Phil

Happy 1st Birthday (to This Blog)!

June 1, 2012 by Phil 2 Comments

I created this blog exactly one year ago. A lot has happened in the world of local search since my first post.

Although LocalVisibilitySystem was born in ’09, today also marks one year since I went live with the site in its current form. It’s the site I always wanted to have. If you’re one of my “old-timers,” you may recall that things used to look wayyy different (just a couple of really long pages and no blog posts).

The site’s coming along, but it’s just the beginning. Every day I learn something new from my clients, fellow local-searchers, and other great people. All I’m doing is dipping my cup into a river of fresh, useful ideas on local search.

So, in order to keep the good stuff coming, I’ve got to know: what would you like me to write about next? Or do a video on? In other words, what would you find useful in your ongoing push for more local visibility to customers? Just leave a comment!

It doesn’t even have to be an idea for a post: I’d really appreciate any suggestions for what you think would be a good addition to this site.

I know the next year will be every bit as crazy as the last one. The recent merging of Google Places and Google Plus has already made for a wild ride. But my purpose is still the same: to help make sense of it all and to help you get or stay visible to local customers.

Thanks for tuning in so far, and stay tuned for more!

My CliffsNotes on the Google Places-Plus Merger

May 30, 2012 by Phil 6 Comments

About an hour ago I dashed off the following in an email to all the awesome people on my email list – my immediate reaction to today’s update:

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Today Google officially merged Google Places with Google Plus. You’ve probably heard about this. (Google Plus – you know, that Facebook-wannabe social network that Google has been ramming down our throats for about a year.)

Some people have trumpeted this for months, and have been proclaiming “Google is dead”, “search is dead,” and spouting other nonsense. They make it very easy for you to freak out and feel overwhelmed.

Sure, it’s a shake-up, but it’s not quite as dramatic as some people might lead you to believe. You’re a business owner. You’re tough. You’ve adapted to online changes a heck of a lot bigger than this.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know – and what I suggest you do – in the form of good news and bad news:

The bad news:

Your business temporarily has two local “faces”: the Places page we’re accustomed to, plus the new “Google+Local” page (near the bottom are some links with more info about the latter). People can still get to the old Places page, but the new Google+Local page will become your new “face” shortly and the old one probably won’t even be findable. If you’ve set up a “Google Plus Page for Business,” great. That will probably come in handy down the road. If you haven’t, it’s not like you’re now invisible, but you should just create one as soon as you can.

Customers now have to take different steps for writing reviews for you. Basically, they have to create a Google Plus page, log into it, search for your business in the “Local” tab in Google Plus, and finally write the review. It’s not much harder: sure, it’s a little more involved, but it’s mostly just different steps for writing a review.

Google is trying to make you use Google Plus, whether you like Plus or not. I know I’m not wild about it so far. (I started using Facebook in 2006, before most people knew it existed, and even that early version was more fun and easier to use – which is why it caught on.) At this stage, you only really have to deal with Google Plus if you’re trying to get customer reviews – which you should – but Google will certainly find more ways to get you to use it. None foreseeable or worth worrying about for the immediate future, though. Still, you should create a Google+ for Business page

Eventually it may be a good idea to ask customers for “feedback” other than reviews – like to “+1” your website or to add your Google Plus Business page (if and when you have one) into their “Circles.” You’ll probably have to worry about this at some point, but not right now.

It’s confusing. There are so many PR-stunt types making exaggerated claims about this change. It’s hard to filter out all the noise and know what to do.

The good news:

The rankings haven’t been shaken up, at least based on what I’ve seen with my clients and others. If you ranked well yesterday, chances are you’re ranking just as well today.

You can still manage your Places / Google+Local / whatever page the same way you always have: by logging into your Google Places page and editing it.

It used to be worthless to try to get links to your Places page. But Google is treating the new pages as indexed search results – meaning that if you get link to your Google+Local page, you’ll probably get a visibility boost.

There may be fewer Google bugs down the road, and/or more “support” if you have a question or problem. Google may continue to make things more confusing before they get less confusing, but eventually it will probably be easier to manage your local visibility in Google.

