Search Engine Optimization Is A Numbers Game V 2.0

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Posted by Urban | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 1 Comment

Geo-targeting SEO Is Catching On Slowly

February 27, 2011

Welcome to the Niche Internet Marketing Services blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.

Geo-targeting SEO Is Catching On Slowly

I originally wrote this post around May of 2008 and the post still continues to rank well for the searches Geo-targeted SEO and Geo-Targeting SEO in Google. Today while checking my search rankings I noticed that this post had a Page Rank of 1. That really surprised me as it has never had many comments or backlinks. When I see things like this it leaves me scratching my head. So here it is again.

The original post:

Geo-targeting is slowly getting the attention that it deserves. We have offered this service since this business opened in 2007. Sometimes it is referred to as Local SEO as well. Our business model is based on the location of the clients local markets. Like many small business owners their market is local. So they have much less competition than those that play on a national or international stage on the Internet. It’s very easy to do well in local markets, as they are by definition niche markets.

Since search engine optimization is a numbers game and the website that uses Geo-targeting vastly improves their odds of success. Having less competition offers you the opportunity to obtain high search rankings, if you optimize your web site correctly. There is a very good chance that your competition has not optimized their websites. Almost any web site can be optimized, but usually this is the arena of the larger more serious players. When the small business owner optimizes his web site he usually goes to the front the line (think first page of Google.)

Many web designers only think of GIS software when they hear the words Geo-targeting. GIS is the acronym for geographic information software. This software is used on information and on e-commerce sites to assist you in finding information by city and it is also used to target you with local ads.

When we apply Geo-targeting in the optimization process, we are asking the search engines to index your website by a geographic area and by your products or services. So if your website provides carpet cleaning services and you live in Tucson, then we would optimize your website for carpet cleaning in Tucson. It is really that simple. Most local website forgot to say that they want indexed by there location thus they can’t be found in local market searches.

Geo-targeting is the simplest form of optimization available today. It is also the most overlooked aspect of the SEO industry. When you optimize your website by the location that you actually serve you place your business in a winning situation. You can finally use the leverage of the Internet to grow your business.

Update Summer 2009

Geo-targeting has changed dramatically in the 18 months from when this was first written. The economy has forced SEO providers to look locally for work. Until recently there were only a small group of SEO who focused on Geo-targeted work. I had thought that it would take 2 or 3 years to catch on and it likely would have taken that long of not longer had the economy stayed strong.

As an SEO provider I have never failed to get a local client high onto the first page of Google using Geo-targeting. It’s all a numbers game and when you play locally the odds are in your favor.

Update 12/10/2009: This post is near and dear to my heart and apparently Google likes it as well. This was one of the earliest blogg posts that I have written. It really, I believe, talked about a trend that is growing and one that Google has its sights on. It will be rolling out and ad system soon that is associated with its local maps or Local Business Center. It currently is testing in limited local markets. Google knows the numbers and local searches are increasing steadily and Google wants those local internet marketing dollars.

Google is attempting to take market share from local online directories such as City Search and Superpages. Geo-targeting your website to where you all actually doing business is no longer catching on. It has arrived. I had been predicting to would take 2 -3 years to be a major factor in search. The economic, however, has forced the pace of this transition.

On a side note here: Google really has seemed to like this post a lot. The post only has a few links yet it has managed to rise in the search rankings along with the site Geo-targeting page. They have been in tandem almost from the beginning. For the longest time it was stuck at #5 and #6. They now rank #1 and #2. That has always amazed me. The search Gods at Google seem to have blessed this post, which is OK by me.

That’s my story… For now!

While your here I have to ask this: Is your business local? Could you use some Geo-targeting? Or maybe some new Local Internet Business?

Update 11/01/2010: Well, for starters Google’s Local Business Center is now called Places. Google has indicated that 20% of it searchers are local in nature. Other companies indicate that this number is closer to 40%. Google is rolling out a new search results format that highlights Google’s Places listing along with its organic search results. I have seen where it is showing 8 Places listing along with 6 organic results on its first page of Google for 14 listing on the first page.

The problem for the SEO crowd is that for now there seems to be no consistent pattern in how these results will be appearing in the SERP’s. I for one am pleased that this site has been appearing as the first local result that shows for the search SEO. Of course this only occurs if you are using a Tucson based IP address. Still I never thought that I would ever appear on the first page of Google for the search SEO. That places me above industry giants such as SEOBook and SEOmoz.

