Archive for yelp
A Look at Why InfoUSA, and Others Are So Important in Local Search
Posted by: | CommentsDavid Mihm has some of the best information about local search on the web. This is another great post with practical advice for local search optimization. -Editor
Frequent readers know that for five months a year, I have college basketball on the brain. But while the hardwood is vacant, I happily fix my gaze upon the college gridiron for a few months.
- Writers, coaches, and the computers all weigh at 33%, creating a ranking of the top teams in the country.
- Five bowls are designated as “BCS” and each pays out a ridiculous sum of money to the conferences and 10 teams who are represented in them.
- The traditional powerhouse conferences in NCAA football — the SEC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-10 — are known as “BCS” leagues because the champion of each automatically earns a berth in the BCS Bowl system.
- There are four “at-large” positions available to teams from smaller conferences (Boise State being the most notable at-large by virtue of its win over Oklahoma in 2007.), but these tend to be filled by some combination of runners-up in the power leagues, too.
- (Side note: Why college football doesn’t just do away with the BCS and just have a selection committee is beyond my comprehension.)
My assertion with this article is that the college football BCS serves as a great analogy for Local Search–only in this case BCS stands for “Best Citation Sources.” For those unfamiliar with my use of the word ‘Citation’ as it pertains to Local Search, please check out my initial post on Citations from last month.
Let me explain why I think the Best Citation Source analogy is so appropriate:
- It doesn’t always work out to each factor having 33% influence, but Local Business Listing information, On-Page SEO Criteria, and Off-Page SEO Criteria are the three main contributors in the Local Search algorithms. Kind of like the coaches, writers, and computers in the football BCS.
- As with the BCS bowl system, there are 10 sites selected for inclusion in the Google Local 10-pack.
- The top 10 Local results all pay out ridiculous amounts of traffic (and hopefully profit if you’ve got a good website!).
- The sites that are referenced by the “Best Citation Sources” have a disproportionate chance of making it into the 10-pack ahead of those who are not cited by those sources.
So who makes up the BCS of the Local Search world, and why are they so important?
Here’s my take, anyway, in no particular order. Would love to hear all of your faves in the comments 
1) InfoUSA – InfoUSA is basically the original YellowPages data provider, and IMHO should be the starting point for any Local online business. Why? Lots and lots of what I would call “crappy” directory-style websites have purchased data from InfoUSA and published it online (and some good ones, too, like Yahoo Local and CitySearch). Just do a Google search for “business data provided by infoUSA” (in quotes) and add your city name at the end, and you will see what I mean. (Like this.) Listings in these kinds of directories that have scraped InfoUSA data often count as citations. Additionally, a large percentage of Local Business Listings will also show a citation from “daplus.us,” usually as the very last in the list. DaPlus is a subsidiary of infoUSA, according to their website. Here’s where to submit your business to InfoUSA »
2) Superpages.com – One of my clients recently moved offices, staying in the same city but a few blocks away to a more prominent space. I actually hadn’t done any Local optimization for them in quite a while, so I had to create a brand new listing for them in Superpages. In less than 10 days it was showing up as a “Web Page” citation in their Google Local Business Listing. That kind of speed leads me to believe that Google is spidering Superpages.com quite frequently. Superpages results also show up for incredibly uncompetitive searches. Signing up is free, quick, and painless. Here’s where to submit your business to Superpages »
3) Acxiom - See InfoUSA. Again, lots of crappy directories, in this case even more than from InfoUSA, have bought their data set from Acxiom. Look at this search. And again, lots of those directories show up as citations. The problem is, with Acxiom, there’s no way to submit your business. I’ll buy a beer for, and happily link to the website of, the first person who can lay out for us how to submit to Acxiom’s data set online!
4) Localeze – Localeze is an interesting case. I believe they inked a distribution deal with Yahoo awhile back (though now I can’t seem to find that reference), and I know they signed one with ShopLocal.com recently, and (this is a biggie) they appear to be the main content provider that has seeded Marchex’s entire OpenList network. Check out this search. The Marchex network itself shows up with increasing frequency as citation material, and would be reason enough to submit to Localeze, even without any other distribution deals going forward. Basically, while I see InfoUSA and Acxiom as vestigial players from the print world who will eventually become obsolete, Localeze is the evolving organ that is poised to be a MAJOR player. So even though Localeze might not carry as much weight now, I encourage businesses to sign up with them for future success. Here’s how to submit your business to Localeze »
5) Yelp – As with SuperPages, the updated address for my own Yelp listing showed up in Google Local within 10 days of me changing it. I’m also seeing a lot of my clients’ competitors getting cited via Yelp…Google seems to be spidering it like CRAZY these days (maybe because they know they’ve got one of the best and most up-to-date Local data sets, at least on the West Coast?). Submitting your business to Yelp is difficult, but do a search for your business in your town, and if you don’t show up, look for the button at the bottom right side of the main content area that says “Add Business.”
