Going local- Geniuses needed

[TyBrown]

Hey all,
Recently there was a great thread on here about how to do an offline business model by getting businesses listed on Google Maps. I've been researching this and have come across an issue that I'm hoping some WF geniuses can help me with.

I have been typing in random search terms for local businesses; things like 'Draper Flower Shops', 'Murray Dentists', 'Herriman Carpet Cleaners', etc. (These are all local cities around me)

So far, it hasn't mattered the business or the city there are always tons of results in the 'Local Business Results'.

My questions are these:
- How can I find keywords that aren't already saturated? Do I have to go super long tail? And if I do, how much value would I be giving to a client?
- Is there a way to leapfrog ahead of the businesses that are already listed there? Or is it first come first serve?
- The previously mentioned thread also mentioned getting local listings on Yahoo and MSN. Can anyone recommend a resource for how to get those listings?

Thanks!

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by TyBrown

- How can I find keywords that aren't already saturated?

Define saturated.

It's exceptionally rare I see search engine results for any local geographical search term where there are more than 1-5 websites that genuinely know what they're doing with SEO.

So getting on the first page of Google's organic results for a search phrase is fairly easy...and often getting into the top 3 or 4 spots on Google is not difficult either.



Now if you're trying to get a top spot for a Google Maps listing the process can become more complicated.

My suggestion is to choose a few keyword phrases carefully and put them in the categories without the town name.

If you're the only business that has a keyword phrase listed as a category you'll often go to the top of the listings on Google Maps for that keyword phrase.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[SeanIM]

A few pieces of additional information to help you deal with the 10-box

Location nearest to the center of the map matters...quite a bit.
If your client's location is off the map that appears, it's going to be problematic.

Bing:
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx

local.yahoo.com is pretty self explanatory to fill out the form
Add a New Business

not sure if you still want to hit MSN as Bing is the new baby on the block now
for MS

Here's a few others to consider:

Business Listing Management

Free Business Listing : Superpages Free Small Business Listing

Local Promote - Home

and of course a more Web 2.0y one that's gotten a little fan fair
in the space

yelp.com

[TyBrown]

Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

Define saturated.

It's exceptionally rare I see search engine results for any local geographical search term where there are more than 1-5 websites that genuinely know what they're doing with SEO.

So getting on the first page of Google's organic results for a search phrase is fairly easy...and often getting into the top 3 or 4 spots on Google is not difficult either.



Now if you're trying to get a top spot for a Google Maps listing the process can become more complicated.

My suggestion is to choose a few keyword phrases carefully and put them in the categories without the town name.

If you're the only business that has a keyword phrase listed as a category you'll often go to the top of the listings on Google Maps for that keyword phrase.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Thanks for the tip, Andrew. I recently bought your report by the way and am going to be teaming up with someone starting Monday to make some Offline Gold (I'm sick of all this offline copper I'm used to making ).

Getting organic results I'm not worried about. There are times when I've been able to do that in a day or sometimes a bit longer. What I was most concerned about was Google Maps; having something to quickly show a potential client to turn them into a paying customer.

Let me see if I understand your advice correctly. Instead of putting 'salt lake city carpet cleaning' into the search box I would simply put 'carpet cleaning' into the search box? If I leave out the city name, though, I was under the impression that Google won't return any search results. Am I wrong?

[TyBrown]

Originally Posted by SeanIM

A few pieces of additional information to help you deal with the 10-box

Location nearest to the center of the map matters...quite a bit.
If your client's location is off the map that appears, it's going to be problematic.

Bing:
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx

local.yahoo.com is pretty self explanatory to fill out the form
Add a New Business

not sure if you still want to hit MSN as Bing is the new baby on the block now
for MS

Here's a few others to consider:

Business Listing Management

Free Business Listing : Superpages Free Small Business Listing

Local Promote - Home

and of course a more Web 2.0y one that's gotten a little fan fair
in the space

yelp.com

These are great resources! Thank you.

[Shana_Adam]

Im no genius but whenever I need something local

I will put in the longtail phrase

Johns pharmacy canary wharf london

Most of the results returned by google tend to be business directories like yell

I think you would have a good chance to list page one - by going on the various longtails

also you could reverse the kw

ie london canary wharf johns pharmacy

[MichaelHiles]

I've encountered exactly one local business in one niche in Cincinnati that actually knows what they're doing.

[thezone]

Originally Posted by TyBrown

Hey all,
Recently there was a great thread on here about how to do an offline business model by getting businesses listed on Google Maps. I've been researching this and have come across an issue that I'm hoping some WF geniuses can help me with.

