Local SearchOptimizing Your Business Listing and Increasing Your “Findability”By Dave CosperVice President of EZlocal, Inc.

What is

Local Search?

Local Search

is online consumers looking to find qualified local businesses, by entering “top of

mind”

search term(s) + a geographic modifier.

Example: [tire repair san diego]

What is

Local SEO?

Local SEO

is search engine optimization that makes your business listing more relevant

to local search queries.

Note: Involves both content and reputation management across

multiple sites.

Typical Local Search…

“cleaners”

= keyword (product, service, category)

Let’s look for a cleaning service in Boston, MA

“boston

ma”

= geographic modifier (the location)

… and here’s what a page-one Google search result looks like for “cleaners”

in “boston, ma”:

Let’s do the same thing on Yahoo!

… and here’s what a page-one Yahoo search result looks like for “cleaners”

in “boston, ma”:

Why should you care about Local Search?

Because almost all search has local intent.

Consumers are turning to Local Search by the millions to find local

businesses –

it’s the fastest growing industry on the Web!

Over2.6 billion

local

searches conducted each month.

Local Search accounts for over 30%

of all search

traffic.

97% of all Internet users in the U.S. gather shopping information online.

51% explicitly characterizetheir behavior as

shop online, buy offline.

But only 11% of business listings have been claimed. It’s winner takes all –

and the early bird gets the worm.

You know you need it, so let’s go over how Local SEO works.

Businesses today have just two representations in Local Search.

Website(www.yourname.com)

Business listing(s)(Internet maps, yellow pages)

Websites show up in universal results.

The average small business spends $550 per month

on pay-per-click

search engine advertising for their website.

Business listings appear in the Maps.

A website link is part of your business listing–

essentially the two work together to help

your business listing rank.

Business listing optimization is 100% organic. Getting top placement requires a Local SEO strategy, implementation and management.

Business listing optimization or Local SEO starts with the N.A.P.

(Name, Address, Phone number).

Search engines rely on “trusted sources”

for their basic

and enhanced

business data:

•

Their own local business centers (LBC’s)

•

Business information aggregators─

Trusted national data providers like Amacai

(“Localeze”), InfoUSA, Acxiom, and iBegin

─

Google, Yahoo and Bing have their own LBC’s

The anatomy of a business listing. Basic

vs. Enhanced.

Search engines also get data via feeds from “relevant”

IYP (Internet Yellow Page) sites.

They aggregate this data and add it to their own database –

these are called “citations”.

Local SEO involves many factorsin determining where your

business listing ranks.

Local SEO also involves a series a important steps.

Every step is important. Your ranking will ultimately depend on the sum total

of every weighted factor.

Primary Local Searchranking factors:

Location

Information

Corroboration

Consumer Input

LocationDistance from “Centroid”

(the geographic center of

the area searched) -

the closer your business is, the

higher you rank. [Note: This factor has been reduced in weight recently]

InformationListings containing more robust information

and

links rank higher in search results (e.g., a website link, keyword-rich content, tags, media, etc).

Target keyword phrases prospectivecustomers may use to find you.

CorroborationHow many other local search engines or directories have your enhanced listing published?

Each time the information contained in your listing can be tied to a matching NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) on other “relevant“sites, your listing is awarded a“citation”

--

the more citations you

have, the higher you rank. Thiscorroboration between relevantsites builds “trust”, and the trustfactor is critical to ranking.

The future of local search = relevance. Think citations more than links.

As a “trusted source of data”, sites like EZlocal can guarantee your business citations from the

major search engines.

Take advantage of both manual submissions

and data providers who

both actively and passively feed information to major search engines

and IYP sites.

Utilizing bothwill increase youronline exposure and“certificate of trust”.

Corroboration flow illustrated…

Consumer InputHow many consumer reviews/ratings or other sources of user input does your business have on "relevant" sites?

To maximize citations and achieve the highest possible ranking you need to get as much positive feedback as possible. This involves encouraging your happy customers to go online and give you positive reviews on multiple relevant sites.

The Take-Aways• Local Search is mainstream

•

Corroboration

and depth of content

are critical to supporting a business’

image, increasing visibility and "findability" and generating qualified, “ready-to-buy”

local customers

•

Online local consumers are fragmented

across multiple search engines and internet yellow page sites --

robust, broad content distribution is key to maximize reach

•

EZlocal.com

has created an easy and affordable single-

source of online local search engine distribution, optimization and content management