Attend Local Search U - Get Free Stuff
January 27, 2010 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
I’ve had a lot of fun putting putting together GetListed.org’s Local University with David Mihm, Matt McGee, Mike Blumenthal, and Mary Bowling. They’re SEO’s that I’ve followed for a while. It’s been great working on an event with some of my industry heroes and having the opportunity to bring them to Spokane for what I know will be an amazing event. They are really talented folks.
In fact, three of our presenters are finalists for a SEMMY Award. It’s the search engine marketing equivalent of The Oscars, except the nominees aren’t nearly as good looking. While I doubt the awards will be covered by E Television, it’s an honor to be nominated.
Alright, what’s up with the this talk of free stuff?
We’re thrilled at the registration numbers so far, but my goal is a 100% packed house. Beyond a personal goal of having a full room for the event, a packed house helps send a very positive signal that Spokane is a destination for technical conferences. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of having to go to Las Vegas, Orlando, or San Jose for conferences. It’s time for more technical conferences to come to Spokane!
But I also have a personal goal - to beat Matt McGee. You see, Matt took the early lead in attendee registration and politely reminded me that he’s not even from Spokane. That just ain’t right. All speakers have individual discount codes that saves you $50 (the same discount offered via The Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, The Inlander, and LaunchPad). The only difference (until now) is the code tracked in our registration engine.
Let’s see some schwag (free stuff)!
For those of you familiar with trade shows, there is always the allure of schwag - free stuff from vendors. As this is a non-profit educational event, we don’t have the budget for traditional schwag. However, here’s what I’m throwing out there for reese2010 attendees:
Register For The Event Here
Add “reese2010″ during the check-out process to save $50 and select one option below.
Free One Hour SEO/Marketing Assessment: Pick my brain for one hour at your office. Yep, one hour of free Internet marketing advice. No pitch. No proposal. One free hour of SEO advice for you and anyone else at your company that you’d like in the room. Bring your questions and I’ll do my best to answer as much as humanly possible in one hour.
Free Foosball Lesson: Back in the day I made an attempted a career in professional foosball. In fact, I’ve played four of the top 20 foosball players in the world. True, my 0-4 professional record doesn’t exactly make me the Roger Federer of the foosball circuit. But I’d call myself a very good recreational player and can teach you some really cool tips and techniques that will help you beat your friends and neighbors the next time you play. I’ll meet you at Trent & Dale, THE place to play foosball in Spokane. I might even be able to talk Lotus Leong-Chesbrough into swinging by. She has won a $100,000 invitational tournament, represented the United States in international competition, and destroyed me in a tournament back in 1994.
Free Disc Golf Lesson: As an aspiring disc golf player tournament player, I’ll offer tips about improving your game and guide those who would like to learn more about the sport. I’m still a relative novice to disc golf, but play quite a bit and am happy to share what I’ve picked up so far. To learn more about the sport, check out the Spokane Disc Golf Association.
Register For The Event Here
Remember to add reese2010 before final check-out
But what about people that have registered for the conference already?
No worries. All attendees that registered before January 27th will be grandfathered in! This is all in good fun. The local search community is a very close, supportive group of people. Our goal is to provide you with all the tools necessary to immediately head back to the office and improve your business. And if we’re able to play some foosball or disc golf along the way, all the better. We look forward to seeing you on February 4th!
Awesome Analytics, Local Search, SEO, Social Media, & Converstion Rate Optimization Info
November 13, 2009 by Ed Reese · 4 Comments
A big thank you to The Spokane Club and everyone that attended my presentation earlier this week at their Networking Breakfast! I really appreciated your questions, engagement, and enthusiasm. As I mentioned during our session, I want to provide additional resources for you to continue your education in the ways of analytics, SEO, local search, social media, and conversion rate testing. We covered a lot of topics in a short period of time and as a follow-up I wanted to create an awesome resource library for you. Now it’s time for you to choose your own Internet marketing adventure and learn from the best and brightest in the industry.
