Plano SEO – Different Results For Same Search Term

One thing which anyone should know before attempting to improve a business listing for a Plano-related keyword phrase is to understand the risk of different search engine result page listings.  This may be a tough concept for even moderately-experienced Plano SEO experts to convey, but it is necessary.

Most people can understand that Google, Yahoo, MSN/Bing, and the other search engines will return different results because of their proprietary algorithms and formulas.  What is not so clear is the different results within the SAME search engine for the SAME keyword.  How is this possible?

A real life example is in order to help explain this.  I wanted to show this to a business client in Collin County, Texas (of which Plano is a large part); and I had him type in his business’ preferred keyword which we had identified as already having over 150 searches per month.  I called him at his office in North Plano and asked him where the web page indexed by Google was showing up on the page.  He was not logged into the search engine through any e-mail address or other service owned/operated by the search engine.  I then had him log in and re-enter the keyword phrase.

Different results!

I then had him log out and meet me at a coffee shop about 2 miles away from his office.  I explained that Plano SEO is a “moving target” and wanted to show him what I meant.  We logged onto the coffee shop’s wi-fi, but did not log into the account on the search engine.  Due to the different I.P. address and being on the wi-fi the results were, yet again, different than the other two times he attempted to enter the keyword.  All of this was within 30 minutes of my first calling him and having him enter the keyword into the search engine on his office computer.

To be fair, most of the top results were still on the first page.  The order, however, was quite different.  As far as I know, when he logged into the search engine’s account, he was not part of any social networking component of the search engine which may have affected his results.
The question, then, is how to achieve consistency in order to have the end consumer click on the link which – ultimately – will result in the visitor coming to your web page/property?  The best way is to continue to provide quality, authoritative, one-way links from good third-party websites, continue to provide useful keyword-rich content on your website, and to ensure that the web property to which you are sending the traffic is well-optimized for the keyword phrase(s) which have demand.  This should help you get good rankings within the same search engine as well as across the other major search engines.

The latter factor is the topic for a future post about any form of local search engine marketing, and we will use either a Dallas or Plano SEO example.

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Plano SEO – What Gets Rewarded

If you are wondering what works for Plano SEO then take a moment to notice what gets rewarded.  Go to the search engines and type in a popular search like Plano restaurants, and notice which sites get commonly rewarded.  Here are a few that get rewarded with top search results during the beginning of June 2010:

  • Google Maps listings with 30+ reviews (many with more than that)
  • Town-mall.net
  • Yelp.com
  • Urbanspoon.com
  • Tripadvisor.com
  • Chowbaby.com
  • local.yahoo.com
  • Superpages.com
  • Planobusinesslist.com
  • a few other sites near the bottom of the rankings

Then do a search for Plano hotels, Plano apartments, Plano homes for sale, and a few other phrases which have high demand.  What you are looking for are sites which get rewarded for multiple high-demand searches.  Write down those sites and determine if you:

  • can add content there
  • can buy banner ads or other premium placement
  • can place Google AdWords “Content Network” ads on the site (text or banner)
  • are allowed to have people (such as loyal customers) to place reviews on your listings on those sites
  • have the ability to add multimedia (images, videos, audio) to your listing

Obviously, you want your site to rank # 1 for high-demand Plano terms.  Of course, you know that such a goal will take some time.  In the interim, you can add your content (plus links to your site) to these currently high-ranking sites.

There will be upcoming tips on how to get listed for local events and increase your popularity regardless of your SEO ranking.  In the meantime, be sure to get your content on these sites in order to “piggyback” on the popularity of those sites.

Feel free to contact us if you need help with this process.

Some Unique Plano SEO And SEM Tips

If you are attempting to get more free online exposure for a Plano Texas business then there are some unique and fun things you may consider doing.  These tips are not mandatory, but they can be helpful to your prospective customers when they are online:

  1. If you attend Chamber of Commerce meetings (or other networking meetings in Plano) where you get a few seconds to speak about your business, then consider filming/recording your talk.  Of course, be sure to get permission!  If you are charismatic and offer good information to other business owners then such a video clip could be helpful on your website or on a video-sharing site like YouTube.  What you are looking to accomplish is to show “social proof” – that other people, like the website visitor, find you to be the authority on the subject
  2. If people have difficulty finding your office or store location then consider creating a video while driving to your location.  You also may be able to record a screen capture video of your zooming in on one of the Plano-related online Maps listings, especially if you can get to the “street view” so that people see recognizable landmarks when they drive to your location.  Such a video can be placed on your website and/or on a video-sharing site
  3. Be sure to add a “tag” to your video content with a zip code.  Many people look for local information by geographic terms; and they often use zip codes.  For example, if your business is a dry cleaners with a storefront in the 75075 zip code of Plano Texas, then be sure to add a “tag” to any videos you produce with “dry cleaners 75075”.  This will help your visitors find you and stand out in future local search algorithms

The “tags” also apply to other content besides video.

Hopefully these tips offer you some extra thoughts on how to market your business; and hopefully they will help you come up with other creative ways to offer useful, helpful, relevant content for those looking for your local products or services.

Should you need any help with Plano SEO or SEM (search engine marketing) then click the link or visit the “Contact Us” link near the top of the page.

Plano SEO Tips

If you operate business in Plano, Texas then chances are that you would enjoy quality search engine optimization (SEO) placement on the major search engines.  The algorithms for local based terms, such as “Plano restaurants”, require some additional internet marketing techniques than just what you would use for generic/nationwide keyword phrases.

In addition to getting listed on the Plano-specific pages of nationwide business directories (e.g. Yelp.com, Insiderpages.com, etc.), you can do a few other things:

  • Get listed on Plano-specific sites such as Planoonline.com.  Always make sure that the site is getting listed in top Plano-specific searches.  Test out various Plano-specific searches which are generic, and note the Plano-specific websites which keep appearing.  Determine if you can get a free listing, post content, join a forum, or any other opportunity for you to place a link to your web property plus other information
  • If you like Pay-Per-Click advertising, take a look at Plano-specific sites.  Sometimes the site has a section of the site promoting advertisers through “Sponsored Links.”  You may be able to place your pay-per-click ad on the site through the advertising service which the site uses.  An example would be the Content Network of the Google AdWords service, although this is not the only option
  • If sites like the Plano Convention and Visitors Bureau (PlanoCVB.com) or other sites offer advertising or a link if you are relevant business then consider the option.  This is because the site has good rankings in the search engines as it is considered to be an “authority” site by the search engines

In addition, you can use Plano-specific keywords for typical SEO efforts.  Such techniques could include:

  • Article directory marketing
  • Blogging
  • Videos
  • Press releases

If you need any guidance on Plano SEO, or other internet marketing assistance, then you are invited to contact us for more information.