I have been talking on WMR about KML and Sitemaps. The show is mainly about using KML for Local SEO and citations.
OK – it has been almost two weeks ago, but I wanted to share this for the people who missed out. I got the opportunity to talk in the radio show SEO 1on1 on WebmasterRadio.FM on short notice. (Thanks Ross and John!). For those of you who missed it, you can still listen to the show via the podcast! You can download the show by clicking here.

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

KML and Sitemaps on SEO 101- WebmasterRadio.FM

With each new year, people start creating lists. Things to do, things not to do. Well, here is mine for the year of 2009.

Luckily, the thing about lists is that you need to maintain them. So keep looking forward to more articles about the above topics covering Local Search Optimization, Universal Search and anything that might occur in the local space in the year of 2009!

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

Local Search will bring you in the year of 2009…

As many of you might know I am quite a fan of KML. In the past, I released a tutorial, the definitive guide on using KML and sitemaps for SEO, on how to use KML and sitemaps for Local Search and Google Maps Optimization. With Maps and Local Search behavior getting more important in the Universal Search landscape it is important to know how KML can help you get more traffic to your website or how to create better, faster and more beautiful mashups.
That’s why I want my readers to know that the Geo Developer Blog just informed that the KML handbook is now available for pre-sale and it should be available soon!

The KML Handbook is written by Josie Wernecke, the writer of the KML 2.1 and 2.2 documentation. The book covers the basic elements as well as lesser known subjects. Also good to know that Google is officially supporting the book. If you really want to get deeper into KML and want an ol’fashion printed book to explain you all this, pre-order your copy now!

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

KML Handbook released!

First off all, in the ‘link’ feature, to send people links of google maps, they should provide you with some sort of tinyURL that is descriptive. Everywhere you see Google asking you to be clear as possible, using good structured URL formats, etc, and they just provide you with a URL that contains at least a couple of & parameters, fuzzying coordinates, etc. I read this idea also somewhere in the Google groups.

Second, I have to agree with Matt McGee and Mike B. that if Google would like to promote the use of Geositemaps, KML, and more stuff that common people or small business owners don’t understand they should think of better ways on how to do this.
For example, in the Local Business Center they could provide an export function of your current business listings, (approved, flagged, filter if necessary!) to KML! with automatic geo-encoding, maybe 1 or 2 images to embed in the KML or which further details per listing from the feed and information that is already there! And why not provide your KML in the webmaster central without using a sitemap?

Third,
everything that is still listed here; my previous post about updates I would like to see in the LBC or Google Maps.

Please share your thoughts or name a few things of what you think Google should do to improve Google Maps or make it more successful for business owners!

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

What should Google do?

So I decided to write a tutorial to make it all a bit more easier to understand, and especially, giving step by step instructions on how to implement the KML.

If you would like to know more about using KML implementation for Local Search Engine Optimization you can head on and read my tutorial! You can find it here :

The definitive guide on using KML for SEO

If you  think something is missing, have feedback or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

The definitive guide on using KML for SEO