Introduction to Local SEO and Recent Trends in Search Presented at Sonoma County Tourism Bureau: March 15th,

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1 Introduction to Local SEO and Recent Trends in Search Presented at Sonoma County Tourism Bureau: March 15th, What is Personalized Search? Top Personalized Search Variables Users searching history Users IP address location Users content sharing/commenting habits Users online contacts and their shared content and interactions Users (gmail) conversations Users social interactions, primarily on Google+ Tourism Applications 1. If you can get your guests to network with you online, your content will become more visible to their networks. Specifically, Google+ circle connections will become very prominent. Your existing, loyal guests can be one of your most powerful online sales tools.

2 2. The best targets for these types of interactions are: Local guests who are likely to be interested in the content you share online Frequent, loyal guests who spend a lot of time interacting with you are likely to be interested in updates Guests who are motivated by specials and packages Local SEO

3 What's Different from the old Google Places? Reviews can not be anonymous anymore. They have to be tied to a real identity. Results are tailored to you based on your circles, your reviews, and your location There is a greater emphasis on images. Now, images are tiled along the top of the page, as opposed to the one thumbnail in the old Places layout. Based on your circles and online network, your friends reviews will be more prominently highlighted in your search results Businesses can respond to all reviews on their local page. The 5 star rating system is gone, and has been completely replaced by the Zagat scoring system. There are two different kinds of pages that a business can have on Google+: 1. A Google+ local page similar to the former Place Pages 2. Google+ business page that has more of the social features But, you can merge these into one page. Getting Started Verify your listing (phone or postcard) Wait for verification, which can take up to two weeks. Resource: Google Online Support: Google Phone Support:

4 Optimize the Profile Fill in as much information as possible on the About page Add photos and videos Add information about any additional sites that your business manages. This is a great opportunity to add links to your social channels. Promote the Listing and Maintain Consistent Citations Tool: Can you just update your Google+ page? No, Google pulls from hundreds of other sources Where do you start? Start with the major sources first. Verify that your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) is correct and consistent. Organize Your Contacts Organize your contacts into circles Segment circles in a similar way to marketing Share targeted content with your circles Look at Ripples to see Influencers

5 Reviews Ask for them at the point of sale Follow up marketing Create a page on your website about leaving reviews, and point to your Google+ and Yelp pages On-Page SEO Optimize on-page SEO elements including the title tag, meta description, alt tags, heading tags, etc. Keyword Research Tool: adwords.google.com/select/keywordtoolexternal

6 What is Authorship? Authorship Opportunity for sites to create valuable content and get visibility Search is becoming more social. Credibility is tied to an individual, not just a company. Links shared on Google+ are crawled and indexed very quickly Resource: plus.google.com/authorship Test: Knowledge Graph What is the knowledge graph? Announced in May, the knowledge graph provides users with semantic search driven results. Ensure that you are providing useful content about the top attractions/ demand generators. Look at freebase.com to verify that information about your business is accurate When content is available in a structured format then the probability of it being visible in the Knowledge Graph and in the SERP s increases. Content expressed as microdata makes it even easier for it to be understood by the search engines. When this clear, structured content gets shared by authority sites (think social!), it gains more credibility and traction.