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Category: News

5 For Friday – Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

1. SEO 101: Getting the On-Page SEO Basics
– Search Engine Journal

This article provides a ground-floor explanation of some of the basic, on-page SEO elements. Though this article may not seem useful for experts, this article takes into account that the rules for SEO are always changing. A refresher to update readers on what’s changed slightly and what’s stayed the same can help a new site get started and an old site get freshened up. The article also offers some useful tools to help with implementing the basics it suggests.

2. Fix These 5 Email Marketing Missteps
– Mashable

Emails are such a normal part of our daily lives that we forget how to treat it during marketing campaigns. This article describes 5 problems that are commonly found and offers solutions to overcome these issues. It’s important to use whatever tools we have on hand when it comes to marketing, and email is no exception.

3. How to Identify Non-Ranking URL Page Types Using Google Site Search
– Search Engine Watch

The author provides the benefits of using Google’s site search in order to identify and find “valuable indexation metrics” for non-ranking page types. Though the author doesn’t state that this should replace crawling a site, he does state that there are useful details to gleam from a slower and more in-depth study of a site.

4. Marketing 101: How to Create a Successful Influencer #Marketing Plan
– Search Engine Journal

Reaching your target audience means enlisting the help of people with a good voice in the industry, known as an influencer. The article provides a definition of influencer marketing, as well as the benefits that can come from it. There are also a few simple ways suggested in designing the marketing strategy, reaching out to influencers, and keeping them with you. The author also puts emphasis on making sure to have something to offer when reaching out to influencers. Anyone with a steady audience and a good voice does not need or wish to offer any favors for free.

5. 6 Changes We Always Thought Google Would Make to SEO that They Haven’t Yet
– Moz

This article gives an interesting insight into the Google changes and updates that experts have expected, but haven’t seen implemented yet. The notes are sensible, and when it comes to changing SEO rules, it’s extremely important to try and stay ahead of the game and to figure out the path that Google is trying to take search.

April 18, 2014
5 for Friday — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

1. Google To Protect Paid Search Keyword Data, Making it ‘NotProvided’
– Search Engine Journal

This article discusses a report that Google will stop passing keyword data to analytics software, even for AdWords advertisers. The three main points of the article state that Google will likely stop providing referrer data for paid clicks on AdWords ads, Advertisers may see [not provided] in their Google Analytics reports or other analytics provider reports for paid search clicks, and Google AdWords reports will remain unaffected. How will this change effect you?

2. The Art of Thinking Sideways: Content Marketing for “Boring” Businesses
– MOZ

Here the author speaks about different ways to create unique content for your clients. We have all had clients where we wondered if there was any way to promote their brand. As marketers it is our goal to raise brand awareness, improve search engine rankings, and increase sales for our clients.

3. 73% Lose Trust in Brands Due to Inaccurate Local Business Listings [Survey]
– Search Engine Watch

If a business has incorrect information in an online listing will you lose trust in the business and look elsewhere? Have you ever looked up an address to a service or a business only to find yourself driving in circles because the info was incorrect? This happened to me personally a few weeks ago while looking for a restaurant. After I found myself lost for about 10 minutes I gave up and moved on to a new restaurant. This article has some interesting info about how potential customers will research your business information.

4. How Brands Are Using Twitter’s Redesigned Profile Pages
– Mashable

This has some excellent examples of a few major brands who have recently updated their Twitter profiles. I agree that these new profiles provide the client the opportunity to add more content, but immediately thought they looked like a Facebook profile. Twitter is rolling this function out slowly to the general public. Check out the examples and let us know what you think!

5. 80% of Local Searches on Mobile Phones Convert
– Search Engine Watch

Here is a study on local search on mobile devices. The stat that stood out to me was that four out of five local searches on a mobile device end in a purchase. Check out the infographic at the bottom of the article for more interesting data they found.

