Announcing the shortlist of 2017 Search Engine Land Awards nominees

The 3rd annual competition puts the spotlight on SEO & SEM professionals at the top of their game.

For the third consecutive year, the selection process in the Search Engine Land Awards became even more difficult, as the field of competition grew to nearly 300 worthy submissions from leading digital agencies, in-house marketing teams and individuals around the world.  

Michelle Robbins, the newly appointed SVP of content and editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, was incredibly impressed by the depth and scope of entries in this year’s competition. “As a first-time judge, having the opportunity to pull back the curtain and examine the campaigns executed by some of the top search marketers in the industry was inspiring. The work done, creativity expressed and results achieved demonstrate what a truly talented community it is that we serve.”

Robbins and Ginny Marvin, associate editor at Search Engine Land, will also co-host this year’s awards presentation.

Marvin, now in her third year of judging the growing field of applicants, added, “The consistently sophisticated, creative and inspiring quality of the campaigns submitted for the awards this year made judging a true honor. There is incredible work happening in search marketing, and the entries this year exemplify that.”

Independent research firm Clutch.co vetted the top candidates in the Agency of the Year categories for the second year in a row. Tim Clarke of Clutch noted the increasing quality of the work submitted. “We were especially impressed by the volume of metrics and quantifiable evidence of success from all the 2017 submissions. The dedication to client service, communication and innovation stood out from this year’s entries. The agencies that entered truly are cutting edge.”

And the finalists are …

In alphabetical order by category:

Best Retail Search Marketing Initiative — SEM

• Adtaxi for a pet retailer (client name withheld)
• Brainlabs for London Theatre Direct
• PMG for a luxury apparel retailer (client name withheld)
• Resolution Media Canada for Sport Chek
• Wolfgang Digital for Littlewoods Ireland

Best Retail Search Marketing Initiative — SEO

• Digital Third Coast for a home & garden retailer (client name withheld)
• Go Fish Digital for Bella Ella Boutique
• iCrossing for a pet retailer (client name withheld)
• Nebo for Buy-Rite
• Nina Hale, Inc. for Room and Board

Best Local Search Marketing Initiative — SEM

• DAC Group for Bridgestone Retail Operations 
• Local Search Masters for child development programs (client name withheld)
• LSEO for Manhattan CryoBank
• Merkle | Periscopix (UK) for Housekeep
• Resolution Media Canada for Belron Canada

Best Local Search Marketing Initiative — SEO

• Blue Wheel Media for Monark Premium Appliance Co.
• Odd Dog Media for a Puget Sound Region Healthcare System (client name withheld)
• Single Interface for PizzaHut (India)
• Trimark Digital for  Fairview Garden Center
• Workshop Digital for The Compass School

Best Mobile Search Marketing Initiative — SEM

• Elite SEM for American Home Shield
• Merkle (US) for Custom Ink
• Northern Commerce for Oxford Learning Center
• Precis Digital for Zmarta
• Pure Oxygen Labs for WEC Energy Group

Best Mobile Search Marketing Initiative — SEO

• 97th Floor for Lawn Doctor
• Back Azimuth for Absolut Drinks
• iProspect for TEN: The Enthusiast Network
• Wolfgang Digital for Zurich Life

Best B2B Search Marketing Initiative — SEM

• EliteSEM for Revel Systems
• Ledger Bennett for Linkedin
• Media Horizons for Lightning Labels
• Millipore Sigma
• Reprise Media for Stericycle

Best B2B Search Marketing Initiative — SEO

• BMC Software
• iCrossing for Republic Services
• inSegment (client name withheld)
• NICE inContact
• Overit (client name withheld)

Best Overall SEO Initiative — Small Business

• Chris Beck SEO Consulting for Highland Pharms
• Djital Search for Chicago Steak Company
• Power Digital Marketing for PlushCare
• Stone Temple Consulting for kimkim Travel
• Trimark Digital for Fairview Garden Center

Best Overall SEM Initiative — Small Business

• Hallam Internet for Brand Outlet
• Merkle | Periscopix (UK) for Housekeep
• Nina Hale, Inc. for Mazuri® Exotic Animal Nutrition
• Publicis North America for Doctors of the World
• Todd Silverstein for WipeRecord, a division of Eastman Meyler, PC.

