Attended one of SEOmoz‘s wonderful webinars today. Here are my favorite takeaways.
Local SEO
Sometimes lower-ranked results get more clicks than higher-ranked results in local listings. This means having a compelling listing can get you more clicks than ranking number one.
Figuring out what kind of results Google shows for your keywords tells you what local SEO tactics you need to pursue. We saw a screen shot of four different ways Google displays local results. Each display correlated to a different set of ranking criteria.
Here are two blog posts with tips on getting citations. http://www.seomoz.com/blog/google-places-citations-5-tactics-to-earn-links-for-your-local-business
http://www.seomoz.com/blog/one-deal-simple-tactic-for-better-rankings-in-google-local
To find out where YOU need to get citations, go through all your competitors’ Google Places listings to find out which sites Google is using for sources of Places info. Then get citations from those sites.
Check out your competitors’ related places (at the bottom of each Places Page). Get included in any lists they’re in together, for example, Seattle Scandinavian restaurants.
Social profiles can function as citations if you can add your address to your profile.
Blended Results
Videos often get higher CTRs than regular results.
Your image’s folder doesn’t matter like it used to. But it’s still pretty bad to have the image live on a different root domain.
Image SEO: Go crazy with keywords.
Google Shopping Results
Ranking number one for shopping results gets your image featured.
The nearby stores link is a boon for local businesses.
Other
Sites with forums can dominate SERPs through discussion results.
Brands in related searches – Google uses offline factors to establish entity associations.
Get into these brand results through large-scale offline brand building.
Co-citations help establish “similar-to” results.
Getting Google to suggest your brand name in search suggest is a must for established brands.
Google Suggest is virtuous cycle, getting suggested dramatically increases your number of queries.
Social Media and SEO
Social media doesn’t just help content rank, it compels people to click through when they see their friends shared it.
All your Quora followers see your My Social Circle results. Get followers by including images/graphs in answers.
Ranking in Google News
Google News: Take a different angle to gain a separate result.
Google News: Optimized headlines are essential.
Google News: Be first on the scene or go home.
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