ANALYTICS, ANALYTICS, ANALYTICS
As I’m sure you recall from my presentation, I hammered home the importance of understanding analytics. I’m not talking about “reporting” or “monthly reports” for your boss. I’m talkin’ about kick-butt, actionable analytics that teach, provide valuable insight, and inspire action. What’s workin,’ baby? What does the data tell us today? This higher level of attention to your data is not optional… if you want your business to succeed. You must “know thy data.” Here’s how:
Occam’s Razor - Awesome analyics blog from Avinash Kaushik
Web Analytics an Hour a Day - Great introduction to actionable analytics (also from Avinash)
Google Analytics Blog - Resource for understanding Google Analytics (beginner & advanced)
Google Analytics Videos - Educational videos that show how to use Google Analytics
Conversion University - A curriculum of analytics video tutorals
Analytics 2.0 [The Art of Online Accountability & Science of Customer Centricity] (Thanks Avinash!)
MAKE SURE YOUR WEB SITE CONVERTS TRAFFIC
I think it’s great when companies embrace new technologies and ways of thinking. Social media has taken the Internet marketing world by storm and generated all kinds of buzz (much of it well deserved) this year. However, I’m always wary of what I call the “Shiny Penny Syndrome.” It’s a condition where companies throw resources at the latest and greatest marketing techniques without testing and tracking what the shiny penny actually does. I’ve also seen companies completely stop doing what works (like email marketing) just because it doesn’t have that new marketing smell.
Don’t Make Me Think - Great read (really fast, too) about web site usability
Conversion Rate Experts - UK company focused solely on conversion rate optimization
108 Ways to Improve Conversion Rates (from Conversion Rate Experts)
Google Web Site Optimizer Blog (The Official Optimizer Blog)
Always Be Testing - Great book for learning A/B & Multivariate testing
Marketing Experiments - I love these guys. Their webcasts rock!
LOCAL SEARCH = LOW HANGING FRUIT
As an Internet marketer I’m always looking for the low-hanging fruit—the best bang-for-the-buck in the shortest period of time. And for most small and medium businesses that’s Local Search. Like I mentioned before, this doesn’t mean you stop doing everything else and go local only. It means that it’s time for a dedicated local search strategy to compliment your existing marketing efforts. Learn more from these experts:
David Mihm - Portland, OR Local Search expert & designer
2009 Local Search Ranking Factors - I’m proud to be a contributor to this research project 
Mary Bowling - Denver, CO Local Search expert
Understanding Google Maps & Local Search - For those that want details, details, details.
Small Business SEM - Local Search + SMB Advice = Awesome!
Miriam Ellis - San Francisco, CA Local Search expert & designer
Chris Silver Smith - Cartographer & Local Search expert. Again, for folks that want the technical details.
ORGANIC SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
There is a lot of information out there about SEO. In fact, there is so much information that it’s tough to know where you should even begin. These folks provide the best information and their content is always up to date.
SEOmoz - Free and premium levels of membership - Both are great!
SEO Book - Again, free and premium levels of membership - Great as well
Search Engine Journal - Free SEO content from a variety of SEO experts - including me starting next month
Search Engine Land - Center of the universe for all things search - Look through the categories
Vanessa Fox - She has an uncanny ability to explain complex details in very simple terms
Rand Fishkin’s HostingCon Preso - Awesome SEO explanation (and motivation for my art project)
BUT WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about social media. Remember, this socia media stuff is new for everybody so the importance of testing and learning from data is paramount. I think this bit of reading will provide good insight for you.
Outspoken Media - More than social media, but they cover it very well. Many good social media posts here.
Copyblogger - Read Copyblogger now! Writing is so freakin’ important. This is one of my favorite blogs!
7 Harsh Realities of Social Media Marketing - Great new post from Copyblogger
Trackur - Cool way to track social media mentions & reputation
Samepoint - See all mentions of your name or company online. A very cool social media monitoring tool.
5 Facebook Case Studies - Yes, 5 real case studies about marketing with FB.
Twitter, Tacos, & Trucks - The Story of Kogi Bar-B-Que
LIKE I SAID,… WHAT MATTERS IS HOW IT HELPS YOUR BUSINESS
Here’s an example from the presentation. I know it’s hard to believe,… but I didn’t even go to art school!
WANT MORE INFORMATION? HAVE QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? JUST LET ME KNOW.