Best Overall SEO Initiative — Enterprise

• Edible (a division of Edelman Digital) for the Florida Department of Citrus
• iCrossing for DirectTV
• Reprise Media for a fortune 100 insurance company (client name withheld)
• SapientRazorfish for H&R Block
• Wolfgang Digital for Zurich Life

Best Overall SEM Initiative — Enterprise

• Cloudflare
• Jellyfish (client name withheld)
• Nebo for Brookdale
• Nebo for Mobile World Congress 2017
• Point It for PEMCO

Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — Travel & Lifestyle

• Mediahub for Royal Caribbean
• Smarter Ecommerce for Eventim
• Travel Tripper for ROW NYC Hotel
• Trimark Digital for Pinehurst Resort
• Wolfgang Digital for Dublin Airport

Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — Financial Services

• Eden Advertising for The National Benefit Authority
• Merkle (US) for Metlife
• Precis Digital for Zmarta
• Spark Foundry for Morgan Stanley

Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — B2B

• iCrossing for Qlik
• Mediative for Ruby Receptionists
• Mediative for Shortel
• Metric Theory for Servicemax
• Optum, a division of United Healthcare Group

Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — B2C

• Beeby, Clark + Meyler for Marriott
• Brainlabs for Domino’s EuroPizza
• Horizon Media for Safelite AutoGlass
• Merkle (US) for HBO Now
• Point It for PEMCO

Best Integration Of Search Into Cross-Channel Marketing

• LSEO for Manhattan CryoBank
• Power Digital Marketing for CannaPet
• Precis Digital for Daniel Wellington
• Spark Foundry for Morgan Stanley
• Wolfgang Digital for Littlewoods Ireland

Best Overall Search Marketing Initiative — SEO & SEM

• AARP
• HiveMinds (client name withheld)
• Nebo for Gas South
• Web Full Circle (client name withheld)
• Wolfgang Digital for Littlewoods Ireland

Search Marketer Of The Year — Female

• Chelsea Ashe, Merkle (US)
• Kerry Curran, Catalyst / GroupM
• Genevieve Head-Gordon, Metric Theory
• Laetitia Kieffer, Catalyst/GroupM
• Lily Ray, Women’s Marketing

Search Marketer Of The Year — Male

• Dan Gilbert, Brainlabs
• Aaron Levy, EliteSEM
• John Lincoln, Ignite Visibility
• Manny Rivas, AimClear
• John Shehata, Condé Nast

In-House Team Of The Year — SEM

• Comcast
• Flight Centre Travel Group Australia
• Macy’s
• Millipore Sigma
• UPMC Health Plan

In-House Team Of The Year — SEO

• Comcast Xfinity
• Conde Nast
• Millipore Sigma
• Thermo Fisher Scientific

Agency Of The Year — SEM

• iProspect
• Kubix Digital
• Merkle (US)
• Metric Theory
• wPromote

Agency Of The Year — SEO

• HigherVisibility
• Merkle (US)
• VML
• Wolfgang Digital
• Workshop Digital

Winners will be announced during an evening awards ceremony and celebratory gala held on October 25, 2017, in New York City. The gala takes place during the week of Search Engine Land’s annual SMX Conference, where the search industry gathers for continuing education on best practices in SEO and search advertising.

The Search Engine Land Awards Gala is produced by Third Door Media, with the support of Marquee Sponsor Google. A portion of proceeds from the event benefit charity, with Third Door Media guaranteeing a minimum donation of $5,000 this year’s selected organization, Women Who Code.