April 11, 2014
Takeaways From Pubcon New Orleans Day Two
Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend Pubcon New Orleans for the first time. It was one of the most fruitful learning and networking experiences I’ve had the chance to be a part of. I felt like I could spend forever just absorbing everything I could from everyone I met. One of the major themes that I got from all the speakers I saw at PubCon was the importance of good content. So, now I’m here to tell you about some of the main takeaways I got from the particular sessions I attended.

Peter Shankman: Keynote

The keynote by Peter Shankman focused primarily on the power of good customer service. His four main points were Transparency, Relevancy, Brevity, and Top of Mind. He said you don’t have to go crazy with customer service, just be “one level above crap.” On this note he mentioned the Morton’s Steakhouse story where he jokingly tweeted at them about wanting a porterhouse steak upon landing in New Orleans from a flight. They then sent someone to meet him with a steak when he got off the plane. This simple gesture(although not scalable for every brand) led to a lot of great publicity for Morton’s. It’s all about making your customer feel special.

An audience you are more transparent and honest with that feels invested in is 78% more likely to buy. Peter also said that when(not if) you screw up, own it. People are 44% more likely to stick with you if you own it. He mentioned the stark difference between how Eliot Spitzer handled his prostitution scandal by admitting the fault and resigning versus how Anthony Weiner handled his sexting scandal by saying he got hacked and not owning up to it.

Peter mentioned the importance of being relevant and listening to your audience as well. He mentioned a non-profit that saw a 37% increase in donations just by being engaging and active with their audience online.

The third important facet Peter Shankman mentioned was brevity. He particularly said that brevity is the future of social media and not just in the way we think of it through Twitter now. He said jokingly that we’ve all become the dog from the movie Up, because recent studies show that we have a 2.7 second attention span. Shankman said that mobile messaging is the future and Twitter is just the pipe, so we must learn to write well and concisely.

Finally, Peter talked about the importance of being top of mind. You want to be the first person someone thinks to go to for whatever they need. He also mentioned the idea of having “zombie loyalists,” or people who have you at the top of their mind for recommendations.

Will Scott: Barnacle SEO

Next I had the opportunity to sit in on Will Scott’s talk about Barnacle SEO(a term he coined in a Local Search News post back in 2008). Barnacle SEO is all about leveraging authority for local search. Specifically, the idea is to attach oneself to a “large fixed object” and wait for customers to “float by in the current.” It’s not as simple as using someone else’s authority, because Will says the most important thing in business is sincerity. “If you can fake that, you’ve got it made,” he says.

He also mentioned that Google’s weakness is sites they consider super authoritative like YouTube, Yelp, Pinterest, Facebook, YP.com, and such. This is making Barnacle SEO have a huge comeback. YouTube for example dominates universal search and according to a MarketingLand infographic, 8 out of 10 video results are from YouTube.

Although using backlinks from these authoritative sites and directories like YP.com for local SEO efforts is important, it’s also super important to “keep it clean-ish” by using tools like Whitespark.

Greg Gifford: Local SEO- It’s No Laughing Matter

After Will Scott, Greg Gifford, Director of Search and Social at AutoRevo, took to the stage with his presentation about the complications of local search. His awesome presentation featuring punny references to 142 movies and also contained precise, actionable tips. He mentioned the changes in local search like the maps pack finally stabilizing at seven listings and how optimized vertical and local directories now rank very well. A huge opportunity for small businesses to rank well lies in simply adding city and state to title tags.

Greg also mentioned how the goal of Google Plus Local(aka Google Places) seems to be like a drive through, a place for people to get what they need by getting in and out quickly. He also brought up the Google email about “duplicate listings” that rolled out with Google finally merging the old dashboard to the new. If you want to know more about this email, check out my blog post here.

