Making Sense of the Local Search Landscape

All Rights Reserved © ethology, Inc. All Rights Reserved © ethology, Inc.

Consumers. The big idea. ethology



Making Sense of the Local Landscape

SMX West

March 13, 2014

Nolan Alexander - ethology



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My Company

ethology is a full-service digital marketing agency that helps

challenger brands connect with their customers through the

integration of research, strategy & execution.

Me, Nolan

Hello! I’ve been working in local search for the past 3 years doing the

grunt work, integrating local search with social, paid and organic

tactics all the while managing thousands of locations for dozens of

clients in a variety of industries.

www.ethology.com/SMX-Local

#SMX

@Nolan_Alexander

@ethology

http://www.ethology.com/SMX-Local



3

You owner verified &

optimized Google+ Local!

Well…

Now, what do you do?

All Rights Reserved © ethology, Inc.


Congratulations!

#SMX



4

Why Target ‘The Others’



#SMX



The Google Influence

5All Rights Reserved © ethology, Inc.


‘The Others’ are

helping Google reach

great heights!

(in local rankings)

http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/definitive-local-search-citations/



Okay so directories help Google…

But do they mean anything to my bottom

line? You know, directly? (pun intended)

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#SMX





#SMX

Of course they do.

Because mobile





84% of smartphone owners regularly use map applications

#SMX





40% of all Yellowpage.com traffic comes from mobile

#SMX





MapQuest App has over40 million downloads

#SMX





11 million monthly mobile Yelpers

#SMX





& Apple Maps reaches23% of smartphone users

…you can’t really

delete that one though

#SMX



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Prioritize!

Which should I tackle first?

Which are the easiest?

Which will be the most

effective?

So where do I start?



#SMX



How?



Research!

Local Audit

• Complete a quick local audit

(yext.com, getlisted.org, LML)

Analytics

• Referral traffic

• Conversion rates

• Mobile traffic

Local Search Studies

• YP more influential for older demo

• West coast are big Yelp users

#SMX

http://www.yext.com/

https://getlisted.org/

http://localmarketlaunch.com/check-visibility/

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/02/17/which-sites-do-consumers-use-to-find-a-local-business-why-yp-com-is-facing-headwinds/

https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-citations-by-city.html





You have an idea of what

directories are worthwhile

Well…

Now, what do you do?

Congratulations!

#SMX





Time & Effort



Bing Local

17

Easiest directory to claim!

(get this done first)

Bulk upload spreadsheet with all

of your locations

Owner verification through email



#SMX

bingplaces.com



Yellowpages



Pro Tip: Email YP Support

Explain you’re having trouble

claiming your place pages

No real verification needed

Optimize listings manually over

time

#SMX

[email protected]



Yahoo Local

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Only owner verify via email

(or phone as a last result)

3+ months to update listings

Frustrating to claim & optimize

– Just ask Nyagoslav

If you’re going to pay for

enhanced listings, use Yext



smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local-listings/sign-up/

#SMX

http://www.ngsmarketing.com/yahoo-locals-ridiculous-timeframes-other-issues/



Superpages

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Search & claim by phone

number (unique numbers!)

No real verification needed

Manually optimize at your leisure



supermedia.com/spportal/quickbpflow.do

#SMX



Yelp



Pro Tip: Use our Step by

Step Instructions to claim!

Save Money & Owner Verify

Only pay for enhanced listings

as a test pilot

Measure your investment

against free listings

#SMX

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2ty5noLplICejZVZ2JCdl9mQjQ/edit?usp=sharing





Coda



Coda – Ending Lessons

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1. Are These Directories Important? – YES!Keep your NAPW consistent & use a company email dedicated to local

2. … But, You Don’t Need to Optimize Everything

3. Know Your Investment Time - it would take to manually owner verify & optimize or…

Money - it would take for enhanced listings through Yext, Yelp, YP and others

4. Align Local Tactics with Your Digital StrategyHow do you measure local search success? Website traffic, phone calls?

Maximize search coverage with holistically aligning paid, local & organic search?



#SMX

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@Nolan_Alexander

Local Search Manager – ethology

[email protected]

Thank You



Making Sense of the Local Search Landscape

Marketing

Transcript of Making Sense of the Local Search Landscape