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The 2011 Google Places Slangbook
Fine, so maybe it’s not yet a book of Google Places slang. But “book” just sounds better than “compendium.” Whatever you want to call it, I’ve written it for two purposes: Purpose 1: To show that we...
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9 Secrets for Easier and Faster Local Citation Gathering
You already know citation-gathering is crucial to your local ranking in Google Places, and you know at least the basics of how to get citations for your business. That’s not the problem. The problem...
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Top UK Local-Business Directories (AKA Citation Sources)
You chaps and dames in the UK may drive on the wrong side of the road and confuse beer with cocoa (only one of which should be served warm!), but at least the challenge of getting a business visible in...
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Cold Hard Numbers on How Third-Party Reviews Help Google Places Rankings
Customer reviews are crucial to your local rankings and overall success in Google Places, as you may know. You need reviews that customers write directly on your Google Places page, and you need...
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IYP Ranking Factors: Getting Visible in Local-Biz Directories
IYPs – short for “Internet Yellow Pages” – get a bum rap. Some of it is true: Yes, they’re directories, not search engines. Yes, some of them are mere flies on the windshield of Google. Yes, we often...
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Local Citations / Business Directories for Specific Ethnicities and...
Any business owner who’s tried to get visible to customers in local search has noticed the huge number and variety of citation sources out there (AKA places to list your business). We all know that...
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State of the Most-Important Local Search Sites (Mid-2013)
A lot has changed in the last few months in the world of local search. All of it affects your efforts to get visible to local customers. I’m not even talking about Google+ Local. Like Oprah’s weight,...
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"Will Google Devalue Local Citations?" My Short Answer
Hendrik Vos of Online Business Builders asked me a great question yesterday: “I wonder how far off 100% is the probability that Google eventually ends up treating all these manufactured citations/...
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BBB Accreditation: Boring But Bumps Your Local SEO
I may be unpopular for saying this…. But here goes: You should consider getting accredited by the Better Business Bureau. It can help your local visibility (if you’re in the US or Canada). Mind you, I...
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The Best [BLEEP]in’ Local Link Questionnaire
You need at least a few good links to rank well in Google Places and beyond. Especially post-Pigeon update, and especially if you’re in a competitive local market. But that’s easier said than done....
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Google Helpouts Didn’t Have Time to Bleed
Google Helpouts and Jesse Ventura’s character in Predator have much in common: They both showed early promise, but got killed off way too soon. Well, on second thought, I guess that’s all they have in...
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How to Use Wildcard Searches for Local Keyword-Research: Lightning Round with...
Two little characters – the asterisk ( * ) and the underscore ( _ ) can help your keyword-research. Simply add them to various search terms you type into Google when researching keywords, and...
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20 Local SEO Techniques You Overlooked (Almost)
We local-SEO geeks talk about the same old basic principles a little too much: clean up your citations, don’t get penalized by Google, be mobile-friendly, earn “local” links, create “unique” content,...
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Which Local Review Sites Are on Your Side?
Not all review sites play games with customers and business owners. In that way, Yelp and Google+ are outliers. Reviews there are important, of course. But if you run into difficulty getting reviews...
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Who Can Write You an Online Review – Besides Customers?
Tricky question. Let’s start with the obvious gold standard: your customers write openly about their experiences with you in online reviews, and you did such a good job for them that those reviews...
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Lipstick on a Pig: Google Places “Report a Problem” Requests Now Rejected...
A couple days ago, Colan of Imprezzio Marketing reported that the next-to-useless “Report a problem” feature in Google Places had been revamped. I was excited. After all, Google made it easier to...
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Pasting or Embedding Google Reviews on Your Site: Will They Get Filtered?
For a few years now, people like me have told clients and others that it’s probably not a good idea to copy their Google reviews and paste them onto their site as testimonials. The concern is that...
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Hauling in More Local Customers…Even When Your Wheels Are Spinning
That’s the name of the talk I gave at MN Search yesterday. I covered 25 quick wins for attracting more local customers when you don’t know what to do next. Some of my suggestions are for local...
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25 Principles of Building Effective City Pages for Local SEO
So you want to create “city pages” to attract local customers in places where you don’t have an office. How can you make those pages attract customers rather than repulse them, rank well in the...
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Best Search Operators for Digging up Duplicate Local Citations
To claim your seat at the Local Feast, your citations need to be more or less correct. But you can’t fix those listings if you can’t find them. Tools are unreliable. Even the excellent Moz Local...
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