Tag Archives: local seo strategies

This is an archive of all the posts on the Local Splash Blog that deal with specific strategies for local SEO

5 Expert Link Building Strategies to Use in 2011

Last Updated On June 2nd, 2023Local SEO, Newsletters, , ,

link buildingLink building is an important part of boosting your SEO and climbing to the top of the Google rankings. The more links leading back to your Website, the more people are likely to see your site and choose to do business with your company. Also, when search engines see that a business has a lot of links leading back to their Website, they view the business as more credible, thus rewarding the business with higher search engine rankings.

The higher ranking your listing can get in the Google results, the more business you will receive. As locals are searching for your services or products, your business will appear above your competitors and you will soon dominate the market in your area.

Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of all the link building strategies available to you? Here are the top 5 ways you can boost your back link numbers this year:

1. Write press releases. Writing and submitting press releases about your company’s announcements, events, new product offerings, accomplishments, etc. will not only let your target audience know what’s going on with your company, but it will also get you quality back links that last. It will cost your company some money to distribute your press release ($200-$300 at least) depending on which sites you choose and where you press release will be sent, but it is well worth it for the SEO boost press releases provide.

2. Utilize social media networks. Putting a link to your Website on your social media networks (Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, LinkedIn profile, YouTube videos, Foursquare, etc.) is a great (and free) way to boost your links. Also taking advantage of social bookmarking Websites such as Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Google Bookmarks, etc. also allows you to build links for free. Make sure to submit any press releases or videos to social bookmarking sites to maximize your SEO opportunities.

3. Get listed in quality directories. Local Splash submits your business listing to a variety of directories such as Google Places, Merchant Circle, SuperPages, Yahoo! Local, Yelp, etc. There are an endless amount of quality directories to list your business and most of them are free. Local Splash will also submit our clients to industry specific directories. For instance, Vast is a directory just for businesses in the auto and travel industry. Each directory your business is listed in provides one quality back link to your Website. Remember more quality back links equals better SEO and higher rankings.

4. Create a blog. If you don’t already have a blog for your business, it’s time for you to create one. Not only does a blog help you connect with your target audience and establish credibility within your industry, but it also helps with link building. Use keywords when writing and link those keywords to relevant pages on your Website. About 80% of blog visitors are first time visitors who found your blog when in search of specific information. That’s a lot of first time visitors that could potentially check out your Website and in turn, become clients. The fact that blogging helps with link building is simply an added bonus.

5. Write and submit articles. Article writing and submission helps with creating an online image, building credibility for your business and link building. Write expert articles that deal with tips and tricks of the trade or industry news and include a short description summary of your business complete with URL at the end of every article. Then submit your article to directories such as Ezine Articles and Article Dashboard to boost your permanent links.

If you haven’t begun working on link building for your Website, 2011 is the year to start. New Internet marketing techniques are developed every day and the power of marketing online is unlike any other. With the help of Local Splash, your business will be able to reach the top of the search engine page rankings in no time.

More Tips for Creating Effective Web Content to Maximize Your Online Marketing Efforts

Local Search Techniques, Web Content, , , , ,

Creating effective content for your website is the key to turning visitors into customers. In order to entice your potential customers to buy, you need to make sure your content is engaging. Engaging content on your website as well as your social media networks, articles and blogs will entice readers to interact and form a more personal connection with the company. This will encourage customers to buy from you and continue to buy from you in the future. In our previous blog we shared some tips on how to fix boring content and make it engaging. Here are some more things to keep in mind when creating new content.

1. Concentrate on benefits not products. People do not want to know about what your product does. They want to know what your product will enable them to do. Remember that 95% of the information on your website should be concentrating on your customer. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What problem do they have that your product or service can solve? Make sure to answer that important question in your content.

2. Keep it short. It is a proven fact that online readers like to skim over content, reading bullet points and headlines rather than full paragraphs. Try to keep your content short (200-500 words). People are more likely to invest the time it takes to read a 300-word blog post rather than a 10-page article.

3. Recycle your content. If you write a long article, make a few slight changes and turn it into two or three blog posts. If you write a how-to blog, use the same content to create a short video. This will help you get more content on the web in no time.

4. Simple content rules, complicated content drools. Although you are an expert in your field, constantly using industry buzzwords and lingo might confuse your customers and bore them to death. Keep in mind that your customers don’t know much about your field, which is why they’re trusting your company to provide a service or product that will take care of it for them. Even the most basic thing to you could be complicated to them, so make sure to explain every aspect of your writing. Then to spice it up, use comparisons, anecdotes and examples they can relate to in order to make your point.

Keeping these things in mind while writing your web content will help to make sure you write engaging articles, blogs, press releases, social media posts and web copy to maximize your online marketing efforts and gain (and keep) the attention of the people who matter most, your customers.

Google Places Now Confirms Edits with Business Owner

Last Updated On June 4th, 2023Local Maps SEO,

Google Places - Change Notification

Google Places - Community Edit Notification

Google Places - Change Confirmation

Google Places now confirms community edits with the verified owner prior to making the change.

Verified business owners are made aware of pending updates to their Places business listing.  Google Places prompts the business owner asking if the change is accurate.  If no decision is made by a certain date, Google will automatically assume that the change is correct.

Previously, Google would autonomously make changes without input from the business owner.  Efforts to ensure the quality and accuracy of business listings have increased and evolved. Google has even instituted manual techniques, a very un-Google like approach for a company that typically develops fully automated techniques that don’t rely upon its own workers to provide case-by-case decisions.

Allowing the business owner to approve or decline community edits is critical to ensure local business listings are not erroneously altered (or removed) which could have been submitted for ulterior motives such as a business competitor.