Magnify Your Online Presence & Reach More Local Customers As a local business, you have a good understanding of your market. To help you get an equally good understanding of how to reach potential customers online, we’ve put together the ultimate local marketing workshop. Join us for 30 minutes and discover 5 key strategies to maximize your business’s online presence and make your business stand out in local search results. Some of the things you’ll learn during this workshop are: - The latest search behavior trends and how customers find you online - How to promote your local business with the most effective strategies that bring in high quality customers - Local SEO strategies to use to improve your Google's search results

1. Guide to Local Marketing:
5 Surefire Ways to Stand Out
Bob Sheehan
SVP, Client Services
Surefire Local

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2014, 2015, 2016,
2017, 2018, 2019
Your sole command center for
attracting lifetime customers
and growing your local business.
An all-in-one
marketing platform
for local businesses.

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Who wants to win
today’s Google Home
Hub giveaway?

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Bob Sheehan
SVP, Client Services
Surefire Local

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Today’s chat will cover...
How the Search Journey
has changed
5 strategies to get your
business to stand out in local
search results

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The way to stand out in search has changed
quite a bit over time

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Search is mobile

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Search is voice-assisted

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Search is becoming increasingly
more local & personalized

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From browsing to asking
show me a top rated home contractor near me with a 4+ star rating or better

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The customer journey now starts with a question and
includes multiple interactions with a business
73%
of customer
engagement
happens off your
website

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Local Marketing Playbook
5 Surefire Ways to Stand Out

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1) Get your website
right…
schema, local
pages, titles/meta,
etc.

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Consistently work on your website
Make your local service area a prominent factor on your website;
consistently add new content
Free resources to look into:
Google Search Console & Google Analytics
Services Area Pages
● Unique content
● Natural, helpful content
● Start small and make sure
these pages get into the
index...then add
DON’T:
● Dupe content
● Use unnatural language-
write for the visitor, not the
search engine.

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Add structured data
to your website
Adding local schema
to your website makes
it easy for Google to
quickly decide what’s
important -- Help
Google help you
Free resource to look into: https://schema.org/

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Majority of
businesses
are not taking
advantage of
local schema

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Optimizing Various Elements of a Webpage
Image
Content
H2 Header
H1 Header
Title Tag
Links

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Local SEO Markup

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Local SEO Markup

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Take control of your digital presence
● Google My Business optimization
● NAP Data Management
○ Information provided: Hours open, same location,
○ Spelling: “&” vs “and”, “LLC” vs no LLC
○ Formatting: 571.327.3391 vs (571) 327-3391
● Directory Listings Management
● Geo-signals
● Local sites- posts and links
● Social Media content

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2) Claim &
consistently update
your Google My
Business listings
and other
directories

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There are 3 keys to managing your business listings...
Keep it current
Keep it local
Keep it relevant

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Use Business Listings to Tell Your Story
Each business listing you have should tell your unique business’s story
It should provide the following information:
● description of your business and what you’re all about
● list of services offered
● mission and core values
● online reviews
● photos and videos
● any offers currently running
● an easy way for someone to get in touch with you

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Popular Local Listings
● Google My Business
● Online Review Sites
● Social Media
● Industry Niche networks like
Nextdoor
● Vendor / Partner / Association
Sites
● Chamber of Commerce &
Local Community Sites

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Google Values Local Listings
Google uses local listings to determine how trustworthy your location is
and ranks you accordingly in local search results.

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Geo Targeting with Service Areas

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Set Up Your Service Area
● Radius (phased out)
● Counties
● Towns
● Zip codes

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Adding a Services List
Organize services
by categories, and
then descriptions

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Businesses with
photos receive
35% more clicks
to their website
than businesses
that don’t have
photos
Adding Photos & Videos

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Google Posts have high visibility in Search

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Google Post Offers
1. Add Picture
2. Add Message
3. Add Link
4. Choose Button Type

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Promo / Coupons Call Now Video
Google Post Offers

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Google My Business Events
Invite people to visit your booth
at an upcoming trade show

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3) Reviews from
local marketplace

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Reviews are the currency of your online reputation.
● Quantity More is better.
● Quality 5 stars, “thumbs up”, recommended
● Recency 3 months or less, more recent the better
● Response Show you’re engaged with your audience!
Reviews = Online Referrals

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Improve your business, provide
a greater experience with reviews
As consumers are turning to their smartphones and
search engines to make decisions about where to go,
ratings & reviews are a critical component of how
consumers make online choices.
Reviews help you stand out in the search engine results
page and having reviews published on your page
increases click through rates.
If consumers see low ratings, few reviews, or reviews
without thoughtful responses, you may be losing out on
future business.
44%Of consumers pay
attention to the quantity
of reviews
87%Of consumers won’t
consider a local business
with low ratings