His optimization tips for G+ included writing long, “awesome” descriptions using formatting and links, uploading lots of photos, using as close to the max 10 categories as possible while keeping them relevant, engaging in the fairly few number of users on G+, and circling users as a business. As far as reviews on G+ go, he mentioned that you have to earn them and ask for them, you need at least five reviews to see the star average, you should shoot for 10 then diversify, one to two reviews a month is normal, and having them come in consistently rather than in bursts is important.

Casey Markee: The “Big Easy” Guide to Google-Friendly Link Earning

Casey Markee started his presentation with a quote from Matt Cutts saying, “The objective is not to make your links appear natural, the objective is that your links are natural.” He mentioned that the “four tenants of Google-friendly links” are those that provide clear value for the user, are niche-relevant, get clicked to send some measurable form of trackable analytics traffic, and are “earned” freely versus being given.

He listed nine link “earning” classes that Google still loves which included:
1. Link Bait Type Content- Sharable and Buzz-Worthy
2. Evergreen Content- No Expiration Date
3. Local Link Earning- Publish Local Resources
4. Scholarship Link “Earning”- Ex: SilverCross.com Ability Achievement Scholarship
5. Beneficial Link “Earning”- Participate in Online Forums
6. Sponsorship/ Partner Building- Support Causes
7. Profile Links- Social Profile Building
8. Selective Guest Blogging- Quality not Quantity
9. Brand Mentions- Get Regular Mentions Turned Into Live Links
He ended with saying that link earning is a marathon not a sprint, and that quality content is key!

Mike Stewart: Building a Future Proof Plan for Organic Local Search Rankings

The biggest takeaway I got from Mike Stewart’s presentation was to think beyond Google search and about other places where people often search like Siri, Amazon, Facebook, and Bing. He also explained the difference between some white hat and black hat SEO tactics, and the importance of doing it right. Mike took us back to basics explaining that “SEO is about creating, editing, organizing, and delivering content and metadata to increase relevance to specific keywords on the web.”

Finally he gave us “Seven Simple Content Ideas That Drive Shareability” which are as follows:
1. GIVE: Offers, discounts, deals, and contests that everyone can benefit from
2. ADVISE: Tips, especially about problems that everyone encounters; how to do something
3. WARN: Warnings about dangers that could affect anyone
4. AMUSE: Funny pictures and quotes, as long as they’re not offensive to any group
5. INSPIRE: Inspirational quotes
6. AMAZE: Amazing pictures or facts
7. UNITE: A post that acts as a flag to carry and a way to brag to others about your membership in a group
This is just a very small portion of the many helpful tips and tools I learned at PubCon this year! Let me know what you think about all the tactics you’ve learned here today.
April 4, 2014
What to Watch for on the Web: Tips From PubCon 2014

There was a lot to learn at Pubcon New Orleans 2014! Read below for the inside scoop on some exciting web-related trends we can expect to see in the not-so-distant future.

A Trend Toward the Visual

The belief is that the deeper into the future we go, the more visual-based our web experience will become. Pictures, and moving gifs, are increasingly at the heart of web developers’ designs. Just take a look at what amazon.com looks like today versus February 2000 or even compared to January 2008. And take a look at Disney World’s home page now versus what it looked like in 2000. It will be very interesting to see just how picture and gif-centric the web will become.

Wearable Technology

Optimizing for Wearable Technology might also be a big part of the future. Google Glasses and Fit Bits are just the beginning when it comes to this trend; think watches that control your home, clothing-embedded phone chargers, (and even wearable couture in the form of solar-powered color-changing clothes!). Nobody knows exactly what the trajectory of wearable technology will be, or how in the world we would optimize for it (!), but it definitely makes sense to stay on top of the learning curve when it comes to these advances.

