David Mihm of Moz - Establishing Your Brand on the Local Search Frontier at SIC2013

Establishing Your Brand On the Local Search Frontier

David  Mihm  

Sea,le  Interac3ve  Conference  October  28  2013  

for local search

Where  things  stand  in  2013  

http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/rkg-digital-marketing- report-q1-2013-released/09042013/

Where  things  stand  in  2013  

Where  things  stand  in  2013  

December 4, 2012 May 6, 2013

Where  things  stand  in  2013  

Where  things  stand  in  2013  

http://moz.com/blog/evolution-of-the-local-algorithm-whiteboard-friday

Establishing Your Foundation

BRAND

WEBSITE LOCATION

Store Locator, KML, Site Architecture

Google Places For Business

Google Plus Authorship, Publisher

The  Most  Cri3cal  Part  of  Your  Journey  

Establishing Your Foundation

???

The  Website  <-­‐>  Loca3on  Connec3on  

Tradi3onal  directory  (at  least  as  an  alterna3ve)    Unique  page  for  each  loca1on  

Establishing Your Foundation

On-­‐Page  Op3miza3on:  Here  are  the  basics.  [[Brand Name Here]] – Portland (SE Hawthorne) – Buy Blue Widgets In-Shop

http://www.bluewidgets.com/shops/us/portland/hawthorne

Blue Widgets Store – Hawthorne 2500 SE Hawthorne Blvd Portland, OR 97214 555 555-5555 Branch Manager: John Neville John.neville@bluewidgets.com

See this location on Google Maps Nearest other Portland store locations: •  Blue Widgets Portland (Gresham) •  Blue Widgets Portland (Jantzen Beach) •  Blue Widgets Beaverton

RECEIVE 10% OFF YOUR WIDGET WITH THIS AD CALL 555-555-5555 AND MENTION THIS AD ([[COUPONNAME]])

Popular widgets carried by this store: Indigo Widget Baby Blue Widget Navy Widget

“Got a great deal on my blue widget!” --Kristine Williams from Gresham Have you been to our Hawthorne location? We love getting feedback! Tell us about your experience here

BLUE WIDGET BRANDING + NAVIGATION

Establishing Your Foundation

On-­‐Page  Op3miza3on:  Here  are  the  basics.  

Establishing Your Foundation

[[Brand Name Here]] – Portland (SE Hawthorne) – Buy Blue Widgets In-Shop http://www.bluewidgets.com/shops/us/portland/hawthorne

Blue Widgets Store – Hawthorne 2500 SE Hawthorne Blvd Portland, OR 97214 555 555-5555 Branch Manager: John Neville John.neville@bluewidgets.com

See this location on Google Maps Nearest other Portland store locations: •  Blue Widgets Portland (Gresham) •  Blue Widgets Portland (Jantzen Beach) •  Blue Widgets Beaverton

RECEIVE 10% OFF YOUR WIDGET WITH THIS AD CALL 555-555-5555 AND MENTION THIS AD ([[COUPONNAME]])

Popular widgets carried by this store: Indigo Widget Baby Blue Widget Navy Widget

“Got a great deal on my blue widget!” --Kristine Williams from Gresham Have you been to our Hawthorne location? We love getting feedback! Tell us about your experience here

BLUE WIDGET BRANDING + NAVIGATION

Title tag must include +Local Business Title

URL should be short but include city name at minimum

+Local Business Title should be in H1 tag

Code contact info schema.org

Include nearby locations for organic linkjuice + stronger location scent

Collect feedback; also push people to prominent local review sites (Yelp, Citysearch, G+, etc)

Embedded MyPlaces map

Congratulations! You’re ready to embark.

