Local Search Optimization

Last minute tips for retailers for the holiday shopping season

As the tail end of the year comes around, many Internet retailers gear up for what will hopefully be the busiest part of their year. Of course, this is also one of the most nerve-racking times of the year as well, especially for those who have a disproportionate amount of their business relying on the success of only a few months of the year.

As you gear up for the holiday season, SEO blends more than ever into all of your other marketing efforts. Here are a few tips to help you on your merry way.

Audit Time

If you … Read more

Local search listings: put your business on the map, literally

Whether you have multiple locations or just one, local is fast becoming an important market online. Traditionally, the local marketing battlefield consisted of phone directory listings, billboards, newspapers, TV, radio, and anywhere else that made sense to get your name seen. The web and search engines have opened up a new local battlefield, and smart businesses are moving quickly to gain a foothold.

Surprisingly though, many businesses have failed to tap into one of the more powerful tools available for reaching the local market. If that's surprising, then what makes this amazing is that this tool is free and … Read more

Yahoo brings the locals together

What do you get when you mix social media and local search? Well the team at Yahoo Local would like you to think they have the answer. They may not be too far from wrong.

Social media sites have become all the rage as they bring human connection and interaction to an electronic world. We can share photos with not only friends and family, but the entire world, tell others what we think of a particular product, upload movies of the crazy stuff we do in our spare time, or chat with anyone who happens to find their way to … Read more

Google Maps - Wading Through a Sea of Franchise Logos?

Hat tip to my colleague Chris Smith for pointing out that Google has rolled out ads within Google Maps Japan.

It looks like the ads were just contextual based on the location, rather than being from a restaurant-specific search (although I don't read Japanese so I can't tell what the query was).

To me this looks very busy. And I'd imagine the ad density clutter will only get worse over time.

Perhaps Google feels that Japanese users of Google Maps will be more tolerant of the ads and the busier interface? Or perhaps this is the shape … Read more