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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Semantics Of Local Search
| The Semantics Of Local
Search orginally published in MediaPost | | by Gib Olander, Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008 8:00 AM ET | Consumers are performing nearly two billion locally targeted searches
each month, representing over 25% of total monthly Web searches. That number is likely to grow, given that local search is
estimated to become a $25 billion dollar industry by 2017.
These statistics highlight that
accessible, accurate, comprehensive and relevant business listing content on local search engines is fundamental to increasing
online local search consumer adoption. While listings accuracy is an obvious necessity for business
information being displayed on local search engines, business owners and marketing executives may not yet have embraced the
concept of comprehensive listing content as it applies to local search -- many are still primarily focused on traditional
website optimization and paid search. A few years back, consumers turned primarily to the Yellow Pages to find local business
information. Using this method, the products and services they were looking for were only identifiable through rigid categories.
Today, that couldn't be further from the case. Where Yellow Pages queries are category or headings
driven, online consumers are free to search for answers to specific problems not just by business category. A consumer searching
online for a plumber in San Francisco for instance, might type in "leaky faucet Oakland," instead of "plumber
San Francisco." While "leaky faucet Oakland" may be a difficult query
for search engines to answer, imagine the consumer's frustration when searches like these turn up inaccurate, or worse,
no results. The expectation of accuracy on local search engines is often higher than in general search, because most consumers
performing local searches are intent on buying, or at minimum, are conducting research before making a purchase. According
to comScore, nearly 90% of people will research online and buy offline. In fact, the trend is so popular that it was recently
coined, "ROBO," (Research Online Buy Offline) by Yahoo's GM of Local, Frazier Miller at SMX Local & Mobile.
ROBO is changing consumers' definition of "window-shopping." Now the Internet is
becoming the vantage point through which consumers gauge the retail landscape, and if a business is identifiable in local
search engines through only its name or category, it is not going to be found by the things that make it truly unique. In
order to appear in organic local search engine results (the storefront's virtual window), businesses must optimize for
local search engines differently, focusing not just on their name brand, but instead on all the brands they carry, as well
as all their services offered and much more. Let's take a golfer, for example, searching for
a PING putter in Elmhurst, Illinois. A ready-to-buy consumer with a tee-time scheduled for the next day enters "PING
putter Elmhurst, IL" into the search box. Because the search site he used was able to tie the words "PING"
and "putter" to a generalized category of "sporting goods" the results display the nearest sporting goods
retail stores. He hops in his car and drives to the first store on the list, only to find that the PING brand is not carried
there. He gets back in his car and returns home frustrated and determined to find the Ping brand in his area through another
search medium, perhaps the Yellow Pages. The end result of this experience is that the consumer's time has been wasted,
and the local pro shop that actually carries the PING brand missed out because they only optimized around their primary category
of "golf stores." Another great case study could be done on Crocs Shoes. Consumers have
learned that you get what you ask for so a sensible way to start the search for Crocs Shoes would be to use the brand name
alongside with a local geo-modifier. However, in this instance Crocs aren't generally sold
at category-specific shoe stores, they are sold at lumberyards, airports, grocery stores and even at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
This is a perfect example of the limitations on category specific-searches. If each of these types of businesses only focused
on their assigned local search engine category as opposed to the keywords that differentiate them, they would miss out on
attracting active buyers who are looking for the very products and services they offer; in this case Crocs Shoes. It
is essential to the success of any business that the keywords that describe the products and services offered are identified
and propagated in local search engine listings and to as many local search directories as possible. Optimizing in this way
is a simple practice in gaining a competitive advantage and is critical to local search engine presence, as consumers are
no longer simply searching through a pre-determined set of categories. If a list of businesses
appears in a local search engine query result for a product or service that you offer, and your business isn't listed,
your competitor just won an active buyer. Through local search engines, consumers are asking questions first so businesses
must keyword optimize both their web sites and their local search listings so that they become the providers of the answers.
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Friday, March 7, 2008
What are some of the factors in local search database rankings?
Raising your Local-Search
Visibility Virtually any merchant would love to appear at the top of the neighborhood local-search results that appear in the top block
of major search engines. Showing up first when people are searching for a local product or service gives you a much better
chance of getting their attention. After all, people are impatient. They’re not likely to click through to a second
page of results to find your business.