Please feel from to leave a comment below, send an email, or contact me at my office (509-456-4350).
Dex Knows… My Recycle Bin
November 2, 2009 by Ed Reese · 2 Comments
Monday is garbage day. As I was taking out our recycling this evening I looked down and saw the phone book in our recycle bin. I didn’t put it there. My wife did. That’s what really struck me. As a local search guy, I get nearly all of my information online. But I’m supposed to find it online. I would’ve thought my wife would’ve wanted to have it around just in case she needed it. Nope. Has the general public finally outgrown their need for it? I’m trying to find an impartial survey to find out how many real people still use the dang thing, but so far most surveys seem to be pretty biased one way or the other. If you know of any, please let me know.
Do you throw it away? Do you eagerly await its arrival each Fall? Do you keep it around just in case you need to organize a game of bridge with your grandparent’s friends? Does it help you get things off of high shelves? I’m curious.
Dick’s Drive-In. Spokane’s Centroid
November 3, 2008 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
One of the factors that influences the Local Search algorithm is called the proximity to the centroid. That is, how far whatever you’re searching for from the center of the city as defined by Google. In the case of Spokane, it has a most fitting location:
That’s right, the intersection of 3rd & Division is not only the home of the “Whammie” and the best fries in town, but is also the geographic center of Spokane in the eyes of Google.
This is so damn fitting I took the family down for lunch. I love Dick’s Drive-in! Not only do they have some of the best burgers and fries around (OK, Hudson’s in CDA actually has the best burgers in the Inland Empire), but I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed prices since I unsuccessfully tried to pick-up girls there in high school. Here’s the thing I love most about Dick’s Drive-in, though. You see all walks of life in the ten minutes under those amazing heat lamps waiting for your burgers (they are pure salvation in the Winter). It’s actually a pretty representative cross section of Spokane as far as I can tell. At least at lunch.
So what does that mean for your company in terms of Local Search?
While it may sound odd, the closer you are to Dick’s Drive-in, the easier it will be to rank in Local Search (Google Maps) in Spokane. This is expecially true for non-competitive terms. There are many other variables that are part of the local algorithm, but distance from the centroid is one of them. For those interested in additional details, I’d recommend checking out a recap of David Mihm’s SEMpdx hotseat presentation as well as the SMX Local Search interview wrap-up. In the meantime, I recommend ordering a couple of Whammies , some fries, and a chocolate malt.
Tine Reese Design Case Study
October 27, 2008 by Ed Reese · 3 Comments
It’s human nature to try to appear bigger and stronger than we really are. It’s served us well for thousands of years. In ancient times we would thump our chests, wear huge plates of armor, and give the appearance of size and strength. It intimidated our enemies, kept fights and battles from starting in the first place, and ultimately, kept us alive. Today, many small businesses take that same chest-puffing approach to gaining clients and growning their business.
I’m here to tell you it’s a big mistake.
It’s the wrong thing to do for a number of reasons. However, for the purpose of this post I’m going to relate it to the Local Search side of Sears in a case study about Tine Reese Graphic Design.
Tell your prospective clients exactly what you offer.
Tine (pronounced “Teen,” short for Christine) only wants to work 2-3 days/week at the moment. The rest of her time is dedicated primarily to her family (son, dog, cat, and husband, plus prepping kiddo 2.0 that’s due in early March). She doesn’t want to pretend she’s a big design agency and quite honestly doesn’t want the stress of one. She’s a part-time freelance graphic designer with a passion for arts organizations and non-profits. Talk about a niche market! By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m the husband in question listed just after the cat and dog (hey, at least I’m in the top 5).
So why does she need search engine optimization, anyway?
Too many small businesses think they need huge leaps in search traffic. While this may be important to some businesses, most small businesses should really focus on getting the right traffic. In Tine’s case, because her desired niche has such a small search volume in the Spokane area, she needs to have a laser focus to ensure that any local arts organizations or non-profits can find her online and view her portfolio.
The importance of relevance.
From a local search standpoint I made sure that her descriptions and categories were consistant, descriptive, and accurate in her Google Local Business Center (GLBC) as well as the many web citations I created. Many small businesses don’t take the time to add a complete description in the GLBC and local directories. And even if they do, many are listed under inaccurate or non-relevant categories. Don’t let this happen to you!