These changes have everyone in the SEO in an uproar. There seems to be a lot of talk about the ultimate effect this will have on Independent Yellow Page (IPY) directories. I personally could care less how these directories do in the results. I am more concerned about how this will all play out. I have never seen this big of a change as long as I have been following this industry. It likely rivals that changes produced by the infamous “Florida Update.”

Google is also offering two additional advertising products along with its new Places format. Google offering are Tags and Boost. The tag are simply yellow tags added to your places listing that target specific keywords. They are designed to make your listing stand out in a crowd. Boost appears to be an automated version of AdWords.

How this will all wash out in the end is anyone’s guess. As for me it represents the maturing of the search industry. Users have adjusted to searching locally for what they want, need, or desire and Google is responding accordingly. There is literally Billions of dollars at stake here. These changes may also finally bring the death of many SINO’s. Those companies that are SEO In Name Only. They have often relied on a backlinks only approach to SEO and they may no longer work for them.

As for this post, it still manages to rank # 1 for Geo-targeted SEO and Geo-targeting SEO which I still consider odd. My sales page that targets Geo-targeted and Geo-targeting SEO has hundreds of backlinks and it no longer ranks on the first page of Google. So for what ever reason this post still ranks well and I’m OK with that even if it doesn’t make sense to me.

What say you?

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Google Places SEO Tucson Phoenix Mesa Scottsdale Glendale

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Posted by Urban | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 21 Comments

Finally Google Places Tells Me What’s Wrong With My Listing

February 26, 2011

Welcome to the Niche Internet Marketing Website Services blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.

Finally Google Places Tells Me What’s Wrong With My Listing

I have had a very long and drawn out battle with Google Places and I am not alone. Google local business listing service apparently changed its algorithm a while back. It was an attempt to deal with spam listings. It also included a list of words that are unacceptable but it never published this list.

They would simply suspend your account and leave a message in your account that your listing needs attention. But they never told you what needed to be changed. This has had the Local SEO community in an uproar. The only solutions was to use the Places forums to search for answers. When this didn’t work I scoured all the top Local SEO blogs. It seemed everyone was stumped.

The problem is that no one from Google was answering these questions on its forums. So it was a case of the blind leading the blind. Everyone was asking the same questions but we were getting nowhere. It has all very sad. I would guess what might be wrong and resubmit my updated listing. Then a week or so would pass and the account would be suspended again.

Today, Places finally added a note that I had to remove the word Google from my description. It had been there for three years but this year the word Google could no longer be used. And I am OK with that. What I am not OK with is that it took over 6 months for Google to point out what was wrong with my listing.

This added so much additional stress to my business life that could have easily been avoided. My business description had included the word Google for 2 and a half years without a problem. How would I have ever been expected to know that this word was my problem.

The drag about this whole situation is that I had just added Google Places listing as a service when this all began. Since I was having problems with the service myself I never got around to promoting this additional service to others.

While I am grateful that Google finally provided me an answer I have never heard of anyone else getting a solution. Maybe after the 12^th listing update on my part someone at Google felt sorry for me and realized that I was trying to solve the issue but I just didn’t know what the problem was. So they intervened.

I am writing this as a way to offer hope to others. If you keep updating your listing often enough perhaps someone will feel sorry for you and will provide an answer. Or maybe Google realized that they needed to be more specific and this change is occurring system wide. One thing for sure Google Places sure wasted a whole bunch of my time as I guessed my way through this problem.

What say you?

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Google Places SEO Tucson Phoenix Mesa Scottsdale Glendale

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Posted by Urban | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 3 Comments

Small Business SEO Solutions V 2.0

February 24, 2011

Welcome to the Google Places SEO blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.

Small Business SEO Solutions V 2.0

Tucson SEO Solutions offer affordable small business search engine optimization services and solutions nationwide wide and for Canadian residents. We are marketing entrepreneurs at heart and understand the unique challenges that face all local small business owners., especially in this economy.

While you, the small business owner may know a thing or two about marketing you likely have not had the time or you may simply lack the inclination to learn Internet marketing and specifically website optimization. However, you clearly understand that your website it a major part of your marketing plan and it isn’t working or you would not be reading this.

What you need to understand is that the process of website optimization is never going to be a one and done situation. A well optimized website will gain you higher search engine ranking that correlates to increased website traffic. That’s the easy part from my perspective. It is maintaining those gains achieved through optimization is the more difficult part of the equation. It simply requires time to implement and maintain. The search engines change their algorithms over time. You have to stay on top of all of this to succeed.

