Local Search Citations & Links Via Event Marketing

[Linda Buquet]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenerynsy/6767637651/in/photolist-bj2UTM-9HWvhq-rojoK-57JMx4-6gDKCY-5YtqtG-96x6a-6jSHX-duZS5d-dfAycW-4FLQB4-24Vmk-yohyt-d7J9p7-d7J97J-d7J5gm-d7PRX3-d7PS39-d7PRQy-e2KvyJ-913a5y-eYz5u-dfAt2c-dfAy13-dfitjw-bomrFm-bBgmvX-boms4y-HSWFh-4P2xTT-8vhiEi-4BcZ4v-dfAv2s-dXY76b-5t8Gq9-9es1DW-6QttnE-E8c66-pJKZk-913a8h-PYeEF-ewaRhB-bqLqQj-bDFmZk-bqLr8m-4ydn7j-bUsiKp-cbPq6d-cbPq3y-cbPq7y-cbPq4U/"><img src="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/eventmarketing.jpg" alt="" title="eventmarketing" width="241" height="255" align="left" hspace="10" /></a>
This is the start of what I hope will end up being 'crowd sourced' research where everyone chips in with more resources, research, knowledge or 1st hand experiences.

1st of all - let me say I am NOT suggesting gaming Google by just spamming a bunch of event sites.

BUT in the real world, doing local events is a great way to get your name out & meet potential new clients.

Additionally, these sites can give you lots of local citations and links.

<p style="font-size:28px;color: orange;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000;">Local Event Marketing with Citations & Links</p>​

I'll share a couple sites I've looked into that can widen your reach and get your clients in front of more potential customers. I don't have time to do an epic post with full research, so hopefully this is just a start and some of you will weigh in with more ideas below.

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Zvents

A free Basic Listing on Zvents reaches hundreds of local newspapers, websites and media channels. Also benefit from instant exposure to web search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

More info: Local Marketing Opportunities for Businesses and Event Promoters with Zvents

CHECK THIS! Google: "Greenville North Carolina Dentist Robert Capps DDS" "zvents"

116 pages in Google. On different sites, mainly local news sites. Most with full citations.
(A few example links below.)

Greenville's Greenville North Carolina Dentist Robert Capps DDS - Zvents

Greenville North Carolina Dentist Robert Capps DDS Greenville - WNCT

Greenville North Carolina Dentist Robert Capps DDS: Reviews & Upcoming Events - The Daily News

Oh and that Dentist happens to rank "A". Correlation is not causation and likely he's doing lots of other things right too, this just happens to be one of them.

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Eventbrite

Check out the links in the Event Profile...
Brad Frost on Responsive Design - Eventbrite (Are all those links do-follow?)

Plus organizer link is do follow: Denver SEO Training Workshop - Eventbrite

The name of the event goes in the title tag. If done tastefully an example of a keyword rich seminar title would be "Learn about Cosmetic Dentistry in Dallas"
(Free seminars are free to set up.)

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Meetup

There is a cost to set up as organizer 12 a month but think profiles and discussions are free. (Researched awhile back, may have changed, so doublecheck.)

Do follow profile link: Gary Mahler - Internet Masterminds Group | Social Networking Meetup (Vancouver, BC) - Meetup

Lee Weisbard, DDS - CERTUS Professional Network™ (Denver, CO) - Meetup

Plus can comment and discuss events in local area.

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As I was trying to wrap up the research for this story I discovered SEOmoz previously did a really good article all about Local Event SEO. The Complete Guide to Link Building with Local Events - Moz

Here's another good older story that has good tips too:
Leveraging Real World Events to Gain Inbound Links & Boost SEO with Kane Jamison


This post has been sitting in my private to-do forum for months and I finally decided to just pull the trigger and share what I've found so far. I've been collecting examples over time and wanted to do more, but just don't have time to do any more research to finish this up. So hopefully what I already have will be helpful to you.

I'm sure what I shared above is just the tip of the ice berg.
Share any other event sites you know of.
Or share any successes you've had with this strategy.
(Or share this on G+, Facebook or Twitter if you think the info was helpful.)

Image credit: The Greenery Nursery

 

[Thaddaeus]

Linda oh my God - you let the cat out of the bag. Event marketing is my local marketing secret weapon. The amount of things you can do with local events (and local event websites) will blow your mind.

I hesitate to tell too many people because I don't want the spammers to use it and ruin it for us.

Eventbrite is the bomb.

It is easy to rank with it, has high authority with big G, and you can use your Google Authorship with it.

Also, the Event Dashboard is better than the SEO benefits.

 

[Phil Rozek]

A spreadsheet I did last year:



(Spreadsheet here - and the original post.)

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Phil. I read most of your posts, how did I miss that one? I know I missed it and didn't just forget it because I would have remembered that pic of Richard Branson.

 

[Phil Rozek]

Thanks Phil. I read most of your posts, how did I miss that one? I know I missed it and didn't just forget it because I would have remembered that pic of Richard Branson.

Tsk, tsk....

Sir Richard will not be pleased to hear this

 

[Weve Got Your Customers]

Great timing for this post Linda!!

Next week, we begin marketing for our October Franchise Marketing event.

This gives me some ideas on how to make it even better.

Great list Phil! Anything you don't have a spreadsheet on? Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Phil Rozek]

Great list Phil! Anything you don't have a spreadsheet on? Thanks for sharing!!

I don't have a spreadsheet on how many spreadsheets I have

 

[Weve Got Your Customers]

I don't have a spreadsheet on how many spreadsheets I have

Slacker!

 

[ARKlady ARKtechCo]

We have a wealth of local event sites but businesses are a bit hesitant to use them which makes it great for our clients and us!

Thanks for the thread, reminder and the spreadsheet.