An aggregator is a company who collects business information to resell for a profit.  These are also known as data aggregators or data providers. They will use a variety of sources to harvest and corroborate the information including: public records, phone directories, high-profile business directories, newspapers and even phone calls to businesses. Keeping the data clean and […]

Centroid, or central points of relevance, is the civic centre of a neighbourhood or metropolitan area as determined by a local search engine. Typically, it’s located close to the centre of a neighbourhood or city. It used to be that the centroid was chosen based on a central location in the city, such as town […]

A data provider is a company contracted to supply fundamental business information to local search engines. In the U.S., the major data providers are Acxiom, Factual, Infogroup, and Localeze. The uses of applications like Google Maps for driving directions are considered user behaviour and count as such. This would indicate recognition of a local business […]

A data provider is a company contracted to supply fundamental business information to local search engines. In the U.S., the major data providers are Acxiom, Factual, Infogroup, and Localeze. The uses of applications like Google Maps for driving directions are considered user behaviour and count as such. This would indicate recognition of a local business […]

A duplicate listing is when there’s more than one listing for a single business on the same site. It’s important to resolve duplicate listing issues swiftly since Google only allows one listing per location. Duplicates can be a violation of this policy leading to penalties and ranking issues.

An internal link is a link from a page on your own website to another page on your own website.

A knowledge graph is a short summary presented in a box, which provides direct answers to the query. The goal is that users would be able to use this information without having to navigate to other sites and assemble the information themselves. When you search in Google for a company and/or company and branch location, […]

A knowledge panel is a short summary of a business or other entity on the web. Normally it’s on the right-hand side of the screen for desktop/tablet, or as a box in the stream on a mobile (Bing sometimes splits the info across the top and right). The search engine’s intention is to provide direct answers to the most commonly […]

Local Search (short for Local Search Engine Optimisation) or Local SEO is the art and science of optimising a business identity on the web for a geographic region. It involves but not limited to, using geographic triggers to help searchers and search engines identify the shop or service location.  The triggers can be technical or obvious, […]

Local search ranking factors are those components that add to the rankings of a local business. Initially a study created by David Mihm, the report is made using results from an annual survey of expert local SEO’s. Over the last few years, several agencies have made their own version of the list. The following elements […]

Put simply, NAP is an acronym for Name, Address, Phone Number.  A variation on the NAP is NAPW or NAP+W, where the W stands for website. That little cluster of information is a key data point for search engines to understand unique entities (something with a distinct and independent existence).  This allows businesses to have […]

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the system used to improve the presence of a business online by using all non-paid forms of search (organic, local, universal, and mobile). The goal is also to increase customers for that business as well. This basically means that the more often a site appears in the search results list, […]

‘See Inside’ is a special feature of Street View. It allows you to go indoors as well! Using Google Maps Business View, you can experience 360-degree virtual tours of businesses, restaurants, shops, and hotels in more than 30 countries globally. When using Street View, you choose photo spheres for either the “See inside” or “See […]

‘See Inside’ is a special feature of Street View. It allows you to go indoors as well! Using Google Maps Business View, you can experience 360-degree virtual tours of businesses, restaurants, shops, and hotels in more than 30 countries globally. When using Street View, you choose photo spheres for either the “See inside” or “See […]

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the system used to improve the presence of a business online by using all non-paid forms of search (organic, local, universal, and mobile). The goal is also to increase customers for that business as well. This basically means that the more often a site appears in the search results list, […]

A service area is a specific neighbourhood, town or radii that is served by go-to client business models. Certain local business listings permit business owners to cite multiple cities in the surrounding area or encompass a radius of service. Service Area Businesses (also known as SABs) are businesses that move around to offer their services […]

A Service Area Business (also known as a SAB) are businesses whose staff move around to offer services at the customer’s location. Often these are “home-based” businesses and do not have a location customers can visit during posted business hours. Typical kinds of businesses which fit the SAB model include: plumbers, electricians, carpet cleaners, lawn […]

Street view is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth. It supplies the viewer with panoramic views of almost anywhere in the world. Launched in 2007, it started in several US cities, and has since expanded globally. When Street View imagery is available, it will be shown as blue lines on Google Maps […]

Street view is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth. It supplies the viewer with panoramic views of almost anywhere in the world. Launched in 2007, it started in several US cities, and has since expanded globally. When Street View imagery is available, it will be shown as blue lines on Google Maps […]

A Trusted Google Photographer is one who photographs your business location and places it in Google Maps. There are also many reasons someone would want to remotely be able to see the inside of a location as well. Amateur shots don’t work with Google so be sure to hire the right kind of photographer. Google […]

A Trusted Google Photographer is one who photographs your business location and places it in Google Maps. There are also many reasons someone would want to remotely be able to see the inside of a location as well. Amateur shots don’t work with Google so be sure to hire the right kind of photographer. Google […]

Centroid, or central point of relevance, is a central reference point of an area as determined by a search engine. Today the centroid for Google searches is most heavily based on the location of the searcher. In the past it was based on the geographic centre of the city. That meant businesses closer to the city centre had a competitive […]