Tell it like it is - SEO
Her web site is very graphics driven with little text, so my options were a bit limited in terms of on-page optimization possibilities. I chose to focus on the term “freelance graphic designer.” While it has a much lower keyword search volume than “graphic design,” or “web site design” it much more accurately describes the search for an individual graphic designer. I also focused on the type of work she wants; web design, print, logo design, and invitations. Again, relevance was given much higher priority than search volume.
Tell it like it is - About/Description
She wanted her web site to primarily serve as an online home for her portfolio. However, I think she did a great job with the about page that really connects with her desired audience (I had nothing to do with this).
“Tine Reese is an experienced and passionate graphic designer who understands the communication challenges faced by nonprofits, foundations, arts organizations and small businesses. With a knack for simplifying complex ideas and conveying messages clearly and elegantly, she creates targeted communications that consider a client’s organizational objectives and, most importantly, budget.
Over the last 14 years Tine has worked at design studios in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco and co-founded a highly successful marketing communications firm whose clients include many of the most outstanding nonprofit organizations in California.”
I’m pretty confident that if a local non-profit, small business on a budget, or arts organization found her web site online that she’s going to get some serious consideration. Conversely, a big corporate entity would easily know that hiring her is probably not the right fit.
So what are the results?
Her web site hasn’t even been live a month yet and I’m already quite pleased with the search results. Here’s a list of Local Search results for her in the Spokane area:
freelance graphic design spokane
freelance design spokane
freelance print designer
But a couple of things just blew me away. The first was gaining an authoritative one box for the term “freelance graphic designer Spokane.”
I seriously doubt this will stay there very long (especially after this post). Another big surprise this early in the game was ranking 2nd overall in Google Maps for the term “freelance logo designer.” These results are certainly nice from an SEO standpoint (especially this early in a project) but the real results come from gaining new accounts. On that front, I’m happy to report that she has three new clients since her web site has launched and is really excited about the work. I honestly can’t take much of the credit, though. Her portfolio is awesome! That’s what really gets the work. Some people think that SEO’s have some secret sauce (I heard this from a client in a meeting last week) for success. We don’t. But we can expose your business to as many of the right people searching for your product or service as possible. The rest is up to you.
The Value of Internet Yellow Pages
October 12, 2008 by Ed Reese · 2 Comments
I originally posted this article to Mihmorandum: The Small Business Web Design + Local SEO Blog by Local Search Guru David Mihm. I met David at SMX Advanced this Summer and talked with him briefly about some very curious data that I believed was being driven by status changes in my SuperPages account. I saw him again at The SEOmoz Expert Seminar in Seattle and talked about it in detail. He thought my data was interesting enough to warrant an article and gave it a platform on his blog. This is a re-post of that article. David wrote a reaction to my analysis the following week.
Fluctuating SERPs: The Reason for My Curiosity
In late 2007/early 2008 I noticed something very interesting. When I upgraded our free Superpages listing to a featured listing, our organic traffic immediately increased for nearly all of our desired keywords + location. We ranked on page one in organic search as well as in the blended, 10-pack results for our desired keywords + location. Then I stopped the featured listing to see what would happen (though I kept the free listing intact). Sure enough, the rankings, as well as traffic, dropped. After seeing low traffic for a while I upgraded again and the SERP’s jumped back to life.
Initial Investigations
I brought this up at the Q&A session at SMX in Santa Clara. It seemed that my featured Superpages listing was getting priority and I asked the Local Search Panel if that was the case. The consensus of the panel was that it didn’t have much effect, and that it was likely other factors causing the spikes in rank.
The person sitting next to me happened to be a reporter from Wired. The next day she published a quick blog post about my observations. Had I taken some time to think about it a bit more that day rather than rant, I might not have looked like such an idiot. However, it did start amplify the discussion. A very good take on her article can be found on Greg Sterling’s Screenwerk blog. It includes some great comments from Chris Silver Smith, Mike Blumenthal, and others. While many of the original comments to the article were negative in tone (can’t say I blame them), a few people emailed directly to say they had experienced similar results.
