As posted by SEO Designer Thomas McMahon to Online Marketing Blog:

“63% of consumers and small business owners use the Internet to find information about local companies and 82% use search engines (Webvisible & Nielsen).  That means there’s a lot of opportunity for local Search Engine Optimization, or local SEO.”

Essentially, local SEO focuses on optimizing content in order to position it in the ‘Local Business Results’ displayed by search engines such as Google and Bing.  Most times, ‘Local Business Results’ appear above traditional search results.

And while the article McMahon cites does not account for customers seeking companies in emergency situations, common reasoning suggests that those rising above traditional search results will be those that are called first when trouble strikes.

One company that can attest to the power of local SEO is Minneapolis-based Welter Heating and Air Conditioning, that has recently renewed its engagement with TopRank® Online Marketing.

For nearly 100 years, Welter Heating & Air Conditioning has provided home heating and cooling repair services for residents dealing with Minnesota’s uneven climate, marked by blistering summer heat and frigid winter cold. The objective of its renewed program with TopRank is to maintain and enhance local online visibility for emergency based search phrases, including ‘central air conditioning repair Minneapolis’ and ‘furnace repair Minneapolis.’

“A good share of the year, our customers and prospects need help with an emergency situation. By helping us develop content that stands out — and can quickly be found online — TopRank will continue to position us as one of the first names that rises to the top, both in our customers’ minds and in search results.” -Rick Welter, Welter Heating.

Stay up to date with news from TopRank® Online Marketing by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter, or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the SEO and social media marketing programs offered by TopRank by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden was interviewed by WebProNews‘ Abby Johnson about social media and ways companies can get around some of the common misperceptions and obstacles.

When companies hear about businesses success stories using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others, many often “jump in” without considering the rules of engagement. The only way companies can really really create long term value and benefit from the social web is through participation.  Marketers need to take the time to understand which social channels their customers are spending time on, what they’re doing there discover what their information needs are.

The next step is to fulfill those needs in a way that delivers value both for the participants and for the brand. Effective social media participation builds on the brand promise and also invites the participants to take next steps towards a more commercial conversation when it’s relevant.  This interview discusses all of those topics and more.  Get more information on TopRank Social Media Marketing services here or read over 50 blog posts on the topic here.

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(Who also doesn’t mind having meetings on the lake once in a while)

TopRank Online Marketing has a great opportunity for a talented writing professional to join our content marketing team. Business blogs, websites, social media content and other types of online promotional copy are core skills for this position that helps our clients win on the web.

The search and social media savvy writer we’re looking for knows online marketing communications and messaging from working client side, at an agency or both. Prior experience (2-3 years) with Blogging, Article Writing, Social Media Content Creation and Promotion as well as Search Engine Marketing will win big brownie points.

This position carries with it a number of potential benefits including: the opportunity to write for an agency blog that has over 36k subscribers & 120k visitors per month, attend 1-2 industry conferences each year (NYC, Vegas, San Francisco), work with a mix of Fortune 500-1000 clients and the opportunity to learn SEO and Social Media Marketing from some of the most talented consultants in the biz.

TopRank Online Marketing is a collaborative group that works in a team environment. We offer a significant opportunity for advancement, extremely competitive time off policy, IRA retirement plan, premium health insurance and a creative office environment overlooking Lake Minnetonka.

If you’re interested, please email Julie Brue: hr at toprankmarketing dot com or get more info here: Online Marketing Copywriter

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You can easily find any of these books by copying the title and author below and pasting into the search box on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Books on Social Media:

• Cluetrain Manifesto – Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searles, Dave Weinberger
• New Rules of Marketing and PR – David Meerman Scott
• Do It Wrong Quickly – Mike Moran
• Join the Conversation – Joseph Jaffe
• Groundswell – Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
• Personality Not Included – Rohit Bhargava
• Tribes – Seth Godin
• Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky
• Age of Conversation – Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan (100+ contributors)
• Social Media Marketing An Hour A Day – Dave Evans
• Secrets of Social Media Marketing – Paul Gillin
• Naked Conversations – Shel Israel & Robert Scoble
• Freakonomics – Stephen Dubner & Steven Levitt
• Buzz Marketing – Mark Hughes
• Radically Transparent – Andy Beal & Judy Strauss
• Web 2.0: New Tools, New School – Gwen Solomon & Lynne Schrum
• The Long Tail – Chris Anderson
• The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success – Lon Safko
• The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowieki
• Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion – Gary Vaynerchuk
• Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business – Larry Weber
• Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking – Andy Sernovitz, Afterward by Guy Kawasaki
• Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of Social Media Marketing – Jim Tobin, Lisa Braziel
• Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations – Amy Shuen
• Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs – Brian Solis, Geoff Livingston
• The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web – Tamar Weinberg
• Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online – Chris Brogan
• Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn: An Unofficial, Step-by-Step Guide to Creating & Implementing Your LinkedIn Brand – Social Networking in a Web 2.0 World – Neal Schaffer
• Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook – Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo
• The Twitter Book – Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein
• Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods – Shel Israel
• Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time – Joel Comm and Anthony Robbins
• Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day – Hollis Thomases
• Twitter Marketing For Dummies – Kyle Lacy
• Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets – Paul McFedries
• Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business – Erik Qualman
• SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate (Voices That Matter) – Joel Postman
• Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web - Brian Solis
• Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves – Adam L. Penenberg
• Open Leadership – Charlene Li
• Trust Agents – Chris Brogan
• YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day – Greg Jarboe
• Social Media Metrics – Jim Sterne
• The Social Media Marketing Book – Dan Zarrella
• Social Media Marketing For Dummies – Shiv Singh
• Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day - Mari Smith & Chris Treadaway
• Facebook For Dummies – Leah Pearlman & Carolyn Abram
• Facebook Marketing: Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign – Justin R. Levy
• The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff – Clara Shih
• Facebook: The Missing Manual – E. A. Vander Veer
• The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World – David Kirkpatrick
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue - Shama Kabani and Chris Brogan
• Social Media Marketing: Engaging Strategies for Twitter, Facebook & Other Social Media – Li Evans
• The Hyper-Social Organization: Eclipse Your Competition by Leveraging Social Media – Francois Gossieaux & Ed Moran
• MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small – Greg Verdino

Coming Soon:

• Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business – Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman, and David Meerman Scott (Dec 2010)

Books on Search Engine Marketing:

• SEO Warrior – John I. Jerkovic
• Art of SEO – Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, Jessie C. Stricchiola
• Search Engine Marketing Inc, 2nd Edition – Mike Moran & Bill Hunt
• Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day – Jennifer Grappone & Gradiva Couzin
• The Truth about Search Engine Optimization – Rebecca Lieb
• Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics, 2nd Edition – Brian Clifton
• Search Engine Visibility, 2nd Edition – Shari Thurow
• SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible – Jerri L. Ledford
• The Truth About Pay-Per-Click Search Advertising – Kevin Lee
• Advanced Google AdWords – Brad Geddes
• SEO Made Simple – Michael H. Fleischner
• Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing – Kristopher B. Jones
• Building Findable Websites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond – Aarron Walter
• The Findability Formula: Easy, Non-Technical Approach to SEM – Heather F. Lutze
• Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies – Bruce Clay and Susan Esparza
• Landing Page Optimization – Tim Ash
• Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity – Avinash Kaushik
• Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets – Andrew King
• Inbound Marketing – Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah
• Search Engine Optimization Secrets – Danny Dover
• Marketing in the Age of Google – Vanessa Fox
• Audience, Relevance & Search: Targeting Web Audiences with Relevant Content – James Mathewson, Frank Donatone, Cynthia Fishel

Coming Soon:

• Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing: An Hour a Day – David Szetela and Joseph Kerschbaum (Aug 2010)

Did we leave any SEO, PPC or Social Media Marketing books out? Which would you recommend?

