Here are the key features and the framework of how the study was carried out:

• Generic Canadian IYPs and citation sources we used based on their overall authority, web presence and traffic volume.
• Top 11 Yellow Pages headings were chosen based on the Yellow Pages Association’s 2005-2009 YPA Local Media Tracking Study.
• 100 largest Canadian cities by population were chosen based on the  Canada 2001 and 2006 census.
• Keyword searches were performed on Google Canada English search engine.
• Keyword searches were performed in the following format: <Heading>+<City> (eg: Car Dealers Toronto).
• The final results are based on the visibility of the selected IYPs and how often they ranked in the top 10 organic search results.
• The keyword rankings were processed through a software rank checker, which ultimately means that the data is close to 100% but may have errors due to time-outs or no results being returned.

To read the complete report along with the final results, head over to the Powered by Search blog.

This year, I had the unique opportunity to participate in the industry leading Local Search Ranking Factors study carried out by David Mihm. It was an enriching experience and I’m also pleased to announce that Powered by Search is now the 1st Canadian company to have more than 1 panelists take part in this survey (myself and Dev Basu).

Local SEO is evolving constantly and valuable studies like these really help in understanding the intricacies involved with optimizing for local search.  There was a large number of contributors this year and the results were very telling about how Local SEO has changed since last year.

Some of the most positive ranking factors include:

1. Importance of Claiming Place Page
2. Business Address in City of Search
3. Associating Place Page with Proper Categories
4. Volume of Citations from Major Data Providers + IYP Portals
5. General Importance of Off-Page

Head over to David Mihm’s complete version of the study to learn about what factors are most helpful and most harmful in optimizing for local search.

Searching for “Toronto Lawyer” brings up the local 7-pack with Timothy’s World Coffee ranking towards the end at #5. To make matters worse, when you go on their place page, you’ll see a barrage of reviews for a Toronto based general physician “Dr. Daniel Wong” . Additionally, Timothy’s World Coffee is being categorized as a “General Practice Attorney” instead of coffee shop based categories.

This example clearly indicates the importance of owning your business listing in order to avoid such results. Being a verified owner not only allows you to have full control of the information that is represented on your Google profile page but also gives you added benefits such as local analytics and tracking for your local business listing.

Powered by Search is a full service internet marketing company, offering  SEO, PPC, Local Search, Social Media and Web Design services with head offices in Toronto. We’re currently servicing a wide array of SMBs and SMEs in Toronto and US alongside big names such as Delta Hotes and RE/MAX Canada. We’ve achieved some considerable successes in short order, and we plan keep growing throughout 2010 and beyond.

Check out our website and business video:

Local SEO and Internet Marketing Company – Powered by Search Inc from Dev Basu on Vimeo.

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?

• Category customization & spamming penalties
• Google One Box gains authority over the 3 & 10 pack
• Introduction of Google Place pages
• Sudden drop in local rankings of business listings

Let’s take a closer look at some of these concerns:

Custom Category Penalization

Google is now penalizing businesses for utilizing custom categories and geo targeted phrases in the category fields. The Local Business Center now demands at least one suggested category to be used while uploading business listings on the maps. In order to show up for more search related keywords, business owners choose to enter multiple keyword rich and geo targeted categories ignoring the strict guidelines provided by Google. In response, Google has penalized such listings by dropping their local map rankings drastically. However, not all businesses are paying the price for this change as yet. According to the conversation Mike Blumenthal had with Chris Silver Smith, Google is currently detecting such listings based on manual checks and running detection scripts to inspect all listings with geo targeted phrases. With Google now showing suggested and custom categories in regular map search and Google Places, it won’t be long until all spammy listings are penalized.

The Domination of Google One Box

Another interesting observation was the appearance of the Google One Box for several broad searches such as “Toronto Bankruptcy” or “Personal Injury Lawyer Calgary“. While fruitful for the business which has this authoritative positioning, others have left concerned messages on the Maps Help Forum. In some competitive Canadian markets, we are even seeing the 3 pack instead of the usual 10 listings. It is still unclear why Google is favoring only one or few businesses in a market of plenty.

The overall consensus is that it’s becoming more difficult for businesses to take advantage of this low hanging fruit. However, by following the basic guide to optimizing for Local SEO and engaging with your local community by attracting reviews to your business listing can help re-gain local positioning.

Sudden Drop in Local Rankings for Various Businesses

My twitter feed received numerous RT’s and replies to my tweet about observing a major drop in rankings for many businesses across Canada and US. Many regular dominators lost their top local positioning to other businesses. Upon researching further, I also noticed that unoptimized local listings gained prime positioning in the maps over the optimized ones. According to Mike Blumenthal’s pie chart on how to make your local profile 100% complete, businesses that have implemented some or most of the best practices are still behind in their rankings to business listings with little or no additional information.