Maintaining a high search engine ranking requires frequent website updates and a sustained link building program as well as On Page SEO. I would recommend you walk away from any company that tells you otherwise. Quite frankly, if you are not willing to do what it takes to be successful, if you are only looking to put in a minimal amount of effort, then you have come to the wrong website. We don’t sugar coat anything. We would rather you go to another vendor, if you are not truly motivated to succeed. We take a team approach to creating a winning website.

However, if you are highly motivated you will benefit greatly from our solutions. Your will also benefit from our whole website approach for the small business website that we call Holistic SEO. Not only will we provide your website with improved targeted website traffic, we will show you what needs to be done to turn a broken website into a champion. One sure way to tell if your website is broken is this. Does your website ask for the sale on every page? If the answer is no, then you have a problem that SEO alone can not solve.

Our local small business services and solutions work best if you have a geographic (local) customer base or if you have a niche product or service. The process begins with a detailed website review where we clearly define what needs to be addressed to make your website user friendly. We are website marketing experts and we can assist you on how to create a selling environment on your website.

All services begin with a Comprehensive Website Review.

What many business owners fail to realize is how easy it is to rank a local website high in the search rankings for multiple keyword phrases. It is incredibly easy because when all is said and done the local website will never have much competition in their markets.

If you take a serious look you will find that in your geographic customer base you will likely find a very limited amount of competition. That number is likely to be 20 or fewer. The chance that any of them have optimized there websites is slim to none. Although this is changing, that change is slow to arrive in most markets. The business that optimizes their local website first will have a huge advantage of their competition.

It is also why we have had a 100 % success rate getting our local clients onto the first page of the Google results for multiple keyword phrases. All that is required is a little bit of effort and lots of motivation. At Tucson SEO Solutions we would prefer to train you to do this yourself or we can do it for you. The choice is yours.

What say you?

Our Arizona Services:

Google Places SEO Tucson Phoenix Mesa Scottsdale Glendale

Marana Sierra Vista Green & Oro Valley SEO Google Places Services

Geo-Targeted Geo-targeting SEO – Search Engine Optimization Services

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Posted by Urban | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 1 Comment

Use A Blog As A Newsletter Discussions Forum V2.0

February 23, 2011

Welcome to the Google Places SEO blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.

Use A Blog As A Newsletter Discussions Forum V2.0

I specifically wrote this post for a man named Sam. Sam is a sales and marketing professional that provides group sales training seminars. His website was in dire need of a redesign and or some SEO. Sam was great at in person selling but could not get his arms around internet selling. He is very active with newsletter marketing but this approach was eating up huge volumes of time.

The problem with newsletters is that they can generate a whole bunch of email responses. Many of them tend to ask the same or similar questions. After a while this can become very difficult to manage. My suggestion to him was that he add a blog on his website where he could post his newsletter. This way he could more easily manage the conversations about his articles. This I thought offered him a wonderful solution to his problem. But Sam needed to be sold and I am not that kind of person.

I am more interested in articulating the advantages and letting the client eventually come to a buying decision themselves. I don’t like a hard sell and will not do this to others. I specifically wrote this article for him. He never did become a client. Oh, well!

Here is the original post from fall 2008.

Today we are going to take a look at using a blog on a business website. A blog is simply an online conversation. It is another channel that can be used to communicate with customers or potential customers.

First we want to suggest that if you are going to create a business blog that it be hosted on your website and not somewhere else. You never want to direct traffic away from your website to a blog hosted elsewhere. There is almost no advantage to a blog that is not on your businesses website.

Many websites include a sign-up form for their newsletter, as part of the design process, which they periodically send out in an email form. This is a very common practice used by coaches, trainers and consultants. The newsletter gets sent out and then the responses begin to trickle in one email at a time. If the newsletter is especially good, interesting or provocative it can generate a fair amount of emails.

The end result is that a collection of separate conversations begins to occur on the same topic but they are not connected to each other. The newsletter owner can end up answering the same or similar questions over and over again.

Our advice is to post your newsletter on your blog and then send it out and include a link or links to your blog. Then ask that the conversation be moved to the blog. One of the advantages of having a blog in combination with a newsletter is that it allows you to address the questions generated by the newsletter quickly. It eliminates answering the same question over and over. It can also stimulate an ongoing discussion between those who have read the newsletter. It can create its own little community interacting on your blog.

This format allows you to expand on your original newsletter concept in more detail. Most newsletters cover multiple topics and each can be given its own blog post and conversation. This process can breathe new life into your newsletter and create a much more powerful marketing tool.

What say you?

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