You the business owner don’t have to DO much right now. Google has mostly just changed the look of how your business is represented online – and they’ve done it for you, rather than asking you to drop what you’re doing and take some action in order for the update to take effect. (Again, the only caveat is you should create a Google + for Business page, but that’s quick to do.)

The fundamentals have NOT changed. The steps for growing your local visibility are still the same. There’s going be an increased emphasis on reviews, and probably eventually on “+1s” and having customers add you to their “Circles,” but we’re not there yet.

Here’s some great info I suggest you read when you get a minute:

Superb summary by Matt McGee

Professor Maps’s take

What The Man has to say about the change

Great in-depth perspective from David Mihm. If you’re freaking out and feeling overwhelmed, I especially recommend read this.

Tones of great detail from Greg Sterling – with all the screenshots you need.

The bottom line is this:

If you’ve been working on getting more visible in local Google, keep doing what you’re doing. The names and looks have changed somewhat, but the fundamentals are still the same, and they’ll still get you the results you need. No need to worry. You’ll be just fine.

If you feel like doing something right now, just go to https://www.google.com/+/business/ and create a “Google+ Page for Business.” For now, just create

Your thoughts / questions? Leave a comment!

Local Search "Pros" Breaking the Hippocratic Oath

May 28, 2012 by Phil 1 Comment

No, local search pros aren’t doctors (and no, we don’t even play them on TV). I can’t tell you how to diagnose an autoimmune disease or remedy overbite. It’s probably better that way – at least until I do some serious studying.

But I can tell you there’s at least one way in which a local-search specialist should be more like a doctor: vowing to “do no harm.”

You know, as in that most-famous part of the Hippocratic Oath that states that a doctor above all must never worsen the patient’s health.

People’s lives or health may not depend on local-search pros (online visibility and ability to attract local customers, maybe). But, like doctors, our first obligation is not to screw things up.

“Do no harm” means a lot of things. But one thing it means is you don’t attempt some unnecessarily daring procedure that might cause your patient to keel over – or your client’s business to go “poof.” There’s no place for ego trips. (More on this in a second.)

It also means you must always communicate – so that your patients or clients have some idea of what you’re doing, know what they might need to do personally, know what all their options are, can ask questions, or tell you to stop.

My Ancient Greek is a touch rusty, so here – in plain old English – is an oath I think every local-search professional should live by:

(This applies most strongly to Google Places work, but also to any other kind of local-search campaign.)

A Local Search Pro’s Oath

I will not create my clients’ Google Places or other business listings using my email address. I will also voluntarily tell my clients the login info for any business listings or other accounts I set up for them. They need full access and control, regardless of how long we work together. (A patient needs the ability to refuse treatment.)

I will never post reviews for my clients. It’s dishonest, and it backfires because customers are good at detecting fake or shill reviews. (The doctor can’t make a lifestyle change for a patient, no matter how hard it may be for the patient to do so.)

I will not “stuff” keywords into the business listings or the website in order to rank well for those terms. I will explain that it’s nearly impossible to rank well for every desired search term, and that greedy, simplistic attempts at doing so always backfire – either by resulting in penalties or by making the website un-customer-friendly, or both. (The doctor should avoid risks whenever possible.)

I will not put plagiarized, spun, overly-keyword-dense, or other garbage content on my clients’ websites in order to reach a certain keyword-density or get links. Doing so may incur penalties from search engines and, worse, can repulse potential customers. (The doctor needs to consider dosage and side-effects.)

I will ask my clients to help with the things I simply can’t do myself. Like owner-verifying on certain third-party sites, updating the website if I don’t have FTP access, or asking customers for reviews. (The doctor can provide the medicine, but the patient still has to take it.)

I will tell my clients specifically what I did, am doing, or plan to do to make their businesses more visible to local customers. I’ll volunteer this; I’ll let them tell me whether the details don’t matter. (The doctor should explain what the treatment is.)

Who administers the Oath? If you’re a competent, honest local-search professional, you administer the Oath to yourself. If you’re the business owner and you’re looking for help with local search, make sure the person you’re considering knows his / her obligations to you (i.e. all the above).

A doctor probably isn’t very good if her patients have to come in every week for the rest of their lives. Likewise, your ultimate goal should be for your clients not to need you.

