Presentation on the basics of local SEO brick & mortar retailers. Covers ranking factors, business listings, NAP business info (name address phone number), using getlisted.org, and Google+ Local
Best Practices and Trends for Online Marketing in 2013 - SEO.com Webinar
Local SEO Basics
1. Hi! Thanks for checking out my presentation
on Local SEO Ranking Factors. Look for these
bubbles in the presentation for extra info
from the actual presentation.
LOCAL SEO
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
2. WHO IS THIS PERSON?
JESSICA WARD | DIRECTOR OF SEO
• Focused on SEM / SEO since 2006
• Participates in developing client-strategy for SEO, Social, & PPC
• Manages both B2B and B2C clients of varied industries and sizes
• @JessicaWardPDX
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
3. AMPLIFY INTERACTIVE
Overview
Boutique Agency – All We Do is Search
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Link Development & Site Marketing
• Social Media Optimization
• Web Analytics
2010 + 2011 AMA MAX AWARD – BEST SINGLE MEDIUM ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Clients benefit from industry experience and strategic perspective
• Established agency – Started 2003
• Established experts – Ben Lloyd started in 1998
• Experts: Speaker at Search Engine Strategies, SEMpdx & more
• Results: Work wins awards
• Approach: Established, proven strategies, tactics and processes
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
4. WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
• What is SEO?
• Local SEO Ranking Factors
• Domain Authority
• Business Listings
• Google+ Local
• ONE LINK TO RULE THEM ALL
– http://bit.ly/WuOHug
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
6. DEFINITION
“Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is
the process of affecting the visibility
of a website or a web page in a
search engine‟s „natural‟ or un-paid
(„organic‟) search results.”
- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
7. This is something that a lot of non-
search people get confused about.
ORGANIC VS. PAID Paid search results are denoted by
Google with “ads” or “sponsored by.”
Paid Search Results
Organic Search Results
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
8. The next slide has the top 5ish Ranking Factors for
Local SEO. There‟s not enough room to have
annotations so I‟m doing it here.
The link at the bottom will bring you to a study by
David Mihm that includes many more ranking
factors for Local SEO. Check it out for additional
ways to rank locally.
SO HOW DO YOU RANK #1?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
9. LOCAL SEARCH RANKING FACTORS
1. Physical Address in City of Search
2. Proper Category Associations in Listings
3. Accurate & Consistent Business Citations
4. Domain Authority of Website
5. Google+ Local Reviews
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
10. What is Authority and what makes a person or a company an authority in a
topic?
The answer: Other people thinking they‟re an authority in the topic!
Domain authority is essentially other people believing your website, your
company is an authority. They do this by mentioning you on the web and
linking to your pages / content.
WHO’S AUTHORITY?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
11. SEO: LINKS = AUTHORITY = RANKINGS
Overall Ranking Algorithm
Page Level Link Metrics
Domain Level Link Authority
6% 5%
21% Page Level Keyword Usage
7%
7% Domain Level Keyword Usage
7% Page Level Social Metrics
21%
11% Domain Level Brand Metrics
15% Page Level Keyword Agnostic Features
Page Level Traffic/Query Data
Domain Level Keyword Agnostic
Features
The takeaway? On-site optimization is critical, but links and other off-
site factors are a tremendous part of the ranking algorithm
-Source: 2011 SEOmoz study “Search Engine Ranking Factors”
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
12. SEO: AUTHORITY PYRAMID
Technical is always • Blogging
important – no website, no
rankings. Ideas are listed Social • Onsite engagement
• Community building
• Community participation
on ways to build on the
technical aspects.
• Directories
Links
• Competitive placement
• Use content to build links
• Conversational (Comments, Q&A)
• Outreach (PR, Guest Posts)
• Keyword targeting
• Optimize existing content
Content • ID content gaps & develop the right
content
• Map content to the inbound marketing
sales funnel
• Bot & user accessibility
• Canonicalization
Technical • URL structure
• Page markup
• Structured markup
• Internal linking
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
14. WHERE TO PLACE LISTINGS?
Overwhelmed? We all are. Just
find where your customers are
and make sure you‟re listed
there.
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
15. BUSINESS LISTINGS IN SEARCH
Business Listings can help you
dominate the search results –
especially for your branded term!
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
16. Make sure your categories are
CATEGORIES relevant and accurate to your
business and use as many category
slots as possible while being
relevant.
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
17. CONSISTENT BUSINESS INFO
If you use LLC in your
name, use it that way on
N ame
your website and business
listings. If you spell out
4th in your address, do it
everywhere. Consistency
is the name of the game!
A ddress
Phone
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
21. GOOGLE+ LOCAL PAGE Google+ content is being used
in Google‟s search results. If
you don‟t have a Google+ Page,
you really need to create one!
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
22. Google Places didn‟t let you
respond to reviews. Google+
REVIEWS does and it‟s wonderful!
72% of consumers trust online reviews as
much as personal recommendations
52% said that positive online reviews
make them more likely to use a local
business
The Local Consumer Review Survey 2012 From Bright Local (4,500 surveyed)
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
24. RANKING FACTORS
1. Physical Address in City of Search
2. Proper Category Associations in Listings
3. Accurate & Consistent Business Citations
4. Domain Authority of Website
5. Google+ Local Reviews
• ONE LINK TO RULE THEM ALL
– http://bit.ly/WuOHug
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
25. That‟s it! Thanks for taking a
look at my presentation and
feel free to send along
feedback. =)
Thanks for your time!
Questions?
Twitter: @AmplifySEM
Notes de l'éditeur
So as we realize that links are important for SEO in general, business listings are especially important for Local SEO.