Dallas SEO Consultant Explains Blended Organic Place Search

Posted on December 14, 2010 by mike

Google’s New Local SEO: Place Search

Good news small businesses, if you have focused on holistic SEO, Google has swung its local search engine results rankings in your favor.

Bad news, if you purchased some $150.00 per month or other monthly plan for “Guaranteed First Page Rankings” you are probably feeling some pain right about now… Hopefully these big changes by Google will end the scamming by so-called “Google Maps Local Search Optimization” providers claiming to provide a monthly service that includes claiming your listing on behalf of your business and then providing some sort of continued support for the listing. So what exactly do these scammers provide?

Google recently merged local and organic search engine results in a more blended layout, called Place Search or PlaceRank. Previously search engine results for Google Places or Maps and Google’s Organic or Natural search engine results have been separated. Google’s 3-pack, 7-pack, and 10-pack of listings have been replaced by this new blended local listing results that combine the Places rankings and Organic search engine optimization. The new results pages look just like organic results but display much of the content from the previous map listing search engine results directly on the search results pages, content such as the “A, B, C, D Pinpoints”, citations from local IYPs and Directories, prominent reviews with a link to the PlacePage, and also the websites meta-description. The geo-centric map has been moved from the top left to the top right side above the Google AdWords sponsored pay per click ads.

The ranking factors have not changed, they have just been merged in a combine score and the local rankings have shifted towards both local search optimization strategies such as directory listing optimization, reviews and UGC (user generated content), but also combines organic SEO efforts including on-page optimization, such as meta-titles and descriptions, and offline authority or branded term query traffic volume (how often do folks search for your business name on Google?)

If you had been practicing holistic local search engine optimization, content strategy, social media interaction and promotion, you would remain constantly prepared for these kinds of “winds of change” with Google’s algorithm. A local SEO service like SMB SEO can help you stay ahead of the shifts in local search.

My clients get a healthy dose of article and blog content, combined with pay per click or ppc management for AdWords and AdCenter campaigns, on-page SEO, link building, and all the transparent measurement tools offered including web ranking reports daily, Google Analytics, Woopra Real-Time Analytics, Call Measurement eand Tracking, and AdWords reporting directly from Google. My agency even does advanced analytics segmentation so we can separate traffic sources from Country, Device (mobile vs pc) and multimedia vs local IYP vs social etc…. great stuff let me tell you.

When you stick to a holistic approach you don’t have to worry about losing your single spot on the page. In many cases our clients dominate search engine results and show up many times on the first page of Google.

I have always said that there are not shortcuts to online marketing success, and with these big shifts by the #1 search engine, if you hire an agency like SMB SEO to handle your Dallas Internet Marketing efforts, you will be impressed with our results, expertise, and value.

To find out more information on our Google Places OptimizationLocal Search Strategies just call 214-267-9553.

How many times does your company show up on Google web search results?

Posted on November 23, 2010 by mike

Rankings on search engines is not just about position. Having great search engine results page rankings is also about the number of times your business or brand appear on the first page.

Case in point: transmission repair plano

SEO Services

Finding The Right Dallas Search Engine Optimization Firm

Search Engine Optimization for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses by Dallas SEO

For small businesses who need a Dallas Search Engine Optimization Firm that is located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area, SMB SEO’s small team of search experts are your local Dallas SEO specialists.

When it comes to advertising on the internet, businesses need to consider a true Holistic Search Engine Marketing approach that encompasses many different internet services, such as Landing Page Design that makes an impact, Dallas Pay Per Click Advertising on Google AdWords and Bing MSN AdCenter that doesn’t reward managers for wasting ad dollars, Web Analytics that allow you to segment traffic from one source vs another, strategies for Link Building that include effective web Content Strategy and CopyWriting, Google Places Listing Optimization, Local SEO, a basic “Dallas Search Engine Optimization”. Our clients call us because they want the financial rewards from higher search engine rankings. With more consumers using the internet vs old media like Yellow Pages advertising, most local businesses can use the assistance and expertise from our small business and customized corporate SEO services.

” Search is a Verb… Not a Noun. ”

“ Search Marketing is about Service. “

Search engine marketing for experts like us is as easy as scheduling content, copy & paste, analysis and strategy. Our holistic approach to SEO requires a high level expertise, other than creative design, SMB SEO provides all services in-house for clients. SEOs do not optimize search engines. Holistic SEO takes this into account. We optimize the businesses website, video channels, sponsored listings, image search, local search and many other areas of practice vs on-page meta-tag and content optimization that many SEOs mistake for real search engine optimization. Holistic SEOs like spend the majority of our time with content strategy vs a product or directory specific approach. Since we are one of the few agencies in the DFW who offer this more detailed and preferred approach, we are very selective on who we work with, since we pride ourselves on customer retention.