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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August 22, 2017: The day the ‘Hawk’ Google local algorithm update swooped in

Have you noticed a recent shift in Google's local search results? Columnist Joy Hawkins shares everything you need to know about the 'Hawk' update, which seems to have killed some of the changes we saw with Possum.

I recently reported on an algorithm update impacting the local results that happened on August 22, 2017. This was a strictly-local update, from what I can tell so far, which means that it had no impact on the non-local organic results.

What changed?

The update, which I have dubbed “Hawk,” was a change to the way the local filter works. To get some history here, Google actively filters out listings from the local results that are similar to other listings that rank already. Basically, Google picks the most relevant listing of the bunch and filters the rest. It’s very similar to what they do organically with duplicate content. (Note: Google is typically loath to confirm algorithm updates, usually only saying that it rolls out several updates every day, so these observations are based on an analysis of how local results have changed rather than on any official announcement or acknowledgment.)

The filter has existed for a long time to help ensure that multiple listings for the same company don’t monopolize the search results. In September 2016, the Possum algorithm update made a significant change to the way the filter works. Instead of just filtering out listings that shared the same phone number or website, Google started filtering out listings that were physically located near each other.

This was very problematic for businesses. It meant that if another business in your industry was in the same building as you — or even down the street from you — that could cause you to get filtered out of local search results. Yep, that means your competitors could (inadvertently) bump your listing!

On August 22, 2017, Google refined the proximity filter to make it stricter. It still appears to be filtering out businesses in the same building, but it is not filtering out as many businesses that are close by.

Who this helped

Here is an example of a business I was tracking that benefited from this update. Weber Orthodontics got filtered after the Possum algorithm update for the term “orthodontist wheaton il” due to the fact that they had a competitor down the street — 325 feet from where they were located. This competitor had a higher organic ranking and stronger relevance to that keyword, so they were included in the results, and Weber was filtered out.

Here is a before-and-after screen shot that shows how the local results changed as a result of the Hawk update; notice how Weber was completely missing from the results a few months ago.

I was able to nail down the exact date this happened because I have a robust tracking plan with BrightLocal that scans daily and takes screen shots. After studying multiple, completely unrelated cases, I was able to confirm that all cases had this same pattern on August 22.

Another example was this set of four hotels in Killeen, Texas. Previously, two of the four were filtered.

Now, following the Hawk update, all four are showing.

Who is still filtered?

Naturally, this update didn’t help everyone. Although it tightened the distance needed to filter a similar listing, it didn’t remove it completely. I’m still seeing listings that share an address or building being filtered out of local search results. I also see the filtering problem persisting for a business that is in a different building that’s around 50 feet away from a competitor.

Below, you can see that the local results for “personal injury attorney palmdale” — an example I shared in my Possum article — are still filtering out many attorney listings using the same virtual office address. (All the listings in red share the same address as the listing in green and are filtered 

Why ‘Hawk?’

The local search community settled on the name “Hawk” for this algorithm update, because hawks eat possums. This is one of the few times where I don’t see any negative outcomes as a result of this update and just wish Google hadn’t taken a year to realize the proximity filter was way too broad.

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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Driving local marketing change with Uber, Lyft and self-driving cars

Columnist Brian Smith explains how ride-sharing services and self-driving cars will open up a host of new opportunities for local businesses.

Are you ready for pay-per-car marketing? That’s right, PPC is about to take on a whole new meaning.

Uber and Lyft recently began testing programs in which local businesses pay for your ride to their locations — assuming you’ve splurged the requisite amount at their cash registers. The result: local marketing is about to be transformed.

Local search to certain purchase

Imagine this:

You’re traveling out of state for business. It’s dinner time, so you search on your phone for restaurants near your hotel. You narrow your choices down to two restaurants. Both restaurants offer the same type of food. Both have the same ratings. Both have a similar price range. The only difference? One restaurant is offering to pick up your Uber fare if you choose them. It’s not much of a choice, is it?

