Dex Landing Pages Dominating Google Local Search Ads
In Local Search Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Local Online Advertising | 3 comments | permalink
Last week Peter Krasilovsky at Local Onliner summed up data from the recent TMP/comScore study:
The report notes that Google has overtaken online business directories in both IYP/local searches, where it has a 26 percent share, and in local portal searches, where it has a 45 percent share. But that doesn’t mean that the Yellow Pages industry is on the ropes.
While Yellow Pages usage is down three percent and now comprises 28 percent of local search, Internet Yellow Pages have jumped from 19 percent in 2008 to 21 percent of all searches. In certain categories, such as home services, IYP account for nearly half of all searches.
“By adapting to the world of online search, the Yellow Pages are proving to be a competitive and effective cross-platform reference,” notes the report. But local search remains very low on the totem pole for certain categories.
In another example of adapting to the world of online search, R.H. Donnelley property Dex has recently been shooting up all over Google local searches. Dex places advertisements with co-branded landing pages (powered by Dex) on Google for a number of categorical searches for local businesses.
I did see something similar to this on behalf of YellowPages.com last year with local automotive and professional services searches but they seemed to have dropped off.
I don’t know if this is just a short-term, introductory promotion (Google promo?), or if they are truly getting traction with local businesses advertising on Google AdWords–and this is part of the local online advertising mix.
What Caught My Eye
For the Google search “Scottsdale landscaping,” seven of the ten published AdWords ads were powered by Dex:
The Dex landing pages are published on local-business-branded domain names, allow visitors to send the page via SMS or email, and feature the following business details:
- Business logo
- Enlarged business name and phone number
- Tagline
- Business address, Google map, & Google street view
- Business categories
- Products & services
- Specials
- Business description
- Images of corresponding yellow page print ads
- Payment options
- Hours of operation
- Service area
The first ad presented was for Moon Valley Nursery (note the location appears to be wrong–Las Vegas?):
The third ad presented was for Arizona Trellis (note the toll-free number):
The fourth ad presented was for Senor Mist:
The fifth ad presented was for E-Scapes Land Design:
The seventh ad presented was for Green Keeper:
The ninth ad presented was for American Handyman & Landscaping:
The tenth ad presented was for Sunrise Maintenance & Lawn Service:
BlitzLocal’s CEO, Dennis Yu, incorrectly points to these Dex landing pages for PPC as an attempt at SEO on David Kyle’s blog, also cited on SEOmoz.
In fact, because some of these landing pages use tracking numbers provided by Telmetrics, it is essential they are not optimized for search due to local indexing issues, extensively covered by David Mihm here and here (one of the pretenders?).
I am impressed with the aggressive investment Dex and the other IYP’s (SuperPages.com, YellowPages.com, Yellowbook.com) are making in local online advertising (via TV, radio, & online campaigns).
Local online advertising is blowing up in 2009 contrary to the ridiculous speculation by BusinessWeek and other nattering naboobs of negativism in the traditional media ranks.
What will 2010 bring?
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good point on the Dex SEO article by Dennis Yu. I missed the part at the end about the noindex, which clearly indicates the site was not meant to rank organically.
I would like to point out that I don’t feel these Dex landing pages exemplify “best practices.”
I’d be curious to know what kind of quality scores their keywords have.
Google has stated that they do not like landing pages with just one page because it does not make for a good user experience. Keyword stuffing is also not a good thing to do for Adwords. I find to maintain a good QS, you have to breakdown your adgroups as much as possible, and use on site SEO factors to show those keywords are relevant to that specific landing page. You can’t do that by lumping everything into one page like Dex is doing.
I’m sure you know the higher the QS the lower the CPC for the client in respect to their ad position.
I’m also curious to know if you think Dex is able to treat these 7 landscapers that are competitors equally. From my POV they cannot.
Dennis did make a mistake about the SEO aspect, but he is not a “pretender” by any means. I hope that was not the first article you read by him. If so check out his home blog, he has a lot of smart stuff on there.
Just followed you on Twitter, and looking forward to hearing more from you.
David,
Thanks for your comments. I agree with most of your points about the Dex landing pages. They are rudimentary in the sense that they display the content prospective customers are searching for, but I would not cite them as examples of landing page best practices.
In my experience, managing brand campaigns, the most effective landing pages are one page, entirely above the fold, featuring a unique value proposition, pleasant aesthetics, and utilizing 1/4 to 1/3 of the space to emphasize a clear call-to-action. These types of landing pages yield the highest quality scores and conversion rates.
You asked if I think Dex is able to treat these 7 landscapers that are competitors equally. In a sense they are treating them equally by serving the same blah format of a landing page. Do they provide great value to them all? Probably not. Ad positioning and creative may be the deciding factors here.
Also, I have enjoyed reading Dennis’ insights on local search in the past and I view him as a contributor to our industry.
Tom
Dex Knows Google Search…
For the Google search “Scottsdale landscaping,” seven of the ten published AdWords ads were powered by Dex:…