With the interest in hyper local, the internet community has recognized the value in domains that may get only 10-100 unique visitors each month. For a local professional, owning a hyper local domain is a low cost alternative to advertising on vertical directories. If 1 out of every 10 visitors converts to a lead (by filling out the contact us form) and 1 out of every 3 leads converts to a paying customer, a domain with 30 unique a month would mean 12 new customers each year. Not bad for a domain name with an annual cost of $10-$20.

In the past week, my company has gotten leads on the following domains:

BaltimoreReception.com
SyracusePhotographers.com
CincinnatiVideographer.com
ProvidenceDJs.com
OaklandDJs.com
AtlantaOfficiants.com
DenverOfficiants.com
CharlotteOfficiants.com

All these domains were available for registration by local photographers, videographers, djs, and wedding officiants. We regged the domains to generate leads for our local advertisers. They could have easily been regged by local professionals looking for new customers via direct navigation traffic. All these domains, except SyracusePhotographers.com, were available until last summer. There are still many other hyper local domains available for registration. Each day, internet users type hyper local addresses into their browser, only to be disappointed when it does not bring up a local businesses’ web site.

Spend 15 minutes of go daddy and see what hyper local domains in your specialty are available for registration. If you are an lawyer, you can procure new customers without owning Lawyers.com

Had this domain been purchased by a photographer in Syracuse, these leads would have gone to that business. Many professionals report booking 70-80% of leads generated by users filling out a contact form on their web site. Even assuming a conservative 10% conversion rate, with a average booking rate of $1,500 per event, a photographer could have easily paid for the SyracusePhotographers.com within 12 months timeframe.

A friend of mine, who is a photographer in Western NY has leveraged a network of geo domains to drive new clients for his business. Leveraging a network of 20-25 geo domains, my friend averages 2-3 bookings a months from these sites. At $10 annual cost per domain, his ROI is better than any other advertising medium.

This begs the question, why do many small businesses spend money on AdWords or SEO, while ignoring unregistered geodomains that are pertinent to their profession. The answer is that most small business owners don’t appreciate the SEO benefits and natural direct navigation that can be found on many geodomains. Even if the geodomains gets 3-5 unique a month, provided that one person buys from your business each year – then you geodomains represent a low cost alternative to many advertising solutuions. Geodomains represent an excellent source of new business and pay for themselves (sometimes in spades)

One thing I have noticed is that most small business owners keep tabs on their competitors. Even in large cities, the number of companies offering a similar service is manageable. Potential clients are a great source of Intel about competitors because most clients touch base with a handful of competitors, before making a final purchase decision. During a meeting with a prospective client, you might overhear a comment that one of your competitors is not accepting new clients because they are going retire.

If one of your competitors is going out of business, I would try to buy their domain name. While contacting a competitor and inquiring about a domain name can be awkward, there is a way of discretely procuring domains without picking up the phone. If a domain isn’t renewed, chances are that it will show up on sites like Snapnames.com and Namejet.com. These sites allow people to catch domains before they drop off the active roles and expire. Normally, you can pay between $50 and $100 and pick up your former competitor’s domain name.

Why it is important to acquire domains from former competitors? Well, there is a good chance that your competitor has spent significant resources trying to drive traffic to their site. If you own the domain, you can take advantage of their hard word. As long as an active site is maintained, the old back links will continue, providing a continual stream of traffic to your business.

Another advantage is that you can take advantage of their SEO placement. If the competitor has a higher rank on Google, Yahoo, or Bing for preferred hyper local keywords – then you can take over their position in the results by building a landing page that links users to your primary website. You can also use a request more information form to convert users into leads – enabling you to call the prospective client and introduce your product or service.

So next time you hear that a competitor is going out of business, check the expiration date on their domain names. After their domain expires, perform periodic searches on Snapnames.com and Namejet.com to see if you can get your hands on this valuable asset before it is lost forever in the vastness of cyberspace.

One of the keys to Google search results, is filtering legitimate web sites from sites that offer nothing to Google users. Most spammers register thousands of domain names and put up boilerplate content with little value added to the user’s knowledge. In their attempt to discern useful sites from copycat sites, Google relies on several factors including time a user spends on the site, bounce (does the user bail immediately after landing on the home page), and back links from other legitimate site owners.

In addition to usability metrics, Google also looks at the domain expiration date. Legitimate businesses tend to register their domains for 10 or more years, to prevent accidental deletion of the domain from their account. People who are trying to spam Google, typically register their domains for a single year. This allows those site operators to determine which domains get traffic and drop the domains that don’t make money.

If you are a small business owner, I would recommend you that your domain name is registered til at least 2013 (or beyond). This is an easy way to send a signal to Google that your company is real, provides value, and is not going away anytime in the near future.

I own investment property in Murrells Inlet, SC. This fall, I decided to list the property for sale. During our vacation, we shot video of the home and the community. So my son edited the raw video and placed in our You Tube. I gave him a description and set of keywords targeting people looking for local town homes.