Here is some more information on “what is SEO?”:

How SEO is defined?
The term refers to Search Engine Optimization which involves increasing rankings of the company’s website in the search engine results by improving markup and web page content. It is usually done by improving link building, page ranking, keyword density, off page and on page optimization and other factors that play an important role in increasing page views. Developing a high organic rankings for a particular set of phrases or keywords is the main aim of the well planned Campaign that can be achieved by our Dallas Search Engine Optimization Firm. These specific keywords are connected with the most searched terms for a particular business, product and/or service (and geography in local seo.)

or according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings. In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a website web presence.

Is it necessary?
Every month there are almost 16 billion searches on the net. To remain successful, for businesses it has become top priority to be on top of the search engines results. The opportunities are unprecedented in terms of promotional activities, lead generation, and visibility available with the SEO.

Organic SEO campaign is governed by three basic principles.

SEO Optimization with On-page

It involves specific adjustments that are carried with the actual web pages dealing with the On-page optimization. It generally requires CSS/XHTML markup, website layout and making content changes. Search Engine Spiders should be able to crawl easily all the pages on the website and for this it has to be compliant with W3C web design that helps in the creation of a standard and light website. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, this set of solutions are the most understood element but in actual terms it is only 1/5 of the SEO. There are strategic placement of keywords density and selection that is placed all over the code to keep the search engines informed about the subject of the website.

SEO Optimization for Off-page

When there are some adjustments that fall in the outer area of the web pages then this is termed as Off-page optimization. It requires increasing the website’s inbound links in terms of quality and quantity. The main idea behind it is to get as many quality, ethical backlinks to the website as possible which in turn helps increase the site’s visibility on the net. There is an estimation that a website’s inbound links quality and quantity decides almost 60% of the ranking algorithm for the Google.

Analysis of the Keyword

When specific keywords are selected based on competition, traffic and relevance then this process of analyzing is referred as keyword analysis. It would be a waste of time for the rest of the SEO if the right keywords are not selected. To define how the site will appear for the users and search engines the keywords used in the website should also be reflected in the text and theme.

If proper research is not done correctly with regard to Search Engine Optimization, Web Design Company and Dallas Search Engine Optimization Firm, Texas SEO, it can be very time consuming and will surely lead to more damage than any advantage. Beside the good content and valid coding some proper research has to be conducted to find the best set of keywords that exactly matches the product or service provided. For any business it has become essential to get their website ranked higher in SERP’s and be web savvy which can be achieved only with a trusted Dallas SEO partner who are experts in this field. When it comes to conforming to white hat and ethical standards for the marketing practices in Organic Search Engine it is the SEO services from SMB SEO’s Dallas that is always ready.

The company can handle entire campaign gamut of internet marketing with services of Search Engine Marketing, Dallas, social media marketing, online press releases and link building, directory submissions, pay per click advertising, keyword research and thematic optimization of on-page content.

For more information on the fees for Dallas SEO services, click here.

smbSEO is sponsoring the DFWSEM.org meeting on May 19th, topic is LOCAL SEARCH!

Posted on May 13, 2010 by mike

smbSEO is sponsoring the DFWSEM meeting for May 19th. Topic is local search. I couldn’t be more excited! See ya there!

We are sending out invites to select local business owners this week. If you didn’t get one, you can view it here:

DFWSEM.org invite for Local Search Marketing Panel on May 19th

For more information on this local search marketing training in Dallas, go to www.DFWSEM.org! Just click here.

*EDIT:
here is a picture from the event!

Small Business Guide

to Local SEO Search Engine Optimization

If you knew there was going to be a war between your business and your competitors, would you wait to prepare?

I recently had a lengthy discussion on Facebook (of all places) with a sales rep at one of the largest yellow pages publishing companies in the United States. She was defending the value of print yellow pages. At the end of our lengthy discussion, I saw that she failed to comprehend my argument about local search and usage of print yellow pages. I made a comment that it is a challenge to “sell” phone book ads in rural markets where smart phones like the iPhone and Droid are widely purchased. I told her that in rural markets usage of print yellow pages is still heavy. I hate to say I told you so, but after selling phone book ads for over 9 years, I can tell you that if your small business is still investing the majority of your advertising dollars in phone book ads, and you are in an urban or suburban market, you need a serious wake-up call!

