Before the Internet, businesses used to include their listings in local business directories. Remember the Yellow Pages or the Blue Book? You might think they’re old-fashioned now, but actually this process of finding local businesses simply evolved into online local business listings. Search engines are showing local business results that specify industry specialties with a geographic focus, which are getting more and more precise every single day. And you know what? Local search is poised to become even bigger, thanks to the continued growth of online maps, mobile browsing, local search engines, city guides, online review sites, and geo-location services (like Facebook Check-Ins, Foursquare, Google Places, etc.). Local Search and Local SEO All these make local search or local business SEO a must for your business. Whether you like it or not, you have to get listed. Lakeshore Branding is ready to help. Our team optimizes your local search information and listings, so that when customers conduct a local search, – Read the full article
Who knew the power of blogging would explode like it has? It seems like everyone has a blog now, from stay-at-home moms to chefs to local business owners. Blogging is a powerful Internet marketing tool for local businesses as it gives you a new, yet subtle way to promote your company. Think of a blog as a way to communicate to the local community without all the business jargon. The point of a blog should be to put out information only. Write about relevant topics that relate to your business and give important facts that people want and need to know. Avoid being a salesman in your blog or people won’t read it. But provide an invaluable resource that people trust and you will build credibility within your community and generate more traffic. 5 hidden benefits of blogging for local business Change your perspective. Blogging forces you to examine your industry from all angles, not just as a provider of – Read the full article
A few days ago we talked about how important local search / SEO has become – and what you can do to enhance your local search performance and Internet marketing efforts. Well, as we conducted our research for that story, we stumbled upon a number of neat local search engine optimization tools. And, knowing how much readers love lists (our competitive intelligence tools post is one definitely worth checking out), we made another one – this time, to help you in your search for tools that are designed to give you an edge over local competitors. Enjoy! Local Search Toolkit This is one of our favorite local SEO tools right now. The invention of seOverflow’s Mike Belasco and Mary Bowling, the Local Search Toolkit features a Google Places Results Analyzer which generates competitive analysis and data from search results in Google Places. With the Local Search Toolkit, you can download, analyze, and review citation sources – and sort seamlessly through – Read the full article
It’s great to drive traffic – online and offline – from all corners of the world. But if you’re a smart marketer, you’ll realize you don’t have to be so international – at least not when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Thanks to local search, businesses don’t have to squander resources on attracting customers and visitors that are beyond their geographic reach anyway. One can instead focus on catering to the heart of the locals. Want to find out how? Here’s a list of 17 great local SEO and local search tips, tricks, and tools to help you get started. Claim. Claim your local listing on Google Places. While you’re at it, go to Bing Local and Yahoo Local and claim your listings there, too. Apply best practices. Read our guide on Google Places to put yourself closer to the center of the map. Submit your info to the online yellow pages. Sign up in online directories and – Read the full article
As a small business owner, you may find yourself going crazy over the number of things you have to do for work. But don’t worry: if you own an Apple iPhone, you’ll at least have some apps at your disposal – apps which can truly help you stay connected to your business and hang on to a little bit of sanity. While the iPhone is a fun device, it can also make for a great business tool – especially if you’re always on the go. Here are several Apple iPhone apps with which you, as a small business owner, cannot go wrong. Money matters A number of apps let you keep track of your expenses and finances. These include BalanceDo, a productivity app through which you can send customer invoices, track receivables or billings, and manage payments through PayPal. If you want to perform credit card transactions with your iPhone, check out MerchantWare Mobile. (You’ll need a Merchant Warehouse account.) – Read the full article
Looking to boost local traffic to your site? It’s a must these days, especially if you’re a small business. Getting listed puts you on the online map. Optimizing that listing lets your customers and potentials know where and how to find you. Local SEO: it’s all about getting local consumers in the door and the phone ringing. Here are 6 things that you absolutely must do when optimizing your local business listing. We say ‘must do’; you don’t want to lose out on higher rankings, do you? 1. Claim and submit. List your business at Google Maps. This, you should know already. But it doesn’t end there. Take advantage of other search engines. Claim your listing at Yahoo! Local, Bing Local and Best of the Web. They’re free to submit your information. On top of that, submit your information to major data providers like InfoUSA, Acxiom, and Localeze. The more listings you have in more local business directories, the more – Read the full article
We’re moving beyond the tradition of consulting the yellow pages. With 80 percent of people turning to search engines to find local information, Google last week launched its Local Listing Ads service, which makes fixed-fee advertising placements available in Google’s local search results as well as in Google Maps. The new service demonstrates once again how the Internet – and Google in particular – is changing how local business listings are done – and searched. Available initially in San Diego and San Fransisco in limited beta, Local Listing Ads is different from Google AdWords in that it requires no creative or keyword management and no bidding. The monthly fee is flat, determined by Google with the goal of ensuring that businesses’ ads are seen by the highest number of people looking for relevant local information. Business owners who purchase the ad select the location and business category to ensure local targeting, and from there, Google takes care of the creating – Read the full article
It is super easy and think about the last time you used a phone book? Well maybe you still like to use a phone book but personally I haven’t used one in at least 4 years. I like to search on Google, only about 10 times faster and usually more accurate. But you will find most of the content has been uploaded by the business themselves. Visit google local. You can add pictures, logo, hours of store etc. So next time someone is searching for your phone number on Google, you will come up first. It can also be beneficial to add your self in different “categories.” Then when your potential customer searches for your industry, for example – contractor in your zip code, you come up. Just another free service that you can use for your business. Add your today.
