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Thanks, will do

The best practice here is to create a sitemap index - a single sitemap XML file that lists each of the individual sitemap files. That then becomes the sitemap you reference in your robots.txt file and to help speed up the process of crawling, submit that through Google and Bing webmaster tools. (You only need to submit that index file - their systems will then "discover" all the individual files listed in it). See Google's sitemap index how-to.

Are the addresses unique and not shared with any other business? https://maps.google.co.uk/?q=Tall+Trees+Cottage%2C+Winkfield+Road%2C+ASCOT%2C+Berkshire%2C+SL5+7EX I've heard of some real strange behaviour if the business does not have a fully unique address in some cases getting merged with another business, although I cannot see the connection here.

You're welcome!

Hi Pugh, Good question. Unfortunately, no, you do not qualify for inclusion in Google's local index or use of their local products. In order to do so, you must have face-to-face transactions with your customers, which is not how e-commerce companies operate. You can read the Google Places Quality Guidelines, which cover eligibility, here: https://support.google.com/places/answer/107528?hl=en

As Oleg Korneitchouk is correct on the schema side of things there is also the option to add in Google places link to your website which you'll need a separate page for that. Luke.

Thanks, Peter and Phil. Phil, this is a serious guide. A lot of info that is useful to me. Many thanks, your a star!

Yes, that definitely helps! And, I just checked back on the "tampa car accident lawyer" vs "tampa car accident attorney" question I asked you a few weeks ago. I posted on the original thread, but the local pack is now showing up for both terms. Thanks again, Ruben

The local pack returned like you though it would.

Good Evening! The core problem with call tracking numbers is that they create data inconsistencies across the local search ecosystem which can result in a loss of trust on Google's part, a loss of rankings in the local search results and confusion on the part of customers. Google wants each local business to have a business name, address and local area code phone number (NAP) that is published with absolute consistency across the web. Call tracking numbers can completely mess up this consistency and are normally considered taboo in Local. Here are some good articles for you to read that talk intelligently about what you should and shouldn't do with call tracking numbers: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/05/14/a-guide-to-call-tracking-and-local/ http://localu.org/blog/truth-about-seo-call-tracking/ Stick by the advice these two authors provide and you should be in the clear. Hope this helps!

Hi Doug, In my experience, the client has to be convinced on his own that there will be value in the investment. Part of this comes from his realization that he must get this work done in order to compete and see returns from being visible on the Internet. If he is under-educated about the power of the web, he may not realize this and you have the chance to teach him. Sometimes this works out well! Sometimes, however, a potential client just doesn't grasp the value of being visible and is unwilling to commit resources to it. Often, he ends up going with some quickie/cheapie deal instead and winds up blowing what money he has on services that either won't help the business or will actually harm it. I've had small business owners come to me in a state of a disaster after going down that path. Business owners who are ready to learn and willing to rely on the expertise of the marketer are my favorites. Those who come to you with bad information they've learned elsewhere and who are not willing to learn better ways of doing things are seldom good clients. It's quite common for Local Search Marketing contracts to cover at least a few months, sometimes even a year or more. The difference between a big budge project and a small budget one will be the amount of work you are able to do for them per month. But even the smaller amount of work will have cumulative value over time. Bottom line: the client must believe in the value of what is happening. If he doesn't, the project will likely either not happen or will be a stressful one. You can help shore up their belief, but it's my feeling that there has to be some measure of faith on their side in the marketer they've hired that will keep them going until results start to become apparent.

We've used all of these. I must say....YEXT scares me sometimes....I'm not sure why...but kinda like how YP.com scares me. We are a partner with YEXT and Localeze....and I worry about dupes/overlaps between the two trying to figure out which content to use. Anyone else use the two together and have any concerns? I think WhiteSpark is also a great tool.... Thanks for the insight! Great stuff.

Hi Jonathan, In regards to the business title on the +Local page, nothing has changed. Think of it this way: McDonald's is just McDonald's over their infinite number of locations. You should do the same. This is not the same as your custom URL, to which Google will append the city name in some cases. So, leave the titles the same.

Thanks for the response. I will be working with a client tomorrow beginning the process of claiming and updating some of their listings. I've schedule a time to go into their location and answer their phone (on a Saturday) so hopefully everything will go well. I guess the best way to do this is just to educate, plan ahead, and be ready to tackle any small problems that come up. Thanks for the insights.

Meghan, The main focus should be around having as much original content in the sites as possible. If you create future content, don't duplicate that content too, be creative and unique when writing about the same topic. Put different ideas into it, make one 5 Tips and other 9 Tips so to speak or How To and Things to Know twists. Applying a lot of what Jeff mentioned above will be beneficial as well. Those were all great points! All the best in your launches! Patrick

I am in the middle of negotiating with Vocus and think I will tell them I only want access to the PR Web press releases too. All of the other stuff just seems like "fluff" that can be accessed from many other places for a fraction of the cost.

I'm not a Google+ expert but I agree with Tom here that the URL should be easy to remember and brandable.  I would prefer something like /+casey&torres vs the other ones they suggested.  I know you can request a different URL.   But if you have to choose between the two the /+tallahasseedefense is definitely better.   I have google.com/+vzpro which doesn't help people know what I do but it is easy to remember.  I keep all of my marketing urls the same if I can.  fb.com/vzpro, twitter.com/vzpro etc and try to coordinate them as best as possible.  I would consider what their other social media outlets have as urls and maybe try to get something that all fits.

Phil, Thanks for taking the time to respond. This is exactly what I was looking for. My best, Ido

Ok in this case our plan of action is to start with S3 and build a culture of protecting the content, atleast for a regular folk.  After a while if analytics and tracking is of importance we will convert the necessary videos to Wistia.  At least thats the plan so far. Thanks for the input Phil. I'm still open to other experiences with video anti-piracy for membership sites. Thanks community!

Thanks, that's very helpful.  Signals on the video are mostly positive, I was just a bit worried about the repetitive word, but I guess I really should have been focusing on the user experience, which is just fine.