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Off Page Site Optimization for Local Search Success
Posted by: | CommentsThis article (the fourth in a series) focuses on the off page optimization strategies you can pursue to assist your local search success. Off page optimization is basically getting well placed and formatted links on sites other than your own. These links will be on sites that offer information, good s and services similar or complimentary in nature to your own. As far as the impact on local search success David Mihm pegs these efforts at 15% of the total.
Getting these links (called backlinks) is a long term process. It won’t happen overnight. However, done well and regularly your web site will benefit and so will your local search listing. Consider these few tips:
Quality Inbound Links- You’ll want to find quality sites to link to you. Steer clear of what are called link farms, they are useless. The easiest way to find quality links is to see who links to your competitors site. Examine these sites and see if you can get them to link to you. There are also third party tools that do this as well as services.
Location, Product and Service Keywords in Inbound Anchor Text- Anchor text is the text, with a hyperlink a site uses to connect to your site. In most instances the anchor text is “click here”. There are over a billion instances of “click here” on the Internet. Don’t do that! Your anchor link should be very helpful and use your location and product or service keywords. Your anchor link should look like “Belleve WA Cosmetic Dentist”. For the best effect use a few different versions of this for different link sites.
Granted, the off page optimization efforts do not play a big part in local search success. However, the development of good backlinks does in fact pay huge dividends for your web site’s SEO success.
One last article in this series to come.
The Impact of Citations and Reviews on Local Search Success
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the third in a series of five articles on success factors for local search. In the first article we focused on your companion web site. As we mentioned it generates about 15% of the success in a local search. In the second article we found 40% of the total impact comes from the optimization of the local business listing itself. Now in the third article we again draw from David Mihm’s research and find that 30% of the success of a well ranked local search comes from an effective use of citations, or in more common language, reviews.
Reviews, in my opinion are the major tie breaker for local search listings. All things being equal more reviews, for more sources will put your listing at the top and keep it there. It may also catapult your listing into the top ten where it previously was not found. Google likes to see there is interest in a business from the community. Additionally potential customers like to see reviews as the number one factor for many people is what other existing customers have to say about a business or service.
In most cases hospitality businesses and service providers will typically already have citations in various locations around the Internet. Here are some of the directories where you will find reviews:
- Yelp
- Insider Pages
- Citysquares.com
- MojoPages.com
- SuperPages.com
- Yellow Pages
- InfoSpace
- Switchboard.com
- Ask Business Search
- InfoUSA Sales Solutions
- Localeze.com
- InfoUSA.com
- Citysearch.com
- AOLcityguides.com
- Superpages.com
- Switchboard.com
- Judy’s Book
- Angie’s List
In most cases these are legitimate reviews left by actual customers. In some industries there are marketing service providers that generate user reviews. I was told by a dentist their competitor used such a service to generate tons of reviews. I also know some businesses contract with service providers who go offshore (Philippine Islands mostly) and have reviews artificially generated.
For new businesses and independent professionals you’ll have to develop a plan to generate reviews. Ask your friends to help get the ball rolling. Ask existing customers if they will help. Offer new customers an incentive if they leave a review. Make it easy for them to do this, provide specific links and instructions. Offering a bonus like a Starbucks gift card, a discount on future business will all help your efforts. Be cautious though, don’t bunch reviews up at once, space them out. It looks odd if you get ten reviews one day and none for the next two months.
Citations are also like backlinks. Links in sites that have your business contact information also help the cause. Mentions in local newsletters, event calendars, media sites (radio, newspaper, and TV) will create backlinks and citation mention for your local business listing.
Some important considerations in your review strategy:
- Obtaining Reviews From the Major Directories- The list above covers most of the major search directories. There are likely smaller ones serving regions or individual cities. As I mentioned if you have a hospitality business (restaurant, bar, hotel, etc.) then you likely already have reviews.
- Local Citations- Web sites that serve the local community such as media, Chamber of Commerce, city guides and so forth may have mention of your business or service. Be sure they have accurate links to you and contact information.
