essentially made the “click pimp” marketplace in the UK. Because of their work the SERPs changed internationally almost overnight which led to various algo changes. The noticeable thing then was where the majority of the traffic came from. It was local related searches, mixed within the long tail. Nothing much has changed in human search behaviour but “aggressive results oriented optimisastion” as you put it, can and is still being done and it works. The difference now to then is everyone, as well as their cat and dog, are trying to go after the longer tail. Every major brand I speak with nowadays is aware of the length of the tail and the current buzz words are definitely local related. A few years ago this would never have been the case, even though that was and still is, how their prospects search.

There’s a lot of mixed messages about how easy or hard it is to be successful and make money in local searches. Do you think it just varies from industry to another or is there something else at work here?

I’ll deal with the travel industry first, as local search in that business is different to every other, in so much as any location that is searched for is likely to be for a tourist, not the local inhabitants. This can be used to your advantage though to differentiate intent. If the IP address of a searcher is NOT based in or around the town / city / country they are searching for, then it is more likely their intent was travel related, whereas if the IP of the searcher IS local to the area a totally different intent of the search is likely.This information can help MASSIVELY in your conversion process.

Most other industries fall into non grokkel areas and so focussing locally for a bricks and mortar business is essential. Money is definitely available locally, but ideally you want to offer and measure the results not just in clicks, but enquiries via telephone (make sure you keep your phone number local to the search phrase town) and footfall through your front door.

Can money be made in local search? Hell yeh!

Now let’s take out the crystal ball, what do you see coming down the road for local search, what should people be preparing for and what should they watch out for?

The infamous crystal ball huh? Well let me just give it a little polish and look deeply into it. ….

Hmmmm interesting…

I can see spam teams the world over, not just based in Mountain View.
I can see them specialising in specific languages, trying to close the big hole that exists at the moment (non English language phrases)
I can see these guys and gals growing in number (why spend millions on building a computer based algo, when people powered algos do it so much better (and quite often are cheaper)
I can see the search experience changing to be based on your local geography, not your country or internationally.
I can see more competition, I can see national based businesses trying to become local without a local presence. I can see them failing at this endevour online
I can see the time being right for independant small businesses and their only competition will be from the nationals and internationals that truly do have a local presence and understand and market at a local level.

I can see search becoming more relevant to the intent of the searcher and closer to how business worked before the web and even TV. Local will be the new international!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today Jason, if you’re looking to get in touch with Jason stop by StrangeLogic.com, or find him at his blog at www.WidgetLogic.com.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Jason Duke – Local Search Interview

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If you’ve already taken advantage of the advice in 13 Ways to promote your Local Business for Free and have a small budget you can allocate to further promote your business here are some ideas to help you get more exposure.

Yahoo Directory: At $299 a year for a review, many companies shy away from this directory. However the simple fact is it’s one of the more important signals of quality used by search engines. In fact it’s one of the few directories specifically mentioned in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, I submit all of my serious projects to the Yahoo directory.

RegisterLocal.com: Instead of spending time trying to maintain all of your information on different systems use RegisterLocal.com. For $199 a year and with only one master username and password you can make sure your information is correct all across the web.

TrueLocal.com: Get listed in TrueLocal.com for as little as $5 a month ($60 a year). TrueLocal only accepts listings from business with a brick and mortar presence, so aren’t competing against nationwide websites who don’t have a physical storefront.

Email your Existing Customers: Send out an email newsletter to all of your customers at least once a month. Constant Contact has a simple easy to use system (see Constant Contact Review). It’s free for the first 60 days and free if you have less than 500 people on your mailing list its $15 a month ($180 year).

Hold a Contest: Give away something people want like an iPod for $150 it’s an easy way to get people coming to your website and gather leads. Be sure to check with your lawyer about any legal issues related to contests.

For more local search information be sure to check out my Local Search Tips, Tricks and Secrets post. The above post contains some affilaite links.

Tags: local+search, seo

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

5 Ways to Promote You Local Business for $ 888 a Year

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In this interview we’re going to be talking with Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing.

Hi Lee thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, could you tell us a little bit about you for my readers who might not know you?

