Pimp My Keywords

How To Target Local SEO

Local businesses who need to attract more local customers to their restaurant, bookstore, auto repair shop, etc., need to focus on local keywords with their website, keywords, link building and map/listings website.

Using Karen's Flower Shop (a fictious florist in Cincinnati Ohio) as an example, let's explore a  strategy for local SEO.

Website

Althought it sounds simple, local businesses fail to mention their geographical location on their website. This should include your physical address (not a post office box) along with directions including full street names. Include your city, state and zip code along with necessary maps. If parking is a problem, mention nearby parking alternatives.

In addition, to focus more on local opportunities, our florist could write a blog on local events, local news or provide a directory of information on local hospitals, funeral homes, etc.

Think local, local, local.

Keywords

By utilizing a keyword research tool such as Wordtracker or the Google Keyword Tool, you should research to find targeted keywords on a local level.

For example, by researching keywords based on "Cincinnati Florist" using the Google Keyword Tool, we found these possible keywords:

Cincinnati florist
Cincinnati flowers
Cincinnati flower shop
Cincinnati flower delivery
flower delivery Cincinnati
Cincinnati flower
florist Cincinnati
flowers Cincinnati
flower shops Cincinnati
florist Cincinnati Ohio
florists in Cincinnati
flower shop Cincinnati
florists Cincinnati
florists in Cincinnati Ohio
Cincinnati florists delivery
florist in Cincinnati Ohio
flowers Cincinnati Ohio
Cincinnati flowers delivery
florist Cincinnati OH

Note: These keywords are all earning good monthly searching numbers according to Google. The above list only included a sample of the keywords we uncovered.

Once the targeted keywords have been selected, they needed to be utilized in the website's content. Granted, you don't want to force the keyword so it dumbs down your audience nor do you want to stuff the page with keyword after keyword after keyword. However, there's nothing wrong with "We're Karen's Flower Shop, a Cincinnati florist providing flowers and floral arrangements for any occasion."

Get it?

Keywords should also be utilized in Page Titles, Descriptions and image ALT tags.

Link Building

Once of the most important SEO elements is link building. Our florist business should be using link building internally (from page-to-page within the website) and externally in earning links from other websites pointing to Karen's website.

Internal links should be "anchor text links" which send users from page to page by clicking on linked keywords. For example, a link on the website's Home page could be "Cincinnati Flower Delivery" which would route the customer to an ordering page. Internal links on targeted keywords are just as important as external links.

Links pointing to your website, or to a specific page, from another website are also needed. There are many ways to earn inbound links in local communities including online membership lists; publicity; media; articles; blogs; review websites; maps, just to name a few.

Maps, Lists & Reviews

Maps, lists and review websites have become popular over the last year as more customers are voicing their opinions on good and bad products, service, experiences, etc., on every business in town.

First things, first. Make sure you have created accounts to "claim" your business listings in sites such as Yelp, CitySearch, YellowPages, Judy's Book, Google Places, Facebook Places, etc. You may find your business is already listed in some review sites, but the business owner (that would be you) hasn't claimed their business.

Once you have confirmed business ownership, you can then complete your business listing including business description; hours; method of payment; website; maps, etc. Include photos and a video if possible. With Google Places (and other websites), try to complete the entire profile.

Many listing and mapping websites allow reviews from customers. Always interact with your customers here (even the bad reviews). This shows you are monitoring your reviews and working to solve any problems. Thank everyone for their review (even the bad ones).

Yes, sometimes, competition and disgruntled employees will create fake reviews to try to discredit you and your business. In most cases, these "reviews" are violating the website's guidelines and can be removed upon request.

Follow these tips and you'll find your website moving up in local search results.

How to Lose Your Blog Readers in 20 Seconds or Less

By Sarah Groneck

SEO/SMO Writer 

I’m picky when it comes to reading blogs: If a blog does something I don’t like, I will leave the page within 20 seconds. Other blog readers I’ve spoken with do the same.

If you’re a blogger and are wondering how to keep your readers’ attention, think about if you:

Rant.

If you enjoy reading a good rant, you’re one of the few. Most readers would sooner stay away from drama than embrace it. As a blog reader, I’ll pass up blogs that even smell like drama: if a blog’s title is “I Hate Everyone,” for instance, I won’t bother clicking on it.

“But, I have the right to say how I feel,” you say.

Yes, you do. However, if you want to skip merrily with your fellow bloggers in a rainbow-filled blogosphere, stay away from the rants. Readers appreciate nice, thought-provoking posts as opposed to angry, finger-pointing remonstrations.

If you still want to express your opinion on politics and on religion, try looking at both sides. Is there anything positive about the other side that you can convey?

