Basics of Local SEO - Marketing System Blueprints

Local SEO - Demystified
Presented By:
Chrissanne Long
Marketing System Blueprints
National Association of Insurance
& Financial Advisors

Chrissanne Long | © Marketing System Blueprints | September 13, 2012

Some questions before we start…
• Do you (does your company) have a
website?
• Do you (does someone within the
company) control the content?
• Do you have any analytics (Free Platform,
like Google Analytics) tracking
traffic/visitors to your company’s
website?


If you DO have a Website….
Do you want TRAFFIC?


Or do your prefer a billboard in the desert?


SEO is the way to get traffic!
Properly Optimized Sites with
relevant content are like MAGNETS


SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• SEO isn’t about trying to get the most traffic to a
site for the most popular terms possible.
Instead, it’s about knowing enough about an
audience, and finding the “right words” to use
on the pages of a site, instead of the “most
popular” words. --Bill Slawski , SEObythesea.com
• SEO is about the customer (visitor). By giving
them answers to their problems, by providing
solutions, you are making the choice to do
business with you simple.


Why should I care about SEO?
• Google is # 1 for ALL Web Traffic
– 50% of DAILY web visitors go to Google!
• Search Engines are the PRIMARY manner for
finding content.
• 250,000,000 searches per day
– 35% of these searches are local searches (include
a local term to better define what the searcher is
looking for. i.e. flat tire repair your town)


SOURCE: MARKETSHARE.HITSLINK.COM, OCTOBER 2010


In other words….
People don’t want to be sold!

Your customers have questions
So….why not make YOUR website
content the SOURCE for THEIR
answers?


So…What is Internet Marketing?
Also known as digital marketing, web
marketing, online marketing, search
marketing or e-marketing, it is the
marketing (generally promotion) of products
or services over the Internet.

Source: Wikipedia


Internet Marketing
Essentially, Internet Marketing, or
“IM”, is an umbrella term, used to
cover many new marketing
opportunities, thanks to
advancements in technology.

• It’s important to note that “SEO” is
NOT Internet marketing. It’s simply
one facet of Internet marketing!


What is SEO?
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – A process
of creating and optimizing content in a way
that will:
– Attract search engine robots to crawl your
site, discover and index your content.
– Place your content as high on the SERPs (search
engine results pages) for relevant keywords
– Engage people and drive them to take action
because the content relevant to what they need


SEO is Two Parts
• On Page SEO
– The Elements the Search Engine Robots look for
to understand your content and how relevant it
is to your keywords
– These elements are very minute details that help
the search engines decide how to rank your
website for specific terms
– We will talk about that the most because it is the
first step and it is under your control.


SEO is Two Parts
• Off Page SEO
– The “popularity” of your website – How often it
is mentioned on OTHER websites!
– The content on those other websites must also
match the targeted keywords
– Content on other websites has a link to your
website (called backlinking)
– Google, et al. care where your backlinks are!
– We will talk briefly about Off-Page SEO later!


On-Page SEO
• On-Page SEO includes everything on your website - from
your website’s domain name, to its title, to your site’s
content. Anything that’s directly on your page, would be
considered “On-Page”.
• There are many variables to consider, but the easiest to
identify and repair are:
– Search Friendly/Unfriendly URLs
– Lack of a proper “title” tag
– Lack of “description” tags
– Poor use of images and “alt” tags
– Poor keyword usage and research


Search Friendly URLs

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/african-elephants

Keywords in page name,
Single domain separated by hyphen

Shallow folder structure
with relevant words


Search UN-Friendly URLs

Xyz3.nationalgeographic.com/a/?q=31z&mg=vv7z&sd=8

No keywords in the URL string
Unnecessary
Subdomain No organized/keyword descriptive
folder structure


Title Tags

• Appears in the Browser’s Title Bar, to let the
visitor know where they are
• Appears in the title for Search Engine Results
• What Search Engines look for when crawling
your site.


Title Tags


Meta Description
• Appears as the description for Search Engine
Results
• Should be different on all inner pages, to
assist the search engines in indexing the
content of each individual page according to
the keywords for that page.