Sure. I’ve been involved with internet marketing for about 10 years and I’ve run a search marketing agency, TopRank since 2001. Apparently I dislike free time so I am also a founding partner of a small public relations firm, Misukanis Odden. Search marketing is a true passion for me and I try to stay involved in the industry by speaking at/attending conferences and blogging at Online Marketing Blog.

Let’s take off your Internet marketing hat for a few minutes, what type of local searches do you find yourself performing?

Most of the local searches I do are when I’m preparing to travel or when I’m already in another city and looking for local restaurants, hotels, nightlife (although that’s getting rare) and conference venues.

I see you have a lot of clients listed on your companies website, what percentage would you say are interested in local terms, and is it a growing trend?

I would say about a third of our clients feel local search is an important channel, although we pursue local search activities for nearly all clients just to make sure we’re capturing as much relevant traffic as possible. The trends we see as far as local search terms relates to the geographically specific industries that are embracing search as a channel, that might not have before. Real estate and land development are good examples of that. With increasing numbers of local businesses starting web sites and blogs, it’s making some categories a lot more competitive.

How do you feel projects that are more interested in local search differ from conventional projects, and how do you approach them differently?

As far as search marketing, our focus is on natural search so we don’t do a lot of PPC. However, we do often use PPC campaigns and the geo targeting features with local search clients. We also do quite a bit of public relations work, so a local search client can often leverage that resource to get local media coverage, online and offline, in conjunction with their search marketing efforts.

For the most part, a local search project and a conventional project are approached differently from the start. This begins with identifying characteristics and hot buttons of the target market, geographic permutations with keywords and content optimization as well as inbound link sources. With local search clients we’ll place more emphasis on the link opportunities from real world business relationships (Chamber of Commerce, Associations, marketing partners, etc) as well as links related to subject matter expertise. With conventional projects, there is little if any emphasis placed on geography for content optimization or link building.

On your blog you really seem to be in tune with public relations, press releases, and social media, are there any tips you have to help local and regional companies get better use from those tools?

As far as local PR goes, businesses should develop lists and then relationships with the local media. Online, they should invest in blogs and/or developing an online media room for their web site to make it easier for local media to stay up to date with company news. When a business has news to announce, pitching local media via email or phone is important besides sending out press releases through wire services.

Speaking of press releases, those should be optimized for relevant geographically specific keyword phrases. The same goes for the blog posts and content used to promote via social news and bookmarking services. Once companies get covered in the media, they should use that coverage as a vehicle for promotion online and offline. For example, when a local business publication runs a story that includes a local company, that company could get reprints of the article and do a direct mailing. If it’s an online publication or article, the local business could promote via their blog or an email blast to its client and prospect lists.

Let’s take a look into the future, where do you see local search going in the next few years and what role do you see mobile devices playing?

Mobile marketing is a whole new ball of wax and it’s growing fast. Things like the Verizon deal with GoogTube shows that big money has interest in finding ways to monetize mobile marketing and it will be interesting to see what Google comes up with. Issues of personalization, privacy and intrusiveness will need to be dealt with. For example, do I really want Starbucks to flash me an ad on my phone as I drive or walk by? I think the use of mobile devices in concert with other marketing channels like social networks, search and local business promotions will provide some exciting opportunities for local search marketing in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today Lee. If you’d like to read more from Lee please check out his Online Marketing Blog or stop by TopRankResults.com.

Tags: local+search, seo, Lee+Odden

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Lee Odden – Local Search Interview

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In this interview we’re talking with Rebecca Kelley of SEOMoz.org.

Hi Rebecca and thanks for talking to us today, let’s imagine your aren’t a search marketer for just a moment, what type of local searches do you do?

I’ve done searches for fitness facilities, hair salons, restaurants, and other general things where I know what I want to find but don’t have a specific store or brand in mind.

Now at SEOmoz I know you have a few SEO clients. Do you see any
showing an interest in local search?

Actually, all of the companies we’ve worked with so far have wanted us to help build their brand as a global or nationwide presence, so we haven’t really worked with any clients who want help with creating a local visibility.

