Local SEO Strategy and Critical Tactics

Local SEO Strategy and
Critical Tactics
@dock29 | http://www.dock29.com/wctpa
presented by Chris Bernard

Google says…
It’s all about
Great, Accurate content…

Agenda
• Before website development begins
• GMB done right
• Top secret GMB contact info
• Top Local SE Strategies / Tools / Techniques

Client Profile Interview
1 hour product interview with C-Suite/Directors/Chiefs (discuss the,
who, what, when, where and why of the program). Achievement
metrics identified.

Keyword Insight
Identify all the keywords to target. Test the
keywords to identify the best words to
target digitally (there will be a bucket of
keywords that must be optimized no
matter what the traffic counts – “must
haves”)

Resource Mapping
Identify and align all the internal [CLIENT] for [division/area of focus]
marketing and content development resources as well as partners and
vendors

Comprehensive Competitive Analysis
shared for agreement,
enhancement and
modifications

Marketing Personas Created
enhancement and modifications

SWOT Analysis
enhancement and modifications

Positioning & Content Strategy
Created
enhancement and
modifications

Now Ready to Start Website
Development
Review current website analytics

Resource Alert!
Client Profile download: www.dock29.com/wctpa
Keyword insight process & excel: www.dock29.com/wctpa

Google My Business Done Right

Where to Start?
• Find all Your GMB Listings!

How Does a Listing End up on Google?
• Google creates listings based on data providers (Ex: ExpressUpdate,
Acxiom)
• Google users through Google Maps or MapMaker
• Business owners/marketing companies via Google My Business

Business with Storefront

Business with No Storefront

Method 1: MapMaker Search
• Google.com/MapMaker
• Search for the city the
business is in.
• Search Variations of
business name, phone #,
website.

Method 2: MapMaker Select a Place
• Google.com/MapMaker
• Edit > Select a Place
• Click around the marker
where the business in
• Right click the business
name > Open link in new
tab

Method 3: Maps Search
• Maps.Google.com
• Search for the city the business
is in.
• Start typing business name

Method 4: Google Search
• Google.com
• Search for site:plus.google.com + phone # + inurl:about
+ “review”
• Open each URL in new tab

Method 4: (Brand New Addition)
• Google.com
• Search for inurl:google.com/maps + phone #
• Open each URL in new tab

Why Both?
• Unverified listings don’t have Plus.Google.com URLs
• I have only seen Google start indexing google.com/maps URLs in the
last month

• If you’re on the plus page, click the map to
get to Google Maps.

Compile Your List...

Resource Alert!
Google My Business Audit template download:
www.dock29.com/wctpa

Finding CID #
From MapMaker
• Right click > View Page Source
• CTRL + F > “cid”:
• Long string of numbers after
“cid”:"cid":"179740290298
085994","infoWindow":
From Maps
• Right click > View Page Source
• CTRL + F > ludocid
• The CID will be the string of
numbers after “ludocidu003d
and before #lrd
+80026u0026ludocidu003d37
6285149384878007#lrdu00

CID URLs
• http://maps.google.com/maps?
cid=5264542582139250082
• http://www.google.com/mapmaker?
gw=90&cid=5264542582139250082
Remember: If it’s an SAB listing, there won’t be a
MapMaker record so the MapMaker URL will bring up a
blank screen.

….fix
From MapMaker
• See all the categories
• Check formatting of address
• See additional business names
From Maps
• See reviews
• See photos
CHECK ON MOBILE TOO!

Common Rules People Break
• Multiple listings for the same business. (unless you have multiple
actual storefronts that customers visit)
• Keyword stuffing in the business name.

Common Reasons why Listings get
Suspended
Soft Suspension = Listing Becomes Unverified
• URL is a redirect
• Business name contains keyword stuffing
• Multiple listings for the same business
Action: Create new Google account, re-verify the listing, stop breaking
the rules

Common Reasons why Listings get
Suspended
Hard Suspension = Listing No Longer Exists in Maps/Mapmaker
• Address is virtual
• Business doesn’t exist (pure spam/lead generating
company)
Action: http://searchengineland.com/top-9-reasons-google-
suspends-local-listings-247394

