{"id":14267,"date":"2013-01-29T05:30:04","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T09:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=14267"},"modified":"2013-01-29T10:45:55","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T14:45:55","slug":"locai-2012-andrew-shotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/29\/locai-2012-andrew-shotland\/","title":{"rendered":"Loci 2012 – Andrew Shotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Shotland is a well-known SEO practitioner and author of\u00a0www.localseoguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and the trendy new\u00a0applemapsmarketing.com<\/a>. \u00a0His proudest achievement on the Web can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ipkSRwgVtpA<\/a><\/p>\n

*************<\/p>\n

When reflecting on the year, I like to think about it less in terms of specific niches like “local seo”, “seo” or even “local search”. \u00a0It’s not that 2012 wasn’t a watershed year for a lot of this stuff, but rather that the forces that are shaping the landscape of these niches are often the same that are affecting the Web as a whole. \u00a0So here’s what caught my attention in 2012:<\/p>\n

1. 2012 – The Year We Start Paying For It<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2007, Radiohead released it’s new album, “In Rainbows”, online and offered it at whatever price you wanted to pay for it. \u00a0Many opted to pay $0 while some paid more. It was a big success. \u00a0In 2011, Radiohead release “The King of Limbs” via their website and this time charged $9.99. \u00a0It too was a success. \u00a0And there was no record label between Radiohead and its fans. \u00a0In 2012, it seemed as if more “creators”, particularly media creators, were experimenting with getting their customers to pay for these creations, thus avoiding business models such as advertising and using distribution middle-men. \u00a0My favorite examples of the past year include Marco Arment’s “The Magazine”,<\/a> Louie CK’s “Live At The Beacon Theater”<\/a>, show, The Oatmeal\u2019s Operation BearLove Good, Cancer Bad<\/a> and Andrew Sullivan\u2019s soon-to-be-independent Daily Dish<\/a> (technically announced in 2013, but the deal was cut in 2012 right?).<\/p>\n

While each is an example of a strong voice with a loyal following tapping into their fan-base, I was particularly impressed with the launch of The Magazine, as it stood in direct contrast to the failure of News Corp\u2019s \u201cThe Daily\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a classic story of an independent Web developer who understood the medium and his audience to produce a low-budget, high-quality service while a media giant spent $30 million doing the exact opposite.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget about the millions raised for new projects by Kickstarter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For me, this trend, along with the continuing shift of our time spent on the Web to mobile and tablets, is critical to my thinking about how I am approaching this year, and how I am approaching SEO for myself and my clients.\u00a0 After Google\u2019s Farmer (AKA \u201cPanda\u201d) Update in 2011, I wrote a piece entitled \u201cAre You Radiohead?\u201d<\/a>, where I wondered aloud that with today\u2019s SEO, you need to be the Radiohead of your particular niche to succeed. If I were to write that piece today, I might change the title to \u201cAre You The Oatmeal?\u201d\u00a0 In other words, ask yourself is what you are doing so great that people want to support it?<\/p>\n

And I think this is going to be a key philosophy driving Web strategy, and not just to rank #1 for \u201cViagra\u201d.<\/p>\n

2. Mobile Customer Loyalty Apps Are Da Bomb
\n<\/b>Let\u2019s get a bit more down-to-earth on this one.\u00a0 Sure Google Places + Local had a lot of drama in 2012.\u00a0 Yes, Apple launched maps, Facebook launched Nearby.\u00a0 There were a lot of big events.\u00a0 But to me, the fact that my local burrito joint started texting me with points everytime I bought the kids an Itty Bitty Beanie Burrito and the local butcher shop had a tablet near the register that I could use to check in, was a telling signal to me that this stuff was suddenly everywhere.\u00a0 For those of you who are not on the local SMB text messaging bandwagon, you are missing out on one of the most cost-effective, high-growth ways to keep in touch with your customers.\u00a0 That said, I think we are going to see a shake-out of the hundreds of start-ups that are operating in this area, while at the same time, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to see any one platform become dominant.<\/p>\n

3. Local SEO ToolSets Become All The Rage
\n<\/b>As I mentioned in my SEL piece \u201cSEOMoz + GetListed: Let the SMB Toolset Death March Begin\u201d<\/a>, last year it seemed like everyone I knew was developing some kind of local SEO tool.\u00a0 That trend is only going to continue in 2013.<\/p>\n

4. Google+Local Keeps On Iterating & Irritating
\n<\/b>I\u2019ve got to mention Google right?\u00a0 For SMBs and SEOs that serve them, Google+Local 2012 was an absolute train wreck<\/a>.\u00a0 Still is in many ways<\/a>.\u00a0 That said, it seems like Google is slowly starting to improve things.\u00a0 From actual phone support to the G+ page management you recently reported on<\/a>, I think we are going to see a continual gradual evolution of the service.\u00a0 It will still have plenty of bugs.\u00a0 Data will continue to disappear.\u00a0 SMBs will continue to be frustrated.\u00a0 And SEOs will still have a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n

5. Apple Maps Will Sneak Up On Us
\n<\/b>While my recently launched Apple Maps blog<\/a> may bias my thinking, Apple Maps\u2019 launch last year was perhaps one of the most significant events in the local search world.\u00a0 Say all you want about how screwed up the service is, the fact is that even with the Google Maps iOS app out there, I bet millions of people are still using the Apple Maps app.\u00a0 And the fact that it is baked into all iOS apps that use maps means it\u2019s not going away.\u00a0 In the long-run, Apple Maps is the biggest threat to Google when it comes to local search.\u00a0 I expect Apple to quietly improve the service significantly this year and towards the end of 2013 I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they announced a big update that stimulates a lot of people who switched to Google Maps to retry the app.\u00a0 It\u2019s still going to be a rough go for businesses that want to optimize for Apple Maps, which of course means more fun for SEOs who figure it out.<\/p>\n

6. 2012 \u2013 Great Year For Local SEO
\n<\/b>I think Aaron Wall said that SEO is getting so tough that in 2013 we will see a lot of consultants exit the business.\u00a0 In some ways he is correct.\u00a0 I already see a number of my colleagues moving away from Google Places SEO services.\u00a0 But 2012 created so much opportunity to help and educate marketers that I see nothing but green field in 2013 for those that have the enthusiasm and think of themselves as the Radiohead of SEO.\u00a0 Stay thirsty, my friend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Shotland is a well-known SEO practitioner and author of\u00a0www.localseoguide.com\u00a0and the trendy new\u00a0applemapsmarketing.com. \u00a0His proudest achievement on the Web can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ipkSRwgVtpA ************* When reflecting on the year, I like to think about it less in terms of specific niches like “local seo”, “seo” or even “local search”. \u00a0It’s not that 2012 wasn’t a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,8,1,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-plus","category-local-mobil","category-uncategorized","category-loci-significant-articles-local-search"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14269,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14267\/revisions\/14269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}