Bing Local Listings are similar to Google Local (or Google Maps) in that they can come up above the algorithmic (organic) search engine results when a searcher includes local place names in a search query, for example: “SEO Company Cheltenham” rather than just “SEO Company”.

Up until now I had assumed that Bing Local listing submissions could only be completed by US based companies, with the few UK based local search engine results being cobbled together from the listings on third party business directories.

All that changed after I read Matthew Elshaws’ Blog on ineedhits.com entitled “How to Setup a UK Bing Local Listing” where he talks about Daniel Dutton who has identified where Microsoft gets UK local business listings from, in his blog post entitled “Get Listed in Microsoft UK’s Bing/MSN/Live Business Directory”.

Anyway long story short if you are based in the UK and want to see if it works go to http://www.marketlocation.com/changereq/ and enter your company details.

Please note that this is rather speculative and it will probably take some time for results to be seen, so please no e-mails.  I have submitted my own site and put the word out about this and will let you know the outcome.

Justin March offers this set of instructions as ‘Guidance Only’. Therefore, Justin cannot be held responsible for any work carried out by YOU and/or ANY third party using the instructions.

Obviously this Blog is moderated and I delete blatant spam as soon as it appears, the trouble is I’m getting a lot of comments that are in between being blatant spam and being insightful.

I have therefore been struggling with the nofollow / dofollow question and whether I should apply these tags to the post comments on this Blog.

What are Nofollow / Dofollow tags?

A link with a nofollow tag will appear the same to the general web going public as a link without the tag, but by implementing the nofollow tag the Blog or Forum owner is telling the search engines that this link has not been checked (or is not from a trusted source) and that the link should therefore pass no link juice or power to the resulting page.   At least that is the official line; there is some debate as to how the tag is really being dealt with by Google and the other search engines.  Tests have been run that prove that the Search Engines at least follow the nofollow links to their destination whether the resulting pages receive any link juice is open to debate.

Nofollow tags are implemented as follows:

Visit my <a href=” http://www.justinmarch.com/cheltenham-gloucester-web-design-seo-offer/”>SEO Company Cheltenham</a> site.
Which would look like this: SEO Company Cheltenham

Applying a nofollow tag, the comment would be transformed to:

Visit my <a href=” http://www.justinmarch.com/cheltenham-gloucester-web-design-seo-offer/” rel=”nofollow”> SEO Company Cheltenham</a> site.
Which would look like this: SEO Company Cheltenham

As you can see both of the above links look exactly the same to the casual observer.

NB: There is no dofollow tag; essentially dofollow is simply a “normal” hyperlink (or the absence of the nofollow tag).

Find out more about the background of the nofollow tag here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/01/preventing-comment-spam.html

See David Leonhardts’ blog post for even more insight into this debate.

So what to do about Nofollow / Dofollow tags on this Blog?

I act to prevent spam as much as possible but am also willing to reward insightful comments with a dofollow link, the trouble is I’m getting a lot of comments that are in between, they aren’t blatant spam and they aren’t quite as insightful as I would like.

The problem  is it’s a trade off, I don’t want to put people off, and I don’t mind a bit of banter as it helps to humanise my Blog, on the other hand I don’t want to necessarily reward banter with a dofollow link.

Option 1:

• delete the spam
• nofollow the in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Option 2:

• delete the spam
• delete the in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Option 3:

• delete the spam
• follow in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Conclusion

For the moment anyway I think that option 1 is the most ideal I will just have to put up with the questions relating to why some comments are assigned nofollow where others are given normal link status.

I look forward to pleanty of insightful comments on this below…

Google state that “Based on the success we’ve seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given.”

