Local Search Engine Optimisation – Not a New Fad
A lot of the stuff that is peddled online is tosh and twaddle when you finally get your head round it. It would be understandable if the majority of readers of this article thought that the fuss over local search engine optimisation services for local small and medium businesses was more of the same! Having finally made the commitment to focus on my niche in the online marketplace as a local search consultant for businesses in my area; I would be somewhat upset if it should prove to be the case.
David Mihm is a guy who; by accident or design, has made a solid reputation for himself in the ranks of SEO experts. Although I think he is US based and talks directly to that market, the UK as usual tends to follow the same evolutionary pathway. Mihm has been particularly effective at identifying the changes that make it hard for mere mortals to follow the subtleties of Google’s regular algorithm tweaks.
As well as his own long experience he is able to draw on the talents of a host of his visible and underground contacts to put together an annual review of the Local Search Ranking Factors. With input from his peers and a ranking system, this is possibly one of the best “Outsider’s” guides to how to work the Google search algorithms without blatantly gaming the system and getting your clients banned.
His blog the “Mihmorandum”, is a real source of , must dos and don’t dos. To illustrate the point made in the title, Local seo services are not a new fad, here is a post from 2008, when Google Places was still the business centre.
Even then the failing punch of Yellow Pages style advertisement was being identified and businesses being warned to look to the returns on their advertising budget.
The Value of the Yellow Pages for Small Businesses Today
MIHMORANDUM NO. 122 | September 15th, 2008
I wish people would stop thinking that I somehow ‘have it in’ for the Yellow Pages. Certain Sphinn commenters and a few responses to previous posts I’ve written on this blog seem to imply that I am starting from a “gut reaction” when I criticize their value. This is just not the case. I’m going on hard data from my own clients, and analysis of their business models in comparison to their online competitors’.
One long-term client recently had me conduct an analysis of his marketing budget to-date in 2008. His ROI on Print Yellow Pages spend was about 3.5. While ROI on Google Adwords was comparable to the Internet Yellow Pages, his ROI on organic search spend was 18.6.
His opening comment from more than 2 years ago is still a good reflection of the diminishing rewards from YP and the need to look online for increasing your local customer base.
In Carlisle, the rest of Cumbria and neighbouring regions; Consulting Cumbria Ltd can help you attain your goals this year.
Consulting Cumbria Ltd - Get Top Google rankings for your business website