Local Search Marketing Tactics – Local search doesn’t only happen in relation what’s on a map. This
Local Search Marketing Panel
session looks at a variety of local search tactics that are not necessarily tied to your physical location’s listing.
Moderator: Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence
Speakers:
Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearbyNow, Inc.
Matt McGee, Assignment Editor, Search Engine Land
William Scott, President, Search Influence
Dennis Yu, CEO, BlitzLocal LLC
NOTESScott Dunlap, CEO, NearbyNow, Inc.
Topic: Tracking and Measuring Online/In-Store Shoppers
Local search is by def: a multi-channel opp. Search online and buy in store. There is a 9 to 1 ratio of people wanting to buy in store due to urgency. So the questions is how do you track traffic to convertion when they are finding you online, yet buying in your store.
Solutions:
Use a concierge to gather visitor data online and then call them to provide verification of product in stock, etc.
Claim check/apnt setting options for instore meeting.
Coupon code only offered online for instore use.
Bar code listed online so cause customers will print that off and come in with it for you to scan so they can buy it.
Post-purchase consumer survey (get their email instore and then survey them). This is a very important option.
That’s it for Scott.
Matt McGee, Assignment Editor, Search Engine Land
Topic: Hyperlocal Blogging
Matt’s wife is a local real estate agent in Tri-Cities Washington. She blogs, and he blogs, about local issues related to their local blogs. They have 4 hyperlocal blogs that target that area and the objective is to drive local RE buyers to his wife. They don’t only blog about RE though.
Matt McGee Speaking at SMX
Tips:
Find local events that are taking place in your local area and then use those events to blog about and push traffic flow to your site using them. Typically you can see 10x the traffic in flow from them.
Examples: Circuit City going out of business in Tri-Cities area in Washington.
Leann Rimes coming to do a concert in that local area.
About hyperlocal news too (neighborhood level, etc)
Community swiming pool in local area.
Community party or fund-raiser that is taking place in local area.
Why local blogging works for you.
Growing interest in local stuff online.
Traditional media declining.
Local web sites often lacking.
Search engines love good blogs.
Tips List from Matt Himself.
Write about local stuff.
Use photos and video.
Think ahead.
Do basic SEO on posts.
Don’t overdo self-promotions.
That’s it for Matt.
William Scott, President, Search Influence
Barnacle SEO: Attaching oneself to a large fixed object and waiting for customers to float by.
Local search is location specific for goods and services. Most often lends to an offline purchase. Local is different depending on: urgency, service type, demographics, etc. Local search is long-tail search. Typically have small budgets, risk aversions, and need quick proof of ROI.
Where is local search?
William Scott Speaking at SMX
Yahoo Local
Google Local
Insider Pages
Merchant Circle
All these page results can show up on page one of Google and other engines.
Q: Do I have to have a website?
A: No you don’t. It’s very easy to promote your business through local, even without a website. Your website can range naturally, and you can pay for PPC placement, and that is the knock-out punch there.
Local Listings Sites:
Yahoo Local
CitySearch
SuperPages
InsiderPages
Yelp
YellowPages
BrownBook
MerchantCicle
Dennis Yu Speaking at SMX
Maximize your listings with SEO:
Titles and meta
Links to local profiles
Local search isn’t always on the map
Use social bookmarking to build links for local profiles
That’s it for William.
Dennis Yu, CEO, BlitzLocal LLCHow do you do local search marketing when you are a local company with thousands of location?
Make sure to use FaceBook and MySpace ads for local search tactics. Typically you can see much higher quality traffic and more traffic than traditional PPC and you’ll typically spend less than .20 per click.
Use Twitter to effectively target local businesses on Twitter. Make a custom background for Twitter and use it to create trust with other Tweeples and allow them to promote for you through social media marekting.
Andrew Melchior
7 thoughts on “SMX West Session Notes: Local Search Marketing Tactics”
@Dennis Yu
Great meeting you as well. You did a great job presenting and I enjoyed hearing your presentation. I really need to get a custom Twitter background sometime soon!
Creative Marketing Tactics for Physician Offices?I would like to know of any creative “out-of-the-box” marketing tactics that anyone has used when marketing services to physician offices, medical facilities, etc.Thanks in advance.
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Andrew,
Great meeting you and excellent write-up!
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@Dennis Yu
Great meeting you as well. You did a great job presenting and I enjoyed hearing your presentation. I really need to get a custom Twitter background sometime soon!
Creative Marketing Tactics for Physician Offices?I would like to know of any creative “out-of-the-box” marketing tactics that anyone has used when marketing services to physician offices, medical facilities, etc.Thanks in advance.
@TriCities WSU
I am going to be answering this in a post today – hope it gives you some ideas.
Awesome and excellent write up. The Keysearch Analytics blog has tips, tricks, advice and case studies for the search marketing industry.