| Date post: | 01-Sep-2014 |
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SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR THE LOCAL BUSINESS
Discover an Actionable Strategy to Market Your Business Online - Succeed with Local Marketing - Google Places, Search Engine Optimization, Facebook, & much more!
Tom LitchfieldTechie DIY
Techiediy.com
Agenda
An overview of search and social media for business.Introduction: Search and Social MediaSearch basics with focus on Local SearchSocial Media basicsAction Plan Overview - Online Marketing
Success Blueprint for Your FranchiseResources
Why Bother with Search and Social Media
Yellow Pages are in steady declineDirectory Ads (Print) are not working – poor
response and not measurableNewspapers are in trouble across the countryTelevision / Radio is not cost effective for
many businessesEmail marketing has seen a drop in response
rates due to the pure volume of “noise”
90 Trillion The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2009.
Source: Jess3
600+ Million Active Facebook Users
Source: Tech HeraldPhoto Credit: Oversocialized
10 Billion+ Tweets Sent on Twitter Since 2006
Photo Credit: Rosaura Ochoa Source: Mashable
2 Billion Videos Are Streamed Each Day On YouTube
Photo Credit: jonsson Source: Techcrunch
GETTING FOUND – ONLINE VISIBILITY
What is Local Search/Local SEOWhy Local SEO is importantChallenges for Local Businesses
Later… Tactics For Local Search Optimization
On-Page Optimization Off-Page Optimization
ReviewsCitationsLinks
Search Engine Optimization and Local Search
Local Search is any search made with the goal of finding something in a specific geographic area.
This is known as searching with local intent.
Local Search Is…
The searcher uses geographic modifiers (advanced settings).
The searcher has personalization settings on.
IP AddressesThe Search Engine (Google)
interprets local intent from the search phrase.
How Is Local Intent Determined?
73% of activity online is in one way or another “related to local content”
For every one dollar U.S. consumers spend online, another five or six are going to offline purchases that are influenced by online research
97% of Internet users in the U.S. gather shopping information online, and of those consumers 51% explicitly characterize their behavior as “Shop Online, Purchase Offline”
70% of online searchers will use local search to find offline businesses.
Why Local SEO Is Important
locksmith <city name>electrician <city name>alarm company <city name>plumber <city name>auto parts <city name><city name> locksmith<city name> electrical<city name> alarm company <city name> pluming<city name> auto partsReal restate agent <city name><city name> real estate agent
Valuable Local Keywords Examples
Online and on their phone.
Just having a web pageisn’t enough anymore.
You want to be a respectedand trusted authority and a yellow page ad isn’t going toget it done for you.
You need to be where your customers are every day:
Local Search is a Paradigm Shift
How High Do I need to Rank?
Search Pages
Why Local Search Is Important
Neighborhood?City?Nearby cities?Region?State?
Where Are Your Customers?
The broader your geographical reach, the more time and money you need to be successful.
Generally, the narrower your reach, the easier it will be to compete online.
Why? There is usually less competition and it is usually less savvy about internet marketing.
Where Are Your Customers?
What is the “Long Tail”
On Page Optimization
Build relevance and trust in your location+keywords.
Focus on the basics to make your site friendly to Google:Title TagsDescriptionGreat ContentInternal LinkingAlways keep a local geographic slant in mind
Place your full street address and local phone number on all pages of your website.
Optimize your Contact or About page for your business name and location.
Use the hcard microformat to make your location unmistakable to the Search Engines.
Add a KML file (special location file) to your website
Location, Location, Location! Where Are You?
If your business name doesn’t make it very clear where you are and what you do, then use a tagline to communicate that information to both humans and Search Engine spiders.
TIP: Give Your Biz a Tagline
Create a separate page for each locationUse local info on each of these pagesLink internally to location pages, using the
location names in link textUse other terms on the page that will help
the Search Engines understand where you are: street intersections, highway exits, what’s nearby, nicknames for neighborhoods, etc.
TIP: For Multiple Locations:
Create your business listings (Maps):Google Places www.google.com/local/add Bing Local
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx Yahoo Local http://listings.local.yahoo.com/
If you never do anything else, just build your Google Places page
Create Search Engine Business Listings
1. Google Places for Business (Google Places/Maps)2. Third-Party Data Providers3. Visiting websites (web crawling)
Google gets Local data from other websites and YOU
Local/Social Sites
A Google Maps Listing
Google Maps Dashboard – Measuring Results
Use the same name, address and phone number everywhere online.
Go to the sources of business data and standardize there.
