Vertical search:

How to rank Instant search
How to rank Video search
How to rank local search or Places search
How to rank Image search
How to rank Universal search

Alternative search:

How to rank Amazon
How to rank YouTube
How to rank Facebook
How to rank Delicious
How to rank Flickr
How to rank Twitter

We’ll be looking at one vertical search element and one alternative search engine per post. From this, you should be able to take away answers to key questions, ranking factors, along with advantages of each search engine.

Use the links above to familiarize yourself with each type of search we’ll be discussing, and if there are any other alternative search engines out there you’d like to cover, please feel free to comment below.

Thank you to everyone who braved the weather to come learn about Local Search – and to those who watched online!
If you missed an important part of the presentation you can watch the whole enchilada below. The question and answer session is provided as an MP3 only.

Before you watch, please feel free to download the presentation and follow along! Click to download!

Spend a little more time and learn more about how LSV can grow your business – check out the Q&A audio below.

Best Ever Medals are awarded to Google Places from the people who use Google’s HotPot,  one of the newest features Google offers – a recommendation engine for Places.

Google account holders automatically have HotPot.  The screen is a collection of Google Places with a number or ways to edit or filter it.  You can also use it to edit the Google Places you want to review including adding the Best Ever medal to the places you like best.  Be sure to use them wisely, each user is only allotted 10 metals.  (You can change who you’ve given medals to at any time, but you cannot currently award more than 10 medals total. This limit will make this rating more significant over time!)

So now I’m wondering, with all the changes Google Maps Places went through last year, and knowing that Google has been watching the checkin scene, what’s the next thing?

Also, this progression of new services also leads to some other points to contemplate:

• Is Google’s overwhelming attention to Local Search good or bad?
• Will the new “Best Ever” medals become a search signal to Google and will they affect rank?
• Should Google even be adding these kinds of features or should they stick with their core – Internet Search?
• When/if Google Checkin comes out, how will Google fare against companies like Foursquare and Facebook who are already actively engaged?
• Will Google loose in the long run by trying to be everything to everyone?

One thing is for sure, HotPot will be getting more attention now since Best Ever medals can only be awarded through the HotPot dashboard.  HotPot was introduced in the forth quarter of 2010 to a lukewarm response.  Perhaps Best Ever medals  are what’s needed to give this new feature some boost…

Hmmm, Google Boost…  Now what’s going on with that?

To be continued…

Google responded to this paradigm shift some years ago with Google Maps included in the search results.  The most recent change was to divide Google Maps into Google Maps and Google Places.  A Google Place is almost a mini website where the owner can modify content to fully represent their business or organization including even pictures and videos and associate it with a geographical place. The ‘Place’ will often come up in a search result when the searcher is naming a particular city or geographical area such as “philly cheese steak in kansas city” or “daycare in kansas city”.

Google Map/Place Example

Most people are familiar with the map and the A, B, C… stickpins that appear in these kinds of results.  These maps are said to get 25% of the clicks that will happen on any page they appear on, and that percentage is growing.

As of last month, July 2010, it looks like Google is responding once again to the growing interest level for local search and is currently testing a new layout for geographically targeted search requests. The new format can be seen on a blog from Frank Reed. If this new layout tests well, the significance that the Google Places listing has will grow tremendously.  If you haven’t taken the time to claim your listing, NOW is the time to do so!

Looking at the new layout, most people won’t even realize that the traditional organic listings space has now become an extended Google Places space.  Organic listings have be where 60% of the clicks come from on pages where maps were also present. Google Places will look a lot like organic listings to a lot of people if this layout becomes standard.  If that’s the case, just having a well organized Google Place will get you first page on Google for all the searches that include a ‘geo target’.  That’s HUGE!

It will be interesting to see where Google comes down on these tests because a huge revenue generator for Google is Sponsored Listings, aka – Adwords.  Currently only 15% of the clicks happen in this space on the page.  Will the evolution of Google Places shrink that percentage even further?  Will Google Places become a source of revenue to Google in the future?  Already you can purchase a nice bright yellow TAG for your Google Place, suggesting that Google just may start charging ‘rent’ for your Place.

For now, Places are FREE at Google, claim’em while you can, for no money down and zero rent!

“How does a company/organization get onto a “Google map”? We’re missing in downtown Lexington…”

Of course, I quickly pointed her to the stellar LSV services on our website, but it also got me thinking.

Do my friends and acquaintances even know what LSV is? Do businesses know how important it is to show up in an online directory in order to draw new customers from their area?

Younger consumers, as well as the technologically inclined somewhat non-younger ones, more often turn to online directories and internet searches to find services and businesses in their areas. Gone are the days of the phonebook…the one made out of paper at least.

Today’s “phonebook” is on their smartphone or computer in the form of Yelp, Google, Bing, Citysearch, and so on.

If your business isn’t on these online listings, chances are, you’re getting passed over.

Example: As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I just moved back to the area after living abroad for a couple years. A few weeks ago, we were searching our new area for a place to buy stadium seat cushions for an upcoming float trip. Yet, when we searched for sporting goods stores in our area, the only place that popped up was 24 miles away.

Guess where we ending up going. Yup. It turns out that traveling 24 miles is less stressful than driving around aimlessly hoping to find a specialty store. After we bought our chairs, we’ve found three sporting goods stores in our town that could’ve gotten our business — had they shown up in our Google and Yelp searches.

Is your business, company, or service getting passed up simply because no one can see you online?

I may know someone who can help you out.