Let’s say you get a new client who’s really focused on local search. What’s different in the way you’re going to approach it?

We would probably register their site with Yahoo! and Google’s local search portals, encourage content that centers on local relevance, find local directories and register with them, and try to create some visibility with popular local sites, such as Citysearch, Seattle’s NWsource, New York’s Village Voice, etc. (Obviously, we’d target the sites that are appropriate for our client and his location.)

Let’s talk about smaller Mom & Pop type operations. What are some quick and easy things they can do to help the search engines find and notice them?

We’d probably recommend that they register with the major search engines’ local search portals and, if they serve ads, to locally serve/ geotarget them. Those are probably the quickest and simplest things to do.

One last question: Let’s try to look forward. Where do you see local search going in the next few years?

Local search has been gaining momentum, and I don’t see that slowing down any time soon. I think it especially has great potential with mobile search. A lot of companies are missing out on a huge opportunity to gain visibility with local search, since it’s still pretty underutilized, so I’d recommend taking advantage of it now before it becomes too difficult to do so later on.

Thanks for taking part in our interview, if you’d like to read from Rebecca be sure to stop by the SEOMoz blog.

Tags: local+search, seo, rebecca+kelly, seomoz

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Rebecca Kelley – Local Search Interview

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For this interview we’re talking with John Andrews aka the Competitive
Webmaster.

Hi John thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, can
you tell my readers who might not know you a little bit about yourself.

Sure Michael. I come from a background of scientific computing, and was on the academic networks in the late 80s when the Internet started. As technology advanced, I would bring my work in line with it, and I ended up leading an effort to increase the “dissemination and utilization” of some government funded medical research. Basically it was a mandate to get the information out of the research labs and into the taxpaying public’s hands instead of limiting it to the medical journals. Google wasn’t around then, but to me that was what search engines were for–reaching the people directly — so I dug into search engine optimization on Excite, Altavista, Infoseek and the others. As people adopted the web and used it for medical information, they proved me right and re-inforced my committment to SEO. I left the research labs to become an independent SEO in 2003, working on my own projects. I have since recognized that SEO is just one aspect of competitive webmastering. It is competition that drives me to use tools like SEO to achieve top rankings, or marketing tactics to get traffic of a certain type, or whatever it takes to achieve a goal. As a business consultant I focus on increasing competitiveness in the web markets.

OK John let’s pretend you aren’t involved in SEO for a minute, what types of local searches do you find yourself doing frequently?

I check Google like people check the weather. It’s so easy for me to navigate the web with Yahoo or Google that I use them automatically all the time, even if it doesn’t make sense to use them. The few seconds it takes to enter a query and scan a SERP gives me perspective, even if I don’t find “the answer”. I even find myself Googling during conversation, the way some people doodle. There’s a “sense” you pick up from the aggregated information. It’s almost like the local search SERPs whisper at you about trends and activities in the community, while Google whispers to you about what’s going on in the relevancy and ranking algorithm. After a while it’s like sensing the air temperature… you don’t need to think about it, you simply know when it’s a nice day, a frigid morning, or a storm is brewing.

Let’s talk about local search, many people tend to focus on the big terms like “auto insurance” and ignore local terms like “lexington kentucky auto insurance” completely. Do you think there is enough volume and profit to make going after those local terms worthwhile?

In a word, no. I think optimization on those terms is an attempt to apply long tail concepts to local search. The problem is, people don’t search that way. The Long Tail idea was based on the idea that the search engine handles massive amounts of queries, almost uniformly distributed with respect to the user intent. Most users who wanted “auto insurance” searched “auto insurance” but some users who wanted “auto insurance” searched “insurance for my car”, and other users who also wanted “auto insurance” searched “auto insurance policies for senior citizens”, etc. By chasing the long tail you got a cut of that same user intent, but at lower volume, which you could compensate for with more search terms. With local search, there is no such mass of local queries sharing an intent. Each locally-intended query is unque and is often unqiue in a context that is unknown to the search engine.

Let’s think about smaller mom & pop operations for a minute do you think
they can compete on their own without the help of a professional? Do you
have any tips for smaller businesses can use to help them get noticed?