Sure, you want to be the one your clients come to for help. Sure, you want to do a good job and profit by helping them profit. If you’re any good, you help give your clients at least one missing piece of the local-marketing puzzle – better visibility in local search – which is likely all they need. But you don’t try to turn yourself into the piece, any more than a good doctor would try to claim “I am the cure for your ills.” That’s what separates professionals from parasites.

Best Old Posts on Local Search: the Classics

May 11, 2012 by Phil 8 Comments

The trouble with most “best-of” roundups is they have a shelf life. They’re fresh and they’re current – which is good. But they also age fast.

Not this one. This roundup is like Cher: Even years from now it’ll look pretty much the same.

I’ve gathered what, in my opinion, are the best old posts on how to get visible in local search – particularly in Google Places (before it was called Google Places).

Many of these I first read when I was just getting started (‘08-‘09, before I created this blog). Technically they’re from the last decade (!). They’re oldies but goodies.

Why do I care how old these posts are…and why should you care? Well, because the insights in these have held up since 2006-2009 – which is a mighty long time in “local search years.”

All the idiotic “SEO is dead” –type posts have fallen by the wayside and nobody remembers them. And rightfully so. But many of the below posts are still frequently linked to, commented on, and read and re-read because they’re still accurate, insightful, and useful.

True: Google and the rest of the local-search world is constantly morphing, so you need to stay abreast of all the changes. But if you want to stay afloat in the local rankings, you also need to know what’s not changing, because that’s the stuff at the very core of local search – what it is, how it works, and what steps will get you visible to local customers regardless of what year it is.

I also suggest you follow every single one of these experts if you don’t already.

So, here’s my selection of the best old posts on local search:

2006

8 Simple Steps to Make a Page More “Local” – Matt McGee
Your website and landing pages have become even more important to your local rankings since Matt wrote this – making these best-practices even more important for you to follow.

Authority Documents for Google’s Local Search – Bill Slawski
Superb breakdown of one of Google’s local-search patents, with insights into how Google determines whether your pages are “local.”

Study: Search Driving Offline Conversions for Local Service Businesses – Greg Sterling
Ever wonder exactly why you need to bother getting visible in local search – and whether it’s all worth it?

2007

10 Likely Ranking Factors of Google’s Local Search Algorithm – Mike Blumenthal
Before we had nifty terms like “citation,” Professor Maps explained what mattered – and still matters – in local search in super-simple terms.

Don’t Forget…Business Reviews Are Searchable – Tim Coleman
Why customer reviews matter, plus a straightforward plan for gathering them.

Is Google Filtering Reviews or Reviewers? – Tim Coleman
Tim puts his finger on some of the stuff we still don’t know about how Google deals with customer reviews. (Note: in 2011 Google stopped including third-party reviews in the Google Places search results, so that part of it is no longer applicable, but Tim’s overall points and methodology are why this post is still a must-read.)

Anatomy & Optimization of a Local Business Profile – Chris Silver Smith
This one’s got it all: some great explanation of basic local search ranking factors, detail on some of the more-advanced and lesser-known ones, and a really straightforward layout that helps you see how it all fits together.

2008

How to Create Effective Local Business Landing Pages – Dev Basu
The title pretty much says it all. Dev’s advice also holds true for any good landing page – whether or not it’s tied to your Google Places page.

Does Local Need to Be Held to a Higher Standard? Greg Sterling Responds – Mike Blumenthal
Let’s just say I agree with this.

Local vs Traditional SEO: Why Citation Is the New Link – David Mihm
This is where I first learned what a citation is. Even after a number of years, it’s still the best explanation of what citations are and of their place in the wild world of local search.

The “BCS” for Local Search Engine Optimization – David Mihm
Do citations overwhelm you because you’re not quite sure where to begin in gathering them? This is a superb rundown of which third-party sites affect your local rankings the most, as well as how each of these sites matters in the grand scheme of things.

SEO for Businesses with Multiple Locations in the Same City – Andrew Shotland
This very well may not apply to you, but if you do have multiple locations in one city, Andrew’s advice remains rock-solid for (1) avoiding the dreaded problem of merged Google Places listings and for (2) getting your listings highly visible in Places.

2009

Google Maps LBC: How to make % Complete = 100% – Mike Blumenthal:
An awesome pie chart that shows you how to make your Google Places listing 100% complete, according to Google’s standards.