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Author  &  Publisher  Rela3onships  

Author markup Website information Plus page Place information

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Author  &  Publisher  Rela3onships  

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Authorship  

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Authorship  

Congratulations! You’ve made the Website <-> Brand Connection

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

NAP  –  Name,  Address,  Phone  number  

+W  (Website)  

Cita3ons  

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

NAP  –  Name,  Address,  Phone  number  

+W  (Website)  

Remember  

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Tier  One  Data  Providers    Infogroup (expressupdateusa.com) Localeze (webapp.localeze.com) Acxiom (mybusinesslistingmanager.com) Factual (factual.com)

nSphere Hotfrog Yellow Pages YellowBook Insider Pages Kudzu Manta MojoPages YellowBot MerchantCircle Foursquare

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Bing Business Portal Yahoo! Local (Local newspaper online directory) (Local radio station online directory) (Local TV station online directory) (Local Chamber online directory) Better Business Bureau Superpages Yelp Local.com Citysearch

Tier  Two  Cita3on  Sources  

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Congratulations! You’ve developed the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Slide courtesy Matt McGee, SmallBusinessSEM.com

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

From  managers  /  business  owners:  • Answer  Top  10  ques3ons  asked  in-­‐store.  (h/t  Aaron  Weiche,  Spyder  Trap)  

• Pull  from  Facebook  pages.  

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

From  customers:  • Video  tes3monials  with  transcripts  • Filtered  Yelp  reviews  

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

From  events:  

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

From  open-­‐source  datasets:  

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

https://github.com/ericfischer/geotools/blob/master/cleanse.c http://www.socrata.com/customer-spotlight/

http://propublica.org/tools

http://data.gov/opendatasites

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

http://www.mapbox.com/labs/twitter-gnip/locals/#13/45.5291/-122.5903 http://labratrevenge.com/

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Comparisons:  

DraZing  Compelling  Content  

Congratulations! You’ve developed frontier-worthy content.

Congratulations! You’ve developed frontier-worthy content.

Congratulations! You’ve developed frontier-worthy content.

Congratulations! You’ve developed frontier-worthy content.

Website Location Data

Compelling Content (usually enough in non-competitive markets)

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

• (Hopefully,  an  extension  of  your  share-­‐worthy  content)  

• College,  school  discounts  

Link-­‐  &  Cita3on-­‐building  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Linkbuilding  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Linkbuilding  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

• Custom  Searches  

Link-­‐  &  Cita3on-­‐building  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Link-­‐  &  Cita3on-­‐building  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Some  starter  ideas:  -­‐  art/gallery  shows  [photos/videos]  -­‐  sports  teams  [photos/videos]  -­‐  yearbooks  -­‐  student  groups  /  compe33ons  /  journals  -­‐  dona3on  drop-­‐off  loca3ons  

Link-­‐  &  Cita3on-­‐building  at  a  Local  Level  

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Link-­‐  &  Cita3on-­‐building  at  a  Local  Level  

Congratulations! You have amplified your brand locally.

Adding the Social Layer

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 1 - Reviews

A  Smarter  Review  Process  

YES NO

Competitive analysis

Accepts Facebook login

Syndicates far and wide

Send direct links

Send direct link

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 1 - Reviews

http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/10/24/comparison-of-local-review-sites-where-should-you-focus-now/

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 1 - Reviews

In-­‐Store  Experience  Now  Front-­‐and-­‐Center  

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 2 - Facebook

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 2 - Facebook

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 2 - Facebook

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 3 - Twitter

https://twitter.com/search?q=insurance%20near%3A"97209"%20within%3A15mi

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 3 - Twitter

Adding the Social Layer: Pass 3 - Twitter

Most influential followers in Portland

Congratulations! You’ve added the social layer.

Building Relationships

Building Relationships: Barlow Road

Holy crap!

Building Relationships: Barlow Road

Building Relationships: The Fun Way

Find me: Yelp Users Who have taken the time to set up a custom profile Located in Portland Likely to be Elite Who list their Twitter handle *not foolproof

site:yelp.com/user_details “.yelp.com” intitle:portland "elite '13" my blog or website twitter.com

Finding  the  Local  Influencers  

Building Relationships: The Fun Way

Finding  the  Local  Influencers  

YOUR LOCAL SEARCH JOURNEY IS COMPLETE

Build relationships

Add the social layer

Develop frontier-worthy content

Amplify your local brand

Establish brand <-> location

Establish brand <-> website

Store locator, location pages

Establishing Your Foundation

Making the Website <-> Brand Connection

Developing the Brand <-> Location Connection

Developing Frontier-Worthy Content

Amplifying Your Brand at a Local Level

Adding the Social Layer

Building Relationships

YOUR LOCAL SEARCH JOURNEY IS COMPLETE