The problem is, if you don’t know how local search works, it’s
hard to understand how to make that happen. Just try searching for "florist (your city, state)" on any of the major
search engines. On the surface, it's hard to see why Rosa’s Flowers appeared above Amy’s FTD Shop and below
Andy’s Gifts.
Fortunately, you don’t have to learn some mysterious secret to get a handle on increasing
you local search visibility. Let’s look at some pointers that will give you a much better understanding of how local-search
optimization at the business listing level works.
Key Factors That Determine Your Local Search Position
While each search engine and local online directory has its own formula for determining what order in
which to present results, Virtually all engines weigh the following factors when determining the frequency and order in which
to present local-search results. Below, I’ve listed those factors are and explained how they work.
* Alphabetical
order
As
you’ve probably noticed, when business listings appear in print Yellow Pages or other directories, companies with names
at the beginning of the alphabet have a definite advantage, because they appear on the initial pages of the book. (That’s
why you’ll still see some plumbing services named "AAAAAAA Plumbing Company" — it’s a form of
search optimization that pre-dates the Web!) On
the Web, of course, things are different. Online, alphabetical order is only one of a handful of criteria that dictate how
high up on the search results page your business appears in local-search results. But it does have some impact on how your
business shows up in search results. *
Distance to center of ZIP code or city name queried Though the search engines do give some weight to alphabetical order, they
also consider how far a business is located from the area a consumer is searching. When the search engine presents its results,
businesses whose name starts with "B" might appear much lower on the search results page than one starting with
"Z" if business "Z" is closer to area where the consumer is searching. The engines can do this because
they “know” where the center of the city is, thanks to the databases they use for mapping and directions. They
use this detailed data to estimate how far you’d have to drive to visit the businesses they find for you. .
If you
think about it, this makes sense. From a consumer’s perspective, you don’t just want the right type of business,
you want the most accessible one too. Unfortunately, you can’t control whether this works in your
favor or not—you can’t move your business each time someone searches!—but know this is still part of understanding
how local searches work. *
Consumer ratings and reviews
Virtually all search engines give consumers a chance to rate
businesses (usually on a one to five star scale) when the consumer clicks on a business listing. And
of course, good ratings are a plus for your local business. But did you know that even negative ratings will cause a business
to show up closer to the top in local search results pages than those without ratings or reviews?
The truth is,
the search engines like listings that have reviews or ratings attached to them. Why? When consumers have rated or reviewed
your business, it makes your listing more informative to other consumers (and interesting) — so search engines give
added weight to that input. After all, like any other business, search engines always want to put their best foot forward.
Since even a negative review can offer valuable information to other consumers, the search engines are going to spotlight
reviews if someone takes the trouble to write one.
* Keyword content If you have a Web site, and you’ve
tried to get it near the top of search engine page results, you probably already know that using the right keywords is a critical
part of search marketing . So you won’t be surprised to hear local-business listings do better when they include the
right keywords, too. Keywords
help search engines decide whether your content is relevant and important to the consumer who’s making a search. However,
few businesses realize that their business listings will appear more frequently and higher in the results of local searches
if they include the right keywords in their listing. For example, if a consumer searches using the keywords "anniversary
flowers in Chicago," florists that included the keyword "anniversary" in their online listing will rank more
highly than those that just include themselves in a general "florist" category. Make Local Search Rules Work For You
So, as you’ve seen
above, it's possible to change your local search engine ranking significantly—and attract the interest of countless
local buyers--if you know the rules.
So take advantage of what you know! Go out there and get customers to rate
and write reviews of your business (remember, they don't have to be long). And when it comes to links, keywords and other
tools to make sure you connect with motivated, ready-to-buy online consumers, Localeze can help. We're here for you when
you're ready to enrich your listings with keywords that uniquely identify your business and what it offers.
Ultimately, you'll find that it's easy, and well worth the effort, to improve your local-search
visibility. After all, local consumers are searching because they're ready to buy. Make sure you’re there when they
come looking for you.
10:38 am est
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Defining Two Types of Local Searches: Recovery and Discovery
Defining Two Types of Local Searches: Recovery and Discovery by Gib Olander When it comes
down to it, there are two main types of local search queries that a search engine needs to be able to handle. John Battelle’s
book The Search describes them as follows: “This perfect search also has perfect recall. It knows what
you’ve seen and can distinguish between a journey of discovery, where you want to find something new,
and recovery when you want to find something you’ve seen before.”
