My presentation for the ALSMA 2017 Innovations conference in Siem Reap Cambodia on SEO for yellow pages sites

1. Andrew Shotland
CEO, LOCALSEOGUIDE.COM
How Local Directories Can
Stay Get Relevant in
Search
ALSMA CONFERENCE CAMBODIA
30.10.2017

2. Agenda
• How To Maintain & Grow Organic Traffic
• Relevance
• Authority
• Testing & Tweaking
• Thinking Outside of Your Website
• #1 Google Ranking Factor
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia 2

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4. How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
http://web.archive.org/web/20040606030011/http://www.insiderpages.com:80/
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http://web.archive.org/web/20041019000737/http://www.insiderpages.com:80/
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http://web.archive.org/web/20041214022053/http://www.insiderpages.com:80/
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“We’re going to redesign the
site to better reflect our brand
promise and customer journey”
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http://web.archive.org/web/20170622144022/http://www.insiderpages.com/
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12. Where Do Customers Come From?
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
Channel Fortune 500
“Brands”
“Who?”
Media
“Who?”
eCommerce
SEO 41% 77% 20%
Direct 33% 12% 16%
Paid 14% 5% 46%
Email 11% 4% 17%
Social 1% 2% 1%
Source: LocalSEOGuide.com Channel Study 2017
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13. How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
Channel Fortune 500
“Brands”
“Who?”
Media
“Who?”
eCommerce
SEO $ $$ $$
Direct $$$$ $ $$
Paid $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
Email $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
Social $$$ $$$ $$
So Where Do We Invest?
Source: LocalSEOGuide.com Conversations w Cheap Clients 2006-2017
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DO NO
EVIL
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Knowledge Panel

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Local Packs

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Images

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Reviews

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Instant Answers/
Related Questions

20. IYPs Lagging in Key “Content”
Features
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
SERP Feature Top 5 Local
Directories
Average*
MozCast
(All Sites)**
Knowledge Panel 47% 51%
Local Packs 26% 22%
Reviews 22% (14% w/o Yelp) 37%
Images 15% 18%
Instant
Answers/Related
Questions
2% 26%
*Source: SEMRush SERP Features for Yellowpages.com, Yelp.com, Mapquest.com, Superpages.com & Manta.com
**Source: Mozcast SERP Feature History
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21. The Best SEO Investment Is
Creating a Product That
Your Customers Want
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
…and then knowing how to squeeze every last
drop of SEO out of it.
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22. #1 Google Ranking Factor: Technical SEO
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25. #1 Ranking Factor: Relevance
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26. Anybody Can Win…
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SEO-Focused Media Sites Are
Advantaged…
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28. And SEO Focused B2B Sites…
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
http://www.localseoguide.com/how-to-
update-your-internet-yellow-pages-
listings-for-free/
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Site # of Articles
Avvo 15,000+
Angies List 12,000+
Home Advisor 2,000+
Manta 1,000+
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30. #1 Ranking Factor: Authority (aka
Links)
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
Source: Majestic.com referring domains to Thumbtack.com
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https://www.thumbtack.com/tx/dallas/#/2016/1
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37. #1 Ranking Factor: Content
Optimization
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia 37

38. Rewriting Product Descriptions
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
“The primary SEO lift comes from adding to a non-existent
description and enriching a poor description. The average lift
is 15%. High ~30%, low ~3%, depending on type of content
and demand.”
-Former Head of SEO, Walmart.com
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http://www.myyp.com/Uniondale,NY/Taxi-Latino-of-Long-Island/profile
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http://www.showmelocal.com/profile.aspx?bid=365755
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https://www.thumbtack.com/tx/dallas/tree-trimming/

42. Are Your Titles “The Best”?
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43. Are You Selling In Search Results?
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44. Are You “Near Me”?
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
http://www.localseoguide.com/near-local-seo-ranking-factors/
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45. Need A Lift?
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia 45

46. Are You Fighting For Your Share?
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https://www.yellowpages.com/dall
as-tx/bars-showing-the-
mayweather-fight-tonight-in-
newark-delaware

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48. Think Outside Your Box
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49. How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
•Book luxury hotels on JetSetter
•See expert hotel photos on Oyster.com
•Book the best restaurants with TheFork
•Book tours and attraction tickets on Viator
•Read cruise reviews on Cruise Critic
•Read travel guides at SmarterTravel
•Get airline seating charts on Seat Guru
•Find airfare deals at Airfarewatchdog
•Find vacation rentals on FlipKey
•Search for holiday rentals on Holiday Lettings
•Find a vacation home on Vacation Home Rentals
•Plan a family vacation on Family Vacation Critic
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50. Think Outside Your Local Box
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51. Things To Do…
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1. Get Attention
2. Answer Questions
3. Understand What Your Customers (Consumers and Advertisers) Are Searching For
4. Always Be Testing & Tweaking
5. Don’t Just Rely On a Single Website, or a Single SEO Tactic
6. Go Responsive!

52. SEO Is Always The Lowest Priority…
Until It’s Not.
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
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53. Thank You!
How Local Directories Can Get Relevant in Search | 2017 ALSMA Conference Cambodia
Andrew@localseoguide.com
https://twitter.com/localseoguide
http://www.localseoguide.com/contact/
PRESENTATION AVAILABLE AT
http://www.localseoguide.com/alsma2017
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