The war between small businesses to rank at the top of Google search engine results is now upon us. If you are late in preparing for this war, it is time to catch up! With more and more businesses planning on using local search to acquire new customers, it is imperative that you work with a local search engine optimization and marketing expert before it is too late. Decline of print usage will increase at an astounding rate thanks to mobile browsers, decreased costs for internet access, and continued success of geo-location search results by search engines like Google.

Google controls around 70% of all searches performed on the web. Google is the leader of search. In 2007 Google launched a big change in its algorythm (the factors that determine how search engine results are populated on search engine results pages) called Universal Search. Universal Search was essentially the beginning of blended search engine results. Google’s maps or local listings became a common result for consumers who search on Google. Internet Yellow Pages sites, like YellowPages.com, have been declining in usage since their own search engine optimization efforts can not account for the fact that Google is displaying 10 or 7-packs of local listing results, instead of results from Internet Yellow Pages sites.

With search engines specializing in local business searches, the yellow pages are quickly becoming an aged advertising, marketing, and business tool. Instead, millions of Americans are turning towards the internet to find local businesses instead of flipping pages in an oversized bulky phone book that you never asked to receive.

If you are just getting started with local search engine optimization, here are a few tips and words of advice to incorporate local search marketing to your small business marketing mix:

First, Create or Claim Your Business Listing on Google Maps-

Go to www.Google.com/Local/Add and create or verify your businesses listing. Often times the listings are originated from yellow pages directories who, like Google, typically obtain the information from Acxiom or InfoUSA. (at one time the yellow pages companies had a distinct advantage (monopoly) due to access to phone company listing information)

Include the following bits of information in your listing:

- your website address

- your categories or areas of service/practice and products

-try to include keywords in your company name or title

-make sure the address you use is also on your websites pages

- avoid the use of a toll-free phone number

- fill out a general business description that contains keywords related to your industry

Listing verifications are performed by Google via phone or snail mail.

Free listings from Yellow Pages websites also can help get you listed in local search results. It is not necessary to advertise on sites like SuperPages.com, YP.com, or Local.com. Google does not give you credit for investing extra money on these sites. Most of the clients whom I have worked with over the years do not get a significant amount of calls or clicks from these internet yellow pages sites. Local search is extremely fragmented with many different sites.

If you want to also increase your rankings on Google Maps, it helps to have ratings and reviews on the following sites:

Your businesses ratings and reviews on sites like Kudzu, InsiderPages, Yelp, CitySearch and others makes a huge difference on whether or not you rank at the top. This is called CITATIONS. I often recommend to clients that they create an offline buzz to these sites for client reviews.

After you create your Google listing, you should next create a listing on Yahoo Local by going to http://local.yahoo.com and then Bing Local by going to http://www.bing.com/maps/ for the Bing Local Listing Center.

If you are having trouble ranking on Google Maps, or want additional help setting up your local listings, you can get your business listing optimized for local search by SMB SEO, starting at just $299.00 one-time.

Just a word of caution: Do NOT allow companies to claim your listing, unless they do so under an email account created for you or by you. There are many scam artists who are charging clients as much as $100.00 per month just to setup a local listing.

When SMB SEO sets up your listing, we also submit it to 7 or as much as 21 different local search directories. This service is called local directory submission and optimization. It is a key component of local search engine optimization.

Cheers!

Mike Stewart

Director of Search Marketing and the Dallas Google Guru

Maps & Local Listings

Optimized Local Search Services make the Internet smaller for your business.

smbSEO’s optimized local search listings are for High Google search rankings. When a customer is looking for “what” you do – “where” you do it, they find you.

Optimized Local Search Services by smbSEO

The are included in our monthly SEO retainer.

	Pick 7	Pick 14	Pick 21
	Specialized businesses in suburban sized areas (under 200,000 pop.)	Typical businesses in suburban sized areas	Competitive businesses and/or larger cities (200,000 plus pop.)
One-time Fee (No renewals)	$299+tax	$399+tax	$499+tax
Number of Comprehensive Business Listings	Top 7 Local Search Destinations designed to optimize for Google.	Top 14 Local Search Destinations designed to optimize for Google / Yahoo! / Bing.	Top 21 Local Search Destinations designed to optimize for Google / Yahoo! / Bing / Facebook