Meta Description


Tag Length Recommendations

<65 <158 <80
Characters Characters Characters


Image Alt Attributes

Good keyword usage
in the alt tag

Good keyword usage
in image title

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-
live/photos/000/004/cache/african-elephant_435_600x450.jpg


How to Choose Keywords

Find out what they would search!!!

Keyword Density
• When targeting 1 keyword on the page,
shoot for 3% keyword density for your target
keyword.
• If you are targeting multiple keywords in one
article, you should keep keyword density 2%
or higher.
BUT, WHAT IS KEYWORD DENSITY!!!!!?


Keyword Density
Is the number of times you place the
keyword in your content for
optimization.


Avoid Keyword Stuffing!


https://adwords.google.com/select/K
eywordToolExternal
• Don’t overdo the number of keywords
within your content– 2-3% is your goal!
(keyword stuffing is penalized)
• Consider what someone who does not
know your company exists, would enter in a
search.
• (In many cases, these are your “Services”)
Instead of what you ARE, it’s what you DO

Local Keyword Examples
Business Type Keywords
Insurance Agent flood insurance, boaters insurance, home
owners insurance discounts, commercial
insurance
Plumber plumbing repair, emergency plumber, leak
detection
Massage Therapist lower back massage, therapeutic massage,
sports massage therapy
Financial Advisor Financial advisor, financial planner,
investment advice, retirement planning
Veterinarian animal hospital, emergency animal clinic,
reptile vet, pet boarding
CPA accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping,
tax filing, corporate taxes, certified public
accountant,


Geotargeting Keywords
• Consider the demographic you serve and want
to reach.
• Add the City or Zip Code to your keywords
• Make sure to add these keywords to your
website.
• Strategically edit your website content to
“match” your keywords (with the city included!)
• DON’T SPAM


Images should be named for your targeted
keywords.


Recommendations
• Conduct a few searches on Google (for which you would
like to appear)
• Notice the Top Sites for your searches
• Vary the searches a bit (use synonyms, change the order
of the words) – Note how this changes your results.
(write down sites that appear frequently)
• Look at the Title
• Look at the description
• Click the links and READ the content the results offer.
• Is the content you find relevant to your search?
• Now, you can build a content strategy based on your
competition. Don’t copy! Just use them as a model.
Success leaves clues!

Off-Page SEO
• Backlinks are “Votes” for your website
elsewhere on the Internet
• Articles, Videos, Social Media, Blog
Comments, Directory
Listings, Citations/Reviews
• Systematic approach to generating content
that references (provides a link that the
Search Engines can follow to your website to
raise your ranking)

Google Search Video Results


Video as an SEO Strategy
• Create a YouTube channel
• Create mini-commercials, record events (i.e. ribbon
cuttings, presentations) customer
testimonials, tours, answer frequently asked
questions, etc.
• Choose Titles that include keywords (eg, “Lakeland
Auto Insurance | Best Insurance, Inc.”
• Include link to your website (use http://) (This is
IMPORTANT! - It’s a backlink!)
• Search Engines are ranking videos on page one for
local searches

Mobile SEO
• Search Engines deliver different results on
mobile devices
• Over 50% of LOCAL searches are done from
mobile devices
• Search Engines are ranking websites that are
“mobile friendly” higher than those that are
not, when searches are performed on mobile
devices.


Recommended Resources
Analyze your current website
http://www.websitegrader.com
Find your existing listings
http://www.getlisted.org
Create Listings with one account for 200+ directories
(Paid Service)
http://www.ubl.org
Check your sites keyword density
http://tool.motoricerca.info/keyword-density.phtml


Recommended Resources (cont’d)
Check your existing backlinks (votes) your site
currently has
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
See what keywords your competitors are using
http://www.spyfu.com
Determine your Keyword Density
http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-
density/


No matter what your business
is, remember….
Your customers have questions. If
you make your website
THE SOURCE FOR THEIR ANSWERS

Your website content will take
your business to the TOP!


Links
• Connect!
http://www.facebook.com/chrissannelong
http://www.facebook.com/marketingsystemblueprintsllc
http://www.facebook.com/groups/lakelandbusinessleaders
• Request a copy of the PDF of this presentation
or the Keyword/Optimization Checklist

clong@marketingsystemblueprints


Thank You!


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