LOCAL SEOHow Sma l l Bus i nesses Ca n Compete i n Goog le

Jared Banz @jaredbanz

What is Local SEO?

Google AdWords – You pay every time someone clicks on your listing.

Local Listings – These are free (mostly) and are considered local SEO.

Organic Results – This is traditional SEO and is once again free traffic. We like free!

Why is local SEO important?

Searches Lead 50% Of Mobile Visitors To Visit Stores Within One Day.

88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations.

1 | http://bit.ly/YP_Research2 | http://bit.ly/BrightLocal2014Research3 | http://bit.ly/GoogleThink2014

BrightLocal – 2014 Research*

Google – 2014 Local Search Research*

36% of the searches started at a general search engine. YellowPages – 2015 Local Search Research*

We search locally all the time with the intention of making a quick purchase.

Think about it...

When is the last time you...

xNeeded a plumber?

Ordered takeout while traveling?

xNeeded a new dentist?

Okay, okay, so it’s important...

So how do I rank for my keywords?!

LOCAL SEO RANKING FACTORSAccording to Moz (2015)

A publication of

InstructionalTemplate

1. On-Page Signals2. Link Metrics3. Citations (Volume/Accuracy)

moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

Google My Business, review signals, social signals, user behavior & personalization were also factors listed.

Local SEO Ranking Factors

Enough talk, let’s dig in...

ON-PAGE SEOHow to Optimize Your Website for Local Search

HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE!

ü Keyword researchSEMRush (Freemium), Search Console (Free), Answer the Public

ü Title Tags, H1s, Alt TextImplement targeted keywords… INCLUDE targeted city + state (i.e. Chiropractor in Dayton, OH)

ü Site Speed + Mobile FriendlyYour load time should be under 2.5 seconds and your website MUST be mobile friendly.

ü Content + Schema MarkupSemantic content relationships are important. Understand user behavior and build content accordingly.

ON-PAGE EXAMPLE

- This website ranks very well for search phrases related to “chiropractor Cincinnati”

- We are going to do a very basic audit on the site to see why it ranks well.

- I have no affiliation with this company. J

ON-PAGE EXAMPLE

LINK BUILDINGBu i l d ing You r We bs ite ’s Author ity With L inks

Link building doesn’t have to be evil!

“Link building is sophisticated marketing”Mike Blumenthal, Get 5 Stars, LocalU

Alright, so how exactly do you build links?

xThere’s no scientific formula...

There’s no scientific formula...

But creativity is required.

Here are a few ideas...

Community Sponsorships (i.e. WordCamp, Little League)

Inteviews (i.e. HARO)Industry Meet-Ups

Guest BloggingUnlinked Brand Mentions

Research + Content (Google Surveys)ScholarshipsPress Releases

CITATIONSCons iste ntly a nd Accu rate ly D isp l ay ing You r Bus ine ss Across the We b

The importance of NAP.

Not that kind of nap...

Name, Address, Phone

MAKE SURE YOU NAP IS CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE!

ü Make sure your address is valid and doesn’t have variations.(312 North Main St #250; 312 N. Main St Suite 250, 312 Main St.)

ü Don’t list tracking numbers on your website or citations. Please don’t!

ü Make sure your business is consistent and accurate.

ü Don’t use and microsites in your citations – use your website!In general microsites aren’t necessary and can actually hurt your SEO.

There are two classifications of citations.

STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED CITATIONS

ü Structured Citations – These are commonly directory listings like Yelp, YellowPages or Google My Business and they contain your N.A.P.

ü Unstructured Citations – These are mentions of your brand, but usually are in places like a newspaper article, blog post or interview.

ü Both types are good and necessary, but you must always make sure your name, address and phone appear accurately and consistently!

So what citations should you have?

TOP GENERAL GENERAL NICHE + LOCAL

Google My BusinessFacebookBing LocalYahoo! LocalYellowPagesCitySearchInfoUSA*Localeze*Factual*Yelp

LinkedInMapQuestFourSquare*Angie’s ListCorteraInsider PagesHotFrog

And many more...

These are industry and location specific.

Don’t underestimate theseas they can drive greatleads.

*Denotes data aggregators.

LOCAL SEO TOOLSM ake L ife Eas ie r a nd M ake Bette r De c is ions with the Right Too ls

YEXT (FREE SCAN)

Yext does a great job of identifying existing citations

(free). I don’t recommend their annual service however, but

some find it useful.

NOT TOO SHABBY

Remember Thrive Chiropractic?They were well optimized with their on-page SEO. They also have optimized their citations pretty well.

MOZ LOCAL

Moz Local is another service that is great at identifying

errors. The annual service is decent, but not my favorite.

BRIGHTLOCAL = WINNER

BrightLocal does it all from monitoring, reporting and

building citations.

Honorable mention goes to Whitespark. TheyHave some excellent tools as well.

Google My Business offers some excellent insights as well. Tag your links for an extra level of tracking.

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

LOCAL SEO RECAP

ü Optimize Your WebsiteUse Yoast SEO Plugin, Search Console, GMB Include keywords with city + state

ü Build Local Links to Your WebsiteBe Creative, not spammyBuild links on sites where your customers visit

ü Build Citations... Lots of them.Remember N.A.P at all timesGo the extra mile with niche + local listings

ü Bonus! Create an Online Review StrategyShoppers like to see that you are a credible businessReview review policies (i.e. Yelp) and stay ethical

THANK YOU!!Prepared byJared Banz

Let’s Connect!@jaredbanzhello@SumoLeap.com

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