Barnacle SEO Hits The Big Time

I’m proud to announce that I have been asked to take part in a new Local Search News site http://www.localsearchnews.net/ (note: Local Search News is dead and we’ve moved the Barnacle SEO post to the Search Influence blog.

And, my first post is live!

In this post I argue that with a judicious application of Barnacle SEO even the smallest budgets can have an impact on small business website promotion.

Small business owners are generally a frugal lot.

Of course there are some who’ve got the budget to invest heavily as long as they see a return, but what about those who don’t?

Will Scott Featured in Mike Blumenthal's Loci 2008

I’ve been so busy with the turn of the year that I forgot to mention that I had a rare opportunity to contribute to Mike Blumenthal’s Loci 2008.

For those of you who don’t know, Mike is THE authority on Google Maps and Local.

I’m very proud to have been asked to take part and would gladly do it again!

My contribution is here, excerpt follows:

Search Influence has been in business since 2006 but 2008 is the year I realized there is a community of like-minded folks and engaged with that community.

YPA Blog - File Under D

The Yellow Pages Association has launched a blog .

I added it to my feed reader under Local Search. I put it there because I don’t have a category for Dinosaur or Dead Trees or Dying industry

I kid — I think the Yellow Pages has 5-10 years of life left in it.

There may be some consolidation and there will certainly be heroic efforts to save it, but ultimately it will completely lose relevance in a world of ubiquitous connection.

Of course, it may all turn around. Who knows?

Authority, Trust and Yellow Pages Advertising

Trust: to have confidence or faith in
Authority: the power or right to give orders or make decisions
Yellow Pages: a telephone directory listing businesses by category

Often as Search Marketers we use words which have been redefined by our industry without thinking about how they’ll be understood by customers.

“Trust” however has the same meaning to marketers and customers. We just need to understand the differences in how trust is measured by our customers and the search engines.

When talking with clients I often slip into SEO-speak and use the term “authority” differently than above.