December 19th, 2014

Why Local Search Marketing?

As we wrap up 2014, I’d like to give you some perspective to why we do local search marketing, aside from garnering new leads.

The above phone screenshots are from a iPhone 5c with iOS 8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with Android 4.4.4 (in lamens terms, they’re the latest software for the common user).

Tamaqua, Pennsylvania is a REALLY small town, and my dad just came from there. Well he needed to get a hold of his doctor’s office. So, being the geek son, I said check out what your new iPhone can do. Fail. Not only did Siri not give him the phone number, it gave a healthgrades.com search result that had the wrong phone number.

I pull out my obviously superior Note 3 (obviously I’m a Google fan-boy) and perform the exact voice search: “Ok Google, what is the phone number for dr. Gilbert in Tamaqua Pennsylvania”. The phone replies in a voice that says “The phone number for Tamaqua Family Practice: Gilbert Richard A DO is 5706680180”.

Uh.. scary cool I must say.

Even better, if I wanted to write that down, but didn’t catch it all, I say; “Ok Google, repeat that please”. And it did. And interestingly, phonetically says “Oh” instead of “zero”…

What does this have to do with local search marketing? Primarily, we need to remember to think outside of Google, because there’s a LARGE iPhone user base out there, and Apple doesn’t use Google’s data.

I’ve mentioned Mike Blumenthal a few times (almost every week) and his blog is Understanding Google My Business & Local Search. Well this week he posted Apple: Local Search Embedded in Spotlight as a Default – Can It Move the Needle?. It’s a great piece that wraps up all the major news in the last quarter about local search game changers.

Paying attention to this makes sure everyone can find your phone number.

Now on to This Week in Local SEO:

Get your Twitter up, share the wealth of local SEO knowledge, and a little Barnacle SEO to compensate for Angie.

Twitter and Foursquare?

A few sources this week rumor some sort of partnership with the humongous Twitter and little known Foursquare. In the right circles, Foursquare is huge and has even split themselves in two to focus on a different future. They were only about users doing mobile/social check-ins to physical locations (mostly popular with restaurants). A partnership like this could give Twitter a huge hyper-local focus, which is what matters A LOT to people (consumers).

As Steven Jacobs points out in Street Fight, and what matters to you, “searchers want experts – not friends”. So, if you have a social savvy bone, it would do you good to spend some time incorporating some Twitter into your marketing strategy.

Already have a Twitter account for the business? Make sure you have your NAP+W in the description.

Wondering WTF? to do next with a Twitter account? You can do nothing, you’ll still get the Google points. Or, you can use it express your brand, your personality. Here’s some useful ways to use Twitter as a contractor.

And if all of that wasn’t convincing enough, how about seeing the competition advertising where you could also, for FREE.

Claim your Google Business Listing via Android Phone

This little change slid in the update to Google Maps for Android this week. Just to put some extra emphasis on the fact that Google REALLY wants business owners to take this steps themselves. Not some spam agency that calls you and says they work with Google to get you on the 1st page.

(here’s the local search geeks’ take on the update if you’re interested)

Here’s what that looks like:

Angie’s List

There’s no shortage of rumors of the demise of Angie’s List. This week, Jared Council from the Indianapolis Business Journal documents lots of movements in the executive ranks and mainly 3 different tech chiefs in two years.

I’ve heard numerous clients in the construction industry claim Angie’s List is where they get most, if not all, of their leads that are not word of mouth. If that sounds like you, I urge you to diversify.

That’s it for this week. As always, shoot me an email and tell me what you need help with.

Yelp App for Business Owners

Bonus: If Yelp is a good place for your business to hang out from above, they released an app for business owners this week. Useful for sending/receiving messages and responding to reviews.