Atif Rafiq: Yahoo. Discoverability: Enhanced listings with providers like Yahoo Local. Market Drivers. Complex Intent. Fill out your profile & keep detailed & accurate as possible. SearchMonkey: Site owners share structured date with Yahoo, build SearchMonkey apps, customers customize their search experience with enhanced results or infobars. Marketability: Geogrageting, Improved Ad Content, SearchMonkey.
Will Scott: Barnacle SEO Defined: Attaching oneself to a large fixed object where the customers float by on the current. Local search defined: Location specific, often for goods and services, often leads to offline purchase. Local is different depending on: Urgency, Service Type, Demographics / Geography. Local Search is long tail search. Challenges of Small Businesses: Small Budget, Risk Aversion, Quick Proof of ROI. Not a small business? Same rules apply. InsiderPages & MerchantCircle pages are now ranking really well. Maximize local listings with SEO (links to local profiles…even local quality links, leverage social bookmarking and directories, authoritative sites respond well to targeted links). Local Search isn’t always on the map. Out of major cities, “State” + Service works. Citations add value to SERPS.
Dennis Yu: Geo-multiply key phrases in PPC w/o Dropping the long tail. Encourage folks to link to you with Geo-Modified terms.
Matt McGee: Hyperlocal Blogging: Content anyone can create (not just for real estate agents). “Big” News & Events. Huge Sale + Local Blog Post + Flickr Photos = 10x jump in traffic. Big Star + Unique Venue + Local Blog Post = #1 ranking. Hyperlocal News too. Why Local Blogging Works: Growing Interest in local stuff online, traditional media declining, local web sites often lacking, search engines love good blogs = Opportunity! Write about local stuff, use photos & video, think ahead, do basic SEO, don’t overdo self-promotion.
Scott Dunlap: Local search is by definition a multi-channel opportunity. How do local shoppers find you? Can’t convert online. Will show itself online as “traffic is up, conversion is down”. Tracking In-Store Conversions: Methods that work: Claim check / appointment setting, coupon code, bar code, in-store bar code, post purchse consumer survey. Benefits: If you account for in-store sales, most online programs will double conversion. Adding “find local” to banner / search ads has little effect on online conversion.
Todd Mintz knows PPC…knows Social Media…knows SEO…knows Blogging…knows Domaining…and knows them all real well. He runs growth marketing for )and is also a Director & Founding Member of SEMpdx: Portland, Oregon’s Search Engine Marketing Association, and he can be found here on Twitter and Facebook.