What Would a Local SEM Do? – Mike Blumenthal
Whether this anonymous letter is made-up or a true story, it’s a sad reminder of how a Google Places campaign needs to be part of an overall visibility strategy, but not the entire strategy itself. In other words…epic fail.

The Local New Year’s Resolution I Wish Eric Schmidt Would Make – Miriam Ellis
We’ve burned through several years and a Google CEO since Miriam wrote this. But it’s still a dead-on take on what’s wrong with local Google and why Google has an obligation to fix its problems. Gee, maybe they’ll make a New Year’s resolution this year…you know what a sign of resolve and commitment that is…

5 Ways Negative Reviews Are Good for Business – Matt McGee
Huh? You actually want some negative reviews? Yes, you probably do.

Blocking and Tackling: 10 Fundamentals of Local SEO – David Mihm
David does a great job of telling you what to focus on in your local-search efforts. He even compares it to football. If we’re going to stick with that metaphor, the only thing I’d add is: wear a cup.

The “Other 20%” Of Local SEO: Advanced Ranking Factors – David Mihm
Kind of a follow-up to the “10 Fundamentals” post. The focus here is on slightly more-advanced techniques for grabbing the extra edge locally.

Secret Local Search Rankings Facts for Free – Mike Ramsey
Too many different kinds of great insights to sum up here…just give it a read.

How to Do Local SEO for Your Website in Five Minutes (or So) – Andrew Shotland
So…it’ll take you about 3 minutes to read this post…which leaves you about 2 minutes to do local SEO on your site. Can you do it? Can Andrew explain how? The clock starts now…

Honorable mention: local search posts from 2010

Local-search years are like dog years. In not too long, posts from 2010 will also become what I consider time-tested. They’re still a little recent as of 2012, but I’m guessing the following posts will still be as useful and insightful a couple years from now as they’ve been for the past couple of years:

Transferring Google Local Business Center Accounts – Steve Hatcher

Why Local SEO Is Harder than SEOs Think – Matt McGee

An Extremely Nifty Guide to Reviews and Local Search – Mike Ramsey

The 3 Major Causes of Duplicate Listings in Local Search – Mike Ramsey

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Can you think of any great posts I forgot? Leave a comment!

(Remember: they’ve got to be old, and they’ve got to be written by someone else 🙂 )

12-Week Action Plan for Google Places Visibility

May 3, 2012 by Phil 65 Comments

Unless you’re Arnold, furious bursts of action alone probably won’t get you very far. You need a plan for the action.

This is especially important if you’re trying to get your business visible in local search – and particularly important if you want to boost your visibility in the ever-finicky Google Places results.

That’s why I’ve sketched out a 12-week action plan you can follow to climb up a little higher on the local totem pole.

This is a timetable that’s worked really well for me and my clients, though I recognize there’s more than one way to skin a cat (figuratively speaking, of course…I like cats).

12 weeks may sound like a long time. But I’ve found that’s about how long it takes to implement everything you need to implement – especially if you have a business to run and have your hands full.

I always have a heck of a time trying to explain this verbally, but, as you can see, it’s actually pretty simple.

(Click below to see larger version of the timetable, or download it as a PDF)

Here’s a little more detail on each step:

Claiming Places page

What you’re doing – First editing your Google Places page to make sure all the info is accurate, and then claiming your page so any edits you made actually stick. This is also when you should try to remove any duplicate Places listings for your business, and it’s when you should do any basic optimization, like picking your business categories.

Explanation of timing – It usually takes 7-12 days for Google to send you the postcard with the PIN that allows you to claim your Places page. Sometimes there are hang-ups, so it’s best to get started on this ASAP.

Tuning up website

What you’re doing – Making your site at least somewhat local-search-friendly. Optimize your title tag (with a light touch on the keywords), add a footer with your business name / address / phone number to each page of your site, and make sure your homepage (or whatever you use as your Google Places landing page) contains detail on the specific services you’re trying to get visible for. Also, make sure your site isn’t “over-optimized.”

