3 Under The Radar Local Search Tools

My most recent post on The Daily Egg has created a bit of controversy.

In the article, I share 3 relatively little known tools for optimizing a business’ Local Search presence that we use for our customers.

It’s the first one, using a call tracking number, that’s generated most of the controversy.

In the Local Search world, the NAP reigns supreme.

NAP stands for your business’ Name, Address and Phone number. And they are critical to your success in Local Search marketing.

To understand why, we need to talk a little about what’s known as a citation. A citation is a mention of your business’ name, address and phone number on a website. Think of it as a vote for your business in Google’s eye.

The more citations you have as well as making sure your NAP is consistent everywhere it appears online has always been one of the most important factors in determining where your business ranks in the local listing results on Google (these are the listings that appear for local businesses with the lettered pushpin icons next to them as seen in the screenshot below).

The common thinking when it comes to NAP in the Local Search world is that it has to be consistent everywhere. And it does…for the most part.

And because of that, using a call tracking number is frowned upon and it’s generally considered to be a practice that is sure to hurt your rankings. In fact, there have been some comments on the post (and on some Local Search message boards) from Local Search pros that are not convinced that it’s a smart strategy.

But as I describe in the article on The Daily Egg and the Comment section of the article, we’ve been doing it successfully for many of our clients (including some in highly competitive industries like mortgage and legal) and it’s working quite well. And it gives our clients the huge benefit of being able to more accurately track the results of their Local Search to measure the ROI.

Also in the article, I talk about a new (for most businesses) Local Search tool that very few people know about…Single Platform. This one already is providing some interesting opportunities for businesses and, as described in the article, has the chance to be a game changer in 2013.

To learn about the benefits of using a call tracking number and how Single Platform could reshape Local Search marketing, head over to The Daily Egg to read the article.

Of course, if you’d just like to have us optimize your business’ Local Search presence using all the advanced strategies and tools we have up our sleeves, check out our Local SEO packages here.