WebProNews

Google's Local Search

Today while doing research for a client, I happened to notice something very interesting in Google’s results. The given search was for “hampton inn” and further research on other geographically relevant, broad terms returned similar results like “restaurant” and “mcdonalds.”

Not All Traffic Is Created Equal

For a long time there's been a certain amount of obsession among webmasters about building traffic—any traffic—for websites. But really, especially if you're location-based, the focus should be on building the right traffic.Of course, search takes center stage in that struggle, but more recently social media sites like Digg.com and BoingBoing have captured the imaginations of traffic-obsessed marketers. Here's what many of them discover, though: traffic bursts from those sites do little for sales.

Small Business Marketing Unleashed: Local Search

I've written about it before, and I'll write about it again: the only phonebooks around my work desk are the ones raising it and the monitor a few inches higher than they'd otherwise sit.  Local search functions well from a consumer standpoint, and a session detailed how businesses can benefit from it, too.

LiveFeedback.org Helping Local Businesses

I’m excited to announce a new free service I developed for local businesses, LeaveFeedback.org. Local Search is one of the newest verticals in the search industry bringing with it the convergence of offline (local) businesses and online search. LeaveFeedback.org has a real solution to one of the biggest problems facing local businesses: online customer reviews. Problem: Local businesses have difficulties getting online reviews from offline customers.

Should You Let Sam's Club Be Your SEO Company?

If the buzz is to be believed, Sam's Club is now a search engine optimization company that is targeting the local search market aggressively. The fact is, this isn't something new; it's just recently come to the forefront. Sam's Club has partnered with a company called Innuity to offer a program that is primarily targeted at small businesses looking to get noticed in the local search results.

ZVents Announces Blended Results

Zvents announced their launch of a new, blended search results page for local content. Now, when you do searches on their site, they’ll bring back results for various businesses, events, performances, movies, store sales and more in your local area. Here’s a screengrab of the newly-blended results page:

For Local/B2B, Organic May Be Better Than PPC

It can be especially difficult for business-to-business companies and brick-and-mortar stores to stand out in search results, especially if their relying on local results or paid listings. The answer to that, of course, is good (old fashioned?) SEO.Galen De Young, managing director of Francis SEO, says research suggests b2b customers overwhelmingly ignore PPC ads in favor of organic listings. That and local search often fails to present businesses that serve a larger area than just their home base, or also nearby cities.

Recognizing the Best SEM Posts

Learning all there is to learn in Search Engine Marketing is no easy feat. There’s no real text book, and if there was it would be outdated right after it was published I’m sure. The best place to get the best information in Search Marketing is from immersing yourself in the blogs of SEO and SEM.

Local Search Sites Past Peak

Whether it's because of consolidation and pressure from above (Google, Yahoo, etc.), or too much competition from one another, including newer upstarts, traffic to key local search sites appears to have peaked about two years ago.(Disclaimer: I know Alexa isn't 100% accurate, but above the 5,000 rank it's probably roughly accurate.)

Google Maps Partners with Magellan on GPS

Barely one day in advance of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show opening in Las Vegas this week, Magellan issued a press release about their next generation of GPS navigation devices, highlighting how they will come integrated with Google Maps to provide local search capabilities.