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How to do Local SEO when No Ones Looking

by Vincenzo Oliva
19 replies
I've been checking local search counts for "Martial Arts Training" in my city and it seems like no one's searching for that: martial art classes, karate classes, etc.

How can you offer SEO service to someone who no one's searching for?
(actually I wasn't looking to make money but barter for free membership for me and the kids :-)
#local #seo
  • Profile picture of the author skoh
    You could try and sign them up for google places, it's free and will show up in google map for that geo-targeted keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author skoh
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  • Profile picture of the author skoh
    Notice the coupons under the listings, those are not free. that's a paid thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Foster
    It's a bit of catch 22. People don't search because there are no businesses of quality show up , and no businesses show up (read - buy SEO services) because no one is searching.

    I'd say sell the prospect on being first. Being early to the party can be a HUGE advantage.
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Voss
    A couple of things here. The data on local searches is not that good.

    You can have data that shows no searches, but still have some.

    So, there may be benefit from SEO here anyway. You may not want to lean on the number of searches, rather the number of search results and the amount of paid advertising for these terms.

    Additionally, you could focus on other terms along the lines of kids activities, after school activities, self confidence, etc. All the benefits of the classes, but not the actual classes themselves. You might find a term that gets some searches that way. then again, maybe not.

    Finally, I would consider offering them joint venture opportunities with other businesses in the area that service the same type of clientèle. You build a lead capture mechanism, and work with another client of yours (or if you don't have one that is similar, then just approach them cold) and work out a deal to cross promote.

    Good luck,
    Scott
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Voss
    I just did a search for "Keyword Austin TX" and looked for ppc ads.

    If you get away from "Martial Arts Training" and move to:
    • Karate
    • Tae Kwon Do
    • MMA
    • Martial Arts
    • Krav Maga

    They all have ppc, which means that there is most likely value to these terms and worth getting seo'd.

    -Scott
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemac1
    Test it out...instead of searching (for example) "martial arts classes your city" maybe people are just searching for "martial arts classes."

    When I search Google for "martial arts classes," Google can tell where I'm located from my IP and in the results I see local business listings.

    Even though the keyword tool might say that no one is searching in your area, I would perform a small test and see what happens, then you can see if you have a true opportunity to barter or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author hitesh93
    You cannot trust just the Google numbers on these things. You have to run a PPC campaign and see what's up. Kewords that Google said had local searches of under 1000 have shown over 50k impressions when run in PPC for me, so even if Google doesn't say so, the demand is there!
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  • Profile picture of the author Digital Traffic
    If your goal is just a free membership for you and your family.

    I would make a quick youtube video, optimize it, post it, backlink it, and tell them you will maintain it for a free for a membership for your and your family.

    Not much money out of your pocket, no money out of his pocket and you will have gained a membership and a future reference for your efforts.

    If they say no deal, simply take down the video.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincenzo Oliva
    Thanks for the advice. After looking at things from a different angle, I can see some promise.
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  • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
    There is no point doing SEO for a keyword that people are not searching for. That is just a vanity ranking and of no value to the client.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    If they are not searching or coming to you, then you must go to them. End of story!

    Once you get them new clients using SEM, not SEO then you'll start to have people searching for the clients business and you'll need to have SEO in place.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jessica21
    Its a very nice topic and i want to add few more points here. if you want to optimize your site and no one is looking then you should take the the help of Google Insight and check the popularity of any keyword or key phrase. choosing from Google insight can really help you to optimize your site!
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  • Profile picture of the author GrahamHobbs
    Go to Google Wonderwheel, type in Martial arts. It will give you a lot of ideas for related keywords and concepts. That should give you more to work with.
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    Want to make $100 a day on Clickbank? Simple, fast method using Free or Paid resources.
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    • Profile picture of the author WarForNom
      Not sure if anyone has mention gmail advertising.

      I haven't used it but I understand that at its best it immediately puts your ad next to the body of an email someone is reading, if that email happens to include your chosen (and bid for) keywords.

      Even if people aren't using a term to search they may be writing to one another about it.

      Also, "martial" might be a word frequently mis-spelled. Could you take advantage of this?
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  • Profile picture of the author Digital Traffic
    If you build it, promote it, they will come.

    I did a web site for a Segway Rental company.

    Had to persuade the owner to trust me.

    I told him I would build the site now, and he could pay me later if he would agree to place the domain some where on all his advertising.

    Local Google searches for this business venture before we started was zero.

    Here is the totals to date.

    1st month 11 uniques
    2nd month 83 uniques
    3rd month 164 uniques
    This month for 2 days 19 uniques so far

    He called me last week and told me he had one $600 sale from the web site, and has done more than $2500 from it so far.
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    • Profile picture of the author TJ Kazunga
      As has been said, Google data for local searches is rubbish. Just ignore it and use PPC to test. I've found that terms that supposedly have "zero" searches will always generate clicks on Adwords. In addition, they convert pretty good too for local businesses.

      One thing to consider - because other advertisers think such keywords have no searches against them, they tend not to target those keywords so the CPC is low and the CTR is good - 20% and above is not uncommon.

      PPC for local businesses is one of the easiest services you can offer, and one that can provide real value, or at least can be tested quickly.
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  • Profile picture of the author mwashington
    There is a tendency that is showing up if your using Google tools and not spending money with Google ads etc. that they begin noticing the trend and use the spiders to regulate your sites to lower ratings or completely drop you off the face of the earth. Has anyone noticed this?
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    Manuel Washington
    Internet Marketing Consultant Of The Future
    phone:479 619 5964
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    • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
      Utter NONSENSE! Seriously, Google is about the user experience.

      Originally Posted by mwashington View Post

      There is a tendency that is showing up if your using Google tools and not spending money with Google ads etc. that they begin noticing the trend and use the spiders to regulate your sites to lower ratings or completely drop you off the face of the earth. Has anyone noticed this?
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