I have been typing in random search terms for local businesses; things like 'Draper Flower Shops', 'Murray Dentists', 'Herriman Carpet Cleaners', etc. (These are all local cities around me)

So far, it hasn't mattered the business or the city there are always tons of results in the 'Local Business Results'.

My questions are these:
- How can I find keywords that aren't already saturated? Do I have to go super long tail? And if I do, how much value would I be giving to a client?
- Is there a way to leapfrog ahead of the businesses that are already listed there? Or is it first come first serve?
- The previously mentioned thread also mentioned getting local listings on Yahoo and MSN. Can anyone recommend a resource for how to get those listings?

Thanks!

A client?

I guess you have to ask yourself, what type of clientele would look for a local service (like you mention above) online? Unless they were new to the area, I couldn't even fathom it. I mean a stalker might need to look for a flower shop that is in a certain area, if he/she is stalking a person that is not local to where they live (that's what I always had to do), but looking for a dentist online? Hell, I would ask a "friend" or a relative or a co-worker, for a good dentist (if they smiled okay). It would be better that they had a good site, that I could later check up on for prices and/or services, hours, etc, then worry about how to get the googlers that are looking for local services, which wouldn't be the first choice of many, except for unusual non life endangering services.

I think your reasoning from your own point of view as marketing these services, rather then the point of view of an average person who would be looking for these services. I can name you 10 flower shops in a one mile radius of my location, I know the location of all the local big name pharmacies (and I would never look for a local little guy), unless my doctor had to give me a prescription to the one next to him (or I would even go to wally mart).

Personal physician, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, dentists, referrals only...I ain't going to some "business" (in which I have no information on) who may have decided to become a "qualified" professional at the acme school of overnight academia. I won't even go to Fung Shoe expert I found online (or any fung shoe expert for that matter). I would insist on seeing their fung shoe resume, from someone who referred me and had some serious fung shoe done to their premises. And if the person who referred me lost their job, and had their car repossessed....well I won't even take their fung shoe advice....

Local businesses, shops, etc....I know .... unless I am new to the area or traveling, in which case I would ask those I know, ask someone at the hotel I am staying at, or check the yellow pages. Maps google? I don't know one person who uses it, other then to map out getaway routes when they plan home invasions, and it appears to fascinate my uncle who is 80 something...but other then that....worthless...IMO.

Flower shops (for those who need a perfect gift for that romantic facebook meeting), restaurants, drug stores, put some business cards, menus, or brochures, at the local hotels motels in the area. I was in California for 3 months, and the only time I used "google" was to find a dentless paint repair shop (because some imbecile dinged my panel), but other then that, the hotel provided everything in the way of local services I needed or wanted (including the flower shop, In which I was stalking this very lovely girl)....shhhhhh...don't tell my wife.

[TyBrown]

Originally Posted by thezone

A client?

I guess you have to ask yourself, what type of clientele would look for a local service (like you mention above) online? Unless they were new to the area, I couldn't even fathom it. I mean a stalker might need to look for a flower shop that is in a certain area, if he/she is stalking a person that is not local to where they live (that's what I always had to do), but looking for a dentist online? Hell, I would ask a "friend" or a relative or a co-worker, for a good dentist (if they smiled okay). It would be better that they had a good site, that I could later check up on for prices and/or services, hours, etc, then worry about how to get the googlers that are looking for local services, which wouldn't be the first choice of many, except for unusual non life endangering services.

I think your reasoning from your own point of view as marketing these services, rather then the point of view of an average person who would be looking for these services. I can name you 10 flower shops in a one mile radius of my location, I know the location of all the local big name pharmacies (and I would never look for a local little guy), unless my doctor had to give me a prescription to the one next to him (or I would even go to wally mart).

Personal physician, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, dentists, referrals only...I ain't going to some "business" (in which I have no information on) who may have decided to become a "qualified" professional at the acme school of overnight academia. I won't even go to Fung Shoe expert I found online (or any fung shoe expert for that matter). I would insist on seeing their fung shoe resume, from someone who referred me and had some serious fung shoe done to their premises. And if the person who referred me lost their job, and had their car repossessed....well I won't even take their fung shoe advice....

Local businesses, shops, etc....I know .... unless I am new to the area or traveling, in which case I would ask those I know, ask someone at the hotel I am staying at, or check the yellow pages. Maps google? I don't know one person who uses it, other then to map out getaway routes when they plan home invasions, and it appears to fascinate my uncle who is 80 something...but other then that....worthless...IMO.

Flower shops (for those who need a perfect gift for that romantic facebook meeting), restaurants, drug stores, put some business cards, menus, or brochures, at the local hotels motels in the area. I was in California for 3 months, and the only time I used "google" was to find a dentless paint repair shop (because some imbecile dinged my panel), but other then that, the hotel provided everything in the way of local services I needed or wanted (including the flower shop, In which I was stalking this very lovely girl)....shhhhhh...don't tell my wife.

