Local Search and SEO for Local Businesses

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ARCSI

• Local Search and SEO for Local Businesses

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Todays Topic

• Local Search SEO for Local Businesses
• Or
• How to Make Your Phone Ring!!

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Take-Away Goals

• Understand What is Local Search and Why it
  Matters to Small Business
• How to Rank on Google and Search Engines for
  Local Search Results
• How to Get Traffic and Calls from Local
  Searches on the Web
• How to Implement a Local Search Online Strategy
  for Your Business

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Online Search Commerce

• 67 of Americans bought a product or service
  online in 2007 - thats 200 million online
  buyers
• 10 billion searches in US in Feb 08
• 5.9 bn searches on Google, 2.1 bn on Yahoo!
• Sources compete.com comScore

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Search Term house cleaning services
AdWords Pay Per Click (PPC)
Organic Search Natural Listings
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www.merrymaids.com
www.mollymaid.com
www.house-cleaning-services.com
www.maidbrigade.com
www.maids.com
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www.weekendmaids.com
www.merrymaids.com
www.servicemagic.com
www.thecleaningauthority.com
www.maids.com
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Weekend Maids referral agency
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merry maids lead generation form
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servicemagic lead generation form
Creepy!
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The Cleaning Authority lead gen form
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Question

• How Does a Local Business Compete?

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Answer

• Welcome to Local Search!

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Why Local Search Matters

• 80 of searches start with a search engine1
• Over 25 of searches are local in nature2
• Over 1.7 Billion Local Searches Conducted Each
  Month in 2007 (42 increase vs. 2006)4
• 78 of local consumers using online search to
  research a product or service, make the purchase
  from a local business offline3
• Local Search Phone Calls Walk-Ins

1 SMX 2008 2 Screenwork Setting The Record
Straight, 2008 3. WebVisible and
Nielsen//NetRatings survey, September 2007 4.
comScore DoubleClick Study
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Search Termhouse cleaning services san diego
10 Pack Map(Organic Search)
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PPC Local Ads
PPC National Ads
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Local Search Optimization

• Step-by-Step Guide

Off Page
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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL

• Setup Google Account
• Goto Local Business Center (under My
  Account)
• If listing is already there, click edit to
  optimize and claim if not, click Add new
  listing
• Google will pull information from other sources
  so take control and optimize your listing!

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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL
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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL
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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL

• Company/Organization (Business Name) use target
  keywords (result in map)
• Description use target keywords
• Categories (up to 5) use terms that create
  map results or target search terms
• Photos add 10 (use stock if necessary)
• Video add if you have

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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL
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Step 1 Claim Optimize Google LBL
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Important!!!!!

• Use as much information as possible in your
  Google Business Listing.
• It helps to create authority and trust with
  Google
• This authority/trust is the KEY to local
  search

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Step 2 Google Sitemaps

• Setup WebMaster Tools on Google
• Submit XML Sitemap
• Submit KML Sitemap
• Why? To build trust and authority with Google.

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Step 2 Google Sitemaps
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Step 2 Google Sitemaps
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Step 2 Google Sitemaps
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Step 2 Google Sitemaps
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Important!!!!!

• Local Search results pull from 100 online
  directories, databases and review sites
• Primary goal is to make sure all your business
  information is uniform across all platforms
• Google Maps also pulls from other info sources
  but Google should be optimized separately from
  the other listings

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Local Search Listings Universe

• Internet Yellow Pages/Local Directory Submissions
  
• Specialized Directories (Industry verticals,
  Social media sites)
• Mobile Application Providers
• Major Search Engines
• Organic Website Optimization
• Sponsored Search
• Local Search Listings Management

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Step 2 Feeder Directories

• Claim and optimize primary feeder directories
• All of these offer free listings buy paid
  listings only if site traffic merits placement or
  Google counts inbound link as citation

TrueLocal
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Important!!!!

