In light of the new changes that Google has introduced to its local platform, I thought it would be a great idea to get feedback from some of the local SEO gurus on what they think the ramifications are of these enhancements. These interviews will detail their views opinions about the local sphere and also give us an opportunity to get to know them a little more personally.
I chose to kick things off with interviewing David Mihm. David is one of the leading industry experts in the field of local search today. Innovator of the annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey and a regular contributor to many leading search marketing conferences, David has made his mark and demonstrated his expertise in local search optimization. If local search is your niche, I highly recommend reading David’s work on his blog, Mihmorandum. He is also a regular contributor on Search Engine Land.
1) For those who may not be familiar with your background, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what brought your interest to the field of local search?
Sure. I first got into “internet stuff” back in college, when I started a college basketball website as a hobby. In 2003, my boss at the job I used to have in the summer (still an occasional client) had me redesign his website. I got indoctrinated into the world of search engine optimization almost exclusively via those projects, and although I took a couple of years to try architecture school and a job at an ad agency, I found myself working full-time for small businesses in about 2005.
Most of my clients needed to rank for geographic terms, since 99% of their business came from local areas, so it was really out of necessity that I tried to figure out what worked and what didn’t. When Google Maps exploded onto the scene as part of the Universal Search rollout in 2007, it was pretty obvious that was going to be a pretty key area to focus on going forward. Anymore, I do very little design work & my time at David Mihm, Inc. is focused almost exclusively on Local Search consulting.
2) What are thoughts on local search and its importance now, compared to a couple of years ago? Do you think its rise will or is contributing to the death of traditional and internet Yellow Pages?
The print yellow pages would have gone the way of the dinosaur whether or not Local search had risen in importance. Sure, there are still a few categories you might check the print books for, like locksmiths or payday loans, but by and large almost every demographic (including my parents!) is finding some pretty good results by searching online. There’s still time for the internet Yellow Pages to recover, particularly if there’s a unique offering to their individual websites. Yelp’s pretty much cornered the market on user reviews across most industries, but there are plenty of great vertical sites like Angie’s List, Boorah, etc. As far as Yellowpages.com, Superpages.com, etc., I’ve said for years that they need to transition their business models away from selling a product to selling a service–helping SMB’s figure out what the best place to spend their money online is, whether or not it happens to be an ad on their own sites. Sell expertise, not screen real estate.
3) In your opinion, what has been your favourite or the most important change in the local sphere especially when talking about Google’s local platform?
I love to see Google promoting the Local Business Center the way it has over the last handful of months. For all of our sniping at Google for its lack of customer service, the Local Business Center can truly be a huge kickstart for SMB’s online presence when it works properly. I think the thing that I’m most excited to see roll out are the new Local Listing Ads, which I think are priced and organized in such a way that they’ll be a total no-brainer for a lot of SMB’s.
4) One of the testimonials on your blog says that you go above and beyond to educate your clients about local search. Local rankings across various niches recently dropped for a period of time due to algorithmic changes. In cases like these, how do you deal with client expectations and concerns?
Luckily, most of my clients’ rankings are still holding pretty steady…I think if you do the “blocking and tackling” in Local Search–making sure your data’s correct at the major providers, submitting yourself to relevant sites in your vertical, continuing to gain positive reviews, doing the basics of on-page optimization, you’re probably still fine. I’m not sure Google intended the recent interface changes to shake up their algorithm, necessarily, and we’ll probably some leveling out over the next few months. As far as dealing with client expectations, I’m always up front about the fact that there is no guarantee whatsoever of any sustained rankings, and that it’s important not to rely on Google as the sole source of their income.
5) What do you think are the ramifications of the new 7 pack?
Not much, actually. I had thought they introduced it largely to make way for the Local Listing Ads, but Matt McGee actually pointed out on my blog that it takes up the same amount of screen real estate as the 10-pack. If anything, it should increase clickthrough for those businesses that ARE in the 7-pack since there’s more whitespace around their individual listings than before.
6) How does analyzing local data differ when using Google Analytics vs. the enhanced LBC Dashboard. Which offers more accurate results or are they equally precise?
Analytics proper tends to be much more valuable, I think, since you tend to get the actual geographic keywords that are pulling up your listing–especially if you’ve set up filters to track 7-pack clicks. That’s one feature that I just can’t understand why Google doesn’t include in the LBC Dashboard. Not sure I see the benefit to holding back full keyword data, though perhaps they’re worried about TMI confusing a typical small business owner.
7) You seem to be a solo practitioner of search. How do you balance providing local SEO services with actively speaking at conferences and other events?
Well, I wouldn’t be speaking at conferences or giving other presentations if I didn’t still work “in the trenches!” I think it’s essential to continue to be involved in Local SEO for actual businesses in order to be sure what you’re advising still works! It’s one area where I think our particular community of bloggers and thought leaders does a great job; I’m not sure I’d say the same for some of the areas of online marketing. Sometimes the CEO of a larger company is not the best guy to be giving a tactical presentation.
Traveling to conferences & catching up with friends and colleagues in other parts of the SEO world has been a ton of fun, but as you say, without someone to respond to email and phone calls while I’m away, it can be a challenge to catch up. I’m still recovering from SMX East last month!
8 ) How do you keep up with the ongoing changes and news related to local search?
I am an avid blog reader and Twitter feed scanner! I probably spend about two hours a day just staying up-to-date on what’s happening, either via reading and commenting or over private email. It’s just part of the job description (or should be, anyway). Most of the people I read regularly are linked in the main sidebar of my own blog–Mike Blumenthal & Greg Sterling have been particularly prolific recently and I’d definitely start there.
9) What advice do you have for aspiring local SEO experts?
I’d encourage them to try to get experience in as many different industries as possible. For one thing, I think it’s helpful from a business standpoint–focusing on one industry pigeonholes you, leaving you vulnerable to cutbacks in one industry, and also makes it difficult to take on additional business that won’t be competitive with existing clients.But more importantly, getting exposure across multiple industries and categories can give you a better understanding of how the algorithms work, powerful citation sources, etc. And for heaven’s sake, blog! There’s no better way to build up your reputation in the industry than publishing great content or unique insights you’ve gleaned from your experience.
Hello everyone and I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 2009 was an important year for me as I took a step ahead from micro-blogging and formally launched Local Search Simplified. With just 6 months of blogging, I received positive feedback from fellow industry friends and readers - Thank you all for your support.