As you can see in the example above, the first result for “Toronto Carpet Cleaning” shows an unoptimized local listing with no additional information about the business, no website or email address, photos, videos etc. The business which ranks number 9 in the 10 pack is better optimized with additional information, photos, citations and even has a user review.

This 10 pack used to show a different set of optimized local businesses as of yesterday but due to today’s sudden changes, search has shown a completely different set of results. In response, many businesses have posted their plea of help and concerns on the Maps Help Forum regarding their loss in local rankings.

Google is definitely making ranking factors more vague for Local SEO experts to understand and implement. It is also effecting the DIY business owners who largely depend on the traffic they recieve from Google maps. I would be interested in knowing your thoughts as a Local SEO or a business owner with regards to the recent update in Google’s local algorithm.

This concept was initially started by our very own Toronto Local SEO expert, Dev Basu. David Mihm recently added to this list and I aim to contribute further and make the list of Canadian Local Citation Sources more complete. I cannot stress how important it is for SMB’s and SME’s to undertand and respond to the increasing local intent of searches online. In addition to being represented in the maps, it is imperative to submit your business to these local search engines which allow you to engage with your community, build social capital and eventually enhance your local optimization efforts online.

So before I go ahead and make my additions to this list, here are a few bullet points explaining WHY you ABSOLUTELY need to submit your business to these local search engines:

• Gives your business a wider platform to reach out to your target audience
• Allows you engage with your community, increase brand awareness, build trust and consumer loyalty
• Consumers can leave their feedback via reviews and recommendations
• Increases the different number of sources to which your map listing can be linked, eventually increasing your dominance over the local SERPs.
• These listings get indexed quickly, allowing you to maximize and dominate your citations in search results.

So here they are, my additions to the Canadian local citation sources. Submissions to all these local business directories are absolutely FREE! So go ahead and take advantage of this opportunity, start engaging with your community and improve the way you market your local business online.

1. Praized.Com – A recent and upcoming local search engine and online social community which enables adding and reviewing local businesses and engaging with the online community by interacting through questions, comments and opinions.
2. Ourbis.Com – A review based local business directory where you can promote your business using photos, descriptions etc.
3. Ourfaves.Com – An interactive local city guide allowing businesses to be reviewed and shared among the local online community.
4. Brownbook.Net – A local business directory that anyone can edit! Brownbook allows various customization features for your listing and it also has a bulk upload option for businesses with multiple locations.
5. Findhere.Ca – Yet another Canadian local business directory with free submission and customization options along with promotion via reviews.

However, this has all changed now. With the new and improved LBC Dashboard, business owners can now see information about their listings in a way they haven’t been able to before. With the help of impression and view count graphs detailing the traffic trend month over month, which keywords drive that traffic to your business listing and where your potential customers are located, tracking progress of your local business listing is easier than ever before.

Note: Existing businesses on LBC will be able to track their local analytics dating back from May 1st 2009. No previous data for dates prior to that.

In addition, you are also able to view and track the completeness of your business profile with the help of a progress meter attached to your Dashboard. As I mentioned in my initial post, Local SEO Simplified, you want to be able to have as much information attached to your profile so you can stand out from other local shops across the street and gain authority in local positioning.

Unfortunately, this enhancement has not yet been introduced for the local businesses located in Canada. But don’t feel left out fellow Canadians! With Google recently correcting the phone verification anomaly for Canadian businesses, it is not much longer till we receive these new enhancements.

Here is a quick teaser before you go check out your own Local Business Centre Dashboard. Enjoy!

Which To Choose for Higher Call Volumes

There is a significant difference between call volumes when using local phone numbers in various types of advertising, compared to using 1-800/toll free numbers instead. When talking about national brands, most companies choose to have an all encompassing ‘vanity’ number such as 1-800-MORTGAGES for example. While this method has a positive impact in terms of brand recall and retention, call volumes suffer a great deal when compared to businesses who opt to employ local phone numbers.

Dr. Dennis Fromholzer of CRM Associates, ran a metered ad study in 2009, taking into account call volume differences between local and 800 numbers in print and IYP advertising. In an email to subscribers, Dr. Fromholzer says “The conclusion is the same as observed in other countries:  consumers are far more likely to respond to an ad with local numbers rather than an ad with just an 800 number.”

Key Observations

A study carried out in 2009 comparing 1100 toll free numbers across a range of YellowPages service headings, Dr. Fromholzer observes the following:

•    Ads which include a local phone number receive more than twice as many calls as ads with just an 800 or toll-free number.
•    The cost per call is 2.4 times higher in ads with just an 800 number than with ads with just a local number.