And Google Says…

Of course a blog about PubCon wouldn’t be complete without some interesting updates from Google! According to Danny Bernstein, Google’s Head of Product Partnerships, we can expect to see a lot of interesting expansions from Google coming our way; so, straight from the horse’s mouth, here are some interesting developments that we can be on the lookout for:

App Indexing in Searches

For one, Google is working to populate deep links to your relevant downloaded apps in searches, specifically on Android devices. So, for example, if you Google “Jurassic Park,” (because who wouldn’t want to do that?!) a hit that might populate in your search results could be a direct link to the Jurassic Park page in your IMDb app. Google is currently working on indexing all of these applications so that they can populate in an intuitive way in our searches.

Google Wallet

Google is also working to bring Google Wallet to the next level, which is an application that will make paying for various web services even easier than it is now. App developers can incorporate Google Wallet into their programming so that users can purchase their app’s related services with just a push of a button or tap of a finger. Additionally, businesses will be able to use Google Wallet to push various product promotions to their app’s users.

I’m sure I am not alone in my excitement to observe these exciting developments as they come to life!

April 2, 2014
Mobile Optimization and WordPress Tips – Pubcon 3/20/2014

Along with a number of other Influencers, I was fortunate enough to attend Pubcon New Orleans on Thursday, March 20th. Being a smarmy, cynical Developer, I was honestly a bit skeptical as to the amount of real, pertinent insights I would take away from the experience. I was even more skeptical of the quality of the seafood etouffee that would be provided at the lunch buffet. I am pleased to say that my skepticism was proven to be unfounded on both counts, and there was quite a bit of quality information shared at the Pubcon sessions I attended. And the seafood etouffee was legitimately really good, even to a New Orleans native. So great job all around!

I thought I might in turn share some of the more significant information I took away from the speakers I heard. I’m going to start with what were actually the latter two sessions I attended (“Next Generation Catalysts: Trends Worth Watching” and “Mobile Conversion Optimization“), because these were similar thematically and a bit more “accessible” in terms of subject matter. Then I’ll cover the earlier session I attended on the nitty gritty of WordPress structure (“Optimizing the WordPress Content Machine“) for anyone whose eyes don’t glaze over upon encountering words like “server” or “database.”

Mobile Strategy

In the two sessions I saw addressing mobile strategy, possibly the simplest but most surprising takeaway for me was how much actual commerce takes place on mobile devices now. As Ralph Schwoebel in the Next Generation Catalysts session enthusiastically emphasized, “mobile-friendly” optimization and responsive design are no longer just trends that are hip with the kids; they are now essential considerations for any business trying to expand its branding and customer reach on the internet. While more purchasers still use desktop devices to buy online, Schwoebel notes that mobile buyers actually spend about twice as much in their purchases. Also of significance is the fact that users of Apple devices thoroughly and decisively outnumber users of other mobile devices in terms of actual purchase rates. That’s not to say that designers and developers should just ignore Android users, but acknowledging the fact that iPhone and iPad purchases comprise a truly dominant majority of mobile purchases should help everyone prioritize a little bit.

Key to leveraging this increased internet usage and spending among potential customers, however, is allowing our approach to design and user goals to evolve along with the technology. Poignantly, three different presenters across both sessions hammered on the same crucial point: mobile conversion goals should be approached differently than desktop conversion goals. Presenters William Leake and Chris Goward both emphasized that it is not necessarily productive to view form submissions or newsletter signups as a realistic user conversion goal, as it might be for desktop users. When optimizing a site for mobile users, they suggested making click-to-call buttons more of a focal point, since it is more realistic to expect a potential customer to call for more information versus filling out an entire form on a tiny phone keyboard. Ralf Schwoebel posited that rather than focusing on getting users to sign up for mailing lists, download apps or, again, awkwardly fill out a mobile form, efforts may be better directed toward encouraging users to bookmark a site or add it to a separate reader app or RSS feed.

Along with adjusting goal expectations, mobile designers and developers were encouraged to adjust content-related expectations for mobile visitors. Where a site’s perceived topical authority and “SEO-friendliness” afforded by larger quantities of targeted content may benefit a business site viewed on a desktop browser, the same isn’t always true on mobile. It can be difficult to read content on smaller screens, and you don’t want to make users scroll forever to get to a conversion goal. “Trimming the fat” on mobile sites, be it content or excessive widgets, banners, etc. was a common theme throughout these presentations.

