Last week was crazy busy staying on top of blogs and articles relevant to Local Search and WordPress. My favorite blogs and forums include Blumenthal’s, LocalVisibilitySystem, ManageWP and the Local Search Forum – these are my “must read” that I frequent often. Occasionally, I’ll come across an excellent blog post and author on one of my LinkedIn Groups, Google+ or when searching Google for a specific topic. I favor “how to” and “educational” articles and posts that I can learn from and pass along to our clients. When something strikes a chord and really impresses me, I’ll tweet it or Google+ to our circles.
There were two outstanding blog posts last week in regards to Local Search that we want to pass along to Local Business Owners and SEO Consultants. We found the information provided in both blog posts helpful in being part of a plan to secure more customers reviews and build online citations. Here’s you go…
Comparison of Local Review Sites: Where Should You Focus Now?
By Phil Rozek, Local Visibility System
Phil knocks this one right out of the park – it’s our all time favorite for last week – or the month! He knows how hard it is for local business owners to get online reviews. We have heard complaints from our clients saying that their customer left a review for them on Google+ Local or Yelp and that it’s not showing up. What the customer doesn’t know is that Google+ and Yelp have review filters that blocks reviews they think are not a legitimate or spam. It’s an ongoing problem and a roadblock for local businesses trying to get good honest reviews to appear on their Google+ or Yelp page.
Phil to the rescue!
Phil created a chart called “Which Local Review Sites Should You Try to Get Reviews On?” It is extremely helpful listing Google+ Local, Yelp and other top review sites your customers can leave reviews on. He lists the Visibility Factors, Leverage Factors, Difficulty Factors and then goes into even deeper detail, such as how many other sites CitySearch or InsiderPages feeds their reviews to.
On top of that, under Visibility Factors, Phil includes his Local Review Ecosystem Infographic which leads into another great blog post with even more information. Be sure to checkout the comments from top experts like David Nihm, Linda Buquet, Darren Shaw and more. It’s already been Tweeted 54 times, shared on Google+ 280 and Liked on Facebook 23 – this was my last count. I’m sure there will be many more comments and shares through social media avenues in the next few weeks and months to come.
Citation Building Strategies – The Complete List For Local Businesses
By Benjamin Beck, Founder at Local Stampede
This one was posted on LinkedIn’s “Google Local Listing” group that I belong to. It is the most unique list of strategies! Benjamin created a list of ways to properly get citations for your business. I have to go back and re-read again. It is one of the best lists of citation building strategies compiled. Benjamin even provides a table of contents to make it easier for the reader to jump ahead to a specific section – the table of contents includes:
- Sponsorship Citations
- Current Relationships
- Relationships To Build
- Event Citations
- Social Citations
- Job Citations
- Creative Citations
- Competitor Citations
You will be impressed as to what he includes and how well thought out the strategies are. Who would think that “sharing your wifi” would qualify you to be listed in a number of hotspot location directories or “installing a webcam” can get you listed in a number of local and national webcam directories which will cite your business as the source of the webcam.
The Event Citations section will blow you away with so many clever ideas. Renting out your space is one of them. I have heard that many local banks now rent out space for local SEO Consultants and others that don’t have a space of their own to utilize for group seminars or trainings. This is an excellent post filled with strategies on building citations.
Wrap-Up
Each week, we will be post a couple of what we consider to be the most impressive WordPress or Local Search related blog posts. Let us know what you’re looking for in regards to these topics and we will keep our eye out.