Hmmm... I use google to search for every local service. I'm always looking for new restaurants, shops, services, etc.

I am constantly being told by clients to my service based business that they found me on google, both in the organic results and in the local search results.

So you can let your uncle know that he has some company.

[MichaelHiles]

Nielsen released a survey of local search back in February.

Over 80% of respondants turned to the internet first when searching for information about local business.

[stma]

Originally Posted by MichaelHiles

I've encountered exactly one local business in one niche in Cincinnati that actually knows what they're doing.

That many? You've got most of my state beat

It's amazing some of the conversations I have with "webmasters" charging 5k a month. They know nothing at all.

[Anil Pandey]

While I was promoting my new websites, I came across this local business thing in Google. On an impulse, I clicked on an ad and ended up adding my listing. During filling out the details I did filled the appropriate keywords. Also the column for company name matters most as that is what google considers most while displaying the results in local business. If you put your main keyword in the heading and in the details of your ads, your ad is bound to be shown quite higher. At this moment, my ad is being shown at no. 4 in local business results for my keywords. And this is when

Results 1 - 10 of about 617,000

Getting your ad displayed higher up in local business matters quite a lot. If you quote your contact no., you could get quite a good no. of responses.

And yes quoting your exact locations could also be key feature. It is possible that Google would display the results which are closer to the location of the person higher up in the hierarchy.

I don't know whether this would be applicable or not in each case, but this is what my personal experience is.

Hope it helps.

Anil Pandey

[SeanIM]

Originally Posted by TyBrown

These are great resources! Thank you.

You're very welcome.

Happy to help

S

[High Impact]

A little birdy tells me that google maps lists sites in post code (Zip code) numerical order, so try entering your post code (Zip) as something simular to what it is but with 1's in the first two or three numerical spots. It worked for me.

[TyBrown]

Originally Posted by MichaelHiles

I've encountered exactly one local business in one niche in Cincinnati that actually knows what they're doing.

Agreed. But in my community if you do a local search for any service you will find the Local Search inundated with business listings. So getting businesses in the organic search results; no problem. Getting businesses in the Local Search; that is where I need some help.

[thezone]

Originally Posted by MichaelHiles

Nielsen released a survey of local search back in February.

Over 80% of respondants turned to the internet first when searching for information about local business.

You are misquoting, not your fault, you probably found that from a self-professed online marketer, trying to sell their services (with their own special brand of "representation"..did I mis something).

"Shop online, buy locally: Just over 70% of survey participants say they prefer to stay within a 20 minute drive of their homes to reach a business. And 80% of respondents say they have researched a product or service online and then made their purchase offline from a local business."

How exactly does that equate to "searched for information about a local business"?

Are the figures representative of the general public (with only 2000 surveyed...not to mention human nature....wanting to be better and more "knowledgeable" then what one actually is)...probably not....are they high...probably....

I research a lot of things before I purchase (mostly reviews, sometimes prices), my Yugo (beautiful used car I just picked up), my General electric CRT TV (27 inch COLOR!!!), my 80286 which I recently upgraded to win 95 from dos (40 meg hard drive 640meg memory 384 extended...beat that), got a sweet new VHS player, and a new cassette player for my car, so I am about as hip as you can get (so I think I know a thing or too), do I use search to read reviews on a "national" brand (yes I do), but not to find local businesses (did I mention I make 13 figures a month).

If I buy from an offline business (unless like I said I need a specialty "non life changing" service, like a Funk Shoe service), I go to the places I know. I don't have the time to waste sorting through a mound of crap, trying to find websites/businesses or other things in "search" engines (I have family, friends, acquaintances...and they aren't bits in a virtual world, cycling through my facebook-twitter maze, waiting to be released), in which wannabe marketeers inundated the results with nonsense.

Since the dawn of Man (or at least the inception of marketing hype), 4 out of 5 recommend X (interestingly enough 80%)

4 out of 5 dentists surveyed recommend X
4 out of 5 doctors surveyed recommend X
80 20 rule...used by a lot to prove almost "every" point they make

In 2002 AOL came out with a figure that was shockingly similar

America Online Introduces New AOL Search
July 31, 2002

"New Consumer Survey Finds More Than 80% of Respondents Turn To the Internet First When Searching for Information"

AOL (as well as Neilson, who sells media, business and consumer services), has a vested interest in creating a reality that suits their purposes (or their stockholders)....get on the bus or be left behind.....but believe what you need to....