Announcing Local Search & Google Place Optimization Class in Santa Cruz
June 14th • Santa Cruz, CA • 6:30-9:00 • $68 for residents • $83 non-residents
This class has passed. Please stay tuned for a repeat in your neighborhood.
Ding! Dong! Yellow Pages are dead (almost)!
For 3 weeks now, the plastic bags containing the phone book are still sitting on my neighbors' mailboxes. They don't even both to pick it up and take it away. So what used to be the easiest way for local businesses to get found now hits the recycling bin before it even makes it home.
From a recent survey –
Q1. Do you use the Yellow Pages?
7.69% use it regularly
23.08% once a month
15.38% once a year
53.85% never use it
Q2. How do you search for products and services you’re looking for?
92.86% use Google.com
7.14% use Yellow Pages
Without Yellow Pages, what's a local business to do?
Kat of Kat & Mouse SEO and Web Design will tell you in a special Local Search class being offering through the Santa Cruz Parks & Rec. She will teach you how to position your business at the top of Google Places – where people are actually trying to find you!
If you're a local business serving local clients, here's why you need this Local Search class:
- 80% of shoppers search online before purchasing.
– Are you there for them to find you?
- 82% of local searchers follow up with a phone call or show up on your doorstep (TMP/Comscore)
– Are you there for them to find your phone number?
- 65% make the purchase.
– Are you there for them to find you?
- 54% of Americans have replaced phone books (Yellow Pages & Business Directory) with internet and local search (Comscore)
– Are you there for them to find you?
- The #1 position in Google gets 45% of the clicks, #2 gets about 25% and then drops drastically to only 2% for position 10. Most people don't click the the 2nd page.
– Are you on page 1? More importantly, are you in the 1st position?
Here's what you'll learn:
- The 3 main criteria Google uses to rank a web site in its Google Places and what you need to do to accomplish that.
- How to show Google you are a trusted business so it's more apt to move your site to the top.
- How to optimize your website so Google moves you to the top for the keywords of your choice.
- Learn how your competitors got to be number one, then what to do to move ahead.
- Learn tips for showing up in searches for others cities, besides the one your business is in.
- How to use social media to build relevancy and trust so that Google loves you even more.
- Learn about some other the other opportunities available to local businesses for making your business highly visible online such as Foursquare, Groupon, Google Burst, adwords and more.
5 lucky students will get $500 in Google adwords!
After you do the work and while you wait for your website to pop up on the first page, you may need to place an ad using Google's adwords. I will be giving away 5 $100 coupons to get you started - thank to Google and their generous gift! And maybe even more!
And here's some more proof we know what we are doing…
This class has passed. If you would like us to teach it in your neighborhood, please let us know! We are also making plans to deliver it throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, so stay tuned.