- Reviews in Search Engine Listings- The major search engine local business listings allow you to leave reviews. This is an easy and convenient place to leave reviews if you are not in the hospitality or contracting business.
- Customer Reviews at Third Party Websites- There could be hundreds of these in any locale. They may also include local blogs. Again, be sure your mention contains accurate location information.
- Positive Customer Ratings- Oddly enough it appears that it does not really matter whether the reviews are good, bad or indifferent. This only applies in regards to the success or failure of the listing, not too customer’s perception of your business.
A little time spent on cultivating reviews will lead to big dividends in your search presence and success. Take a look at how many the first couple of local listings have. That will be your target to beat!
OK, two more installments to go. Stay tuned for more!
Creating a Powerful Local Business Search Listing
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the second in a series of five articles on success factors for local search. In the first article we focused on your companion web site. As we mentioned it generates about 15% of the success in a local search. Again, drawing from David Mihm’s research, we find that 40% of the success of a well ranked local search comes from the completeness and optimization of your local business listing. This hardly comes as a surprise!
Carefully crafting your local business listing should be done only after spending time on some basic keyword research. If you don’t know what you potential clients and customers are searching on to find you you could waste your efforts. Be sure to understand the following:
- What cities you wish to primarily rank for.
- What product or service description you wish to primarily rank for.
Once this is complete perform some basic keyword research to see if your assumptions were accurate. On the home page of this site are a number of keyword research tools. Spend a little time and see how you did. Once this is done use your product and service names and your location names to craft your local business listing.
The following are some key factors in the success of your local business listing and how well it will rank for your selected keywords. It should be noted that some of these suggestions will not always be attainable. I’ll note that as we proceed through each one.
- Claiming Your Local Business Listing- Frankly, this is the most important action to take of all. If you don;t own your listing then you can not do any of the other actions recommended here. Worse, you are vulnerable to having your listing hijacked. Claim your listing today!
- Local Business Listing Address in City Searched- This is one area where you can not always have control. It’s a big benefit to be in the city where you want to be found. However, that’s not always possible. See my post on location related issues for more detail.
- Use of Effective Local Business Listing Categories- Google offers the greatest flexibility here. Use your main and secondary product, service and location keywords here. Categories seem to be a powerful tool in the search opportunities. You can create up to five in Google, just don’t keyword spam. In Yahoo and Bing you have to use their categories and my observation is they are pretty minimal in effectiveness and variety.
- Product or Service Local Business Listing Title- This is a key element to creating your local business listing. Use your business name, one or two product or service keywords and one or two location keywords to create a smooth sounding business title. This is a key element of search success.
- Nearness to City Center- Much like having your address in the city where you want to be found there is not much you can do here in many instances. Review my post on location for more information.
- Product or Service in Local Business Listing Custom Fields- Custom fields are different from categories. They offer wealth of opportunity. Add the following:
- Specialties- Another recitation of your product and keyword specialties.
- When founded
- Certifications
- Brands carried
- Special equipment used
- Other keywords people may search on (very applicable in niche industries)
- Local Business Listing with Local Area Code- In most large cities this is not a big deal. In the greater Seattle area we have three area codes. Seattle is 206, Bellevue 425 and Tacoma 253. It’s not a big deal if they don’t “match up”. However, if you are in Seattle and your listing uses a Jacksonville area code that is likely a bit of an issue. If you don’t have a local phone number get a Skype number and forward it to your phone.
- Local Business Listing Images and Videos- Images and videos add a great element of appeal and information to your listing. Until recently every listing for a “Bellevue art gallery” did not have an image. That’s crazy, they sell art! Yet, carpet cleaners did have pictures. Use you logo, pictures of your building or product. In Google you can have up to ten, and three videos. Keep your videos short, maybe 30 seconds. Post them to YouTube and link them to your local business listing.
- Offering a Coupon- In Google you can add a coupon. They appear to help slightly in boosting your search ranking. A new feature has added a link to your coupon, which will show up when someone searches on “location and product keyword coupon”. It’s an added bonus for search and potential customer’s love a deal. See more in our post on coupons.