So What’s The Point?

In broader terms, just think like a real live mobile internet user (which most of us probably are). From a Development standpoint, I know it can be very easy to get bogged down in issues like “will this form display well in a mobile browser?” or “should all this content go above or below the form on Android devices?” and so forth. It’s essential, however, to take a step back and consider the actual user experience of someone browsing the internet on their phone while waiting in line or killing time at a coffee shop. The questions may well change to, “do we need the form or all that content in the first place?” or “what do people actually need to see in order to pique their interest enough to come back when they have more time to browse?” There are so many technical considerations when it comes to responsive site design and mobile-friendliness that it can be easy to forget its actual function for the majority of mobile users.

Wonderful WordPress

Moving on to the WordPress-centric session I saw earlier in the day, there were a great deal of really interesting points raised here about site security and maintenance. One over-arching point that presenters Carolyn Shelby and Brian Lafrance both emphasized is to avoid overuse of plugins in WordPress. There are numerous reasons for this, but one of the most pertinent is the ease with which a security breach in a plugin can facilitate hacks to a large quantity of disparate sites using that plugin. According to Shelby, this was exemplified during last year’s Pubcon, where it was revealed that there were major vulnerabilities in two of the most prominent WordPress caching plugins (W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache).

To help combat these sorts of problems, both speakers recommended compiling a master list of all plugins in use on any site you manage, with notes on when the plugins and the WordPress installation itself were last updated. This is one among many suggestions that would be more practical for developers afforded sole, proprietary management of a site and its content, of course. At Search Influence, we have many procedures in place to allow us to work on a site regularly while allowing clients and clients’ own developers to continue making updates of their own with minimal conflict. Still, tracking WordPress plugins and updates is an irrefutably sound approach.

In essence, it should simply remain a policy to just not use plugins where plugins aren’t really necessary. There is no need to use plugins for site updates that would only require a couple lines of PHP or a quick line in the .htaccess file to accomplish on your own. Particular wrath was directed toward 301 redirect plugins, many of which have settings to automatically redirect broken URLs to places you might not want them to go, with very little customizable user control. And if a plugin is installed but not in use, it should definitely be deleted.

Site Speed

While the talk focused on the security aspects of WordPress, many of the principles in play also have direct impact on site speed. The fewer plugins with information being stored and sorted within the site’s database, the quicker the database can be accessed and loaded. More directly, a number of plugins function by adding extra JavaScript to a page, which can in turn make each page take longer to load in a browser. Another significant point raised by both speakers was to limit users within WordPress. More specifically, there is an option to force commenters to create an actual user account within your site in order to be able to comment. Some may see this as some form of deterring spam comments, but all it really accomplishes is to completely bloat a site’s database with user data. For anyone wishing for commenters to officially register in order to comment, Lafrance recommended using Facebook login as an alternative to avoid having to store all this information in the site’s database tables.

All that said, it is still considered advisable to use certain plugins like anti-virus plugins, search and replace plugins and (now secure) caching plugins for site speed. Additionally, making effective use of the Custom Fields plugin for site functionality can save the need for many additional plugins, avoiding extra bloat within WordPress.

Logins

I’m setting a special paragraph aside for one point that seemed almost embarrassingly obvious to the speakers and to me, but which comes up pretty much daily in our office. It’s shocking to have to say this in 2014, but PLEASE, do NOT make your WordPress user name “admin” or your password simply your business name, or worse, “temppass” or “password123.” Again, this seems like a statement that shouldn’t need to be made at this point in the evolution of internet usage, but it comes up all the time. Carolyn Shelby also pointed out that it is a really bad idea to name your WordPress database simply “wp,” which I’ve also seen on sites we’ve inherited in the past.