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Nearly every day:

• 14,000,000 gather on Twitter
• 60,000,000 connect via LinkedIn
• 346,000,000 engage through blogs
• 400,000,000 network via Facebook

The sheer numbers point towards an unparalleled opportunity to connect with your prospects and customers in social channels online, many of whom are eager to engage.

So what is the one social activity that your customers and prospects are eagerly awaiting for you to launch?  Why not ask them?

This July 29^th, Lee Odden, TopRank® Online Marketing CEO, and Chelsea Bucoy, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Zoomerang by MarketTools, Inc., present Engage Your Audience With Social Media & Surveys.

This free webinar, hosted by Zoomerang, will illustrate the importance of integrating social media into your online marketing campaigns and the power surveys can bring to your efforts.

Attendees will learn:

• Brainstorming techniques for developing survey topics and social media campaigns
• Strategies for engaging social media audiences via online polls and surveys
• Techniques for repurposing individual poll results into future marketing initiatives

This one hour webinar begins at 2pm EST on Thursday, July 29^th.

Webinar Information:
Engage Your Audience With Social Media & Surveys
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
2pm EST
Free & Online
Register For This Webinar

Stay up-to-date with the latest social media events by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the marketing programs offered by TopRank® Online Marketing by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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Today’s start-ups would be wise to heed to this analogy.

Until the product or service you create has its name ingrained in the minds of your target, there is very little chance they will find you regardless of how badly they need you.  It doesn’t matter that everyone needs a ‘pilotguide’ (a fictional and foolproof autopilot for your car) if no one knows to ask for a pilotguide by name.

Instead, focus on promoting the universal benefits your new product or service offers, optimizing for keyword phrases used by your target when they seek a solution to common problems you are helping to solve.

Rather than ‘pilotguide,’ think ‘chauffeur services’, rather than ‘pilotguide evening capabilities’ think ‘nighttime driving safety.’

A good question to ask yourself is, ‘what does my prospect ask for before they have any idea that I exist?’

Answer this question with your online marketing efforts and you’ll not only maximize visibility – you may just may stumble on a messaging strategy that would have remained completely hidden otherwise.

Stay up to date with monthly Ask the Expert posts from TopRank® Online Marketing by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter, or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

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At its core, social media is the art of real-time engagement.  Less a business practice, more a throwback to traditional public relations, it is a tactic that when leveraged correctly can help any company achieve its PR and marketing goals.

But while the social media and traditional PR game may have the same goals, they simply cannot be played successfully with the same set of rules.

This July, the new set of rules that can help PR and marketing professionals succeed in social media will be unveiled during Retweet: Engagement Means Business, a free online conference hosted by Vocus.  Joining this conference as a presenter will be TopRank® Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden.

Odden’s presentation, Optimizing PR for the Web in 2010, will share best practices for leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media promotions for online PR campaigns.  Attendees will walk away with the knowledge needed to choose the keywords and write the news content that will provides the highest possible impact on overall goals.

Other speakers and sessions for this event include:

• Deirdre Breakenridge: From PR’s Past to Social Media Power
• David Meerman Scott: Game Change: The New Rules of Marketing and PR
• Beth Harte: Integrated Marketing Communications: Engaging Your Audience Online
• Brian Solis: Engage or Die!

This free online conference begins at 9:30am EST on Wednesday, July 28^th.  All speakers will be on hand to answer questions via live audio Q&A sessions.

Conference Information:
Retweet: Engagement Means Business
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
9:30am EST
Free & Online
Register For This Conference

Stay up-to-date with the latest online marketing events by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the marketing programs offered by TopRank® Online Marketing by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Google Search-based keyword tool

Wordtracker

KeywordDiscovery.com

WordStream

SEMRush

Did we miss any?

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Situation

Chief Manufacturing has over 30 years of experience designing state-of-the-art mount and rack solutions for the technology industry and made significant investments in improving their online presence to deliver more value to current and potential customers. Armed with an improved website, Chief sought outside expertise to provide consulting on search engine optimization for improved search visibility, increased qualified website traffic and sales. While Chief Manufacturing marketing staff possess some SEO expertise, TopRank provides up to date keyword, content, link building and conversion optimization consulting on an ongoing basis, freeing the Chief marketing team to focus on other offline and digital marketing programs.

