Tag Archives: local seo techniques

This is collection of posts from the Local Splash Blog that cover specific local SEO techniques.

How to Determine Whether a Google+ Local Page Has Been Claimed and Verified

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local SEO, , , , ,

Ever since Google made the transition from Google Places to Google+ Local it’s been hard to determine whether a business page has been claimed and verified. Local Splash’s tech team looked into this and discovered how to tell if a page has been claimed and verified.

It doesn’t matter whether a business has been claimed of verified, it always contains the “Is This Your Business?” section with the “Manage this page” button:

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The way to tell whether the page has been claimed and verified is to click on the “Manage this page” button. The page you see after that determines whether the page is claimed and verified.

If the page is claimed and verified, clicking “Manage this page” will take you to the Phone Lookup page:

Ownerverified2

If the page has not been claimed and verified, after clicking the “Manage this page” button you’ll arrive at the Place Page Claim page.

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Exception to this rule: The above is true as long as the Google account you are signed into has not claimed any prior Google+ Local pages. If you have previously claimed (claimed, not verified) any pages, then clicking the “Manage this page” button will take you to your Google Places dashboard.

5 Local Search Tips to Start Using Today

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local SEO, , , , , , ,

Local search marketingLocal search matters. According to Google, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. A study by comScore stated that 61% of searchers consider local search results to be more relevant and 58% think they’re more trustworthy. Eyetrack studies prove that users’ eyes go straight to the Maps results in Google when viewing the search results. These are just a few reasons why your business should have a local search campaign. Here are 5 local SEO tips you can start using today to help your business get found:

1. Track your rankings. Use software or reporting tools that allow you to monitor your rankings on different search engines and compare. Check out which cities are working best for you and concentrate on them. Also see what people are typing in to find you and focus on those keywords.

2. Create local-targeted landing pages. This allows you to optimize for searchers in a specific location or those searching with that location name in their query.

3. Claim your business listing on multiple directories including Google Places, Yahoo Local, Yelp, Merchant Circle, Superpages, About Us. Make sure you fill out your business profile completely on each of these sites.

4. Get active on social media. Combining social media with local search efforts with increase the time in which you see success. If you don’t have a company blog, start one! 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog. Link from your social media networks to your website to drive traffic.

5. Enhance your listings and landing pages with coupons. Give your potential customers an incentive to try out your business rather than your competitors’.

Google Updates Its Search Algorithm to Punish Copyright Violators

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Search Engine News, , , , , , , ,

Google piracy updateGoogle recently updated its search algorithm to take into consideration the number of valid copyright removal notices it receives for any given site. Websites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in Google results, according to a post by Amit Singhal, Google’s Vice President of Engineering, in the Official Google Blog. The update is meant to help users find legitimate, quality content when searching on Google rather than pirated, copyright violations.

This algorithm change follows heavy criticism Google has been receiving from the entertainment industry about copyright infringement.

According to the blog, Google re-booted its copyright removals two years ago and is now getting more data from copyright owners about infringement online. Google plans to use this data in its search rankings from now on. The blog points out that although the changes to the algorithm will influence the ranking of some search results, Google will not remove any pages from the results unless it receives a valid copyright removal notice from the rights owner.

“Only copyright owners know if something is authorized and only courts can decide if a copyright has been infringed. Google cannot determine whether a particular webpage does or does not violate copyright law,” wrote Singhal.

What do you think of the new algorithm update?