This guide, created in 2012, is a process laid out to help small business owners begin their local search engine optimization process. Use this as a resource for local SEO.
2. Optimizing for local search
engines
Who needs to optimize for local search?
Business owners of all sizes trying to drive online
traffic & foot traffic from local search
Where can I find local search engines?
Google – Google Maps, Google Plus
Bing – Bing Local
Yahoo – Yahoo Local
Yelp
Facebook
Foursquare
Twitter
Yellowpages
3. keyword research
Begin a local SEO campaign by determining which
keywords describe the business’s services and
products and by gathering business information.
– Determine the top unbranded
keywords driving organic
traffic to the site.
– For each physical business
location:
• Full name of the business
• Address with city, state and zip
code
• Phone number
• URL
– Examples of Keyword
Variations:
• [Keyword] + City
• City + [Keyword]
• [Keyword] + Zip Code
• Zip Code + [Keyword]
• [Keyword] + City State
• City State + [Keyword]
4. baseline ranking &
benchmarking
Use keywords determined in keyword research for baseline
ranking & benchmarking. Determine baseline for unbranded
organic rankings.
Important to record the type of listing is ranking:
Organic web result
Organic local business listing
Organic local maps listing
Facebook
Twitter
Yelp
Foursquare
Local directory (Superpages.com, Local.com, Yellowpages.com, etc.)
Consider additional metrics such as indexation, referral traffic
numbers and backlinks.
5. On-page optimization
On-page optimizations should include adding
targeted keywords to important SEO on page
elements, such as:
Page title
Meta description
Microdata (if applicable)
Header tags
Body content
Images
Internal links from other pages
6. Local listings
Yext.com
Compiles profile
information for many
large and small local
search engines.
Visit before beginning
profile verification to
determine which
profiles need updates.
Use this information to
prioritize profile
validation effort.
7. Gather requirements (cont.)
Verify what information is needed in order to create and
complete business listings on local engines.
Notate which information is required vs. optional
Examples of requirements for local engines:
Business name
Business address
Website
Business category
Product categories
Services offered
Payments accepted
Business description
Images
8. Off-page optimizations
Work on off-page optimizations once on-page
optimizations are complete.
Writing profile descriptions based on top
keywords.
Link building with geo-specific keyword anchor
text.
Secondary and tertiary directory profile creation.
10. Local link building
Strategically securing back links to a website through various online sources.
Local directories:
Yellowbook, LocalEze
Smaller local search engines:
local.com, Urban Spoon & Open Table for restaurants
Angie’s List, openlist.com, shopcity.com
Hyper-local directories & search engines:
Chambers of Commerce, Town Hall business directories, City Convention & Visitors Bureau’s, City
websites
Search for “city name + business listings” and “city name + directory” to find additional opportunities
Local newspapers or other local information sources
Map and GPS providers:
MapQuest, Garmin
Emailing a webmaster and asking for a link
Optimizing press releases
RSS feeds
Link reclamation & modification
Widgets/apps
Content creation and distribution
Social buttons
11. Content creation
Create relevant content for the target audience and location.
Formats include:
Articles
How-to guides
Top ten lists
Images
Videos
Infographics
Distribution efforts:
Active social media channels
Active profiles
Through the website
News channels
Press releases
The goal of each piece of content is to increase rankings and traffic by
building quality inbound links.
12. Markup language
Currently, Google doesn’t
use markup for ranking
purposes.
However, rich snippets can
make web pages appear more
prominent in search results.
Important to choose one
format to use across the
board, however there are
many to choose from:
Facebook Open Graph
Microdata (accepted by major
search engines)
Microformats
RDFa
Add markup language to:
Address
Phone number
Hours of operation
Payment types
Upcoming events
Geo coordinates
Photographs
Reviews
Organization
Main contact person
Employees
Videos
Author
Images
Example of a search result with authorship markup.
13. Social buttons
Include social buttons on all URLs to encourage social
actions by users.
Also include social buttons in email signatures, Order Thank You
pages and email marketing.
Like back links, social signals can help to boost rankings.
Social network examples:
Like
Tweet
Pin
inShare
+1
Stumble
Share
For mobile URLs – Facebook checkin or Foursquare check-in
14. reviews
Both quality and quantity of reviews are important.
Reviews can be used in Search Engine algorithms
for ranking.
Be vocal about wanting reviews.
Ask Facebook friends to leave reviews on CitySearch
Request reviews through email
Add buttons linking to local listing review pages
such as:
Google
Yahoo
Yelp
SuperPages
15. Keyhole Markup Language
Sitemap
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is a way to
verify that the business has a physical
address.
Creating and uploading a KML sitemap to
Google Webmaster Tools can make it easier
for Google to index the business listing.
KML Can identify geographic information for
applications like Google Earth and Google
Maps.
16. Mobile Local URL Optimization
Optimize local URLs on the mobile site to
cater to local queries and keywords.
Use basic on-page SEO optimization with
mobile site.
Optimizing URLs, title tags, H1s and meta
descriptions with location specific keywords
Add contact information such as phone
number and address in a prominent location
on the page.
17. Reporting
Measure success to determine:
Which channels produce the most business
What time of day content distribution is effective
Which channel provides the most engagement
19. summary
If a business has a local presence, local
search should be an integral part of the overall
SEO strategy.
By creating, verifying and optimizing all
aspects of the local URLs, traffic should see
significant increases.
Hinweis der Redaktion
Use local listings on smaller search engines to help boost your rank on the larger engines. Syncing your business information across these engines will help prove to Google, Yahoo and Bing that your local listing is 100% accurate. It can also help get locally relevant backlinks.
The above steps are required to position a local business to the point of becoming eligible for index in local search engines with correct business information for relevant search queries.
Advanced local SEO processes are not required to establish local online presence, but are encouraged to increase visibility and to rank higher.
Content creation goes hand-in-hand with link building.
With or without a website.
Use markup language to increase a site or URL’s visibility to stand out in local SERPs.
When a user clicks on one of the social buttons, the information is then shared to their social connections and it like saying, “I vouch for this information, you should read it too.” which can drive more traffic.
By segmenting the email list into Gmail and Yahoo groups, reviews can be solicited from multiple review sites.
KML is another way for a website to gain trust with Google
Not a mobile site best practice, but the best practice is to use responsive design when creating a mobile site.