In this article,
we’ll explain how these two searches work and why they’re both important for businesses. Recovery
searchesThere are many times when people using a local-search application are trying to recover a bit of
information or the address of a business that they know exists. It’s easy for consumers to find an unhelpful recovery
search dissatisfying because they know the item exists.
A 2002 survey of search-engine users by iProspect drives
home the importance of effectively fulfilling recovery searches. The iProspect survey noted: “If a search is deemed
unsuccessful by the user, 27.2% of users immediately switch to another site/search engine.” The
problem is that in today’s world, nearly 50% of all businesses do nothave a Web presence. Without a Web site
or HTML-based profile, these local businesses don’t have any listing that the various spiders, bots and slurps of the
world can find. In other words, if left to their own devices, the search portals would fail at a recovery search. To
address this problem, search applications have begun licensing databases (such as the Localeze local search repository). These
databases contain the “base” information on all US business locations, whether they have a Web presence or not,
allowing a search application to fulfill recovery searches. The business attributes that make up “base” data center
around business names, business address, phone numbers and business classifications. Discovery searchesThe
second type of search, a discovery search, is much more difficult to address but it is just as vital for a successful
local-search application. In the local-search sense, a “discovery search” is when a person has a need and knows
where, geographically, she or he wants a product or service. But the user doesn’t know which business to turn to in
order to get that particular need met. For example, consider a person who wants to find a one-hour dry cleaning service
in ZIP code 60606. This person knows what they want (one hour dry cleaning) and knows where they want it (ZIP code 60606).
However, he or she doesn’t know WHOprovides that particular service in that ZIP code. After all, all dry cleaners
do not provide one-hour service. The person using the local-search application is trying to discover
the answer to her or his question. Answering discovery-type local search queries poses problems for any search application
without a complete local-search database. This problem again stems from the fact that most businesses still do not have a
Web presence. Those businesses and their unique qualities are invisible to a Web-crawled index. To successfully fulfill
a discovery-type local search, an application needs more than just the name, address and phone number. A local-search
application needs to understand the fabric of a business and identify the particular thing that makes a business unique. People
making local-search queries want context that allows them to understand what each business does to distinguish itself from
other businesses in their same category and same geographic space. The information needed to understand what is unique
about a business range from the simple — hours open and payment types accepted — to the more complex attributes
like a business’ specialties and the products it carries. Does your local data work?
A
local-search application should have an understanding that there are two types of local-search queries to answer. This level
of technology will help you evaluate the quality and depth of your index or database. Ask yourself:
- Can
you answer both a recovery or discovery query?
- Will your application allow your users to recover information they
know exists today? For example, can they recover the phone number of their favorite pizza place or dry cleaner?
- Is
your search index deep and complete enough to answer unusual queries?
- Will your search result offer a user relevant
data beyond a category list of businesses?
- Can you help your users discover the one-hour dry cleaner in their neighborhood?
If you can’t answer these questions with a “yes,” then the Localeze local-search database will
help. If you have a business location, or you represent a business with physical locations, please take some time to
evaluate whether or not you have made enough information public for a search application to find you for recovery and
discovery searches. If you don’t, you could be discouraging users from returning to your site rather than building their
trust.
2:56 pm est
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2008.09.01 |
2008.03.01 |
2007.09.01

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If you have questions on building a local directory
or as a busines owner you have a question on how to own your business location's local search findability please
feel free to contact me at anytime.
Currently, I work for www.localeze.com
Ask the Expert! For free email business advice, send
your questions, comments or ideas to gibolander@gmail.com . For issues that are of particular interest to the the community, we may publish (with your permission)
your questions along with our answers on this web site.
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About me.
Gib
Olander Director of Business Development www.localeze.com | Currently serves as Director of Business Development
for Localeze, the leading provider of merchant content management services, which includes; collection, organization, validation
and distribution of merchant content. Having a complete focus on making local search more relevant, while giving local businesses
ownership of their local search findability. http://www.linkedin.com/in/gibolander  |
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| Local Search content cloud |
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| Own your business location Findability |
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