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● 55% of people would not use a
company again if they posted
a negative review without a
response
● 84% of consumers expect a
response to complaints
● Businesses that respond to
reviews see a 16% increase in
customer advocacy
Consumer Expectations

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● 62% of consumers expect a
response within 24 hours
● One fifth of those consumers
expect a response in 1 hour
Consumer Expectations

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Search Results Based on Ranking & Availability

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Google My Business Reviews Increase Your Presence

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Businesses that respond to reviews see, on average, a
¼ star
increase in their average rating

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67%of consumers who leave
negative reviews will
update or delete them if
they are responded to
Users are also
less inclined to
leave
negative
reviews
for businesses that
respond to reviews
Users leave
more reviews for
businesses who
respond – notably, they
leave more positive
feedback
12%
How does responding increase your star rating?

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Get good reviews on your website, Google, and Facebook
Every time a homeowner
leaves a review, it checks
off all the major local
ranking factors that
Google and other search
engines look for in your
online presence
1st Party
Reviews
3rd Party
Reviews

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Quick-Start Reviews Strategy
● Create a plan, work the plan -- set accountability
● Empower yourself & your staff -- provide training and
technology to help
● Set expectations from the get-go with customers -- ask
questions that get them in the right mindset
● Ask for feedback!

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Response Best Practices
Be Fast
40% of customers who leave negative feedback expect a reply within the
hour¹. And, because reviews are often sorted newest to oldest, leaving
negative reviews unanswered just increases the potential harm they can do.
Be Helpful
While it’s important to be helpful and assist every negative reviewer, it’s also
not easy. That’s why it’s critical to have processes in place that help to
automate as much as possible. Things like filters, notifications and exports can
help get feedback to the right people.
Be Thoughtful
Responses should address the specific issues raised in the review. Try your
best to correct any misunderstandings so future customers understand what
happened, without being defensive or blaming a customer. Using a canned
response can be almost as bad as no response.

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Extra Response Tips
Use Canned Responses Sparingly
Copy and pasting the same response over and over is bad practice - it can
actually hurt your review rating! A templated response here and there to
speed up workflows is fine, but do not bulk-respond, auto-respond, or rely
solely on canned responses.
Turn Positive Reviews into a Marketing Opportunity
When responding to negative feedback, highlight initiatives or areas where
you typically excel. Selectively choose positive reviews that allow you to
showcase what’s great about your brand!

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Use a tool to help
you manage and
magnify your
online reputation
Send a
review
request
Reply
See what’s
being said
across all
your reviews
View your
average star
rating across
all review
sites
Read all
reviews in
one place

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4) Check in at your
job locations

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Post photos
and videos of
your staff in
action

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Add your location to all
social media posts
Tag the city/town

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5) Post local
content regularly

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Local content can be...
● Social media posts
● Blog articles
● Staff announcements
● Hiring

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Local Check-ins
Create content on your website
with location signals that get
shared across all your online
directories and social media

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● Map
● Check-in
● Geo-tagged
● = new page
● Recency,
Frequency,
Proximity
GeoJuice: a mobile app that helps you take your online reputation
to the next level

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Your content gets found easier in Search thanks to the location
signals built in

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Blog Articles

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Are you involved
in local events or
charities that you
can post about?
Social Media

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Follow this Local Marketing Playbook and you’ll start
to increase your local search visibility
Read a Google
Review
Clicked on a
Google Ad
Watched a
video
Saw a Google
Post
Visited
website
1. Get your website right with
schema, local pages,
titles/meta, etc.
2. Claim & update Google My
Business as well as other
business listings
3. Get reviews from local
marketplace
4. Check in at job locations
5. Post local content regularly

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Your sole command center for
attracting lifetime customers
and growing your local business.
An all-in-one
marketing platform
for local businesses.
Get a complimentary analysis of your digital
presence and a demo over a 15-minute call
Let’s meet on
Wednesday
Let’s meet on
Thursday
Let’s meet
next week

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“Hey Google, who is the
winner to today’s Google
Home Hub giveaway?”

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SurefireLocal.com
marketing@surefirelocal.com
(571) 327-3391
Thank You!
Such a pleasure to work with. The
knowledge and experience they have
is amazing.
We have worked with Surefire Local
for over 8 years. Our experience with
their team has been nothing less than
excellent!