Solution

Chief Manufacturing initially engaged TopRank® Online Marketing in 2007 for a Search Engine Optimization program that has moved from SEO audit to an ongoing program that continues to improve search marketing performance. A key year over year objective for Chief Manufacturing is to increase website traffic from search engines with corresponding metrics such as improved visibility on keyword queries that reflect customer interest and intent.

Over time, a variety of factors can arise that stand in the way between a website and its target audience ranging from updated search engine ranking methodology as was the case with Google Caffeine, to past content falling out of date. On a proactive basis, the TopRank Marketing team has worked with Chief Manufacturing marketing staff to address any SEO issues with SEO technical assessments and a keyword glossary audit.

Major web design or content changes can have a disastrous effect on search engine visibility and TopRank provides SEO advice during such changes to mitigate any negative effects. As with all SEO clients, TopRank Marketing also works with the Chief Manufacturing marketing team on a monthly promotional plan to ensure the creation and promotion of new and compelling content designed to attract a steady stream of customers.

Results

Since 2007, TopRank® Online Marketing has helped Chief Manufacturing achieve double-digit percentage increases in key performance indicators each year. For example, some of the improvements in 2010 over 2009 include:

• 53% more inbound links
• 22% more top 10 keyword rankings
• 25% greater search engine brand awareness
• 12% increase in organic search engine traffic

Most importantly, Chief Manufacturing now dominates the competition on a wide range of keyword queries in their industry. In fact, Chief has anywhere from 2-16 times more search engine visibility than any of their competitors for priority keyword terms that they are targeting.  Top search engine placements keep Chief Manufacturing top of mind for prospective customers that are looking for “flat panel mounts” and related products resulting in more inquiries and sales.

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Of course, the inherent disadvantage of this scenario is a digital space flooded with competition.  Nearly every software company that inhabits space online must constantly be on-guard against potentially hundreds of competitors competing for mindshare.

For the two companies below, both of which have renewed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) programs with TopRank® Online Marketing, this increased competition will be far less of a worry:

Axonom specializes in providing enterprise-wide relationship automation modules for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  In continuing its SEO engagement with TopRank, the company will be continuing to build relationships with customers and prospects pulled to Axonom website via Microsoft CRM-branded and non-branded solution based keywords.

Help/Systems develops, markets and supports leading System i software solutions, including job scheduling and message management software.  In addition to enhancing keyword rankings and search traffic, a renewed SEO program with TopRank will focus on enhancing online inquiries from targeted prospects.

Stay up to date with news from TopRank® Online Marketing by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter, or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the B2B SEO and social media marketing programs offered by TopRank by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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OMS conference organizer Aaron Kahlow arranged to shoot a quick video interview with Lee, Rick Burnes of HubSpot and Joe Pulizzi of Junta 42 and the Content Marketing Institute to discuss leave behind online marketing tactics, online trust/privacy issues and conference feedback:

Liveblog posts of the keynote came from TopRank’s Adam Singer and fom Mike Corak: ”Lee Odden rocked as always – great keynote – see him if you haven’t and check out TopRank for certain”.

Here’s a bit of OMS Minneapolis keynote feedback from Twitter:

@myklroventine: @leeodden Congrats again on a great #OMSMIN keynote.
@medallionfinder: @leeodden Very dynamic speaker at #OMSMIN . Good stuff!
@PriorityResults: Excellent presentation from @leeodden at #omsmin. Thanks!
@AaronKahlow: Facebook get’s more search traffic than AOL…Lee Odden says at Keynote at #OMSMIN @OMsummit… great session to kick off the day here

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If your website were to disappear from Google tomorrow, what would that mean to your online marketing program?

With over 80% of search market share, in addition to highly popular properties such as YouTube, Gmail and Blogger.com under its umbrella, life without Google is an idea that grows more terrifying the more it is considered.