Another good idea is to write out your post and walk away from the computer. Then, come back a few hours later to edit what you have written. It might also be helpful to have a friend read your post to get feedback. If he thinks that your post is too overpowering, change it.

Your mother used to tell you that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say it.” Well, surprise: it’s true in adulthood, too.

Include an insane amount of distracters.

Blog readers used to lament ads, pop-ups, and flashing banners on sites. Now, overused feeds, stickers, buttons, and pictures are starting to replace them.

When the blog tries to do too much at once, the viewer can get really confused. I’ve clicked on blogs where I automatically wonder, “Is this what I’m supposed to be reading? No wait, that’s an ad, the text is…here? No…where is it?!”

Don’t do this to your readers. They don’t really appreciate it. Instead, remember:

Less is more.

You might think that a flashing, giant puppy sticker is cute, but your readers might find it kitschy. You want to be easily accessible for your readers; don’t make them jump through hoops to discover your content.

Write haphazardly.

Readers want to view quality work, and that means you might have to brush up on your grammar skills. Even if you have grand ideas for your blog, you won’t get very far if you don’t know how to write well. How can readers understand what you’re trying to say if you don’t know how to say it?

If you decide that, to express your style, you need to write in lower-case and add 14 exclamation marks on the end of each sentence, that’s cool; just be sure that your new style is consistent. 

There is enough bad content floating around cyberspace; don’t add to the trash heap.

Again, these are just a few ideas on how to keep your readers from abandoning ship. If you abide by them, your readers might be more willing to spend long amounts of time perusing your space--or, at least a minute or two.

 

 {Thanks, piratechickan, for use of the photo!}

The No-No's of Social Media Content

By Sarah Groneck

SEO/SMO Writer

A big part of having a social media strategy is how you portray your company’s persona. Your followers and fans won’t listen to you if the company’s voice does not match up with the company’s purpose statement. So, as you decide on a company persona, remember that how you write is equally as important as what you write.

When it comes to writing voice, keep these no-no's in mind:

Don’t be casual. Remember all those rules you memorized in high school grammar class, such as capitalize at the beginning of a sentence? Implement them, and stay consistent. Your viewers have enough friends who use ten exclamation marks to emphasize a point; they don’t want to see a company doing the same. Stay away from texting jargon such as “lol” or “ttyl.” If you respect grammar rules, you will appear to be a serious, more professional company. That way, when you do implement sarcastic or humorous content, your readers will still take you seriously.

Don’t be corporate. Cut out long-winded, confusing language. Viewers’ attention spans are short in social media; they won’t spend time reading your wordy words. They also do not want to spend time deciphering meaning, especially if content lacks substance to start. Put a little soul into your content. Be straight-forward, be humorous, be human.

Above all, don’t conspire publically. It may seem obvious, but do not rant against your competition on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, it might be better to not mention them at all. Pretend your competition does not exist (while keeping track of them on the sly), and don't create content bragging about your company’s latest gains or making low-blow jabs at your competition. Your readers want to see your company as professional in content and in conveyance.  

Remember, your company is what it says (or writes). Make sure that when you speak through social media, you speak well and with class.

{Picture by Horia Varlan}

Recent Changes To Google Places Catching Businesses Off-Guard With Change In Listings, Ranking

Google’s recent changes with its Places feature has caused a stir among businesses who have seen a change in how they’re now ranked (or not ranked) in Google search results.

Recent Google changes include:

• Google Places (previously called Google Maps) has been moved to new locations within search results. Now, the “map” is shown on the right of Google search results above display ads (called “Adwords”).
• Previous business listings within Google Places have been merged with search results causing an entire restructuring of Google search engine results pages. For example, a business previously listed first in the Google Places section may now find itself listed first in the Google search results. This is causing other businesses to see lower results in Google listings.
• Some businesses that were positioned first in Google Places and listed first in Google organic search results are now seeing both results merged into one result in Google search engine results.
• Many other business listing websites, such as Yellow Pages, City Search, Yelp, etc., may now have been pushed off the first page of search results.

“Google continues to make changes and local businesses need to be aware of how that’s affecting their listings in Google Places, overall Google organic rankings, and traffic to their website,” says Steve Phillips, President of Purple Trout LLC, a Newport, Kentucky search engine optimization consulting firm specializing in local search engine optimization and local listing optimization.

“If your business was ranked No. 1 on a local keyword in Google and you were not listed high in Google Places, you may now find your No. 1 organic ranking has dropped to No. 8 or worse,” says Phillips. “This is another sign that Google is focusing more and more on local search results.”

Now, says Phillips, local businesses need to make sure they are listed correctly and accurately in Google Places, and that their websites are properly optimized for local keywords.