Take, for instance, the Batman movie series wisely ousting director Joel Schumacher and replacing him with Christopher Nolan.  Very good move, indeed.

And then there’s Yellow Bot.

Yellow Bot’s refreshing new spin on themselves has opened up new and improved ways for local businesses to connect with customers.

Reinventing yourself can be a great way to not only draw in new and old faces to your website, but by paying heed to Yellow Bot’s new design structure, you begin to notice a couple of subtle, yet possibly important ways for local business listings to say hello to consumer search:

1. Ease of Access: Right off the bat, Yellow Bot improves the one thing that escaped business owners from doing as soon as they got there: submission of business. Err, let me rephrase that: you could submit your business listing the whole time, it’s just for “user-friendly” experience, you kind of had to go Sherlock Holmes on the website before you could find the “Add Business Listing” icon.  Nowadays, there’s an icon at the bottom that’s big, blue and looking for you.
2. Speedy Exposure: Once you’ve claimed your business and added the proper information, Yellow Bot has always been very good about placing your listing up in a timely manner.  Only thing is, this time you’re the star of the show for a day.  By that I mean your newbie listing is given top-shelf treatment via any photos you’ve included.  You’re only given three picture slots, so make them as pleasing to the eye as possible, because the right picture just might turn in the lead you’ve been looking for.

Just like Google’s subtle change to their home page, the warm, inviting colors used by Yellow Bot make the site look appropriate for today’s web design pallets.  Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that Yellow Bot lets you run rampant with your business listing, allows you to add numerous tags and such.

So go on, embrace change and get active with your business listing today!

Some were about Bing’s listing center being down for too long, but to Bing’s credit, maintenance issues for a listing system that big can take a while.

But the more and more I looked over the complaints, the more this issue reared its ugly head. It’s a problem I’ve ranted about many times: The arduous wait for your confirmation letter.

Bing’s listing response time is equivalent to that friend of yours who responds to a text message question a day and a half later, where not only do you forget what the question even was, you’re a little peeved it took so long.

The only exception being that message is your business listing. And since you’re queued up waiting for the letter to be delivered on horseback, the opportunity to be noticed on a search engine that generates immense traffic is being held captive.

Why it’s taking so long to address this is anyone’s guess. It would be in Bing’s best interest to have a listing center that goes toe-to-toe with Google. Not only does Bing have a pretty and diverse home page presentation to draw people in, their listing center is very beneficial for helping small to large businesses get their face out there.

As for the solution, well it’s pretty obvious in some areas (get a better delivery carrier, create an extension number addition for phone verification), but the one area that’s in need of a makeover is the means at which to wrangle in Bing’s customer support.

There’s this method, but I’ve been waiting in line on that one, too. Here’s hoping someone breaks through to them…

Why’s he so excited?

Well, picture him riding in from the skies atop a link. Now put him aboard 1,000 more of those and his cowboy hat waving starts to be a bit more joyous, almost hitting a peak of excitement that makes you question his sanity. He knows the advantages link building can have on his business, and (pun intended) business is booming.

While there are a few minor annoyances to link building (i.e., some link directories have way too many guidelines, while others say it’s free to submit, only to queue your URL without further notice), you’ll start to see how much exposure your website can garner after obtaining a number of links.

Here are just a few reasons why you should stop worrying and fall in love with the link:

1. Google Ogles You: Not just them, but the other major search engines will start to take notice of your website with more links. More links to other sites, directories or mentions from an online blog can make you relevant and give you a rankings jolt.

2. Quality Links Earn Major Kudos: If Mr. Sellers’ cherry bomb helped quiet the mice problem in the basement of a local high school, the online student paper might reference his “heroics” and put a link to his website in the article. Getting links from well-established online websites like a school, your local government or any other major organization can push your presence up even further.

3. As Easy as 1,2, LSV: The process of filling out a link form is somewhat along the lines of entering your business into a local search directory.

4. …Or A Simple “Please”: Whether through email or over the phone, a simple request to a website for a link can get the job done.

In the end, link building can be seen as beneficial gossip for your business. It’s like a simple joke that gets passed around, and with each turn, new layers are added until eventually it ends up becoming a grandiose event that everyone’s in on.

There are numerous directories out there waiting for your gossip. Why not let them in?

How is that, exactly? Well, a citation is a reference to a listing’s credibility. How you gain that credibility is done in a number of ways—some by your own hands and some are even created outside your own doing.

David Mihm’s wonderful account goes into great detail about this. In fact, if you’ve clicked onto that link, you might have just helped create a citation. With that aside, here are two of my favorite guidelines to keep in mind when making sure your listing’s “citation-worthy”:

1. Exact Information – The biggest nail in your listing coffin can come about because your address is different on five different online directories. Not only does that hurt potential customers searching for your business, but citations will vanish into thin air because of it. Conflicting phone numbers and incorrect city/state entries might as well be replaced with a big, red banner that reads: “Out of Business”.

2. Reviews or Blogs – Even if the story about your business doesn’t have an in-bound link directing readers to your website, any mention of your name, address or phone number is seen as a tip-of-the-cap for your listing, and thus, a citation is born. For instance, you’re newly-constructed hot dog stand business has made headlines with every online news outlet or blog because Jimmy Hoffa’s body was discovered underneath it. Every mention of your business name or address within each online retelling can return a bevy of citations to your website.

First and foremost, it’s pretty important to take care of the first guideline. Afterwards, why not try and get creative with a blog about your business? Whether it’s Squidoo, HubPages or any other blog service out there, your stories (or some other author’s blog about your services) might just toss a very lucrative citation your way.