• Google & Bing said: Facebook public shares and Twitter tweets directly impact search engine rankings. An individual users influence also affects this.
• SEO is still under-invested. SEO surfaced links (organic listings) get 82% of clicks from the 1-2 billion searches on Google every day. Much more than PPC terms which only get 18% (People are ignoring the “ads” or paid listings). Yet 85% of budgets go to PPC campaigns, and only 15% on SEO (firms, consultants, software, etc.)
• Human beings search for really weird stuff. We really are unique snowflakes. The top 12,000 keywords only account for 18.5% of searches! 70% of searches are long tail odd terms.
• According to Google, 25% of searches that occur every month have never been seen before, have never been typed into Google before (10+ years).
• Google has happy searchers – despite what critics are saying. “Noise” or irrelevant returns are people’s biggest complaint. When asked, “How well do search engines help you find information?” 47% said Excellent. 42% said Good. 10% said Fair. 0% said Poor. 1% said Not Sure.
• Key SEO Principle: Accessible, good quality content.
• Avoid all-flash intros. They are the WORST thing to do for SEO. Search engines will not find you.
• Key SEO Principle: Keyword research & targeting. You have to target things people are searching for, and optimize your titles accordingly.
• Key SEO Principle: Link Building.
• Key SEO Principle: Social Sharing. Engage users on your site (social). Utilize social media and viral marketing.
• What Matters in Search Engine Rankings: 24% Trust/Authority of the Host Domain. 22% Link Popularity of the Specific Page. 20% Anchor Text of External Links. 15% On-Page Keyword Usage. 7% Traffic and Click-Through Data. 6% Social Graph Metrics. 5% Registration and Hosting Data.
• Be Cautious: Don’t get jaded if junk ranks higher than you. Being the best knowledge source does not mean you will rank highest. Popularity is a big factor in SEO. You may not be best or brightest, but if people like you, you’ll do well.
• Remarkable SEO Tactics: Own and control your Link Juice. Google’s “nofollow” is a no-go now. (Rand mentions the #whatsnextdc website as a stellar example of consolidation and using link anchors wisely.)
• Take advantage of 301 repoints and Rel Canonical. (Rand recommends putting it on every page.)
• Find and fix the errors on your page! Save your SEO juice! There are free programs that can help you do this.
• Be a Link Magnet. Build a platform where users contribute on your site and give users an incentive to contribute. (Example: Quora.) Get influencers to guest blog for you. Use Embeddable content to make linking a default behavior. (Example: Vimeo.)
• You can “Skip the Normal Rankings”. Videos rank higher easily (submit video xml sitemaps). Get included in Google News. Images. Blogs. Social Circle. Rich Snippets.

Stay Engaged:

Follow the #whatsnextdc hashtag conversation on Twitter
Follow the Twitter list of attendees/speakers/sponsors/etc
Follow Captico’s Twitter Account
Connect with Captico’s Facebook Page

Related Articles:

• What’s Next DC Conference 2011 – Wrap Up: Marketing Best Practices and Social Media Takeaways
• Actionable Steps to Better Inbound Marketing Success by Brian Halligan, Hubspot
• The Future Shopper, How Offline is the New Online from Bryan Eisenberg
• A Project Manager at What’s Next DC: The Good, The Bad and My Hopes for Next Year
• What’s Next DC? Tomorrow’s Conference hopes to address that.
• #DCWEEK 2011 Dates and Registration Announced

• Takeaways from the Government Video Expo 2010 in DC
• Recap of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s “Tour and Tweet”
• Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference Keynotes by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, Wendy Harman
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – “A Slice of DCWEEK”
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Gov & Org 2.0 Day
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Media 2.0 Day
• GoPromoIt.com – Discounts for sharing with your social network.

1. Get Listed in Google Local Business Center - Go to following URL and get your business listed in Google. Submission process is easy, follow Google’s steps and our steps below. Await verification code via phone or postcard and GET Listed!
2. www.google.com/local/add
3. Use Keywords in Company Description – Develop a list of 5 keywords that best describes your business and incorporate words into your company description. Do not spam it! Make content coherent and consistent.
4. Add Photos – Add as many photos you can to your listing and your company logo. When uploading files, be sure to optimize name of the file to match one of the main keywords you developed in Step 2.
5. Encourage Customer Reviews/Add Links Back – Get real customers to post reviews on your listing about products/services. Provide a link from your website for visitors to post reviews on your Google Local Business Listing page.
6. Add Coupons – Add coupons to your Google Local Business Listing and you are sure to move up in rank.
7. Add Videos- If you have videos, upload to YouTube and post a link to it in your Google Local Business Listing. Great way of increasing rank.
8. Enter as Much Detail Possible – Hours of operations, payment options, other additional details, etc. More detail equals better rank. Google’s local business center algorithm will view your listing as credible and serious.

You may also be interested in: A Tip for Better Google Local Business Optimization