“Businesses shouldn’t rely on Yellow Pages, City Search or Yelp,” says Phillips. “Those listings are probably no longer a part of the Top 10 search results for Google. The way Google has repositioned its Places listings has pushed the other service sites out of the Top 10.

“Businesses need to make sure they are listed in Google Places and then optimize their website for the best locally-targeted keywords to attract local customers to their website,” Phillips added.

The Dynamic Duo Debut at Purple Trout

Hey everyone! We're Kristin Bednarski and Sarah Groneck, the new SEO/SMO writers at Purple Trout, LLC. From here on out, we'll be blogging every Friday about all things social media, including things we've learned, tips we've come up with, and facts and information regarding your favorite social media venues.

Feel free to ask us any questions or make any suggestions, and we'll try to speedily respond on this blog.

Our first post will debut next Friday, and we're looking forward to exploring the wonderful world that is social media.

Google Trends: "Soar" Throat, Runny Nose, Achy Muscles?

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

Every year, around this time, we can expect the temperatures to drop and the cold and flu symptoms to rise. Before Google, most of us would call the doctor or mom for some advice and comfort. Today, we direct our concerns and symptoms toward Google, searching for terms like  “soar throat”, “runny nose”, “achy muscles”.  According to Google Trends, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Alabama are the places to avoid during the cold and flu season.

In addition to finding the most sickly states in the U.S., Google Trends is a great way to monitor the ebb and flow of the average flu season in your own state.  For those of us in Cincinnati, I have some bad news; we are #1 in searches for the “flu shot” and “chicken soup”. At #2 is Columbus and Cleveland comes in at #3 and we all start searching for these terms in early October.  I have already started stocking my kitchen with chicken soup and plan to get my flu shot today!

 

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)

Google Trends: The Bengals take down the Ravens and the Cincinnati Housing Market

By Amanda Collins
SEO Specialist

I’ll be keeping tabs on the Bengals for the next few weekends and it’s not because I’m a fan of  Ochocinco, beer, or the color orange.  No, I’m a desperate home owner attempting to sell and if the Bengals keep winning, the Cincinnati housing market doesn’t stand a chance at recovery until football season ends!

I did find some statistics at Google Trends to back up my suspicions.  For example, search results for the last 30 days in Ohio show the Bengals (in orange) as clearly more interesting than mortgage rates (in red) or home sales (in blue).  You’ll also notice that searches for mortgage rates disappeared from view a few days before the Bengal’s first game and haven’t been seen since.  This is not good news for those of us trying to sell our homes.

 

Call me a pessimist or an opportunist, but once the Bengals get a few losses under their belts, people won’t be as excited about seeing them every weekend and will have the additional time to ponder topics like home sales, home ownership and mortgage rates.  Until then, I’ll be serving chips and dip, beer, and a steady stream of NFL live action at my open house next Sunday afternoon.

(Note: Every Friday, Amanda will share thoughts, ideas and findings using Google Trends)

What's New At Purple Trout?

While we'd much rather post here helpful tips, advice and information on search engine optimization, social media and how to earn more traffic to your website, we'd thought we'd pause for a brief post of what's new at Purple Trout, LLC.

A few weeks ago, we attended Search Engine Strategies in San Francisco, CA to learn of new ideas, strategies, etc., in the world of search engines. Attending national conferences is one of the ways we stay up on what's new in the industry. In turn, we change and implement strategies with our clients and share information with our readers.

During the four-day conference, we talked to Bing and learned more of its merger with Yahoo; attended many sessions on link building strategies and opportunities and how search engines value (or de-value) inbound links to websites. We also heard speakers talk about how "brands in the social media world need to balance their plan with strong search engine optimization" and more.

At Purple Trout, LLC, we're helping our clients focus on local, national and international search, depending on their business needs. Traffic to our clients' websites continues to increase and search engine rankings in Google, Yahoo and Bing continue to improve. 

Lately, we've added new employees at our office in Newport, Kentucky and virtually. Since our clients are national and international, there's no reason why our talent and team can't be based in other U.S. cities as well.

As of today, we have added four new employees to our local pond over the last eight days, including two SEO writers, an SEO specialist and an administrative assistant. We have also welcomed talent virtually in two meta tag code writers (from Northern Kentucky and Missouri); a Pay Per Click specialist (Iowa) and two more SEO writers (from Louisiana and Texas).

We feel very fortunate to continue to grow and provide strong SEO services to our clients in the current economic climate.

Soon, we'll be adding new services and partnerships to our firm.

Come and grow with us.

P & G and Bedbugs: Cincinnati Leads The Way in Search Numbers

It seems bedbugs and Procter & Gamble have been in the local headlines quite a bit lately, so I was curious to find out how many consumers have been searching for the pesky bastards (meaning bedbugs) and P&G.