As ride services grow in popularity, paying for a customer’s ride will increasingly help businesses stand out of the PPC pack.

The primary beneficiaries of this new marketing model will be restaurants and retailers. Spend a certain amount on your meal or buy this product? Your ride is on the house.

Uber is currently testing this marketing model with their Uber Offers, and Lyft has rolled out a similar service in Portland.

As of right now, these “free” rides are limited to the ride services’ apps and their partner affiliates. But it’s only a matter of time before this new form of marketing integrates with more traditional search methods and competes in the PPC realm.

And look out when they do. I suspect that the conversion rates for these types of ads will be significantly higher than the more traditional PPC approaches for local. After all, once a customer selects your ad and orders an Uber, backing out of a purchase will cost the customer money. The ride will only be validated with purchases.

So, when can you expect to start seeing these pay-per-car ads gain wider adoption? You’ll start seeing them more over the coming year, but they won’t truly take off until self-driving cars hit the streets.

Ride services and self-driving cars

It’s no secret that Uber and Lyft are at the forefront of developing self-driving cars. Why? If they can cut out the driver by operating their own fleet of autonomous vehicles, the cost of a ride drops dramatically.

Currently, drivers for both Uber and Lyft take home 75 percent of the fare profit. If you cut out the driver, you can expect Uber and Lyft to significantly cut prices, even with the added costs of maintaining their fleets. Cutting prices dramatically will make it much more affordable for businesses to pick up a user’s fare to their locations.

When this happens, expect Uber and Lyft to see even more dramatic growth. Likewise, expect pay-per-car ads to grow right along with them.

The dark horse in this race is Tesla, which plans to run their own autonomous ride service through their Tesla Network. While Uber and Lyft are both experimenting with self-driving technology, Tesla is already baking the hardware for full autonomy into every car — and has been since October of last year.

Additional local marketing perks

The implications of chauffeuring customers around, whether human or self-driven, is that it frees up the hands of the rider. What will riders do with their newfound freedom? The same thing they do when they’re not driving: spend time on their phones. This will open up additional local marketing opportunities for customers in transit, ushering in a new era of pit stop impulse buys.

Likewise, as soon as Uber and Lyft begin to operate their own autonomous fleets, you can expect to see the center console and the back of every headrest sporting a screen promoting advertisements.

Having local businesses pay for rides will also help close the online-to-offline local marketing attribution gap. After all, if a ride is validated via Uber or Lyft, it’s easy to know that a sale was made and the source it came from.

And finally, ride services will help with verifying business locations. Simply by asking customers feedback about whether the destination was correct, it should help clear up some of our location data issues.

How should marketers prepare for the coming changes?

Local marketers need to ensure that their location data is accurate and up to date, particularly the information about their products in stock. For example, if a customer shows up to your location via Lyft and can’t find the product she was looking for, you’ll have one very unhappy customer on your hands.

You also need to start improving the quality of your location data in anticipation of self-driving cars. You don’t want your geocodes to be off and have these self-driving cars drop your customers off in the wrong location. In the long run, data issues will likely be cleaned up by the driving services themselves, but we’re probably years away from this becoming a reality. In the meantime, the old way of establishing and verifying geocodes will still hold true.

Finally, local marketers need to get their heads around the fact that with Uber, Lyft and self-driving cars, your potential customers are riders, not drivers. Be creative and start thinking of ways to take advantage of the opportunity. Who knows? Billboards might start making a comeback!

In short, ride services and self-driving cars are about to open up an entire world of local marketing opportunities. The question is, will you be ready for it?

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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3 local SEO tips that deliver business results

Looking to optimize your business website for local search, but not sure where to start? Columnist Ryan Shelley provides some tips for beginners.

When it comes to marketing your local business online, search is a great place to start. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of small to mid-size local businesses, helping them grow their reach and their revenue using SEO.