Many of these points are in line with what we already practice – or at least preach, when access is limited – at Search Influence. It is always nice to be vindicated by other experts in the industry, however. Where we may not be overhauling any processes based on the points raised in the sessions I attended, I felt like I was definitely given better perspective on many issues we deal with regularly and better sense of priorities in terms of how we do our work.

April 1, 2014
Influencers Flock to the Pelicans Game

It’s 4:30 PM on a Monday and where is Search Influence? On our way to the Pelicans vs. Nets game! It already did not feel like a typical Monday because Jack Black was filming a movie on the first floor of our building in Oak Bar, but our quarterly office team building event only added to the excitement.

I have only been with Search Influence for a little over three months, and I have already gotten to experience two company bonding events that made me feel welcome and appreciated. Not only did we receive tickets to the Pelicans game, we also had the Party Perch in the Smoothie King Center rented out so we could mingle beforehand. Thank you Team Building Committee! (Yes, we have a group of Influencers that take extra time to make sure our events are special!)

After a slow start, the Pelicans caught up with the Nets and went into overtime, which made our group go wild. We danced to the Wobble, Jump On It and other classic jams while we cheered for the Pelicans who shot multiple three-pointers and claimed their victory!

All in all, it was a very eventful Monday night and I’m glad I got to spend with my co-workers in my favorite city. I can’t wait to see what our Team Building Committee comes up with next to help our ever growing number of Influencers have fun together!

March 31, 2014
The Balder Side of Life

Every year a neighborhood bar that caters to celebrating German heritage in New Orleans hosts a special event. This event is one of caring and hope. The participants all sport identical hair cuts. The floor is littered with a variety of browns, blacks, and yellows in various hues. It is in this hallowed hall that St. Baldricks takes place each March.

St. Baldricks is a charity organization that raises money for children’s cancer research. They have raised over $127 million for research by doing a different kind of charity work. St. Baldricks doesn’t ask its participants to walk, sell candy, or do anything physical. All they ask you to do is take a seat in a barber’s chair and allow a volunteer to shave your hair off in solidarity with all the kids that lose their hair due to cancer treatments.

I have participated in this event for four years and helped raise several thousand dollars with some of my closest friends, two of which have been with me each year. Geoff Gauchet was the first to tell me about this wonderful organization and invited me to participate. And although I was a bit hesitant at first, I fell victim to the age old dare of “I’ll do it if you do it,” from one of my closest friends, Jacob Mayer.

I have asked these two friends to explain why they participate in this organization.

What made you want to participate in St. Baldricks?

JM: Peer pressure! OK, that’s only part of it, but I knew some friends who had been doing it for a while and some more friends who wanted to get involved. The more I learned about the organization, the more I wanted to be a part of it.

GG: My boss at one of my past jobs did it every year, and so one year I decided to give it a shot.

How long have you have you been participating?

GG: This will be my 7th year. I get knighted as a Knight of the Bald Table this year, which is an honor for anyone who’s given 7 years of a service to the organization.

JM: This will be my fourth year! I think.

Your team name is Hairy Shearers, what’s that about?

GG: It’s a reference to The Simpsons. Harry Shearer does a large number of voices on the show, and in one episode there was a barbershop named Hairy Shearers, a pun on cutting hair and his name, obviously.

JM: Since Shearer is a voice actor for the Simpsons, that make this joke so meta. So meta, y’all.

How do you get the word out about your participation in this event? Do you utilize social media or do you have a specific method for raising funds?

GG: I use social media almost primarily. I post my donation link about once per day. As it’s been 7 years, I’ve learned the key times of the day to post for maximum visibility. I also print up a flyer and post it on the fridge at work, and usually email family members.

JM: Any way I can: Facebook, Twitter, emailing my coworkers, bugging my family, etc.

How do your friends and family react to your shaggy appearance prior to the event?

