Yesterday I co-moderated SES Local in Denver. Chris Sherman, the conference organizer, had half the sessions and I had the other half. It was a very successful and fascinating event. For me the actual case studies were like gold — SEM firms showing the efficacy and efficiency of local online marketing and the increasing sophistication of techniques being used.
All the “usual suspects” were there: search engines, yellow pages, social sites, PPCall vendors, local “social directories,” SEM firms and others. Missing were the newspapers, although Amy Gahran from for Poynter Online was there (covering it) and so, I’m told, were the Orange County Register and LA Times. Next time they should be on the podium.
You saw or read about the comScore data showing the growth of local search yesterday. As I have argued, “local search” is in reality a much bigger phenomenon — ultimately about the Internet influencing consumer behavior in the real world. Maybe that definition is so broad as to be meaningless. But it’s clearly a broader proposition than just the traffic on IYP sites and local search engines.
It’s not my decision but SES will probably do more such shows in the future.
Screenwerk 
September 29, 2006 at 11:39 pm
Hi, Greg
Thanks for doing a great job of running the discussions. I definitely learned a lot. I too wish more news organizations had attended — this is a topic news orgs should be watching closely, which is why I covered it for Poynter Online. Maybe next time around, more of my news biz colleagues will be there.
– Amy Gahran
September 29, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Oh, BTW, I also covered the conference on the Capture the Conversation marketing biz blog:
http://www.capturetheconversation.com/marketing-communications-business-blog/2006/09/local_search_ads_better_servic_1.php
– Amy Gahran
September 30, 2006 at 6:06 am
SES Local – initial coverage/articles
(Via Greg Sterling)
Amy Gahran of Poynter Online has posted a couple articles from Thursday’s SES Local conference in Denver. And as Amy herself notes in the comments on Greg’s blog, she also has a post on Capture the Conversation.
I’…
September 30, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Despite the rising attention to local search, and despite the release of comScore stats showing that a huge portion of searches at the major search engines include a local parameter in users’ searches, very few local business sites are preforming good search engine optimization for local.
It’s a really untapped market, if SEO professionals figure out how to price lower to provide just a few services to small business websites. They could clean up in quantity, perhaps.
And, natural search optimization is so easy for local search!
September 30, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Local Search Marketing Tactics – SES Local
This was a very good session. Justin Sanger from local launch explained the high level opportunites, challenges and risks involved with local search. Christine Churchill from KeyRelevance dove deeper into tactics and helpful hints for local SEO and Pa…
October 1, 2006 at 1:52 am
Chris Smith wrote above: “very few local business sites are preforming good search engine optimization for local.”
Actually, one of the big takeaway lessons I got from this conference is how local online search advertising can work well for businesses that don’t have a web site or any online presence — as is the case for many small businesses (plumbers, accountants, butchers, gardeners, etc.)
So the “SEO” that would matter there would be on ad content, placement, and supporting directory listings (like Yahoo Local) — rather than SEO for a web site. Plus, options like pay-per-call expand the relevance of online advertising to non-online businesses.
– Amy Gahran