One of the biggest hurdles we face when working with local clients is that they’ve been burned in the past by so-called “experts.” They’ve invested their hard-earned money only to see little, if any, return. This has led many local businesses to believe SEO is a scam or doesn’t work.

My goal is to share a few local SEO tips that actually work — and how you can start using them today to grow your business’s online reach.

Why local SEO?

Before we get into the tips, let me lay the groundwork for why you need to invest in local SEO. People use search engines to find local businesses they want to buy from. This is not just my own opinion; Google’s own research proves it. Here are a few stats the make the point.

• Four in five consumers use search engines to find local information.
• Fifty percent of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day, and 34 percent who searched on a computer or tablet did the same.
• Local searches lead to more purchases than non-local searches. Eighteen percent of local searches on smartphones lead to a purchase within a day vs. 7 percent of non-local searches.

What does this mean for your business? Not only are people searching locally, they’re taking action when they do! Building a strategy that promotes your business locally will do more than drive website traffic — it will drive sales. So let’s get into the some tried-and-true tips to help you rank better and convert more local searchers.

1. Locally focused content

When we talk about local SEO, often much of the focus is on citations, local directories and maps. All of these components are important, of course; but to really give yourself an edge, you need to create quality localized content.

What do I mean by localized content? Here, I’m referring to content that is based on or around your local area and educates readers on the specific issues/problems/wants they have. Local businesses can benefit a ton by sharing the purpose and passion behind what they do.

Here’s what I recommend: Start a blog (if you don’t already have one), and create content specific to your niche and town. Share why your community is special and how your products or services align with the community’s values. You started your business for a reason; tell your audience and let them connect.

Be sure to use location modifiers in your content, too. For instance, if you are a bakery in Palm Bay, Florida, share how your bakery serves that town.

A great place to get inspiration for local content is your customers. Interview them, share stories about interactions you’ve had, the possibilities are endless. Localized content creates a personal connection and serves your end user. It also gives other local sites a reason to connect and link to you!

2. Maps, directories & citations

For local businesses, it’s important to ensure that your business is present (and optimized) on Google Maps. After all, if people can’t get directions to you, then you’re out of luck!

It still amazes me that so many businesses have yet to claim their map listings through Google My Business. This is a simple and easy step that gives you more exposure and allows you to manage how your business appears on Google Maps. Here are Google’s instructions on how to add or claim your listing.

Google My Business is just one of hundreds of listing sites for local companies. The goal is to claim and update your business listing in as many relevant, legitimate business directories and maps services as you can, and optimize those listings with correct business information. (It’s especially important to ensure that your name, address and phone number are consistent across the web.)

The big directory and map sites you definitely need to get on are Google, Yelp, Yahoo Business, Bing, MapQuest, Super Pages, Yellow Pages and Facebook. To see some of the other main directories, check this out.

Now, one thing to note. When you start claiming these, expect to get calls from bots or emails from the sites themselves telling you they can grow your business for a small fee. Ignore them. They will go away. Claiming your listing, ensuring your address and phone number are correct, then adding the correct categories, social profiles, website URL and a good description should be enough to get you going.

If you want to really be on top of things, I recommend looking into Moz Local or Yext. They’ll help you streamline the process and alert you if something needs to be fixed. They won’t catch everything, but they can provide a good starting point, and they can help you monitor and maintain any listings you have claimed.

3. Local link building

Link building is perhaps the most important factor when it comes to SEO. But not all links are equal. The directory links we talked about above are great, but they don’t carry the same weight as organic backlinks.

Just like any other backlink strategy, local backlinking begins with good research. City-run sites are a great place for local businesses to start. Many of these local sites have “local directories” on them. Most of the time, all you need to do is email the website admin and request to be added.

Another great place to find local backlinks is with local clubs and outreach organizations. Joining a local Rotary Club or business group will often land you a nice quality backlink. These links are important because they show how connected you are to the community. I’ve seen this work over and over again for clients.

