Oh the Irony...

I ran into this issue while creating a Google Local listing with my Google Chrome browser.



I had to laugh...

Google Local Now offering Reports and Instant Feedback

2 things.

1. Google Local is now offering Analytics on their local listings. Now we know what keywords are generating clicks, we know if they are clicking on the map, or going straight through to the web site. Pretty cool. The bonus of these reports is they also give you some insight into what keywords (you are optimized for) users are searching for and what the search volume is in a very localized way.
   
   
2. Updates to listings are instantaneous, rather than waiting a day to see if your edits were effective. Very cool!

Google Local. Keeping you honest, and screwing up your listing.

Google Local has revamped the rules for their local listings. What was once an acceptable practice, ( having keywords in the title tag for instance) is now likely to prevent your listing from being shown.

Some of the new requirements for Google Local are:

The actual business name must be in the title - no more keyword stuffing!

The description and custom attribute fields should include additional information about your listing. This type of content should NOT appear in your business’s title, address or category fields.

Only one Google Local listing per physical business location. you should not create a listing for every town you service.

Do not attempt to manipulate search results by adding extraneous keywords into the title field, and do not include phone numbers or URLs in the title along with your proper business name.

Use only categories that directly describe your business or practice.

Provide the one URL that belongs to your business both in terms of the landing page and the displayed URL.

Use the description and custom attribute fields to include additional information about your listing. This type of content should never appear in your business’s title, address or category fields.

Google Trends - Bringing Clarity to the Murky World of SEO

If you've optimized more than one web site, you have probably run into a scenario where you have a client in a technical, or niche market with complex terms, or multiple phrases that mean the same thing. How do you pick the best, or weight most heavily, most widely searched terms for that client? Or perhaps you have some optimization experience with the client's profession. The client may want keywords X, Y and Z, but you know from experience that potential customers are searching for similar terms A,B, and C. All of the terms are related, but your client, being immersed in his business and the vernacular that comes with it, is simply unaware that his terms may not be the ideal first choice. How can you quickly demonstrate to your customer that your keyword suggestions are better? Easy! Google Trends.

Google trends - as explained by Google

"With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most..."

Cool! So I can compare the search term "Tibetan Yak Oil" with "Himalayan Yak Oil" right? Well, yes and no. Let me explain. You are certainly allowed to enter those phrases into Google Trends, nobody is going to stop you from doing that. BUT, if your phrases are so obscure that next to nobody does a Google search for them, the resulting data you get back from Google will pretty much be zero. But even that data tells you something. Right?

So with that in mind, Google Trends is best used for broader search terms. For instance "Tooth whitening" vs. "Teeth whitening" gives us some rather good information on what Google users are searching for. This information is especially interesting because "Tooth whitening" is actually grammatically correct, but not what the majority of people are searching for. So, weighting the optimization of your cosmetic dentist client's tooth whitening page for the keyword phrase "teeth whitening" may actually bring your client more leads (and really get under the skin of an english major).

Feeling Rejected? Rescuing your Relationship with Yahoo!

I was handed two rejection notices this week by Yahoo!'s Seach Submit. The first was for my New Haven, CT cosmetic surgery client Dr. Goldstein. I had recently been given this account, and found that it had not been indexed by Yahoo! since June of 2006. I chose the $50 site submit from Yahoo! rather than the free submit simply so I could monitor what was happening with the site. It was accepted, initially then listed as "ineligible" a month later.

The second site, OceanCountyEye.com, was judged ineligible within a week of submission. My initial frustration led me to run reports checking for duplicate content. I found there simply wasn't enough on the site for it to be rendered ineligible. We were left scratching our heads, searching for a complex answer to what was a relatively simple issue. Below are some lessons learned.

Don't expect alot of feedback from Yahoo!

Yahoo! will not be very forthcoming with information as to why your site was turned down for inclusion into their index. Instead of spending your time and energy emailing the support department, running reports and pulling your hair out, dig into your site, get to the bottom of the problem, then ask to be included again. My lessons learned below.

Its the simple things

First, don't make this too difficult on yourself. Look for the obvious issues first. In my case, the following issues were what I believe to be the culprit.

• Bad links, or links to spammy sites - Case in point OceanCountyEye.com site had some items on their Links page that over time had gone bad. Two went to URL's that no longer existed (404 errors) and the third evidentely had its URL snagged up by a very spammy AdSense site.
  
  
• Design errors - Sometime between the time I first submitted the site, and when it became "ineligible" the disclaimer on the bottom of Dr. Goldstein's web site had changed color. It was now nearly the color of the background, and looked like hidden text.

So after a simple edit to remove some bad links for one client, and a quick change to a style sheet for the other, I am now confident that both of my clients will be indexed by Yahoo! Easy.

Resources

• Yahoo Search Submit Guidelines


• Google Design and Content Guidelines