Such results are not only observed for studies carried out in the US but across several other countries around the world indicating the consistent worldwide consumer buying behaviour. In general, consumers like to be served personally and not with an automated voice system which re-directs them to one of the many thousand call centre agents one comes across once they dial an 800 number.

Things play out differently when it comes to IYP (Internet Yellow Pages) ads. It appears that 800 numbers in IYP ads do better than for print ads:

•    75% as many calls as local numbers rather than 30-50%.

However, this would be an incorrect conclusion having observed the following:

•     The cost per call for 800 number IYP ads is about 3 times higher than for local number ads ($52/call vs $16 per call).

800 numbers were used more frequently in ads with broader geographic coverage (state, regional, national), or ads with larger “package” deals. Looking at results like these, usage of 800 numbers proves to be highly unprofitable for the advertiser.

Some still believe that the usage of 800 numbers will not be a negative in the online world. This belief is flawed on the basis that people are people, regardless of technology. The reason why ads with 800 numbers fail to receive high call volumes is both print and online media is because of the general negative reaction of customers to an 800 number. Such a number suggests the following: “not a local business”, “call centre”, “long waiting queues”, “less personal service”, “automated voice systems”. All these factors boil down to the same conclusion that people like to deal with someone who cares about their needs and provides service with personal attention. [Excerpted from CRM Associates, Local vs 800 Numbers, 2009)]

It should be noted that while an 800 number alone can cause harm to an ad, using an 800 number IN ADDITION TO local numbers adds value. This combination gives the consumer more control and more choice. A set of 18 split-run tests with national display ads showed that the “local line + 800 #” received an average of 84% more calls than the 800 number alone.

While consumers on the internet behave differently than those that use the Yellow Pages, they still have a fair number of things in common, and the desire to deal with a local service or vendor is one of them. With the exception of e-commerce, most consumers on the net are still largely dependent upon calling in to complete transactions.

2 months ago, I was asked to write a guest blog post on the topic of local search by Ethan Bloch and Dan Martell of Flowtown, a small business consulting company based in San Francisco. I had initially met Dan Martell at Twestival Toronto and we got talking about the rising importance of Local SEO for small businesses. Shortly after our meet, Dan and Ethan were kind enough publish my article on Flowtown.com and I am re-posting my work to kick things off on my own blog.

More Online Searches Are Now Local

The importance of local search has increased dramatically since the launch of the local 10 pack in early 2008.

With local search statistics like:

• 35% of all online searches are local
• 61% of all local searches result in purchases
• 73% of online activity is related to local content

Deciding whether to optimize your small business for Local SEO should be a no-brainer.The following is a comprehensive guide on how to optimize your listing on Google’s Local Business Center:

1. Getting Started – Add a business location on Google by visiting the Google Local Business Center (GLBC).

2. Business Name – It’s not about who you are but what you do. The opportunity for any local small business to attract new customers lies in attracting people who are looking for what the business does rather than who they are. Before you could get away with having the type of your business present alongside your actual business name and location, but now Google has clarified the guidelines on business titles on map listings.

3. Telephone Number – Always provide a local telephone number. A local number oozes good customer service and an 800 oozes automated telephone systems and call center representatives.

4. Description – Having a brief description of your business and associated products or services is vital. Ensure that the main keywords for which you wish to be positioned for are included in this 200 character description and avoid copy/pasting in this field. Writing a unique and catchy business description will entice consumers to click through your listing.

5. Categories – Perhaps the most important section of your business listing. GLBC allows you up to 5 categories for your listing. The key to obtaining top rankings for your main keywords is to avoid using the auto suggest feature and actually list the main keywords + city in the fields.

6. Photos/Videos – Having business related photos such as your company logo or product shots can add value to your business profile. However, it is important to name your images such that they reflect the type of your business. Eg: Having your company logo image named as image001.jpeg will not add any context to the image. Instead name each relevant image in the format: city-keyword.jpeg.

Adding videos is another value-added feature to your business listing. Not only does it improve conversions, but it also helps your business rank better as it contributes to the completion of your profile.

7. Additional Information – GLBC allows you to add additional information such as your payment options, hours of operations etc. Following the same reasoning as mentioned above, the more complete your profile is, the better your local rankings will be.

8. Reviews – As local search is becoming increasingly social, user reviews are becoming extremely important in securing top rankings in the local 10 pack. A combination of having a complete business profile and enabling your business to be listed on various review based local search engines is the ideal mantra for optimizing your business for Local SEO. Some of the important U.S based local citations include Yelp, Superpages, InfoUSA but for a complete list, refer to David Mihm’s “The BCS of Local Search Engine Optimization” and Dev Basu’s “The Canadian Guide to Local SEO Citations”, for Canadian specific citation sources.