6) InsiderPages – I’m a BIG fan of this website & I don’t think it gets nearly enough buzz in the SEO community. The ‘Web Pages’ tab for my own site shows a limited number of citations (I just updated with my new address in Portland last month), but InsiderPages is one of them. I think of it as sort of the Pac-10 of the Local SEO BCS. It’s rare that you see an InsiderPages result show up as a citation, but when you do see one, it carries a lot of weight (think USC vs. the rest of the Pac-10 conference). Interestingly enough, it looks like InsiderPages is an affiliate of CitySearch, judging by the links in the footer. Didn’t know that until today. Here’s where to submit your business to InsiderPages »
The best of the “Mid-Majors” :
Citysearch – Can be VERY powerful, and reviews are spidered very well. If I ever expand my BCS to a seventh site, this would be it. But it can be pricey (there are no free listings), especially in the larger metro areas, and if your goal is simply to rank well in the 10-pack, I think your money would be better invested elsewhere. I also think that CitySearch is becoming too large a player and either they’re going to fight Google on syndicating their content OR Google is going to stop showing CitySearch references because they’re building brand value for too great a competitor.
TripAdvisor - If you’re in the travel industry, this site is a MUST. Mary Bowling of Blizzard Internet would know more about SEO for this industry than I would, but I bet she’d agree.
DexKnows – Intuitively, it seems like I’m starting to see this site popping up more and more under the “Web Pages” tab, but I don’t have any hard data, or even any soft data, to back it up.
OpenList – See my comments above re:DexKnows AND Localeze…
I will say that the most important citation sources do seem to vary a good deal by industry. As I mentioned earlier, Hotels and Spas would do well to look at TripAdvisor. Restaurants get cited in Zagat’s. Lawyers get cited on Martindale-Hubbell’s Lawyers.com. Basically, if there’s a traditional print source that has served as a reference in your industry for decades, make sure you’re listed there. If their website has ANY kind of pulse (i.e. is not built in Flash or completely form-dependent), it’s likely to be crawled by the search engines and counted as a citation.
The best strategy you can use as a starting point for finding your own “BCS,” analogous to linkbuilding in traditional SEO, is to look at sites that are doing well in Local and where they are being cited. Lots of times if they’re standard directories, with just a little digging, you can be listed there as well.
http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/general-marketing/the-bcs-for-local-seo/
Best Free Local Search Listings For Your Business
Posted by: | Commentsby W.L Renn
The old saying used to be “if you build it they will come” well that doesn’t hold true anymore, with billions of websites on the internet and new ones popping up everyday, its kind of hard to get noticed. Good news is if you have a local business, the list below will help put your business on the search engine map locally and best of all the list is comprised of free listings.
Merchant Circle – is the largest social network for local business owners. Services include free online business listings, free marketing tools
Yelp – Allows local businesses to gain exposure and brand awareness through business or company reviews. Business owners can manage or enhance reviews listed within Yelp pages and can even join their word of mouth program.
Yokld – A local business social ranking platform allows merchants to list their business and have it voted on by other local social community members (sort of like Digg for local businesses). Listings appear within Yokld for community members to vote on and rank.
Tupalo – Allows users to add spots in their local area, rate and review those spots and receive feedback from the social community of users. Allows local businesses to increase word of mouth hype, exposure and brand awareness. Useful features available including recent reviews, photos, maps, popular stuff, recently added and recent users.
MojoPages – Allows business owners to review and get reviewed in MojoPages’ people powered yellow pages. Using intuitive search, helpful features and tools for users or businesses, anyone can find nearly any business and write a review.
LittleEngine.com – A local social community around small business for both patrons and business owners who want to support, connect, and communicate in a human-to-human manner.
Google Local Business Center- Allows business owners to add their company address location, hours of operation, storefront or product photos and more to Google. Listings appear within Google Maps and Business searches.
TrueLocal – Get your local business information listed including company description, website, specialties, hours, payments and more within TrueLocal search.
AOL Local – Allows merchant business owners to add their company information including name, phone, address and line of business within AOL Local.
Local.com – Allows local business owners to list company name, address, phone, email, website and relevant categories. Listings appear within the Local.com search results and participating affiliate sites.
Citysquares.com – Local search site designed to connect people with businesses. Allows users to find, rate and review businesses in local regions. Allows business owners to increase brand awareness, word of mouth exposure and overall online presence.
SuperPages - Allows business owners to list relevant information including location, hours, contacts, categories, optional enhancements and more.
BigBook – Allows local business owners to include relevant information such as name, location, phone, website and more. Free basic listing options along with paid listing enhancements.
InfoSpace YP - Get local business information listed within InfoSPace YP and affiliate sites. Include the business name, address, phone, email, site and other optional information. Listings appear within InfoSpace affiliates and SuperPages affiliates. Listing updates may take several weeks to display. Offers both free and paid enhanced listing options. Submit through SuperPages.
411.com – Allows merchants or local business owners to include relevant company information including name, contacts, location, website and more. Listings appear within 411.com and other SuperPages affiliates.
