| |
|
|
| Webmaster Resources: Search Engine Optimization Information | |
|
|
|
Google Local Search And The Impact On Natural Optimization
With the advent of Google Local, a service that helps Web users find local businesses by typing in a search term and a city name, many questions arise concerning its impact on Natural Optimization. Google Local tracks down local stores and businesses by searching billions of pages across the Web, and then cross-checking these findings with Yellow Pages information to locate the local resources Web users wish to access. In addition to local business listings and related Web links, Google Local also provides maps of the desired region and directions made available by MapQuest. This makes Google Local convenient for Web searchers and extremely useful for local businesses, if their sites are optimized for local-searches. If not, some businesses could be missing out on a tremendous increase in local site visibility and traffic. Case-in-point: The Home Depot, whose Web site features its own Store Finder with zip code-accessed location listings. Type "Home Depot" into Google Local and while a list of local stores appears, no related local landing pages come up. In fact, none of the related Web links even direct Web users to Home Depot's home page. Most large sites that have retail stores have a search feature or "enter your zip" option. Google and other Search Engines will never be able to index this content. For retailers looking to increase sales and traffic from their Web sites, this could prove to be a big problem. The Home Depot is not alone. Countless other large and small businesses alike do not have city-oriented pages accessible through local search sites. Many are not listed in the top 15 return results for related keywords for Google Local, despite their location in the immediate proximity to the search location. Google Local ranks listings based on their relevance to the search terms the user enters, not solely by geographic distance. This means that unless your site has a city and/or county-oriented landing page for each location, Google will not be able to access your contact page, no matter how relevant your site is to a search term, or how close you are in geographic distance. Natural Optimization specialists never really focused on the optimization of contact and location pages on websites, but now it's becoming a vital tool to drive more qualified traffic to the sites. In order to make sites local search-ready, they should start creating sitemaps that include every store location and then build individual landing pages for each specific location with a brief overview of the store along with a map and detailed directions. Without this, Google does not have a path to index the pages and information. Doing this small step will increase your qualified traffic as well as increase sales in your retail store or business. By making your keywords city-specific and including more location-specific information on your site, Google Local can access your contact information and, as a result, drive more related traffic to your site. Take Hard Rock Café. Their Web site is an ideal example of a site that is perfectly optimized for local Search Engines like Google Local. When entered in as a search term, Hard Rock Café's number one listing links to their home page's restaurant location page. Search users can instantly access information on Hard Rock Café in general, as well as learn more about location and contacts. Local search is one of the most hyped areas of development in the Search industry today. Other Search engines including Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, MSN and CitySearch are hot on Google's tail to perfect their own versions of local Search Engines. Soon, not having your site optimized for local Search Engines will make your business's site obsolete. The impact of local search is already apparent, and it is still only in its infancy. About The Author Rob Young, Manager of Natural Optimization and Creative Director of full-service interactive marketing and advertising agency UnREAL Marketing Solutions, has been with the company since its inception in 1999. Young oversees the Natural Optimization and Creative departments. www.unrealmarketing.com
Add to these social bookmarking sites: 
MORE RESOURCES:
Guaranteed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Services by UniSoft ... - NewDesignWorld (press release)
SEO - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
If You Could Submit Just One Page To The Search Engines Which Should It Be? Listen. Some make submitting pages to search engines sound like the fast track to search engine ranking nirvana. Googles PR System Explained The complexities of Google's PR (Page Ranking) System have grown more difficult to understand since the Hilltop Algorithm was introduced. This beginner's guide to the PR system explains the basics of what PR is, what it does, and how it affects your site's rankings. Search Engine Optimisation: The Soon to be Impossible Dream! There are today search engine and internet marketing services, in fact a new industry has materialised to exploit the fear of low search rankings.This is not a new trend, back when simply resubmitting your website to the engines resulted in keeping your site at the top of the index, there was an accompanying boom in resubmitting "companies", as we know, these were just men in back bedrooms with a host of CGI and Perl submitting scripts and a timetable. 7 Steps to Highly Relevant, Search Engine Friendly, and People Useful Web Site Content The task is to build a Content Rich Search Friendly and People Friendly Web Site Quickly. These 7 Steps will show you how with about 10 Hours work you can build over 50 pages of rich, Search Engine relevant content for your web SiteStep 1 - What is Your Web Site's Main ThemeThis is a Fairly easy step. The Best and Easiest Google-Friendly Change to Your Web Site No matter who you are or how much you pay for web site advertising, free search engine traffic is probably responsible for a big part of your business. So why make your web site so hard for search engines to figure out?Luckily, it seems like in the recent years people have paid attention to SEO, moved their sites over to CSS, abolished "table" and "font" HTML tags, started using the H1 tag around their titles. The Myth of Rankings - Beyond Search Engine Optimization What follows is a condensed version of a conversation that happens all too frequently when I am approached by a prospect interested in search engine optimization (SEO):Prospect: We need our website optimized, because we aren't showing up for any searches. Me: What searches have you tried? Prospect: We don't show up for ANYTHING. Google Local Search And The Impact On Natural Optimization With the advent of Google Local, a service that helps Web users find local businesses by typing in a search term and a city name, many questions arise concerning its impact on Natural Optimization.Google Local tracks down local stores and businesses by searching billions of pages across the Web, and then cross-checking these findings with Yellow Pages information to locate the local resources Web users wish to access. Why Articles Are Not The Route To High Search Engine Rankings If you have any interest in getting high search engine rankings for your website (and who doesn't) you've probably been sold the idea that writing and publishing your own articles will do it for you. Here's why that's not entirely true. Search Term Suggestion Tool Overture.com offers a cool function to assist you on your quest to find unique keywords. Easy Web Tips How can you be found on the web?The web is a necessity as we have mentioned before. It has become one of the things that you will be asked about in almost every meeting you have with clients. Get a Number One Google Ranking With This Simple Technique You probably do this already - complete regular searches in Google for your key phrases and see how high you rank. It's well known that the first three results are far and away the sites that get the most clicks. 9 Ways to Keep Google Happy A recent Google patent application has the SEO community buzzing. At a bare minimum this document reveals the direction Google is taking its future search criteria. Choosing your Meta-Keywords Introduction This article assumes you already know what a 'meta-tag keyword' is and know a little about their importance to search engines. In this article I will attempt to explain the art of choosing the most appropriate and best performing keywords for your web pages. World of Website Promotion Website promotion is a big and ongoing process. Every person who has website should have little knowledge about various elements involved in website promotion even if he had hired a SEO. Optimizing Online Catalog Copy for the Search Engines It only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site. Search Engine Position Report Since search engines are the first stop for people on the Internet looking for goods or services, the position your website appears in search results is an important factor. If your URL shows up far down the results list, the chances of the consumer never finding you increase incrementally. How to Pick an SEO Firm If you're looking for an SEO firm, we recommend that you weigh 10 factors that can save you trouble down the road.1. SEO Quickstart - 3 Things You can Do to Improve Search Engine Rankings Right Now Increasing your search engine rankings should certainly be one of your main goals if you are looking to increase your targeted traffic. The reason for this is if you improve your search engine rankings, you'll increase the amount of visitors your website receives, and when you increase traffic to your site you are going to increase customers and sales. The Ultimate Free Google Ranking Tool The first months my website was online, I was constantly checking the search engines to see if my site was listed under the keywords that I was targeting. And always with the same negative results. Effective Search Engine Use The Internet is a wonderful place full of resources that can be really helpful for us.The best way for finding information is through a virtual search engine.
|
| Home | Site Map |
|
| © 2008 | |