While a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program will focus heavily on Google, a holistic digital marketing plan will be built with an inherent understanding of the importance of channel diversification.   And in today’s online marketplace, this diversification can best be personified by the social web.

This June 25^th at Online Marketing Summit, Minneapolis, TopRank® Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden will detail how to create content for the social web that supports, yet is independent of, Google and other search engines.  Odden’s presentation, Beyond Google: SEO and The Social Web, will be offered as the morning keynote during this summit.  Readers of this post may enter the code ‘TOPRANK20‘ for 20% off registration.

Attendees of this keynote will learn how diversifying search marketing programs with social tactics will support:

• Enhanced presence throughout the digital landscape
• Long-term, meaningful relationships with customers online

Odden’s morning keynote is scheduled for 9am on Friday, June 25^th.

Summit Information:
Online Marketing Summit
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Minneapolis, MN
Ramada Plaza Minneapolis
1330 Industrial Boulevard

Register For This Summit
Enter TOPRANK20 For 20% off registration

Stay up-to-date with the latest online marketing events by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the marketing programs offered by TopRank® Online Marketing by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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Contact information and customer reviews are two key areas in which microformats are commonly used.  Most intriguingly, these particular microformats are often used in support of ‘rich snippets’.  Rich snippets (think customer reviews displayed in search results) make it easier for search engines to highlight some of your more compelling web content for users.

Is the use of microformats a good thing?

Schools of thought break into one of two camps:

• Of course!  You are making it easier for search engines to display useful information about your website to users.
• Maybe not…If all the best content from my website can now be seen in search results, why will people click through to my site?

In deciding whether or not to use microformats, the question is truly this:

Am I more concerned with a tactic that may help with my overall online marketing objective (i.e. make it easier to connect with customers) or am I more interested in achieving a metric (i.e. website traffic).

With microformats remaining a relatively new tactic, this can be a deceivingly difficult question to answer.

As with any other new online tactic, testing the water is always encouraged prior to diving in.

Stay up to date with monthly Ask the Expert posts from TopRank® Online Marketing by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter, or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

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In a recent post, Online Marketing Blog equates content and links to the Yin and Yang of any healthy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program. Post author, TopRank® Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden, states, “Active content creation, promotion and social participation are essential for building a significant and relevant inbound link footprint on the web.”

As such, blog and social media marketing related tactics are no longer simply additional options to consider when fleshing out an online strategy.  They are now vital tools required to get the job done.

This June 23^rd, Odden will be expounding on the importance of social media and blog marketing as he joins the panel, Why Blogs and Social Media Should Be Part of Every B2B Marketers Toolkit, at the B2B Search Strategy Summit in San Francisco.  Joining Odden for this session, moderated by Galen DeYoung, will be Jonah Lopin of HubSpot.

Those in attendance will learn the importance of blogging and social media to yield success, and how these tactics can be used to build:

• Robust link-building programs
• Ongoing real-time search results
• Website legitimacy in the eyes of users and search engines

Odden’s panel will present at 4:20pm PST on Wednesday, June 23^rd.

Summit Information:
B2B Search Strategy Summit
Wednesday, June 23^rd, 2010
InterContinental San Francisco
888 Howard Street
Register For This Summit

Stay up-to-date with the latest social media events by subscribing to our newsroom RSS feed, following @TopRank on Twitter or becoming a fan of Online Marketing Blog on Facebook.

Learn more about the marketing programs offered by TopRank® Online Marketing by downloading our Social SEO Guides.

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Thanks to Amanda Miller Littlejohn of Mopwater PR + Media Notes, below is a video from the first 10 minutes of Odden’s presentation outlining how SEO can boost the value Public Relations provides to organizations and how both SEO and PR can work together to achieve media relations and marketing goals.

If you would like to experience the full presentation, be sure to check out the PRSA Webinar coming up June 15th: The Top 10 SEO Tactics for SEO Professionals.  Of course, you can also find out more by visiting the online PR category of Online Marketing Blog.

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