I believe everything you do on the web has to be goal-oriented. If you don’t have a very specific goal, you will not operate cost effectively. Since most mom & pops I know have limited funds and need to prioritize their ad/marketing spends, that means the web should be a lower priority that other avenues. That said, there is an awful lot of waste and inefficiency in the yellow pages and those other non-web channels, too. So the real question for a Mom & Pop is, are you interested is optimizing your marketing spend? Are you looking to spend money to get more competitive? If the answer is not “yes”, save your money. If the answer is “yes”, then that becomes the goal, not ranking #1 in Google for “Seattle Law Firm”.

In my experience most businesses need the help of an expert consultant when it comes time to increase cost effectiveness and competitiveness. If that process includes web marketing, I have no doubt they need at least one high-powered consultant guiding them.

What about offline conversions, some services like landscaping, plumbers, and hair salons can’t make the conversion online, what are things they can do to get people to fill out the contact or pick up the phone and call?

I deal with creative people every day, often in an interview setting. One thing I love to ask them is “name two barriers to creativity” as an open question. I have a long list of colorful responses I’ve saved, but I really like two: “Obligation stifles creativity” and “the greatest barrier to creativity is good taste”.

Thinking about contact forms, special phone numbers, and coupons is like laying a wet blanket over an expensive audio speaker. All anyone will ever notice is how much the wet blanket stifles the sound. Those forms and coupons are vehicles that serve the marketer, not the small business. I’m afraid that as long as the small business holds back from paying the good people to do good work (creativity), they will get the average people who need to show their effectiveness more than they need to increase business profits.

I know I didn’t answer your question directly, but I think I did answer it: they need to be creative.

I’d like you to look into the future, where do you see local search going in the next few years and do you see mobile devices having a significant impact?

I have free Google Maps so I can get directions to anywhere, but when I’m on the road my computer is back home on my desk. Not very helpful. A mobile device is just a portable computer. Will my device give me Google Maps when I need it, wherever I am? Would that change the way you use the Internet? Now think of your local Yellow Page directory. If you had it with you at all times, would that change the way you use it? Of course it would. If you had your yellow page directory in your pocket, you wouldn’t search the Internet to find a local plumber. You would look in your local directory. And if it didn’t deliver, you’d curse it and want another one that was better. Local is not a search issue. It’s a UI problem plaguing directories. I believe it really is that simple. We only search for a plumber in our home towns because the search engines are so accessible.

Now there is a chance for Google (the search company) to provide a local directory via it’s search interface. People would think it was search generated, even though it would have to be a voluntary inclusion directory of some kind. People are impatient, and people are dreamers. We dream that one company like Google will do it all for us, and it will be great as soon as we have little portable interfaces to Google’s data. Sorry. Unless Google produces a meaningful, comprehensive, and efficient local directory service, we won’t be accessing it from our devices when we need to find a plumber or locksmith or whatever. From what I have seen from Google’s thus far, Google isn’t capable of providing such a meaningful, comprehensive or efficient directory even at a global level. Fact is, a spider-generated search index doesn’t include comprehensive local data. The original yellow pages go their data from phone hook-ups in a time when you couldn’t service customers unless you had a phone.

As for the next few years, I fully expect Google to exercise it’s near-monopoly powers to effectively shut out local players. I expect the local web pure plays to fold, or “partner” with Google via minimal profit share programs like AdSense. And while the SERPs get polluted with those minimally helpful and aging local directories and “finders”, I anticipate an offline-based local effort to start serving the market well and taking root as the “new” YP. Might be cable, might be professional associations, or might be community-based. Of course it would be accessed via a web interface, but probably not exclusively. With cell phones displacing land lines, we lose the geo-located starting point from which to build a directory. I think the economy will demand a replacement for that, and it might be a national business license, or a mandatory tax registration system. But since we are all such dreamers, I suspect it will be quite a while before that happens, because everyone seems to be waiting hopefully for Google to deliver local search.

Thanks for talking to me today, if you like to read more from John be
sure to stop by his blog Johnon.com.