The key is to only link to, or get links from, sites you want to be associated with. Make sure that the link makes sense contextually, and never pay to play. Link building is really, at its core, about building relationships. When it comes to local SEO and business, relationships are huge.

Final thoughts

These simple tips will help you rank better and drive more quality and localized leads to your business. Whether you’re a new local business looking to grow or you’ve been burned in the past, you can start to gain some traction by creating quality local content, claiming your listings and building relationships that lead to good links. So what are you waiting for? Go grow your business!

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

To know more latest update or tips about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Fill ContactUs Form or call at +44 2032892236 or Email us at - adviser.illusiongroups@gmail.com.

The future of paid voice search and monetizing the map

Ads are coming to voice search sooner than you think. Columnist Brian Smith discusses what this might mean for local businesses, as well as SEO and SEM professionals.

Last year, Google introduced local search ads and promoted pins to wring a few extra dollars out of Maps. By extra, I mean potentially an additional $1.5 billion in 2017 alone. Maps inherently have local intent; local intent has a high likelihood for conversion. No surprises there.

But ads run counter to a quality user experience.

We as advertisers can perform all the mental gymnastics we want, but the truth is, ads are a nuisance. Especially on maps. When you’re looking for a location, the last thing you want to see is a map resembling a pincushion or a shotgun’s scatter pattern. Striking the right balance between organic and paid listings is critical.

Unfortunately, as the screen size shrinks, the challenge of balancing paid and organic gets magnified on the map. On desktop, there aren’t so many paid ads that you can’t find organic listings. In fact, it’s almost a happy compromise. You get to use Google’s mapping services for free; Google gets to turn a profit. Fair deal.

With mobile devices, populating local searches with ads becomes less user-friendly. Paid ads shove organic listings toward irrelevancy, and small businesses can’t always afford to pay for those critical ad spots. Still, it’s workable.

But voice search is becoming a fundamental aspect of local search. And voice search tends to eliminate the screen entirely. This creates two problems. One, how do Google, Microsoft and Amazon display a map without a screen? And two, how do they make money off the map if you can’t see it?

Problems with visualizing the map

When it comes to general knowledge queries, you can get by without a screen. Ask a search engine what’s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, and it will simply tell you the answer (assuming you’ve specified African or European).

But the visual component of a map is rather critical. Sure, Google will read us directions when we’re driving, and we function (more or less) without looking at the map on our phones. But this is after we’ve made a decision to go somewhere, not before it. When you conduct a voice search for nearby restaurants, it’s difficult to choose a location if there’s nothing visual to look at.

This is the problem with in-home digital assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa. Are we just supposed to wait patiently while the digital assistant reads us a laundry list of 10 nearby locations before deciding? Doubt it. Are we simply going to trust the one location the digital assistant serves up? Probably not — even if someday that’s possible.

With Big Data and predictive analysis, search engines will get pretty darn good at serving optimized search results for each user. On the surface, this seems like a great way to winnow down the number of search results.

Only there’s a problem. Google and the others don’t rely on you picking the best answer; they rely on you picking the paid answer. Once you get to a certain point, providing optimized organic results runs counter to the business models of these companies.

So that brings us to the real question: How will Google, Amazon and the others make money from paid voice search?

Problems with paid voice search

The problem with selling ads through voice search, whether they have local intent or not, is that it erodes user trust. If the only answer Amazon Alexa provides is an ad, why would you trust any of its search results?

Granted, no search engine would be foolish enough to go this extreme route. But even if you’re giving only one paid answer to every three organic results, it’s no longer easy to ignore those paid results with voice search. With a screen, your eye can skip right over those ads in a matter of milliseconds. But with voice search, you’ll have to wait seconds to listen through an ad. Sure, we do it on YouTube and television. But we don’t like it. And we certainly won’t like it if we came to the digital assistant for a specific answer, not entertainment, and we still have to listen through an ad just to get an answer.

