Category: Search Engine Marketing

Local SEO Info Google Has Now Hidden: Top 50 Citation Sources

We recently posted an article about ranking higher in local search results by increasing citations for your business. Well, since then we came across some useful info we thought would supplement that article well.

According to Search Engine Land, BrightLocal conducted a major Citation Analysis Project between March and May of 2011. The results are based on over 480,000 Google Places listings in 100 different locations. They found over 1 million local citation sources, but narrowed the list down to 15,000. Some of these sources proved to be very effective citation opportunities as they appeared hundreds of thousands of times within Google’s citation index. Google since removed citation content from Google Places profiles and this information is no longer available to the public.

The following table is a list of the Top 50 US Citation Sources. The frequency count refers to the number of times each domain was identified on the Google Places listings analyzed.

Top 50 US Citation Sources


Search Engine Land also provides a table of the top 50 citation sources in the UK.

Furthermore, Search Engine Land provides a chart of the 5 most important factors for Local Search ranking:

No Comments by Seth on January 12, 2012
filed in Business, Google, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
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Boosting Your Web Presence – All In a Picture (And Some Words)

If you’re looking for a clearer picture of local SEO and creating a web presence, then you’ll appreciate this “Web Equity” infographic created by Mike Blumenthal and Mike Robertson. It’s an interesting organization of the sometimes overwhelming subject of local SEO and different ways to acquire citations. Be sure to read the overview and explanation of terms as there is some good info in there. Check out this previous post explaining how to get citations if you’re interested.
Web Equity Infographic

 

 

No Comments by Seth on January 4, 2012
filed in Business, Local Search, Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
tagged , , , , ,

Paid Search: See The Future – 2012 and Beyond


 

Q: Why should I pay for clicks Doc?

A: Great Scott Marty!  Here’s 34 billion reasons!

 

 

 

It’s New Year’s time, which as always means it’s time for reflection and projection. So here we are… back to the future (of paid search).

The infographic below is a great illustration of how paid search has become one of the biggest channels for modern day advertising, and how it’s projected to grow rapidly. As you’ll see, the now $34 billion paid search industry has already surpassed radio, outdoor, and cinema advertising. It’s been projected to grow to a $61 billion industry by 2016 which very well might make it the biggest in advertising. So it’s gotta be working for somebody right?!

++ Click Image to Enlarge ++
The Future of Paid Search

Source: The Future of Paid Search Infographic

No Comments by Seth on January 2, 2012
filed in Adwords, Business, Google, Marketing, Pay Per Click, Search Engine Marketing
tagged , , , ,

How to Get 60 Characters in Your Text Ad Headline with Adwords!

That’s right!

Google has introduced a new way of displaying text ads in the top paid search positions.

All you have to do is:

  1. Get your ad to rank in the top positions above organic search results (position 1, 2 or sometimes 3)
  2. End the first description line of your text ad in some kind of punctuation

This new feature will pull the text from your first description line and plant it along side the headline of your ad. Google will do this automatically as long as the above criteria are met.

Why would Google make this change?

My guess is, well… money. This will encourage more advertisers to bid higher as the top ad positions could now be considered even more desirable.

How will this affect your ad campaigns?

For starters, you can approach writing ads a little differently.  Make sure you have punctuation in the first description line for ads that are ranking high.  You can consider writing your headline and first description line as one cohesive sentence. However, this could turn out badly if your ad doesn’t rank above the organic search.

One possible positive outcome from this new feature is that your ads can more closely resemble organic search results. This could potentially improve click through rates.

Also, this brings about new implications for DKI {Dynamic Keyword Insertion}. Play around with this, and see how your ads perform.

Good luck!

No Comments by Seth on April 22, 2011
filed in Adwords, Business, Google, Pay Per Click, Search Engine Marketing
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