Local Search – Get On the Map
This past week I had some electrical problems at my home and needed to find a local electrical contractor, so where did I go to find one?
You bet, I went to Google, typed in “electrical contractor” and ten of the electrical contractors in the Wickenburg area were displayed in the Google ten pack.
But what happened next disturbed me;
Only one of these electrical contractors listed a website and when I clicked on it, I found that the site was either hijacked or entered incorrectly.
The second contractor I knew had a website but it wasn’t listed.
And then I found several other listings with incorrect information.
Was this the fault of Google, NO!
Local businesses that are not entering, updating or monitoring their local search listings are at fault and are really missing out on great opportunities for new leads as over 45% of all searches have local intent.
These next two videos explain my frustration with my search along with my recommendations for local businesses to take advantage of local search to not only get on the map, but to monitor their traffic and conversions.
AZ Internet Marketing and SEO Meetup Teleseminar
Tonight I hosted our June Teleseminar for our Az SEO and Internet Marketing MeetUp Group with a total of 36 members during the call.
Here is a recap of questions and comments during the event:
Ryan – Surprise Az:
If you could pick one philosophy, approach or mentality that was most helpful in empowering you to make money for yourself, instead of other people, what would that be?
Kelly – Phoenix Az:
1) Say I’m trying to think of a name for my web site/product. Where do you recommend we go to see if the name is being used?
2) I heard Go Daddy is not the best place to buy a Domain site do you agree? And If not what’s best?
3) Lastly I heard that once I/ we do get a domain that it’s important to NOT just leave it Stagnant. Best to at least have a park page and get some links to it yet have our own text. Agree?
Jeff Green-Mesa, Az:
Thank you very much for your time Radar, your great, I look forward to learning from you.
Steven Scheeler – Mesa Az:
What is a good bounce rate for Google analytics?
Jeff Green – Mesa Az:
What is organic marketing?
Travis Merrick-Chandler Az:
Hello Roy, I am glad to get in on this. Preach it brother! It has been a while!
Bill – Tempe Az:
What does your good buddy Howie Schwartz do to get on page one of Google so quickly and consistently?
Brian Johnson – Phoenix Az:
With Google’s recent changes/enhancements for LOCAL search, have you seen a drop in your national organic traffic? If so, what’s a good approach for balancing the two (local vs. national) assuming it’s not a local product/service?
Steven Scheeler-Mesa Az:
Any Marketing seo ideas for the New google WAVE coming up?
And the top question asked tonight and who won a free GoGuides directory listing was:
Skylar-Scottsdale, Az:
The question is regarding list building techniques. On a site that is new with little traffic or traffic that is just beginning, do you have some recommendations on how to quickly build an email list? In other words, do you have recommendations on a ways to quickly build an email list while implementing all the SEO basics and social marketing basics that create traffic. I’ll be running a contest or any giving some things away as part of my strategy. Any ideas on things you have done to build a list quickly? Just saw Frank Kerns, triangle of trust. Will try that also.
I would like to thank everyone that participated and you can listen in to this Teleseminar by clicking the button below and listen in to my answers to these great questions!
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June’s SEO Training Workshop Sold Out!
The last couple weeks have been very hectic for me and I’m just now catching up after being away from my office.
Two weeks ago I spent the week in Omaha with Netshops, a niche Internet retailer that purchased my RadarBusters network in 2007, discussing the current trends and products in the speed counter measure industry with their staff.
Netshops is listed as 82nd on the Internet Retailer magazine’s top 500 list and in 2007 Inc Magazine named them the nation’s 5th fastest growing retailer in the US.
A large part of Netshops success I feel is due to their focus on niche markets with their various specialty stores that focus on products that are “best of breed” and their staff’s “can do attitude“.
This same level of success has also been mirrored with several of my other client’s websites who have this same focus and attitude;
One client whose specialty is RV and commercial truck accessories.
A client whose niche is specialty accessories for the off road market.
And a client who offers online training in OSHA safety.
One effect of our economies meltdown observed is that companies that have this “Can Do Attitude” are re-evaluating their marketing priorities and are discarding or reducing their print, yellow page and newspaper advertising all of which are difficult to measure ROI (return on investment) and turning their attention toward Internet advertising.
Therefore it was not all that surprising to me that when I returned home to Phoenix to teach my June SEO training workshop last week that my class was sold out!
Students included web developers, the CEO of a lead generation company, other SEO and Internet marketing professionals, the owners of several e-commerce websites, the director of a home/business service company and an individual that specializes in usability issues for the blind.
During my five day SEO workshop the main theme that was echoed by the students that the current state of our economy had opened new and exciting marketing opportunities for each of them as they embraced the power building a niche through competitive and market research, keyword research, Latent Semantic Indexing, how to identify and target your audience, creating the “Fantasy Result”, and the power of social media.