Tags: local+search, seo, John Andrews

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

John Andrews – Local Search Interview

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Today we’re talking with Jeremy Schoemaker aka Shoemoneyâ„¢, about local search.

Let’s dive right in taking off your Internet marketing hat for a moment what kind of local searches do you find yourself doing frequently.

When I am not at home 99% of the time its for a local business or phone number. No matter what city I am in I am always looking for the Hooters local best place for wings. Or I inevitably forgot a charger for my phone or whatever and need to hit a wall-greens or something.

When I am at home usually I am just search for address or phone numbers locally. OHHH almost forgot I always am check on movies and buying movie tickets online so I don’t have to wait in line. Keep in mind though I live in Lincoln, Nebraska and I doubt we have many local site/services that a bigger city would have.

Let’s talk about websites, we know you aren’t overly focused on textbook onpage SEO, instead you prefer to focus on building great sites with lots of usable content, are there any local related websites that you find particularly useful or good examples of people adding value to the web?

Locally here in Lincoln Nebraska we have a site where you can place a order online and they will goto the place pick it up and bring it to your house for a 10$ fee. They have over 100 local restaurants to choose from. Also there are a few great resources that rate local dining and clubs.

Turning to advertising and affiliate marketing what do you think are the best and most effective ways to monetize locally focused websites? I know you come up with some crazy/cool marketing ideas from time to time, what’s a really useful easy idea that anybody could try for their hometown and be successful with?

From the affiliate perspective its very easy to make contacts with local car dealerships, dentists, and other people and offer to drive them leads to there websites. There is a lot of money in local targeting. My neighbor is a dentist and he pays me 100$ per lead for teeth whitening. I drive him several leads per day (less then 10 usually though) and its simple… I just make a adwords campaign target my area and done. Easy money.

From a cool local service oriented website perspective: Make a local site about a industry. Nightclubs/Bands/Auto Dealerships/News and then drive local traffic to those sites. Then as you build content and more people start using the site you will get some interest from local media and businesses about advertising.

Lets take for instance you start a restraunt review website for your local town. You basically do not have to change anything… you still go out to eat but you make notes while your eating. Look at other citys restaurant guides and see what they grade on then add more to it. Soon you will have built a whole directory of places to eat with ratings for your area and then your phone will be ringing off the hook from restaurants that are not in your directory but want you to come review them and food is on the house. Course by now the other local businesses like the traffic they get from your place and now they will place ads on your site too. Just a small example.

I was recently listening to podcast you were on with Danny Sullivan and you mentioned you use you Treo for searching. Do you do any local searches on it, and do you feel they will have an impact on the marketplace?

This probably sounds scary but I think I search more on my treo phone then I do my computer. I use google local SO MUCH its crazy. considering mobile phones are becoming more like computers every day and most have broad band capabilities I cant help but think within the next few years it will be like we have portable laptops in our phones (we do in most cases). I am aquiring as much mobile real-estate as I can right now and I recommend people do the same.

Thanks for talking with me today Jeremy, if you’d like to read more from Jeremy be sure to drop by his blog at Shoemoney.com, or listen to his radio show on WebmasterRadio.fm called NetIncome. You can also meet Jeremy in any his upcoming Elite Retreat seminars across the country designed to help people with their website projects.

Tags: local+search, seo, Jeremy Schoemaker, Shoemoney

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Jeremy Schoemaker – Local Search Interview

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Many local businesses struggle to find ways to promote themselves, get links, rank in search engines, and ultimately drive traffic to their websites. Most small businesses also have limited budgets making the task more difficult. For those businesses here are 13 ways you can promote your business online for free.

Google Local: If you don’t already have one Create an account on Google Local. Enter your company name, address, phone number and website. Verify the information with a postacard or telephone call. In a few weeks you will help you get a map listing for your company name or industry and town.

Google Coupons: Coupons are a great way to bring new customers into your business or remind old customers that you’re still around. Google has a free coupon tool that puts your coupon on relevant local searches.

Google Base: Google base is part of Google’s one box service. Google uses it to try giving the most appropriate answer from different data sources. If you are selling products you can upload feeds automatically into Google Base and often get preferential placement. You can also upload your business, or special event.