GG: My parents love the event not just for the cause, but because my hair is usually ridiculous right before the event. I wanted to keep my beard at first, but my dad donated extra money on the spot to have them shave it off, so now I do the whole thing. Friends and coworkers usually don’t recognize me for a second. It freaks me out when I catch myself in a mirror.

JM: It’s literally the first thing my family and coworkers mention when they see me in the month or so leading up to the event. “HEY WHEN YOU GETTIN’ DAT MOP CUT OFF?” or “HEY SHAVE YOUR BEARD, YOU GROSS WEIRDO.” You know, stuff like that. But they’re all very supportive of the cause and sympathetic to my disheveled appearance.

Please join Geoff, Jacob, and myself at the Deutsches Haus on March 29, 2014 at 6:00pm to watch us once again lose our hair for charity.

Also, feel free to donate to St. Baldricks:
Team Hairy Shears
Geoff Gauchet
Jacob Mayer
William Monson

March 27, 2014
New Influencer Faces: March 2014

Here at Search Influence, we keep on growing! We’re happy to welcome seven new employees to our team.

Brooke Folse (Account Associate): Brooke was born and raised in Lafayette, LA. She graduated from The University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a degree in Marketing. Prior to joining Search Influence, she worked in the Oil & Gas Industry doing marketing and performing research in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania. She is excited to explore all of the activities and culture that New Orleans has to offer.

Lauren Arceneaux (Account Associate): Originally from Rayne, LA, Lauren made her move to New Orleans in 2012 after graduating from The University of Southern Mississippi with a B.A. in Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Studies. Before Search Influence, she worked as a Territory Sales Manager for a local publishing company.

Andrea Hernandez (Account Associate): Andrea was born and raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and moved to New Orleans 10 months ago. She attended Northeastern University in Boston where she earned a B.S. in Business Administration with concentration in Marketing, and a minor in Communications. Andrea’s passion is digital marketing and she is excited to join the Search Influence team.

Gussie Matthews (Account Associate): Originally from St. Louis, MO, Gussie graduated from College of Charleston with a degree in media communication. Prior to Search Influence, Gussie worked in online marketing for an eCommerce website. As a first-time resident of New Orleans, she’s looking forward to warm weather, Saints football, and cheering on the St. Louis Cardinals from afar.

Lindsey Nunez (Junior Account Associate): A New Orleans native, Lindsay received her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. Prior to joining Search Influence, she taught English to business professionals in Prague, Czech Republic.

Bridget Juelich (Junior Account Associate): Bridget is originally from St. Louis, MO, and attended Loyola University where she earned a bachelors degree in Mass Communication and a minor in Marketing. Previously she worked as the Social Media and Marketing Coordinator for the Elms Mansion. Bridget also worked for other local businesses such as Tales of the Cocktail and the Donnelley Center for Nonprofit Communications.

Rachael Borek (Junior Internet Marketing Associate): Originally from Baton Rouge, Rachael attends the University of New Orleans and studies Sociology. Before joining Search Influence, she worked as a PC-Technician for St. Joseph’s Academy’s one-to-one laptop program in Baton Rouge. She still spends time doing IT related volunteer work locally.

Welcome to Search Influence, Brooke, Lauren, Andrea, Gussie, Lindsey, Bridget, and Rachael!

March 26, 2014
What Happened To GetListed.org?! Check Out The New Moz Local!

If you’re a local SEO geek like me, you were probably super excited to learn that this past Tuesday Moz Local was officially released. If you go to GetListed.org, you’re now redirected to Moz Local, which can also be accessed directly at moz.com/local.

So, you might be asking yourself what exactly has changed and what is Moz Local. You can still do the same free reputation lookup that you used to be able to do with GetListed by clicking “Check my Listing Score.” Now, however, the results are very stylized, as is Moz’s style, and much more visual in nature.

