Local SEO v's Organic SEO - their Similarities and Differences
Comparing and contrasting the on-line, off-line and social drivers of local search and organic SEO to highlight their similarities and differences.
A useful insight into where you need to put your energy for successful local SEO including:
Schema markup, Microdata, Local Citations, NAP consistency, Category Consistency and Customer Reviews in Local Listing Sites.
Also provides top tips on local listing optimisation.
6. What are we going to look at?
Compare Google Local SEO and Organic SEO for:
Onsite
Offsite
Social
7. 1. Onsite Similarities and Differences
Organic Google Local
Big algorithm updates.
Well documented, e.g. Panda, Penguin
Big updates mainly cosmetic, but also algo
updates (e.g. Pigeon). Not well documented.
Helping Google index a site -
architecture, sitemap, flow of link juice.
Helping Google index a location -
Google+ Local page, Categories and Content
Schema Markup, NAP Microdata.
Simple algorithm to determine relevance:
local keywords, address and phone number.
Complex algorithm to determine
quality and relevance: LSI, LDA etc.
Different Similar
9. Links are the main offsite signal Citations are the main offsite signal
Relevancy of linking site important Relevancy of listing site is less important
Domain authority and trust Domain authority and trust
Diversity of keyword anchors important Consistency in NAP and Categories important.
Quality over quantity Quality over quantity
Organic Google Local
2. Offsite Similarities and Differences
Different Similar Same
11. Local Listing Sites
Opening Hours
Name
Address 1
Address 2
Address 3
Phone: 01273 123456
Email: info@yourwebsite.com
Business Description
Products & Services
Reviews
www.yourwebsite.com
Shoes, Training Shoes, Nike
Mon – 9.00 to 17.30
Tue - 9.00 to 17.30
Wed - 9.00 to 18.00
Social Media
Photos
Name
Address
Phone Number
Content
Category
Customer Reviews
12. Fix old listings before adding new ones.
Fix listings before Google and Bing!
Tell the branches!
Top Tips for Local Listing Optimisation
13. Social signals Reviews associated with NAP
Viral factor - fast - current Steady and regular reviews good
Sudden influx bad
Google + Local and trusted local
listing sites
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Blog
Likes, Shares, Mentions, etc
Fresh reviews important
History of reviews better
Freshness and quantity important
Organic Google Local
3. Social Similarities and Differences
Different Similar
16. Really unhappy customers go out of their way to write reviews
Same scathing
review.
3 different places
17. If service is good –
customers will pay you a compliment.
If service is bad –
they’ll “pay you back” with a bad review.
Focus on ServiceEmbrace Reviews
18. Top 3 Takeaways for Local SEO
Onsite – NAP and Schema
Offsite - NAP and Category consistency (on local listing sites).
Social – Customers reviews (on local listing sites).
WHERE and HOW your business is listed can affect your overall local search performance AND brand reputation, which is where local listing optimisation can help.
Organic SEO – non-paid search listings, without localised contact details. This could be national or local keywords.
Google Local – has been branded Google Places, Google+ Local, and now Google My Business.
As soon as you specify a location OR Google deems that your search is local, the results are very different. Local Search is different to conventional organic search
YOU’RE EITHER THERE OR YOU’RE NOT!
An Address is a
Strategic Advantage in local search
location is a major filters for search – basically if Google deems your search ‘local’, it will immediately filter out all those search results that are not located in that vicinity.
The fuzzy edges indicate that Google decides on what passes through the filter based on “VICINITY” to a given location according to your NAP
Whereas it is possible to appear in organic search for Keyword search locations, it is significantly more difficult to appear in organic if the search is done by post code, or an area.
For example, I can optimise a keyword on a website for “brighton”, but if someone enters “patcham” – which is part of Brighton- it will not appear in an organic keyword search, but it could appear in a local search IF the address is correctly set-up.
This presents a strategic advantage to businesses that are able to leverage a local address.
We’re going to compare the similarities and differences between local SEO and Organic SEO for On-site, Off-site and Social drivers.