The tags for my video were :

“murrells inlet myrtle beach townhome condo for sale south carolina home garden city golf waceamaw hospital”

This evening I did a You Tube search for “murrells inlet townhouse” and was pleased to see our video was #1 on the results page. The second video is another townhouse for sale in the same community. Investigating why our video showed before our neighbor’s, I discovered some sharp contrast in their video tags

The tags for my neighbor’s video were:

“murrells inlet homes for wynbrooke townhouse murrells inlet condo screalestatepartners jake lee real estate jake lee ann mckinnon”

In comparing several variations of local search results, I believe there were strengths and weaknesses to both approaches:

1) Our home showed up #1 for “murrells inlet townhouse”, “murrells inlet townhouses”, “murrells inlet townhomes”, and “murrells inlet townhome”. I believe my neighbor’s usage of “murrells inlet homes for” as a single entry in their video tag was a mistake and they should have gone with a targeted geo tag, either “murrells inlet” or “myrtle beach”.

2) My neighbor’s property showed up first for “wynbrooke townhome” – in fact, my home didn’t display because I made the mistake of leaving our community name – Wynbrooke – off out tag list. This was a mistake and I’m going to fix it.

3) My home shows up at the bottom of the results for the more competitive search terms “myrtle beach townhome” and “myrtle beach townhomes”. My neighbor didn’t target the metro area “myrtle beach” in their title or tags. I believe this was a mistake and limited their video’s reach.

Here is what I learned from this exercise:

1) When you geo tag a local video on You Tube, target the metro area, county, city/town, and community. This gives you broad reach to target internet users searching for videos about a specific area.

2) Use a geo name in your video’s title to help support your tag list. Also seed your video description with a few geo names you were not able to target in your video title.

3) Use more shorter tags vs. fewer longer tags. Try to use the city name as a standalone tag instead of combining it with the state name or the product or service represented in the video. These keywords are important and the state name, product, or service deserve to be a standalone tag.

I believe these suggestions will help your videos appear at the top of You Tube’s local search results.

There is no law that prohibits your business from operating multiple web sites or owning more than one domain name. However, most local professionals utilize a single domain name for their internet marketing strategy. This approach is based on the conventional wisdom that you want a single brand representing your business. While a single brand strategy is important for focus, to achieve reach it is best to develop local landing pages all built around a network of geo domains.

Not All Local Searches Start With Google

The goal of any online marketing plan is to cast a wide net, providing the reach necessary to find potential clients. Not all internet users start their local search on Google. Yahoo and Bing have a small, but significant, local search market share. Yellow Page companies, like YellowPages.com, YellowBook.com, and Superpages.com have converted former print yellow page customers to users of their online directories. Vertical Directories, including Lawyers.com and TheKnot.com, have developed a large following by blending editorialized content with local directories.

The key point is that the local search universe is fragmented. To reach potential customers in your local market, you will need to consider all potential sources of traffic. One source, that is underappreciated by most small business owners, is direct navigation traffic.

What is Direct Navigation?

There is a growing number of internet users who view the address bar in their web browser as a local search engine. The address bar is the text box at the top of any web browser that contains the domain you are visiting. If a user is looking for a Louisville photographer, they may type LouisvillePhotographer.com into the address bar to see what appears. The expectation is that LouisvillePhotographer.com will display information, either a directory or the website of a local photographer, that is relevant to their search. If you own this geo domain, you can take advantage of this highly targeted traffic.

Advantages of Direct Navigation

There is data to suggest that Direct Navigation traffic converts better than traditional Search Engine traffic. Considering the dynamics of both searches, that would make sense. When a user conducts a local search on Google, they are presented with many options to consider. Paid local advertisers, listings overlaid on Google Maps, and free local listings could give the user 25-30 links on a single page. Most users click a few links and browse the results. The breath of this experience results in less time spent on your website.

In contrast, direct navigation users have a deeper experience since they are viewing a single website. This depth allows them to focus on your message, resulting in a better understanding of your services, background, and skills. With only a single business to consider, there is a greater chance that the user will fill out your contact form or call you.

Next Week – Part 2 – Geo Domain Economics

In May, I began working with a Wedding Officiant in Buffalo, NY. Like most professionals, Sandra Hustead was using a non geo domain name for her primary business address. Sandra was kind enough to provide some articles for Local Expert’s wedding planning blog, so I decided to provide free SEO advice.

After a quick search on Google, I noticed that Sandra’s site was buried on page four in the search results for several key local search terms, commonly used by brides to find a wedding officiant. Cross referencing with GoDaddy, I found that both BuffaloOfficiant.com and BuffaloOfficiants.com were unregistered and available for Sandra to use as her primary online address. I sent Sandra this message:

“Sandra, I would register BuffaloOfficiant.com and BuffaloOfficiants.com and then build your site on this domain. My experience is if you provide quality content and link to this domain you should be able to secure the #1 position on Yahoo and Google whenever any bride searches for “Buffalo Officiant(s)”.

