seomoz mozinar: local search cleanup

www.ThunderSEO.com Follow @BrianSkarin #Mozinar

A Foolproof Plan

Presented by Brian Skarin | February 28, 2013

For Scrubbing Your Local

Footprint Squeaky Clean

bit.ly/LocalCleanUp

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http://bit.ly/LocalCleanUp



HOW I EARN – My Street Cred

Brian Skarin

Senior Search & Content

Development Specialist

Thunderseo.com/blog

@BrianSkarin

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/brianskarin


What Exactly IS Local Citation Cleanup?


“It has long been an axiom of

mine that the little things are

infinitely the most important.”

Comprehensive, Meticulous Research


But…I Verified My POSTCARD! How Could This Have Happened?!


Factors Contributing To Incorrect Data

BASIC

Change of Address

Change of Business Name

Old Website

Change of Phone Number or Inheritance of a DIRTY Number



ADVANCED, ETC

Low Level Scraper Directories

Listings Created By A Gung Ho CEO

Individual People Claiming Listings Using the Business Address and

Phone Number (Real Estate Agency, Shared Office Spaces, etc)

Old Website With Outdated Address & Description Tags Google is Pulling Info From

Accidental Misspellings or Typo’s in a Press Release

Google Merges Data Because You Share a Similar Name or

Business to Another Listing



Does Google “Know” Your Address Yet?



User Reviews That List Your Address Incorrectly May Cause Incorrect Locations to be Created

Location B was

created by

an incorrect

review on

CitySearch



Google+ Local Is Correct, But Your Listing is Displaying Incorrectly

Verified Correctly

Why Google,

WHY?


“Citations will always be a major factor and can help or seriously

hurt listing if the data is incorrect across the ecosystem.

If your citations have bad information, you have set yourself up

for duplicate listings and will ultimately divide your ranking

power substantially.” - Mike Ramsey

What’s The Big Deal?


The great and powerful Google and those other two

Citations 101: Lords of Local


Three Main Sources of Data for the Web

The Big Guys, The Bosses, The Don’s, The Head of the Family


Three Main Sources of Data for the Search Engines

The Capo’s, Middle Men, Mid-Level Management


Where Does This Data Go?

For a FULL list of Major Data Providers check out http://getlisted.org/resources/local-search-data-providers.aspx


Where do we even begin?

HOLY CRAP…

That’s A Lot of Crap


Advanced Search Operators

Sleuthing the Old Fashioned Way


Trial & Error

Basic Commands

Double quotes (“keyword”) – to find pages that include the exact phrase

“Business name” “Address”

“Business name” “local phone number”

“Business name” “zip code”

“Business name” “State”

“Business name” “City+State”

“Business name” + “local address”+ “phone number”

Phone Number Variations: With & Without ( ) , - , . (619) 618-2396, 619-618-2396, 6196182396, 619.618.2396


Trial & Error

Cut a Wide Swath Using Both New &

Old Addresses


Trial & Error

Advanced Commands OR – to find pages that include either of two search terms

intext: – to find pages that include given terms within the text of the page

site: – to search within one specific website


Experimenting With Variation is Key

Combining Advanced Commands Helps Dig Deeper

Trial & Error


Less Error, More Trial

The SEOmoz MozBar

Expand Results to 100 Per Page > Export CSV > Search Quickly & Efficiently


FREE TOOLS


Free Tools

GetListed

+ Great Place to Begin

+ Covers the Most Important Citations

+ Offers Advice for Optimizing Listings


Free Tools

Search Both “Keyphrases” & Phone Numbers

WhiteSpark Local Citation Finder

+ Extremely Comprehensive

+ Allows Multiple Methods For Searching

+ Limited Search Results Make Upgrading

To A Paid Account Inevitable


Free Tools


Free Tools

Google Map Maker

+ Allows Users To View Historical Listing Data

+ A View Into The Backend Data For

Your Google Places (+Local) Page

+ Heavily Moderated


Free Tools

Google Map Maker

+ Displays All Edits Made To

Local Listing By All Users

+ Directly Report Inaccuracies or Errors


PREMIUM TOOLS


Premium Tools

BrightLocal

+ Helps Track & Maintain Current Citations + Displays Ranking Authority Of Citations (i.e. Yelp = 8, Merchant Circle = 12)


Premium Tools

BrightLocal

+ Comprehensive List Displaying All Current Live Citations With Links To Individual Pages


Premium Tools

Yext Local ScoreCard

+ Partnerships With Major Directory Sites + Free Local Scorecard Featuring Your Business Stats For Their Partnership Network


SAVING TIME BY KEEPING IT ALL STRAIGHT


Using Spreadsheets To Stay Organized

Google Docs

Easily Viewed and Shared/Edited by All


CLAIMING, EDITING, DELETING


Claiming, Editing, Deleting

Sometimes, It’s Easy

Simply Find the Edit & Claim Options On the Listing



Dealing With Duplicates…



Get On the Phone!

Sometimes, It’s Not

Speaking To A Representative Can Get Your Changes Made Immediately


Keeping Up With The Kardash, er Citations

Never Give Up

Never Surrender


Troubleshooting


Building Reviews

Build Positive Reviews,

But be Wary of

Filtering


Manual Edits In Google Maps

Physically Move Your Location If

It’s Listed Incorrectly

Search Out & Destroy Pesky

Duplicate Listings


DOWNLOAD this presentation

Brian Skarin

Senior Search & Content Development Specialist

Q & A

Thunderseo.com/blog

@BrianSkarin

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/brianskarin

bit.ly/LocalCleanUp



seomoz mozinar: local search cleanup

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