I was doing some research for a Des Moines SEO case study and came across this nifty feature in Yelp. Finding and targeting local keywords is essential in a local internet marketing strategy. Yelp gives you a good insight into what people are searching for locally in your area.

To find these results you need to navigate to a city and scroll down to the bottom where the business listings are… Click on “Top Searches”

See what people are searching for in Des Moines, IA.

Do you have questions about using Yelp for local keyword research? Not sure what local keyword research is? Leave us a comment or jump into the forums!

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Are local listings part of your local internet marketing strategy?

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I needed a wireless router for my garage so naturally I head to Newegg – everyone’s favorite geek store – and ordered one a couple days ago.

(Ironically it’s being delivered as I write this)

The day after I ordered – I got this email from Newegg…

Click To Enlarge

Why Is This Good?

1. It’s highly relevant – both the timing and content
2. It’s an easy upsell – maybe I forgot to order an adapter!
3. It adds value beyond the product I purchased

Do you have examples of good email marketing? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

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We have teamed up with our internet business podcast parter Doug Mitchell to bring you a Free Small Business SEO webinar…

We’ll be covering everything you need to do to start optimizing your business for search – organic, mobile and social – by creating good content and optimizing your website.

Would you like to join us? Sign Up Here

It’s next Wednesday, March 24 at 12:00 Noon Central Time

Sign Up Now

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Here is a good email marketing example from Ace Hardware

Why does this work? It’s seasonal and it’s good, informative content that shows you why you need their products. They didn’t just send a promo for me to by grass seed and fertilizer – they are telling me why I need it through informative content.

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1. It’s a LOT of hard work
2. It takes months and years to yield results
3. There are no guarantees (so don’t fall for that from an “SEO” consultant)
4. It’s always changing
5. SEO projects never end – they are iterative -> implement, analyze, repeat

Got anything to add? Leave a comment or jump into the forums!

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A recent report from Opera (a web browser company) called “State Of The Mobile Web” determined that Google Search accounts for more than 9% of all page views on mobiles in the United States.  Add Bing and Yahoo mobile search share into the mix and you have almost 15% of mobile internet traffic being search.

Can you guess what someone may be searching for on a mobile? Local search results come to mind…

By default on mobile devices Google drops local search right into the top of the results.

Is your business listed in local directories? If not – you should get started now!

If you have any questions on local listings, please ask us in the comments or jump into the forums…

And if you need help… we offer a google local listing service…

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If it hasn’t been obvious to you over the last couple of months we think local is the next big thing. There are many reasons for this – from Google adding location filters into search and advances with Google Local Listings…

Beyond your local listings, you can target local through Google AdWords as well. If your business operates in a geographic based market – a localized PPC campaign on AdWords is a great way to run a low cost and high click-thru online advertising campaign.

What does that mean? It’s easy to keep a low budget and have a highly effective campaign if you target local. Here are two ways to get started.

1. Target Keywords In A Geographically Targeted Area

When setting up a Google AdWords campaign you can target keywords based on a specific geographic region. For instance – let’s say you are a plumber in des moines…

If you were to bid on the keyword “plumber” and not set a location you will

• Pay a lot of money for clicks
• And you will have irrelevant traffic = waste of money

However in AdWords there is an option to target ads based on geography under “Settings -> Locations”. Here you can drill down to states or cities you wish to target. Now if you bid on the keyword “plumber” your ad will only show up for people searching from that geographic region – in this case we chose the state of Iowa.

2. Target Localized Keywords

In our plumber’s case he can target localized keywords in AdWords rather than generic keywords. For instance – instead of targeting the high priced keyword “plumber” they can target “des moines plumber”. Not only does that keyword cost much less per click – you know you are getting relevant clicks on your ad. This makes for a higher conversion rate, meaning more people that click on your ad will end up buying from you.

Do you have any questions on local PPC or AdWords targeting? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

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Does this look odd to you?

Either Interstate Batteries are advertising their markup by blatantly stating they charge more than the Suggested Retail Price.

- OR -

Someone screwed up and hasn’t looked at it since…

Which do you think?

Confusing a user is the first way to get them to abandon your E-commerce site. Are you confusing your users?

Try ordering something from your own site and see if the process is confusing! When we told you to break up with your website we said the same thing… If you can’t use your site chances are your visitors can’t either.

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Google is taking another step in the local direction – once again making Google Local Listings even more important! They’ve just added a way to refine search results by location.

From Google’s press release…

Location has become an important part of the way we search. If you’re a foodie looking for restaurant details, food blogs or the closest farmer’s market, location can be vital to helping you find the right information. Starting today, we’ve added the ability to refine your searches with the “Nearby” tool in the Search Options panel. One of the really helpful things about this tool is that it works geographically — not just with keywords — so you don’t have to worry about adding “Minneapolis” to your query and missing webpages that only say “St. Paul” or “Twin Cities.” Check it out by doing a search, clicking on “show options” and selecting “Nearby.”

What’s this look like?

When you click on “Nearby” Google Filters Results Based On Your Location

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