Switchboard.com – Allows business owners to list relevant information about their company including names, locations, contacts and other optional information about the company being listed. Listings appear within Switchboard.com, InfoSpace and SuperPages.
Yahoo Yellow Pages – Allows business owners to list and display company information including name, phone number, address and line of business or services offered. Listings appear within Yahoo Yellow Pages and other InfoUSA affiliates.
AnyWho – Get listed within AnyWho search services and YellowPages.com by listing your information including business name, location, phone, site and more.
Localeze – Allows local business owners to include their corporate information within over 40 of the largest search engines that provide local results. Offers a merchant profile manager with the ability to add, edit or delete listings easily.
MacRAE’s Blue Book – Allows companies to list detailed product or service headings, live links to sites, company email links, contact information, description and other important corporate information.
Yelp and Local Search
Posted by: | CommentsBy Mary Bowling, ClickZ, May 7, 2009
If you search for a local business on Google, Yahoo, or MSN, in one of the bigger cities in the United States, chances are excellent that a Yelp page or two will appear on the first page of the search results. Yelp ranks well in the big three search engines for local categories, including things like movies, nightclubs, massages, restaurants, oil changes, and much more.
Yelp is growing faster than Citysearch. Its monthly unique visitors have more than doubled in the past year and topped 20 million in February 2009. So what exactly is Yelp?
Yelp’s tagline, “Real Reviews, Real People,” explains it in a nutshell. It’s a Web site that originated in 2004 in the San Francisco Bay area where users are encouraged to leave their opinions about local businesses and events. Current estimates give Yelp credit for publishing over five million online reviews.
Yelp Reviewers
Since its beginning, Yelp has rewarded frequent and entertaining reviewers for their efforts. They sometimes throw parties for Yelpers and their guests, like the Yelpapalooza being held this week in Denver, with DJs, live local bands, free food, and drinks. Other events and perks are available to power reviewers. In Yelp’s own words, they reward their most active and influential members with status in a club called the Yelp Elite Squad.
Elite-worthiness is based on a number of things, some of which include well-written and personal reviews of local businesses and services, being accountable for those reviews (use of a real name and photo, etc.), creating useful lists, voting on reviews and complimenting other yelpers, and good citizenship on Yelp Talk.
Reviews by active participants in this online community receive greater prominence on the site and more weight in the algorithm. The reasoning is that the opinions of people who put themselves out there by proving that they are real people and not anonymous critics deserve more attention that those of one-time reviewers.
Many contributors are entertaining writers whose jabber appeals to the crowd. They tend to create lists identifying the best and worst businesses in certain categories of the cities they cover. They often participate in Yelp Talk, the site’s forum for asking and answering questions, sharing information among members, and socializing online. Elite Squad members tend to have a wide network of friends who value their opinions and some are so popular that hundreds of readers subscribe to their reviews. A thumbs up or thumbs down by a local influencer can go a long way toward making or breaking a neighborhood business, especially a new one.
Local Searchers
Searchers who land on Yelp pages can search by city and category. They can also drill down by neighborhood and see every business in that area that has at least one Yelp review. (A business can only get listed on the Web site by getting a review from a member, which is known as being “yelped.”) Visitors may then filter results by the best match, the highest rated, the most reviewed, price, distance and features, like parking, reservations, credit card acceptance, Wi-Fi, and the like.
Yelp gets its revenue from local businesses that advertise on the site. So, Yelp has to balance the opinions of users with the needs and wants of those advertisers, who, of course, want more customers. In a way, it’s like bar owners who make a living selling liquor, but at the same time must regulate its intake among their most dedicated consumers.
It’s a fine wire Yelp walks and it has been subject to criticism, such as accusations of extorting business owners to pay for advertising in order to remove poor reviews. Some frustrated business owners have tried to ban yelpers from their establishments because of the power they wield.
Local Businesses and Yelp
No matter what your personal opinion is of Yelp, if you have a local business, you need to manage your online presence there. Yelp probably ranks well for your best search terms and your customers and potential customers are finding Yelp reviews about you through the local search results. This will go on with or without you, so it’s better to be an active participant than to stick your head in the sand.
First, look for your business on Yelp. It will not be listed until it receives a review. If you have no reviews, encourage happy customers to talk about you there. Then, claim your listing by setting up a free business account. Your legitimacy will quickly be verified through a phone call from Yelp. Then, you can enhance your profile with details about your enterprise.
Business owners may not respond publicly to criticism by Yelpers. However, if a member is agreeable to receiving responses from the businesses they review, owners may e-mail them privately. This also provides an excellent avenue for thanking customers who leave good reviews.
Yelp also offers a sponsorship program, which can run from about $300 to $1,000 per month. This provides a presence in the sponsored search areas, enables the advertiser to choose one consumer-generated review to appear at the top of its own profile page, enables a business to enhance its page with a slideshow, and makes it possible to block a competitor’s sponsored ads from appearing on their page.
Start with Yelp’s guidelines for business owners . It explains how it all works and also gives good advice about how to conduct safe and effective online reputation management for your local business.