So what is going to be different:

• It looks like the results will be returned much faster
• It may change the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s) but supposedly not by much
• Google will get better and better at prioritising Breaking News
• Mashable think it means a tough time for SEO’s (see link below)

While the sandbox was active Mashable reviewed it here: http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine/

This is What Matt Cutts had to say back in August 2009:

SEO Cheltenham Google Results

Now I have been conducting SEO work since before Google was the next big thing, so I expect to see fluctuations in the results from time to time.  I wouldn’t have been so concerned except for the fact that:

1. I was in the middle of researching an article entitled “How to add your Local Business Listing to Google Maps” and I needed screen shots.
2. I had just read an article about the new Google Local Business Listings Guideline Changes Source: http://searchengineland.com/google-targets-spammers-with-new-local-business-listing-guidelines-29077

The guideline changes in Google Local relate to the business name and the physical location of the business.  In terms of the business name that is used the new guidelines state that this should now be the full and legal business name, this suggests that keyword inclusion in conjunction with or replacing the business name will no longer be tolerated.

Examples of Business names that are now officially not allowed by the new Google Local Business Listings Guidelines:

“Business Name – Keyword1 Keyword2”
“Keyword1 Keyword2”

In terms of the location that is entered when a Google Local Business Listing is applied for this should be the central offices and not a PO Box or virtual location.

For further clarification see Business Listing Quality Guidelines at: http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528

Was this a penalty handed down by Google to punish all SEO’s?  Having dug about a bit obviously not as the search for SEO Bristol shows:

SEO Bristol Google Results

And it wasn’t anything to do with the area either as a search for Carpet Cheltenham shows:

Google Results Carpets Cheltenham

I also discovered many businesses breaking the new guidelines so it seems unlikely that they are the cause of this sudden change.

I posted a question here: http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=132017

The consensus seems to be that this is a blip on the landscape and that the listings will soon reappear thanks to Ali-v-8 for his thoughts.

This type of optimisation can be particularly important when imagery is integral to your business offering, for example if you are a photographer, designer or artist.

How to Optimise Images
Ann Smarty has written an excellent post on how to optimise images for people, Social Media and the Search Engines, see: http://www.seosmarty.com/image-seo/

Another Thought
If you really want to get your images out to a wider audience sites such as Flikr.com can also be a great way of posting your images and putting them in front of a large audience of image enthusiasts.

The image below shows a search in Google and highlights where the PPC advertising and the Natural (or Algorithmic) search results appear.  While Google is not the only search engine it is probably the one that most people use and the results of Yahoo, Ask, Bing etc. appear in much the same way.

PPC & Natural (or Algorithmic) Search Results

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic achieved through the Natural (or Algorithmic) search results.  The search engines are trying to return quality relevant content and the aim of SEO is to help make your site pages as relevant as possible for the phrases that you are targeting.  SEO normally involves keyword and competitor research in the first instance followed by input into both the site itself and also into offsite elements.

What is Pay Per Click (PPC)

To put it (very) simply PPC works by the advertiser selecting appropriate keywords that will then trigger their adverts. When a user types in the keywords the advert is displayed (there are other variables involved but this is a short article). If the user clicks on the advert then the advertiser pays, hence the phrase Pay Per Click.

What are the Benefits of PPC?

• You can use PPC to test your business ideas
• PPC can be set up immediately, SEO can be a slow burn
• PPC can inform your future SEO strategy
• It is flexible; you can turn off the campaign, reduce spend, refocus your adverts etc.

Further Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

Google Webmaster Guidelines
The Google Webmaster Guidelines are a good place to start to ascertain Googles’ position on SEO and what to look for when hiring an SEO consultant.

Google Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide
If you want to obey all of the rules this is an excellent overview of the basics.

The SeoMoz Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimisation
The SeoMoz Beginner’s Guide to SEO is again an excellent overview of some of the processes used by SEOMoz a well respected company.

High Rankings Forum
Run by the famous Jill Whalen this is a great place to ask your SEO related questions.

Digital Point Forum
Another great Forum although unlike High Rankings I feel that often some of the less likely theories go unchallenged.

So there it is my first official post, more to come over the next couple of days whan I have a chance to think about some meatier topics.