So how will search engines solve the paid search conundrum? With a screen, of course — only a virtual one.

Virtual and augmented reality — the screens of the future

There’s no doubt that the brain trusts at Google, Microsoft and Facebook have been thinking about this problem for a long time. There’s a reason that all of these companies are pushing hard into virtual and augmented reality.

With the exponential growth of connected devices hitting over 20 billion by the end of the decade, more users will expect to interact with their devices without a screen, fueling the rise of voice search. But we still need screens if Google and the others want to turn a profit. Otherwise, we won’t be able to rapidly process information to make our decisions.

The most likely solution will be to simply project a screen in virtual and augmented reality. This will allow you to visualize the map, or any other product or service you’re considering buying, only you’ll be doing it without ever touching a mouse or a screen.

In the short term, your smartphone screen will provide the same function as your future virtual screen. In the long term, expect to see augmented and virtual reality glasses to take your phone’s place. Don’t be surprised when you start seeing more products like Google Glass popping up.

Other solutions to the paid voice search conundrum include selling digital assistants as a service or these companies simply choosing not to monetize voice search and the map. The first option raises huge ethical questions about who gets access to digital assistants. The second option would be asking Google and Amazon to pass up a chance to make money. Neither is a likely alternative.

What should search marketers do?

Ads are coming to voice search sooner than you think. Last week, Amazon already started toying with the idea of selling ads on Alexa. Still, my advice for marketers is to begin optimizing for organic voice search. In the future, organic listings won’t go away; they’ll just be harder to earn.

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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Moz beefs up Moz Local with new features, distribution and automation

With new activity alerts, GMB sync and reputation management, the expanded Moz Local is intended to equally serve the small business, agency and enterprise markets.

Moz has overhauled and enhanced its Moz Local offering, adding new features and automation the company says were requested by users and the broader local SEO community. The product previously offered listings monitoring and syndication.

Moz says that it had conversations with its numerous customers, agency partners and the broader community before revamping the product. The new features add speed and workflow improvements, according to the company.

These new features include:

• Google My Business sync: automatically synchronizes listings with GMB. Users can manage changes and updates directly from the Moz dashboard
• Listing alerts: provides an activity feed if listings data are overwritten or in some other way changed vs. the information in the Moz-managed listing
• Reputation monitoring/management: new monitoring of Google reviews, which joins comparable functionality for a range of directories, including Foursquare, Yelp, YP and others. New reviews are also available as they’re published, within the Moz dashboard. Users can respond to Google reviews as well.
• Expanded distribution: new data providers/partners added to its existing sources (Acxiom, Factual, Infogroup, Neustar Localeze and “a few powerful directories”). Those new distribution sources include Hotfrog, Apple Maps, HERE, TomTom and Navmii. Some of these come through a partnership through NavAds.
• Improved SEO metrics for organic rankings and the Local Pack.

In the same post announcing the product expansion, Moz identifies its major competitors:

• Brandify
• Bright Local
• MomentFeed
• Rio SEO
• SIM Partners
• Vendasta
• Yext

One of the more interesting new features is the activity feed, which shows agencies or marketers that the system is working. This has been one of the challenges for SEO practitioners, especially when it comes to the SMB market: proving that listings/presence management is actually delivering value.

Expanded reputation management has been added, in part because Google review counts and corresponding scores are now ranking factors. However, it’s also a key consumer consideration. Moz competitor Yext recently launched a new reviews product because of their growing importance on various fronts.

Many will read this and think these features already exist else where. Indeed they do; however, Moz argues its local SEO expertise is unsurpassed and that, holistically, the new tools together produce a superior product. Moz also says that use of its software delivered a nearly 20 percent average “Listing Score” increase across its customer base, as well as greatly improved visibility/reach.

The new and improved Moz Local is intended to equally serve the small business, agency and enterprise markets. It’s available in three tiers: essential, professional and premium, which range in price from roughly $9 to $21 per month.

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