Explanation of timing – What’s on your site has a huge influence on how you’ll rank in Google Places, especially in the ever-more-common “blended” local rankings. Therefore, if there’s even a chance you’re in trouble for keyword-spamminess, bad links, etc., you’ll want to start crawling out of the doghouse ASAP. Later on (like in weeks 5 & 9) is a good time to do some general housekeeping (like scanning for and fixing dead links), to see how you can beef up your pages with more service-relevant content, to put out a couple of blog posts, or maybe to do some link-building.

Submitting to data-providers

What you’re doing – Listing your business on ExpressUpdateUSA and LocalEze, or – if you’re already listed there – making sure you’ve claimed those two listings. If possible, also claim your listing at MyBusinessListingManager and make sure it’s accurate. If you’ve got a few extra bucks, consider listing yourself on UBL.org.

Explanation of timing – It generally takes about 2 months for these data-providers to feed your business info to Google Places and to third-party sites (CitySearch, SuperPages, etc.). Because your rankings really depend on how consistent your business info is from site to site, it’s important to deal with these sites at the very beginning.

Gathering citations

What you’re doing – Getting listed on as may directory sites as you can. Start with the most important sites (like all the ones you see when you do a GetListed.org scan) and eventually try to get on some of the sites nobody’s heard of (like some of the sites on my Definitive Citations List). If possible, also try to list your business on (1) “hyperlocal” sites that are specific to your city/town and on (2) directory sites that are focused on your industry (i.e., your “vertical”). You can find these citation sources with the help of the Local Citation Finder, or by doing it the old-fashioned way.

Explanation of timing – You’ll be dealing with dozens of sites. Not only does it take time on your part to list yourself on them, but it also often takes weeks for these sites to list your business or process any edits you’ve made. You’ve got to start early. Plus, the more citations you can rack up over time, the better.

Fixing 3rd-party data

What you’re doing – Checking the data-providers (see yellow) and at least some of your citation sources (see green) to make sure all your business info is 100% accurate – and fixing any inaccurate info you find. You should also check to make sure no duplicate Google Places listings have popped up – and remove any that have.

Explanation of timing – Making sure your citations don’t get FUBAR is an ongoing task, but there’s no need to check on them every day, because many of them take a while to update. Just check on them every few weeks (at least during the 12 weeks).

Getting Google reviews

What you’re doing – Asking customers to write reviews directly on your Google Places page. As you probably know, they’ll need Google / Gmail accounts to do this. I suggest you ask about half your customers to write Google reviews, and ask the other half to write reviews through 3rd-party review sites (see below).

Explanation of timing – If you haven’t claimed your Places page, or if your business has a bunch of duplicate Places pages floating around, it’s possible Google will erase your reviews. It’s best to hold off on requesting reviews until the Places pages aren’t being created, claimed, deleted, and otherwise jockeyed around. Plus, you’ll have your hands full anyway during the first couple of weeks.

Getting 3rd-party reviews

What you’re doing – Asking customers to write reviews on non-Google sites. CitySearch, InsiderPages, JudysBook, etc. (and Yelp, but Yelp has rules against requesting reviews). I’ve found that having reviews on a variety of sites helps your Places rankings, and of course it’s a great way to attract the users of those sites.

Explanation of timing – You can start asking for 3rd-party reviews even while your Places page is up in the air. But I suggest focusing on the other steps first – namely, having accurate and plentiful citations, a tuned-up website, and no duplicate Places pages. On the other hand, getting 3rd-party reviews is another ongoing task, which means it’s worth starting fairly early…hence why I say start around week 3.

You might be wondering a few things…

What if you’ve been wrangling with Google Places and local search in general for a while? I suggest you still follow the timeline. If one of the steps no longer applies to you – for example, if you’ve already submitted your info for the data-providers – then cross that one off and focus on the others.

What if you already have a bunch of citations or reviews? Keep racking ‘em up. Sure, don’t pour as much time into them as you would if you were starting at Square One. But don’t stop at “good enough” – especially if you’re in a competitive market.

What should you do after the 12 weeks? Given that you’ll likely be much more visible to local customers, it’ll largely be a matter of maintaining your visibility by continuing to work on all the steps (except red and yellow), but at a significantly slower pace. (For more, see my post on how to maintain your Places rankings.)

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How does this action plan stack up with yours? Leave a comment!