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Hyperlocal search strategy is an often underlooked market for many local businesses - especially the local service industry. If you are a plumber in Des Moines, IA and you aren't in the "local listings" when you search "des moines, ia plumber" - than the people companies listed are stealing business from you... Even if you are the #1 organic search result

The top web search results are buried by three local search results. If you're a local business, and you want to get traffic, you'd better get placement in that 'three box' (or in some cases, 'ten box') that shows local results. On the bright side, this version of universal search gives you yet another way to hop, skip and jump right past all the other web search results. All you need to know is how to best position your site for a local search listing.

The study found that local search - the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services - grew 58% in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall core US web searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21% year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008.

With more than 120 million blogs in existence, how do people find YOUR content on the Internet? The key starts with great search engine optimization (SEO), which is an art and a science that helps search engines discover your content and understand how relevant it is to specific search queries.

With more than 120 million blogs in existence, how do people find YOUR content on the Internet? The key starts with great search engine optimization (SEO), which is an art and a science that helps search engines discover your content and understand how relevant it is to specific search queries.

Great rundown on what keyword research means and 7 tips on how to increase traffic using effective keyword techniques. Great ideas for the SEM aspect of your web strategy

Keywords are phrases for which you would want your blog to be found in search engine results. Keywords help your blog get recognized by search engines, and as a result, help your potential customers find your blog. Your keywords are what you would expect your target audience to search for to find your blog content. Keyword research means researching the phrases that are going to be used by your potential customer to find your blog in a search engine. Keyword research should result in a set of keyword phrases that you should target in your blog content.

Today at Searchology, Google has launched a search results enhancement called "rich snippets" that uses meta data from web pages (from microformats such as hCard, hCalendar, and RDF) to display additional details (both content and meaning) about pages in the results. This initial launch supports reviews (with sites such as Yelp) and people (with sites such as LinkedIn). They will be adding more sites and categories over time.

An excellent post about localized search engine optimization and all the ways your small business can target local search. The items are prioritized so you know which to focus on first.

It is my hope that this study will help small business owners confused by Local Search, or those strapped for time, to prioritize their marketing efforts.

Great list of terms dealing with Google Local search results and local SEO

A collection of terms and definitions from a number of Google's patent filings on Local Search (not everything discussed in these patent applications have been incorporated into Google Local search - but the interesting thing about many of these patent filings is exploring whether or not they may have been).

Just a reminder for those searching for niche-related content and inspiration for such content - Google has very deep tools available to help. Google Alerts and Blog Search are fantastic, as are the Books searches, just as examples to get you fired up!

This fall, Mike Moran and Bill Hunt released the 2nd edition of their book Search Engine Marketing, Inc: Driving search traffic to your company's web site. The guide is 600+ pages and packed with practical, applicable information. I've worked my way through it once and now am heading back in to begin implementing some of their strategies.

Find out what people are saying - Forum search

Sometimes organic search seems straight forward, type in a keyword and returned is a list of 10 recommended websites. Of course, getting to the top isn't so simple, but the notion that once you arrive at the top, traffic will ensue is a hypothesis hard to deny. Local search results don't play into this scheme. They have variables such as size of the map, and definition of a region's center that combine with trust, a citation, or sometimes what I call "sureness factors" to determine what businesses should be recommended.

According to a report on search engine results from Forrester Research: "on the keywords for which Google offers video results, any given video in the index stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index." Not only is video invaluable to getting your web presence better exposure in search engines, but video is the most compelling way to tell your story and inspire potential visitors.

Search Marketing investment is a staple of an effective web strategy and the "build it and they will come" strategy does not work. No matter how good your product, content, or website is - they will not come unless you invest in your SEM web strategy.

It appears a large proportion of small business owners are still stuck in the "build it and they will come" mentality. The study highlights that most small businesses have developed websites, but have done little more to enhance their online business presence. According to the report, over 59% of small business owners who own websites don't use paid search marketing, and of those, a whopping 90% have never tried it.

Great post about the importance of content in a small biz SEO strategy

anking well in the search engines when prospects are out there searching for the kinds of solutions you provide has become an essential component of the marketing mix... When it comes to simple SEO for your small business remember this math formula - Content+Competition+Customer = Conversion

More than 80% of marketing executives say email, search marketing, and display ads are their company's top performing advertising channels, and many plan to increase spending on them in 2009, according to a survey from Datran Media.

Twitter is a great resource for doing research...

Twitter search for Web Strategy

If you pay close attention to the source and the type of traffic you get in your blog, you should be able to find if the majority is from direct referral or organic traffics from search engines. Organic traffics from search engines convert good to CPC, but visitors who visit your site on regular bas

Search engine optimization has changed dramatically over the past few years. The shift is from one of web page optimization and link hounding to content and engagement optimization. In short, search engine optimization and social media are now undeniably intertwined. It has become extremely difficult to achieve any measure of success for important keyword phrases without the use of social media.

Think local. Depending upon who you listen to, somewhere between 20% and 40% of all searches have a local component-a place name, or some other inferred geographic qualifier. So, what's your catchment area, what are the towns, villages, locations, urban areas, landmarks, counties, states, and even countries that you're looking to serve? Add those to your list too

Clickbank opportunities showing top ten per category. Seek gravity over 100 and low refund rate (earned per sale near or better than commission amount)