Here’s a comparison view:

Understanding Moz Services

So, outside of the free reputation monitoring tool, Moz Local offers the paid service of being a “self-service location data management software that syndicates listings to all five major U.S. data aggregators,” at a cost lower than services like Yext and UBL. One of the 5 major data aggregators that they submit to is Factual, which if you’ve ever tried to clean up your listings in, you know it can be fairly impossible because you basically need to be a developer to do so. For $49 per year per location, they feed your listing informations to major directories and help you stay on top of how your business is appearing on those sites with a beautiful and easy to read visual report. The time you would have spent locating and figuring out what’s going on in these sites, is greatly reduces by using a helpful and comprehensive service like this. Using efficient tools like this is a great way to make sure you’re being productive and not just keeping busy.

Moz Local is definitely geared towards businesses and agencies who manage multiple locations and/or businesses online. If you want to add multiple listings and locations to the tool at once, you can do it all in one spreadsheet with formatting similar to that of the UBL and Neustar/Localeze upload spreadsheets and exactly the same as Google’s multiple location spreadsheet. So, if you’re familiar with any of those, it’s super easy. If you’re not familiar with those, they’ve got a super helpful page to ensure that you’re filling out the fields properly!

Answering Questions

You might be thinking, “But what about the directory partners that require listing verifications?” Well you don’t have to worry about that! Here’s the direct response to that question from Moz:

When you submit a listing on Moz Local, it must match an existing Google Places or Facebook listing across all of the following attributes: Business Name, Address, Phone Number, and Website. Because you’ve already gone through the phone or postcard verification process with Google and/or Facebook, your Moz Local listings will be validated if they exactly match Google and Facebook.

Thinking Forward

Much like other services such as Yext, if you cancel your Moz Local subscription, many of your listings with Acxiom and Localeze will be reverted back to their status prior to your subscription.

Your best bet to prevent something like that from ever happening would be to use Moz Local as a tool to get your information to those sources correctly, but also take the action of still claiming and owning your listings. This is especially important to do on major sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Yelp, and Foursquare.

I hope you’re all as excited about Moz Local as I am! If you’ve got other questions about Moz Local, see their FAQ section here.

Feel free to comment below if you’ve got any input or feedback on your experience with this beautiful new upgrade.

March 21, 2014
New Search Influence Production Members

Take a look at our newest Internet Marketing Associates!

Alex Talbot

Alex is a native New Orleanian. He grew up in Gretna and went to Jesuit High school. Alex recently graduated from Loyola University with a degree in marketing and economics. Before joining us at Search Influence, he worked in sales and brand management at a cable and satellite company. In his spare time, Alex plays in a punk rock band called Pears, previously known as the Lollies. One of Alex’s most recent performances was on Mardi Gras day at Siberia! Alex joins the technical Internet Marketing Associate side of the SI production team. His focus includes interpreting web marketing trends and search optimization plans for national SMBs in a variety of different industries. Alex also analyzes web traffic statistics to create detailed reports of link building campaigns and marketing initiatives.

Nakia Thomas

Nakia grew up in Gonzales, Louisiana. She attended Louisiana State University, where she graduated with a degree in communications. Before becoming a part of the Search Influence team, Nakia was a Formal Wear Specialist (She helped pick out gowns and tuxedos!) at a wedding boutique, and did some freelance and ghost writing work. Additionally, Nakia writes songs, and helps one of her good friends with his record label. Check out this single she helped write! NGWY (No Good Without You). Nakia adds to the growing content focused Internet Marketing Associates group of the production team here at SI. She focuses on writing and optimizing content for our client’s websites, video scripts, blog, social media, and more. Nakia also performs Internet research, website edits, quality assurance, and editorial review.

We’re so excited to add these two multi-talented people to our growing team! If you’re interested in becoming an Internet Marketing Associate, or any part of the growing Search Influence team, check out our list of available careers!

March 10, 2014