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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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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Here’s a quick video we extracted from a recent webinar – 5 Reasons You Need A Local Business Listing…

Want to learn more? Check out our Google Local Listing topic page!

Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

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Here are five things you can focus on when you are planning your 2010 Web Strategy….

1. Target Local

• Use Google Local Dashboard
• Write Targeted Copy (ex: “We are the top full service plumbers in des moines“)
• Geographically target ads on Facebook and Google

2. Use Content For Marketing

• Create some videos
• Repurpose content
• Spread it everywhere

3. Make Data Driven Decisions

• Use information and analytics to make decisions
• Test everything

4. Maintain Content Outposts

• Make sure the content you are creating is delivered TO your audience
• Stay alert on your outposts to further discussion
• Use tools like HootSuite to manage all outposts efficiently

5. Make Money Online

• Create new revenue streams using the web (it’s not as hard as you think)
• Generate hot leads using social media and search marketing
• Get and grow a good list

What are you doing in 2010 for your business? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

Interested in how you can run your business online? Check out our latest webinar.

image via houseofsims

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Today Chris Brogan put out a post called “5 Things Small Businesses Owners Should Do Today Online” which is an excellent overview on creating a basic social media strategy for a company. The jist – start a blog, listen to twitter, get involved in social networks. This post should have been titled “5 Things Small Businesses Should Do To Get Started In Social Media”. Why the suggested change in title? Chris left out extremely important facets of developing a well rounded web strategy.

Here’s our list. If you are just getting started in optimizing your website to be more than a brochure placeholder, here are our “5 Things Small Businesses NEED To Do Online“.

1. Create Goals

If you don’t have goals for your website than your website has no purpose. Goals give you something to strive for and metrics to measure. Goals give your website purpose. And most importantly – goals drive business. That’s what your website is there for right?

2. Get Local

A vast number of small businesses operate in geographic based markets. If your small business has not created a local web strategy than you are missing out on the fastest growing search market. Get listed on Google Local and Google Maps. Take advantage of the free tools out there. Use local SEO strategies.

3. Create Value

Create engaging content that helps people. Answer questions people have about you, your products, and your industry on social networks. Show off your recipes and become a resource.

4. Measure Everything

In the age of the web – all your marketing decisions should be made based on data rather than instinct. Go ahead – read that sentence again.

5. Don’t Give Up

In the latest episode of our internet business podcast (will be posted this week) we talk about paralysis by analysis with internet marketer extraordinaire Brian Kaldenberg. He says most businesses give up on their web strategy prematurely – whether it be their content strategy, keyword research, or PPC campaigns. The world of internet marketing and web strategy can look unconquerable to the DIY small business marketer just getting started.

Don’t give up and let data lead the way.

What advice can you give small businesses who are getting started online? Let us know in the comments or forum!

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SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday – Local Search Inclusion with David Mihm from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

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