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How to Bulk-Identify Prime Yelp Reviewers with Yelp’s “Find Friends” Feature...
You may know about Yelp’s “Find Friends” feature, which allows you to see whether specific customers (or other people) have joined Yelp. This is a great way to encourage customers to write you a...
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Yelp Elite Saga Ends in Blaze of Glory
After 3 years as an “Elite” Yelper, I get this email out of the blue: I’m only surprised by how long it took them to wisen up. My Yelping was an experiment from the very beginning. Also, since my...
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Google My Business Mails Verification Postcard to the Wrong Address: What to Do
Did your Google My Business verification postcard end up in the wrong neighborhood? (goo.gl/S6DEks) Yesterday I did a consultation for a guy whose client – an HVAC contractor – had a problem with...
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Unverified Google My Business Pages Now Showing in SERPs
Update 4/2/16: This appears to have been a result of a now-resolved bug. Thanks to Priya Chandra for letting me know. How can you tell whether a Google My Business page is unverified? Now Google will...
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The Most Obscure “Rule” in Google My Business – a Nasty Surprise
A few days ago I wrote about a tricky issue I seem to have figured out based on a hunch: that having two or more Google My Business pages in the “same service” area can cause problems if you need to...
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Online Scheduling: on the Rise in Google and a Local Search Ranking Factor?
I want to emphasize that I have not tested this – even to the extent you can “test” anything in local search. Rather, I’ve just observed a couple things: 1. Google seems to integrate online “Make an...
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Why Send Good Customers to Crappy Review Sites?
Isn’t that a huge waste? Think of how hard you worked to learn your craft, start your business, stay in business, get customers, and do a great job for them and earn those positive reviews. That’s why...
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Dummy Links: Part of a Smart Local SEO Strategy
What I like to call “dummy links” are links that you can get with a little commitment of resources, but without having to think too hard. You’ll need to earn some good links (from other, relevant...
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Yelp Shows Phone Numbers in Local Search Results
Either Yelp or Google – or some combination thereof – has decided your phone number should show up in the search results, rather than just on your Yelp listing. Here’s how a typical listing might have...
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5 Years of Local Search Blogging
My first blog post was 5 years ago today. 276 posts ago. Time sure flies. I’d already been in “local” for a couple years by that point. But my posts are the heart and lungs of this thing, so I...
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Review-Site Sitelinks Just Got More Local?
You might be doing well on reviews, but can you see your business when you search for the review site? More so than I’ve ever seen before, Google’s showing specific local businesses in the sitelinks...
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Google Makes Local Knowledge Graph King – for a Day?
When you search for a specific local business, you may no longer see the knowledge graph appear in the right-hand sidebar. Google appears to be testing its position on the SERPs. The knowledge panel...
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10 Ways Local SEOs Can Start Helping Their Clients Get Reviews
Most local SEOs don’t help clients on reviews, much or at all. They can’t outsource it, it doesn’t look like a lot of billable hours on paper, it takes tough love, and they’re not even sure what...
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The Face of Google Places
Google Places isn’t a person. Why would it have a “face”? First of all, who’s in the picture? It’s not a yearbook photo of any of the moderators at the Google Places Help Forum. It’s not a goofy...
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12-Week Action Plan for Google Places Visibility
Unless you’re Arnold, furious bursts of action alone probably won’t get you very far. You need a plan for the action. This is especially important if you’re trying to get your business visible in...
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The Dark Side of Local SEO
Visibility in the local rankings is a good thing. If I didn’t think so, I’d do something else for a living. And if you didn’t think so, you wouldn’t be reading this But even high rankings in Google...
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The Face of Google Places
Google Places isn’t a person. Why would it have a “face”? First of all, who’s in the picture? It’s not a yearbook photo of any of the moderators at the Google Places Help Forum. It’s not a goofy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
12-Week Action Plan for Google Places Visibility
Unless you’re Arnold, furious bursts of action alone probably won’t get you very far. You need a plan for the action. This is especially important if you’re trying to get your business visible in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Dark Side of Local SEO
Visibility in the local rankings is a good thing. If I didn’t think so, I’d do something else for a living. And if you didn’t think so, you wouldn’t be reading this But even high rankings in Google...
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