The Importance of Categories
I was advised to delete my Google Local Business Center categories, instead relying on Google to index and incorporate the more detailed Superpages categories and sub-categories. Within six weeks of this change, my search results for all relevant keywords + location (San Francisco) increased 40%.
My first assumption was that this was mostly category-based, as Superpages’ (and other IYPs’) category list is much more robust than Google’s. While I’m not sure if this is the case for all industries, only a few of GLBC’s categories are related to our industry (film and video production). In the Google Local Business Center category list, only three make sense. Meanwhile, for Superpages, the related category list is extensive.
Sharing, Caring, and Matt Cutts
A few months later I shared this tip at SMX Advanced in Seattle during the final Q&A session. I talked with several SEO’s after the show (including David Mihm) that had ideas as to why this might be happening.
On my way out the door, Matt Cutts stopped me and mentioned that Google took a look at the site after they read the article in Wired. He mentioned that it was possible my recent results were as much due to the work of their engineers as my category change. I thought it was pretty cool of him to let me know they had been working on the relevancy for Local Search. It isn’t every day that you hear that you helped influence a search algorithm (at least not for me).
(n.b. from David, Google undertook a massive adjustment in their determination of category around the time of SMX Santa Clara. Mike Blumenthal has a great write-up on this, including a quote from a Superpages resource saying “Perhaps they only accept categorizations from partners which have taxonomic processes which they believe to be of higher quality.“)
My Experiment
I decided to test the two variables that I hypothesized were affecting Hotbed’s search results. I dropped my Superpages listing from featured to free and added my categories back to my GLBC.
My keyword + location results in both organic and blended search dropped almost immediately. My organic traffic dropped 70% in one month!
Thank God for SMX Local. Armed with this data I was determined to find out why this was happening. My citation with Superpages was still there (though no longer a featured listing). I was trying to wrap my head around the drop in rankings. Do featured listings in the IYP’s receive more link juice? Are they somehow circulated through a wider network of distribution partners? Are they somehow perceived as more relevant?
The content and discussions at SMX Local in San Francisco got me back on track. Definitely check out David Mihm’s great SMX Local recap for a summary of content.
During one of the breaks I had an opportunity to talk with a group of ten local SEO’s to figure out why I was receiving these dramatic results. What follows is are the assumptions of that group as well as continued discussions with David for this post.
- While Superpages is a strong, relevant, and authoritative site, it shouldn’t have that much power in determining rank.
- An authoritative citation shouldn’t have any more or less power at the search engines whether it’s a featured listing/citation or not.
- As business for Hotbed is mostly local/regional traffic, keyword + location specific searches will dominate both local and organic search traffic.
Delving Deeper
David and I took a close look at my Superpages listing. No matter how we searched for Hotbed, it always came up on page four or five of the results within Superpages. It’s a good possibility that the citation is not being indexed by Google that deep in the Superpages results.
As a featured listing, the citation is guaranteed page one visibility. The default results are generally listed in alphabetical order. So, if you happed to be Abe’s House of Video Production you’d be just fine. Hotbed Media less than fine, and Zeek’s Zany Film Studio would be absolutely screwed.
The Answer
I just checked the results again on Superpages and noticed that default is no longer alphabetical but standard search results. This could explain my recent increase in rank. However, many other factors are now in play that I believe are having a very positive impact on the web site ranking and overall exposure. There were many great take-a-ways from SMX Local that I have since implemented.
- Addition of a citation and video on eLocal Listing. Steve Espinosa from eLocalListing had a great presentation and I really wanted to try their services.
- Addition of BOTW local listing per David Mihm’s suggestion.
- Addition of MetaCafe citation and video as another authoritative citation/video source
- Created an account on Universal Business Listing to ease submission process.
Conclusion
I was relying too heavily on a single featured listing for local authority. Per Mike Blumenthal and others at the conference, addition of many authoritative citations is very important in local search. A featured listing in the IYP’s is probably a good way to kick-start your local listing. However, the same effect can be accomplished for less money with a little bit of effort. I have still not re-activated my Superpages featured listing and have seen great gains in the past several weeks.