• YellowPages listing Select categories here
  first and then use for all listings.
• Most all directories use your YellowPages
  category be sure it is accurate and the same
  for all directory listings

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Step 3 Review Sites

• Claim and optimize listing allows for
  businesses to respond to reviews
• All of these offer free listings buy paid
  listings only if site traffic merits placement or
  Google counts inbound link as citation

yelp
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Step 3 Review Sites

• Review site chart

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Step 3 Review Sites

• Encourage customer reviews try not to buy
  reviews explain how much this helps you thank
  them
• Ratings over rankings users trust rankings

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Step 4 Local Vertical Directories

• Local Directories search for local directories
  in your area and sign-up for free listings great
  if url includes geographic term (e.g.,
  SanDiegoBizMart.com)
• Vertical Directories search for cleaning
  directories and sign-up for listings (e.g.,
  www.cleaningdirectories.com) if theres a fee,
  look if Google counts as inbound link great to
  have a link from url that uses cleaning)

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Step 5 Mass Distribution

• Submit to all 85 mass directories via
• 1) UniversalBusinessListing.org - 30/year or
  less through seo agency
• Or
• 2) Localeze.com depends on seo agency
• Pros affordable, wide spread distribution
• Cons no guarantee directories will pick up
  data feed, time lag (up to 60 days)

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Step 6 Title Description Tags

• Title Tag every page title tag should be
  unique, include company name and city/state
• Description Tag every page description tag
  should be unique, include company name,
  call-to-action, phone and physical address
• Google uses Title Description Tags in search
  engine listings so think of them in terms of
  promoting your message (e.g., Call 1-800)

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Step 7 Link to Your Listings

• Link from your site to directory listings using
  keywords as anchor if site is new or weak,
  Google Yahoo! will index your listing.
• Example We welcome online reviews from our
  clients about their catering experience. If youd
  like to post a review on InsiderPages please
  click here. Or, click the following to share your
  review on Yelp or click the Kudzu logo below.
  Thanks!

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Step 8 - Ongoing

• Check competitor Citations on Google
• Watch your rankings
• Check Webmaster Tools for errors
• Review Google Analytics to see where traffic is
  coming from
• Look at directory listing stats Google,
  Merchant Circle, etc.
• Consider call tracking to know where phone calls
  come from

Ongoing
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Suggestions

• Put keyword in url (use hyphens over underscores)
• Search is not a branding marketing channel,
  its transaction focused

Ongoing
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green house cleaning san diego

• Map results varies by search no map results

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green house cleaning san anselmo

• Map results varies by search

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Search Engine Ranking Factors An overview of the
seomoz.org 2008 study

• Top 10 Positive Factors
• Keyword use in title tag
• Anchor text of inbound link
• Global link popularity of site
• Age of site
• Link popularity within the sites internal
  linking structure
• Topical relevance of inbound links to site
• Link popularity of site in topical community
• Keyword use in body text
• Global link popularity of linking site
• Topical relationship of linking
• Top 5 Negative Factors
• Server is often inaccessible to bots
• Content very similar or duplicate of existing
  content in the index
• External links to low quality/spam sites
• Participation in link schemes or actively
  selling links
• Duplicate title/meta tags on many pages

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Google Puzzle How it all fits together
Increase in Site Traffic!!!

• Off Page
• Inbound Links
• Social Media Sites tags, links traffic
• Review Sites reviews, links traffic
• Directories links traffic
• Blogs links, mention and traffic

• On Page
• Content
• Internal Links
• Title Tags

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Tracking (at minimum)

• 1. SITE
• Page Views
• Visitors
• Unique Users

• 2. SEO
• Keyword Rankings
• Page Rank
• Inbound Links
• SMO Tags/Mentions
• Referring Sites
• Keyword Searches

• 3. SALES
• Online Application Requests
• Request To Hold/RealtyDataTrust
• Emails spam potential
• Calls VoiceStar tracking (show online)

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Website Structure

• Content Management System (CMS) facilitate
  adding content on a regular basis consider
  Joomla or Wordpress site
• More searchable content on pages
• Lead Generation phone number, form and check
  availability on every page (see NJP, PMF
  examples)
• SEO friendly urls (?, , stop bot searches)

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Thank You!