Fighting SPAM

Investigating
Address
• Does what’s listed match the website?
• Check Street View. Does it show a UPS store or a residential address? Is
there any signage for the business?
• Search the address on Google to see who else is using it
Phone
• Call the phone number, see how they answer the phone.
• Say you’re calling to get directions.
• Call from Gmail so they can’t call back

Investigating
Business Name
• Check what’s on signage (street view, drive there take pics)
• How do they answer the phone?
• Check the Secretary of State Website to see what their business
license says
• NPPES is great for medical industry

Where to Report?
• Make Edits in Google Maps (email confirmation)
• MapMaker Forum (after 7 days).
• Better for unverified listings
• Google My Business Forum
• Better for verified listings

How to Edit
• If listing is fake (address doesn’t
exist) or a verified duplicate > Places
is Closed > Spam
• Unverified duplicate > Place is
Closed > Duplicate
• Keyword Stuffing > submit edit to
correct business name
Further Reading:
http://www.joyannehawkins.com/ultimateguide-
fighting-spam-google-maps/

Contacting GMB
1. Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoogleMyBiz
2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/googlemybusiness
3. Forum: https://www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Google-My-
Business/ct-p/GMB#
4. Phone Support:
https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_c2c_l?hl=en&rd=
2#cft=5
✓ Faster (no repeating yourself, spelling out words on the
phone… etc)
✓ You get someone in the USA, not India
✓ Better & more accurate advice (PST TIME)

Practitioner Listings
• Solo-practitioners are only allowed one
listing total
• Allstate: Bob Smith
• ABC Dental: Dr Bob Smith
• Public-facing professionals are allowed
their own listing (ex: lawyers, doctors,
realtors)
• Support staff should not have listings
• If a professional works out of more
than 1 office, they can have 1 listing
per location

Strategies to Use
• Find out which listing is currently ranking highest and make it the
primary listing you try to get reviews on.
• Try to keep categories from overlapping as much as possible
• When categories do overlap (ex: 2 dentists), minimize the profile that
ranks lowest.
• Removing the website is a great way to minimize

Example:
*Check which page Google currently ranks highest organically for that term

What About Ex-Employees?
• To fix it, contact Google My
Business via Twitter Support
or Facebook Support and
asked them to mark the
practitioner listing as moved
to the practice listing.

The “Moved” Feature
• Only GMB can do this.
• It takes the “old” address on Maps and 302’s it to the new location
• The “old” listing will completely vanish from Google
• Search and Google Maps, making it impossible for customers to
accidentally see.
• Since the listing doesn’t show up anywhere, the “Permanently
closed” message won’t show up anywhere, either.
• Reviews from the closed listing will transfer to the new listing
(double-check to make sure that happens).

Wrong Hours
• The Tuesday’s confused Google
• Your Website is the Most
Authoritative Citation!
• Read more:
http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-
blog/seo/whythe-does-google-keep-updating-
my-businesshours-a-case-study/

Top Local SE Strategies / Tools /
Techniques

Here are the Top 10 Basics of Small
Business SEO
1. Know your keywords and use them consistently in “e” anything and
everything!
2. Implement URL rewrites
3. Use H1 Header Tags
4. Use 1-3 keywords at most per page, 2 of those should be very
closely related.
5. Use keyword rich title and meta descriptions.

Here are the Top 10 Basics of Small
Business SEO
6. Bold your keywords in the body.
7. Use Hyperlinks with keywords in them.
8. Use alt & title tags for images.
9. Use the keyword in the copy 2 to 3 times consistently in the first
200-300 words.
10. Make no excuses

Resource Alert!
Top 10 Basics of Small Business SEO

Plugins
• SEO
• Yoast
• Structured Markup
• Yoast Local
• https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-structuring-markup/

Tools
• Google Analytics (analytics)
• Google Tag Manager (analytics)
• Google Webmaster Tools (analytics)
• Raven / Moz (SEO optimizations)
• WebCEO or AWR (SEO rankings and optimizations)
• Screaming Frog (# pages, structure, SEO)

Resource Alert!
Presentation

Chris Bernard
Founder & Chief Digital Officer
dock29 consulting
www.dock29.com | chris.bernard@dock29.com | 1-888-964-5429 | @dock29
Thank You
Connect & Request at: http://www.dock29.com/wctpa

Local SEO Strategy and Critical Tactics

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