According to the Google Traffic Estimator, 550,000 searches are conducted monthly for the term "p & g" as compared to 201,000 searches per month for the keyword phrase "procter and gamble".

• p & g - 550,000 local monthly searches
• procter and gamble - 201,000
• procter & gamble - 110,000
• p&g - 60,500

For bedbugs, the numbers are also impressive with 301,000 searches conducted each month for the term "bedbugs" and 165,000 searches for "bedbug".

Taking a look at Google Trends, reveals some more interesting results.

For the search team "p & g":

• The top three regions are Pakistan, Singapore and India.
• The top three cities are Cincinnati, Mumbai and Singapore.
• The top three languages are Indonesian, English and Vietnamese.

For the search term, "bedbugs":

The top three regions are Canada, United States and Australia.
The top three cities are Cincinnati, New York and Winnipeg.
The top three languages are English, Dutch and German.

Notice a trend?

The top city searches for both "P&G" and "bedbugs" is Cincinnati. 

Nasty.

I checked the term "baseball" to see if the city of Cincinnati is one of the top cities searching for the term. After all, the Cincinnati Reds are currently leading the NL Central is hopes of a pennant title and a spot in the upcoming playoffs.

Nope.

The top three cities searching for the term "baseball" are St. Louis, Minneapolis and Chicago. Cincinnati's not even in the Top 10.

How about the term "NFL" with the new season upon us? Hopes are high for the Cincinnati Bengals with the duo of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens.

Fortunately, Cincinnati is No. 3 in Google Trends in cities searching for "NFL" behind Waterloo, Canada and San Diego.

Overall, with "Cincinnati" keywords, users are searching more for "Cincinnati" than any other local keyword. In fact, according to Google, there are over 4 millions searches per month for the keyword "Cincinnati".

On a more local level, there are approximately 450,000 monthly searches for "Cincinnati Ohio" followed by "Cincinnati University" at 165,000 searches and "Cincinnati Enquirer" at 110,000 searches.

Purple Trout Launches New Website

CINCINNATI – March 31, 2010 – Purple Trout, LLC launched a newly redesigned website today focusing on educating clients on search engine marketing.  The website – www.purpletrout.com – features expanded content and resources on search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), social media optimization (SMO) and multilingual search engine optimization.

“We wanted our website to become a go-to source for information, podcasts and videos on the ever-changing world of search engine marketing,” said Steve Phillips, President of Purple Trout, LLC. “We offer resources on our website to help you learn more about SEO and the steps you need to take in order to achieve higher rankings in search engines.”

The website includes articles, podcasts, videos and “purple” papers on a variety of search engine marketing topics. In addition, the home page includes live feeds from the Purple Trout blog and Twitter account.

Bent, LLC, of Covington, KY was selected to design the new website.

“Purple Trout’s approach to SEM is quite different from other providers with similar services. They aren’t as much about selling a monthly package with empty ranking promises as they are about educating a client and implementing an overall strategy that fits with an organization’s business objectives,” said Chris Sucher, Director of Strategy for Bent.

“This gave us a great starting point for developing the strategy for the site. To reflect their approach to SEM, we featured a wealth of educational content for visitors and tailored sections of the site specific to a user type: the novice, the non-user and the switcher (someone looking for an alternative to their current provider).  We structured the site in a way that showcases Purple Trout’s depth of knowledge in the field, educates potential clients, and illustrates their complete transparency in the field of SEM – very different from the ‘man behind the curtain’ approach of other providers,” Sucher added.

The website’s design focuses on a “fishing” theme with icons and buttons that include lures, hooks, bobbers and other fishing elements. Icons were designed by Janet Berberich, of Eye Candy Design.

“The plan with site design was to make it simple and approachable so that users from a variety of backgrounds could easily navigate the site to get to the information they needed – without getting distracted with excessive, pointless graphics,” said Joshua Thompson, Creative Director for Bent.

As the largest search engine optimization (SEO) firm in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio area, Purple Trout helps a wide range of international, national and regional clients strengthen their internet presence by targeting on-site and off-site optimization factors. By conducting extensive keyword research and examining a company’s competition, Purple Trout develops a SEM strategy that focuses on keyword-rich content, strong meta tag codes and other key SEO factors that play a strategic role in creating a strong online brand.

About Purple Trout:

Headquartered in Newport, Kentucky, Purple Trout, LLC is a state-of-the-art search engine marketing (SEM) company that specializes in honest and ethical techniques to obtain higher rankings for company web sites in Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. Services include: Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search/Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, Social Media Marketing, Multilingual Search Engine Optimization, Video Search Engine Marketing, Usability Analysis, Conversion Tuning, Web Analytics, Competitive Analysis and more. For more information, please visit www.purpletrout.com.