Yahoo Local: Yahoo local is a directory organized by category and geographic location. You can get a basic listing in Yahoo Local for free. People searching for your business or industry can find your listing

Get Reviews: An integral part of the Yahoo Local listings are reviews. Ask your good customers to write reviews for you on Yahoo local. Businesses with higher ratings will get preferential listings.

YellowPages.com: Yellow Pages have a strong brand name and recognition, and are still used by many people today. They offer a few levels of listings the most basic is free.

Press Releases: Doing something newsworthy? If you are you can always submit a press release for free at PRLeap.com. Be sure to check out their tips like 25 Action Words for Writing a Newsworthy Headline and Why Localizing a Press Release to a ZIP Code and City Matters.

Free Blog Promotion Tools: Does your company have a website or are you thinking of adding one? Websites like Technorati and mybloglog can help you gain exposure, visitors, readers, and subscribers to your blog.

Free Directory Advertising: It doesn’t get any easier than trying free advertising. Go to BOTW.org and sign up for a free 60 day advertising listing.

Create a Lens at Squidoo: Squidoo has a nice easy to use interface that allows you to give information to your visitors. You can talk about your business specifically or the services or products you provide.

LinkedIn: Join LinkedIn and get connected with people you know and make connections with people you don’t through introductions. Look at the new Questions and Answers section and try and be genuinely helpful. Follow the axiom of ‘Givers Gain’ and you may generate a few leads for yourself from your goodwill.

Email Signatures: Be sure to add your URL to all of your outgoing email. Try adding your mission statement, or a catchy phrase to help people understand what you do. Change it a several times a year so people notice it again.

Syndicate Your Content and Ideas: Take advantage of article distribution Services like EZineArticles, ISnare, and IdeaMarketers to spread your message and approach. Use them to bring leads to your site by offering things like free ebooks or PDF’s that they can download after entering their contact information.

For more tips on how to promote your local business be sure to check out my complete series on local search tips, tricks and secrets or visit my local search page on Squidoo.

Tags: local+search, seo

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

13 Ways to Promote your Local Business for Free

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In addition to the post, and interviews in this series I’ve compiled a list of a few local search related resources. You can browse through the list below or use a google custom local search engine I created.

SEO for mom and pop via SEOMoz
Simplify Local SEO – via Mike the Internet Guy
Before you Launch that Local Small Business Website – Via Sugarrae
Motivate Your Customers to Link -via Search Engine Journal
Regional / Local Search Engine Marketing Tips and Strategies – via SEOBook
Local Search Marketing – Elementary Steps | Local Marketing
8 Simple Steps to Make a Page More “Local” – via Small Business SEM
Google’s Local Search Patent Application – SEO by the SEA
Lifting the Veil on Local ” Screenwerk Promote Your Business Locally
Tips for Local Search Engine Optimization for Your Site – via Natural Search Blog
Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local – via Bluementhals
Local Search Marketing Guide – via Small Business SEM
Mobile Local Search: New Findings & Data -via SearchEngineJournal
Vertical Strategies in Local Search – via Natural Search Blog
Extreme Local Search Optimization Tactics – via Natural Search Blog
Local Search Continues to Gain Momentum – via COMScore
Local Search: – WebmasterWorld Forum
Drive-by business URLs: Does Your Domain Name Meet the “Billboard Test”? – via Webwork at WMW
How to make $100,000 or more a year by focusing on Local Search – via Webwork at WMW
8 Simple Steps to Make a Page More “Local” – via SearchEngineJournal
Geocoding Pages For A Local Site – via WebmasterWorld
Local Search – via Shimon SHandler
How to Promote Your Local Business Online for Free – via Squidoo
How to Drive traffic to Your Local Business Website – via Squidoo
How to Get Your Local Business Online Promote your Local Business for Under $900 – via Squidoo

Tags: local+search, seo

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Local Search Articles and Information

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To make it easier to find information about local search I built a custom local search information search engine using Google’s co-op program. I’ve included all the articles in this series and few other resources if you have something that’s not listed drop me a line.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Google Custom Local Search Database

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