Tag: SEO

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Google Maps Placement Revisited

Google AdWords has done away with the local business ad that allowed you to specifically target Google Maps with your ads. For some AdWords programs we had set up separate campaigns just to feed results to the sponsored ad section on Google Maps with great results for some clients. With this important change for Google Maps, organic placement of your Google maps listing is now even more important, but just how do you improve your local organic Google Maps placement? This article may very well help you. You can visit this article on our website at: http://www.mccordweb.com/e-newsletters/instructions/google-maps-placement.php

“Why is my competitor the top site in Google Maps? How can I get there too?” Google has been pretty closed mouthed about their Google Maps algorithm and there really does not seem to be a lot of information on the Web about how to garner top placement. I decided that I should dig into this topic to try to find out what can be done to try to improve Google Maps placement for you.

First, it is important to understand that Google Maps will return the businesses that are in closest proximity to the center of the search query location. For example if I enter a search query in Google Maps for web design Waldorf Maryland, my own site appears in the number two position and one of my competitors appears first. She is located very close to the geographic center of Waldorf, has a site similar to mine and has been in business for a while. I am actually located about 9 miles or so out of Waldorf yet appear in a higher position than other sites that are located actually in Waldorf.

Screenshot showing Google Maps listings appearing just above organic listings and under paid sponsored ads.So, it appears that proximity is important to the center point of the search query, but Google is also taking into account other key factors when sorting the results. As I analyze my own situation, I see that my competitor has links from several very specific community sites that I do not have such as a link from the Chamber of Commerce, The Southern Maryland Tech Council, and a local business directory. Specifically, in my case I have nearly two times the amount of inbound links to my site than my competitor does, but I do not have the Chamber or County resource links. Clearly links from local directories and resources are more important for ranking in Google maps than the amount of content on a site and possibly even the number of inbound links to a site. Google Maps is very heavily weighting certain local factors in regard to determining top Google Maps position.

Additionally, in my case, reviews do not seem to be an important issue for my own Google Maps position, but they can be helpful for many businesses. In regard to Google Maps position and service reviews, you will not necessarily take a position hit for reviews or lack there of unless your competitor has several reviews and you have none.

The amount of information that your Local Business listing for Google Maps does not seem to be a big factor either for top Google Maps placement. In my case, I have a depth of information my competitor has literally no depth of information in her Google Maps listing. So depth of information although important and helpful to readers does not impact Google Maps placement.

In my case the only clear difference that is impacting Google Maps placement is the type of local authority links that my competitor has. As I did further research on this topic, I did find some helpful tips that I would like to share with you that may help you as you work to raise your Google Maps position.

  1. Get links from other local resources. If you are a member of the Chamber of Commerce make sure that they have linked to your website from theirs. Consider other authoritative local listing sites, but stay away from link farms. Other local sites might include the Yellow Pages, local business associations, and local review sites.
  2. Make sure to include your street address, and at least your city and state on each page on your website in text versus in an image.
  3. On your contact page repeat your full address with the city and even list the local areas your service by name.
  4. Add as much information as you can to your Local Business listing such as hours driving directions, areas served, consider adding a local coupon or discount.
  5. If you do not have a Google Local Business listing which will show in Google Maps, you can get one free from Google. You will need to create a Google account in order to do so.

If you don’t think that you should be thinking about your own Google Maps position, you may want to think again. In many cases Google is now showing Google Map listings on top and above all organic listings. Improving your own position on Google Maps is doable and can help improve your overall visibility on the Web.

If you like this article you may find more that you will find helpful in our instructions section or white paper section on our website.

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Blogging SEO Tips from Google

Matt Cutts the engineer from Google who speaks to the webmaster community has posted slides of tips for SEO blogging. When Google talks I listen!

Here’s a link to the blog post. When he posts a video on the topic I’ll embed it in another post so keep an eye out for it.

Matt likes WordPress for his own blogging and so do I. Although in the slides it is hard to understand his input, the video will clearly be more exciting. In the slides and video he will talk about how PageRank is calculated and information on inbound links and their importance for organic placement for blogs. The slides are a teaser, but the real meat will be the video.

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SEO Blogging – Top Professional Blogging Techniques

Blogging is big business but there are definitely ways to do it better than others. Here are my top tips for blogging like an SEO pro.

  1. Make sure your blog post title contains your top keywords. Sometimes even this style may be best- keyword then a hyphen then the post title. Review my blog post title above as an example.
  2. If and when you include hyperlinks in the blog post, make sure the hyperlink text (that’s the content that is underlined is keyword rich. Here’s an example: make sure to visit our website for search engine optimization pricing and our client results. I like to not only use keywords in the hyperlink, but also force the browser to open the link to a site off my blog in a new browser window. This way I will not lose the customer from my site.
  3. Make sure to use the link title field in WordPress. For the link listed above, I get even more keyword traction by inserting in the link title field the same keywords as in the anchor text. This is a simple but overlooked feature to help build keyword density in a blog post.
  4. Keyword density is important for a blog post done for SEO purposes. I try to repeat the top keyword phrase at least three times in a post done for search engine optimization purposes.
  5. Keep the blog post short and sweet and focused. The shorter your blog post, the better your keyword density will be, but don’t stuff you keywords. Remember you have to say something in the blog post too, not just string out keywords. Offer something of value to your readers.

Many people who are doing blogging for SEO do not want outbound links. Here’s were we differ on perspective. I will never link to a competitor, but I do routinely link to information rich sites so that my blog readers will get real value for following my blog. I do not feel that I am bleeding off search engine optimization capital by linking. From my perspective a blog is about linking to great informational sites on the topic you are blogging about. If you want to link and it has meaning to the blog post do it. Don’t take too hard of a line on outbound links. You want other blogs and websites to link to you right? It is a reciprocal two way street.

Another reason why you should consider the judicious use of quality information rich out going links is that Blogger has targeted as “spam blogs”, blogs that mainly link back to one website over and over. It may be a better long term “Google Tactic” to spice up your links so Google will not perceive your blog site as a “spam blog” site.

Got any other great SEO blogging tips you want to share? Add them by clicking comments below.

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Tips for Crafting the Perfect Blog Post Title

This is an art, yet something that you can learn to be proficient at easily for your own blog with a bit of practice. The best blog post titles are ones that catch your eye in a feed reader and entice you to click in. You’ve got just seconds to make an impression and if the feed reader being used only shows post titles (like mine does on MyLive), your post title absolutely has to hit the mark.

My two top tips for blog post titles:

1. Word your blog post title as you would a Google search query. Here are a few examples:  What is SEO?, Best Organic Search Engine Optimization, you get the gist – use keywords in the title and even consider using a question format. This type of format gets excellent results on search engines in the organic results.

2. Create a shock factor or spark reader curiosity – I always click into the blog post that is titled with an eye catching phrase. Here’s one I just found on my feed reader for the Merjis blog: Recession – Killing Me Softly, from Matt Cutts blog: How Many Links Per Page (who wouldn’t want to know what Google says about links?), or from the Blog Tutorials Blog: Launching a Blog? Do It With a Bang.

Your blog post title is key and should reflect the content of your blog post, so make sure it is crafted to work for you on search engines AND to entice readers to click in.