Make it easy on GoogleBranding
Standardization Builds Trust
Use your main keyword phrase and complementary terms in your profile descriptions
Grab the “long tail” by including:Your products and servicesThe brands you carryThe Locations you serveAnything else relevant to your niche
Optimize Your Biz Listings
Choose – or create – the right categoriesGive your listing attributes
Optimize Your Biz Listings
Citations, aka web references, are web pages that cite or mention your business or web site.
They do not have to contain a link!
Create Citations
Citations are important in building Google’s trust in the information it has about you.
Citations can drive targeted traffic to your business.
Citations are easier to get than links – many are free.
Keep Creating Citations!
Ratings and reviews enter into the algorithm on some sites-like Yahoo!Local
The more reviews, the better.Highly rated items can rise to the top on some
sites and poorly rated ones are rarely seen.Users can sort their results by ratings on some
sites, creating their own personalized rankings.
Reviews Influence Rankings
The right incoming links can help with location trust.
Look for links from local authority sites.Look for links from sites that rank for what you
want to rank for. Use existing relationships to get local links.
Tip: Get Local Links whenever you can
Offsite SEO – It’s all about Linking!
Social Media 101 – Getting Known!
“Social Media Marketing: Enables Others to Advocate for Your Business Through Compelling Content”
Image credit: Ian Sane
“Social Media is Like a Cocktail Party: Listen Then Respond”
Photo Credit: The Dana Files
“Facebook is a social network that connects people personally and professionally through
connections, messages, photos, & videos.”
Photo Credit: Marvin Kuo
Facebook Fan Pages Let Businesses Interact with Customers and Prospects
“Twitter is like a Text Message with a BCC: To The World”
Photo Credit: ydhsu
Businesses Use Twitter to Converse with Prospects, Provide Customer Service and Drive Website Traffic.
Social Media Can Drive Leads and Customers
Photo Credit: PhotoDu.de
Social Media is for Leads and Sales
Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report - http://bit.ly/aewfHr
Social Media is for B2B and B2C
Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report - http://bit.ly/aewfHr
Mobile Phone Market
4 TIMES as many mobile phone users as internet users
33% of phones use high speed data services
iPhone, Blackberry and Android
The MobileMedia Revolution
What Can You Do? How To Start?
Building a Long-term Strategy
WebsiteSEO – Google PlacesSocial Media
LinkedInTwitterYouTubeFacebook
MobileConsider a custom mobile websiteOptimize your existing site for mobile
Optimize website with geographic slant (city name(s), keyword phrases)
Claim Google Places listing for your business
Claim Bing Local listing for your business
Claim Yahoo Local listing for your business
Do a baseline analysis to determine where you are today
List your business in dozens of directory and review sites
Setup online lead capture mechanisms (forms) on your website
Get you listed in all local search directories
Begin building targeted links to your business website. Do this monthly!
Work with your customers to solicit real reviews – more is good!
Track results of your progress
Roadmap for Your Business
Website Make sure it is heavy on keyword rich text Make sure it has a form to capture visitors information. Consider
offering a report of some kind as a give-awaySEO
Decide whether you are going to outsource or do the work yourself. Expect to pay $400 - $2000 a mos. depending on your market.
Check that your website is visible in Google today Build targeted pages of content about each product/service you
offer Linking – expect to build a few hundred links a month initially to
get successful. Create a baseline – monitor where you are today Use Excel to track where you are on a bi-weekly basis
Areas To Address
Social MediaCreate a LinkedIn/YouTube account for your businessCreate a Facebook Fan page and Twitter AccountCreate/Add a Blog to your website
If possible, add 1-2 articles per week Consider having a “custom” Facebook/Twitter site
created ($400-750 in total). This will enhance your results in both of those platforms
You can outsource the creation of the custom sites, and even the content depending on your goals
Areas To Address
Don’t create more than 1 Google Places listing at your business location (for same business).
Don’t create more than 1 Google Places listing with your business phone number Don’t purchase links from services online Don’t spend time on linking exchanges, e.g., you link to me, and I’ll
link to you. Don’t “borrow” content from other highly ranked sites without making
changes first Don’t hire someone to do “SEO”, internet marketing, or social media
who doesn’t have references or can show you results on their own site!
Avoid hiring someone to help you who doesn’t have their website, or who solicits you blindly via a random email
Don’t let anyone set-up your Google Places listing using their account – ensure that your own user/pwd are used to create the business listing.
Avoid at All Costs!
New Techie DIY products (some in development):
Up to Speed with Google PlacesKeyword Research Basics Social Media Automation Search Engine OptimizationMobile Website Creation with WordpressContent Creation Facebook Business Pages
Or, for immediate questions and consultation, email:[email protected]
Optimize Your Online Presence