Sandra registered BuffaloOfficiants.com in May 2009. Tonight I did the same search on Google and was happy to see that Sandra’s site was #4 for the local search term “Buffalo Officiants”. While satisfied with the results, a quick scan of her Metatags indicated areas for quick improvement.

The current Metatags on BuffaloOfficiants.com:

<title>Welcome</title><meta name=“Keywords” content=“buffaloofficiants, officiants, weddings, marriage, services, non-denominational, minister, officiant, local officiants, ceremonies,civil,service” /><meta name=“Description” content=“I am available to perform your wedding ceremony in WNY. I absolutely love what I do!” />

This evening, I suggested changing the Metatag for BuffaloOfficiants.com to:

<title>Buffalo Officiant Sandra Hustead specializes in non-denominational wedding ceremonies</title><meta name=”Keywords” content=”buffalo officiants, officiants, weddings, marriage, services, non-denominational, minister, officiant, local officiants, ceremonies, civil, service” /><meta name=”Description” content=”Buffalo wedding officiant available to perform your wedding ceremony. I absolutely love what I do!” />

We can track Sandra’s progress and see if her site rises in the search results for the local search terms “buffalo officiants”, “buffalo officiants”, “buffalo wedding officiant”, and “buffalo wedding officiant”.

By changing to a geo domain, Sandra was able to rise from the back pages to the first page. Now, changing the meta-tags to provide better targeting, should help her achieve top billing in her local market.

Have you ever watched “The Amazing Race” on CBS? The reality show features two person teams racing around the world, performing a series of cultural tasks before they are given a clue to their next destination. During certain legs of the race, teams are given the option of pursuing a “Fast Forward” that will allow them to skip all tasks and go directly to the check-in station at the end of each leg. The “Fast Forward” doesn’t guarantee that the team will win the leg, but it gives the team who secures it a big advantage over the competition.

In Hyperlocal SEO, owning Geo Domains can give your business a significant leg up over the competition.

What are Geo Domains?

Geo Domains are domain names comprised of two subparts: A Geographic Name and either a Product, Service, or Piece of Content sought by internet users. Examples of Geo Domains include:

• WeddingsInBaltimore.com
• BaltimoreChiropractors.com
• MiamiPhotographer.me
• AtlantaNews.net
• TampaBayJobs.pro
• ChicagoRemodeling.TV

Why are Geo Domains Important?

Geo Domains are important because search engines, like Google and Bing, prefer legitimate businesses. Search engines recognize that domains, tied to high search terms, are valuable resources.  The more competitive the search term, the more valuable the geo domain. Owning a great Geo Domain implies that your business is legitimate and worthy of strong consideration.

In your market, there could be hundreds of competitors all vying for top placement. If you are a Chiropractor in Baltimore, and a user searches for “Baltimore chiropractors”, Google must decide which 10 Baltimore chiropractor sites to display to the user.   To determine which Chiropractor sites are more important than other Chiropractor sites, each search engine uses a proprietary set of rules to filter the results.

One rule common to all search engines, is that a well constructed site, built on top of a geo domain, will rank higher than the same site located at a non geo domain name. In our example, a site located at BaltimoreChiropractors.com will have an excellent chance of displaying at the top of the search results for “Baltimore chiropractors”.  Why?  The answer is that only one chiropractor in Baltimore can own BaltimoreChiropractors.com. Since you had the foresight or resources to acquire this valuable domain name, then your business is viewed as more legitimate than a competitor who is targeting the same local search term.

Dot Com domains are not the only domains preferred by the major search engines. While BaltimoreChiropractors.com and BaltimoreChiropractors.net see the greatest SEO benefit, over time, sites built on alternative extensions like BaltimoreChiropractors.pro, BaltimoreChiropractors.me, or BaltimoreChiropractors.TV can take advantage of Google and Bing‘s preference for geo domains.

I guess the first question we should discuss, is what is Hyperlocal? Wikipedia defines Hyperlocal as:

“A new term used to refer to someone or something that is the best at connecting people, locally.”

So Hyperlocal can refer to a region, city, county, town, village, community, neighborhood, or any local community you want to target.  How far down you drill in the Hyperlocal space, depends on your target audience and desire to produce quality content tailored to local communities.

For example, if you are a real estate agent who specializes in certain neighborhoods, then you might want to target the larger communities in your area. You could produce one landing page for each neighborhood, with a list of homes for sale and historical sales data for that community. Boilerplate content for your neighborhood landing pages could include a small write about the community, school information, local resources, links to the homeowner’s association, and other information that would be helpful to prospective homeowners.

If you run a limo company that serves an entire metro area like Washington, DC or Miami, FL, you might want to target the primary cities/towns and counties that comprise the metro region. A city or town landing page could include restaurants, entertainment, and hotels frequented by travelers and residents looking for a fun evening out on the town. Your landing pages would attract people who are searching for local “hot spots”,  informing potential clients about your limo service that can help enhance their entertainment experience.

Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or rural area – one universal rule to your Hyperlocal SEO efforts is that you must connect with local residents. The more you engage local users, the better results you are going to see from your Hyperlocal SEO efforts.