Each element of your listing adds to the overall performance of your listing in a local search. Hit all the bases and you’ll be sure to have a home run.
Stay tuned for more in this five part series.
Enhance Your Website for Local Search Success
Posted by: | CommentsWhile you don’t need a website to have a local search listing it sure helps. Nothing fancy mind you, a short WordPress blog or a couple page “brochure” site. Potential customers expect it now and the cost of entry and maintenance is so low it’s absurd to say no. Your web site will also help your local business listing ranking. Not by a lot, but as always when it comes to optimization on the web every little bit helps. According to David Mihm, an expert on local search in Portland OR about 15% of the success of a local search listing can be credited to your own website. So while you can get ranked well without a site that extra 15% will be very helpful. If your niche is fairly competitive then you’ll definitely want to consider the tweaks to your site (or having one).
Some areas to consider improving on your site listed below. You will notice right off the bat the nearly common sense nature of these suggestions. Use the product or service and city name you want to rank for frequently. As Homer Simpson might say, Doh!
As an added bonus the work you do on your website to help strengthen your local search listing will help your site rank well in organic search. In fact, in smaller niches it is quite possible to rank at the top of local search as well as in organic search. A double bonus to be sure.
- Full Address and Phone Number on a Contact Page- Every site should have a contact page. On the contact page be sure your contact information matches your local business listing.
- Inclusion of City and State in Title Tags- The meta title tags on a web page still remain an important element of on page optimization factors for the page. Having your city and state name match that of what you want to rank well for in local search can help. If you want to rank for “chicago CPA” then have Chicago in your title tags. I use these city and state contact tags on all of my pages, at the minimum have them on your contact page.
- Product Service Keywords in Titles- That same “Chicago CPA” ought to have the term CPA in his titles (and other meta tags such as description and keyword) to ensure strengthening his own site’s SEO value.
- Location Keywords in URL- If you are are creating a new domain name (URL) for a business then be sure to utilize your product or service and your location. A domain such as www.chicagocpa.com is very helpful in both site SEO and your local search listing. If you already have a domain name then add folder names with your information. As an example www.hastingsaccounting.com could have a contact page call www.hastingsaccounting.com/contactchicagocpa.html.
This is one of five articles covering the key factors in creating an effective local business listing for Google, Yahoo and Bing. Stay tuned for all of them.
Location is Important for Local Search Success
Posted by: | CommentsWhile SEO is a broad category it is important to remember Local search optimization should remain a separate entity within the greater SEO framework.
Generally the location being searched is the primary determinant of success in a local search. And why not, if you are looking for a business in Seattle WA you are not likely interested in driving to Bellevue to find what you are looking for. For most businesses (stores, professionals, contractors and others) who have been around for years, there is not much you can do to optimize your location, You are where you are! New businesses, however, may want to consider their location of record (license, mail delivery and website contact page) as part of their selection in where to lease or buy space. In the larger metropolitan areas it’s likely being inside the city limits will bring you more success with on-line traffic.
While distance from the city center seems to be on the decreasing as a factor in local search success, the strength of the location in the search results poses a major problem for mobile service-based businesses who visit their clients, rather than having customers come to them. After all you don’t visit the plumber to get your toilet unclogged! Adding to the issue is these mobile service providers are frequently in lower cost areas, or areas with more room for their equipment that are well outside the city center. Yet the businesses still do the bulk of their business in the city area.
The most popular way around this problem is for the savvy business is to purchase a PO Box or UPS Store address in the cities in where they desire to rank. There is some evidence this is declining in popularity, however it remains a technique that when coupled with optimization of the rest of your listing will result in success. As with most areas of local search just don’t get carried away and open multiple PO boxes throughout the city.
Note: Using a PO box with a local phone number (using Skype for instance) a business can open a virtual location in another city and achieve search success. This is handy for service providers who want to open up new areas without actually establishing a direct physical presence.
