This is my presentation from WordCamp Cincinnati 2016 on how local businesses can compete in Google with local SEO. In this presentation, I covered local SEO basics including: 1). On-page SEO 2). Local Link Building 3). Citations 4). Local SEO Tools To learn more, please visit SumoLeap.com/blog.

1. LOCAL SEO
How Small Businesses Can Compete in Google
Jared Banz @jaredbanz

2. What is Local SEO?

3. Google AdWords – You pay
every time someone clicks
on your listing.
Local Listings – These are
free (mostly) and are
considered local SEO.
Organic Results – This is
traditional SEO and is once
again free traffic. We like
free!

4. Why is local SEO important?

5. Searches Lead 50% Of Mobile Visitors
To Visit Stores Within One Day.
88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much
As Personal Recommendations.
1 | http://bit.ly/YP_Research
2 | http://bit.ly/BrightLocal2014Research
3 | http://bit.ly/GoogleThink2014
BrightLocal – 2014 Research*
Google – 2014 Local Search Research*
36% of the searches started at a general search engine.
YellowPages – 2015 Local Search Research*

6. We search locally all the time with
the intention of making a quick purchase.

7. Think about it...

8. When is the last time you...

9. x
Needed a plumber?

10. Ordered takeout while traveling?

11. x
Needed a new dentist?

12. Okay, okay, so it’s important...

13. So how do I rank for my keywords?!

14. LOCAL SEO RANKING FACTORS
According to Moz (2015)

15. A publication of
Instructional
Template
1. On-Page Signals
2. Link Metrics
3. Citations (Volume/Accuracy)
moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
Google My Business, review signals, social
signals, user behavior & personalization
were also factors listed.
Local SEO Ranking Factors

16. Enough talk, let’s dig in...

17. ON-PAGE SEO
How to Optimize Your Website for Local Search

18. HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE!
ü Keyword research
SEMRush (Freemium), Search Console (Free), Answer the Public
ü Title Tags, H1s, Alt Text
Implement targeted keywords… INCLUDE targeted city + state (i.e. Chiropractor in Dayton, OH)
ü Site Speed + Mobile Friendly
Your load time should be under 2.5 seconds and your website MUST be mobile friendly.
ü Content + Schema Markup
Semantic content relationships are important. Understand user behavior and build content
accordingly.

19. ON-PAGE EXAMPLE
- This website ranks very
well for search phrases
related to “chiropractor
Cincinnati”
- We are going to do a
very basic audit on the site
to see why it ranks well.
- I have no affiliation with
this company. J

20. ON-PAGE EXAMPLE

21. LINK BUILDING
Building Your Website’s Authority With Links

22. Link building doesn’t have to be evil!

23. “Link building is sophisticated marketing”
Mike Blumenthal, Get 5 Stars, LocalU

24. Alright, so how exactly do you build links?

25. x
There’s no scientific formula...

26. There’s no scientific formula...
But creativity is required.

27. Here are a few ideas...

28. Community Sponsorships (i.e. WordCamp, Little League)
Inteviews (i.e. HARO)Industry Meet-Ups
Guest BloggingUnlinked Brand Mentions
Research + Content (Google Surveys)Scholarships
Press Releases

29. CITATIONS
Consistently a nd Accurately Displaying Your Business Across the Web

30. The importance of NAP.

32. Not that kind of nap...

33. Name, Address, Phone

34. MAKE SURE YOU NAP IS CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE!
ü Make sure your address is valid and doesn’t have variations.
(312 North Main St #250; 312 N. Main St Suite 250, 312 Main St.)
ü Don’t list tracking numbers on your website or citations. Please don’t!
ü Make sure your business is consistent and accurate.
ü Don’t use and microsites in your citations – use your website!
In general microsites aren’t necessary and can actually hurt your SEO.

35. There are two classifications of citations.

36. STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED CITATIONS
ü Structured Citations – These are commonly directory listings like Yelp,
YellowPages or Google My Business and they contain your N.A.P.
ü UnstructuredCitations – These are mentions of your brand, but
usually are in places like a newspaper article, blog post or interview.
ü Both types are good and necessary, but you must always make sure
your name, address and phone appear accurately and consistently!

37. So what citations should you have?

38. TOP GENERAL GENERAL NICHE + LOCAL
Google My Business
Facebook
Bing Local
Yahoo! Local
YellowPages
CitySearch
InfoUSA*
Localeze*
Factual*
Yelp
LinkedIn
MapQuest
FourSquare*
Angie’s List
Cortera
Insider Pages
HotFrog
And many
more...
These are industry and
location specific.
Don’t underestimate these
as they can drive great
leads.
*Denotes data aggregators.

39. LOCAL SEO TOOLS
Make Life Easier a nd Make Better Decisions with the Right Tools

40. YEXT (FREE SCAN)
Yext does a great job of
identifying existing citations
(free). I don’t recommend their
annual service however, but
some find it useful.

41. NOT TOO SHABBY
Remember Thrive Chiropractic?
They were well optimizedwith their on-
page SEO. They also have optimized
their citations pretty well.

42. MOZ LOCAL
Moz Local is another service
that is great at identifying
errors. The annual service is
decent, but not my favorite.

43. BRIGHTLOCAL = WINNER
BrightLocal does it all from
monitoring, reporting and
building citations.
Honorable mention goes to Whitespark. They
Have some excellent tools as well.

44. Google My Business offers
some excellent insights as
well. Tag your links for an
extra level of tracking.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

45. LOCAL SEO RECAP
ü Optimize Your Website
Use Yoast SEO Plugin, Search Console, GMB
Include keywords with city + state
ü Build Local Links to Your Website
Be Creative, not spammy
Build links on sites where your customers visit
ü Build Citations... Lots of them.
Remember N.A.P at all times
Go the extra mile with niche + local listings
ü Bonus! Create an Online Review Strategy
Shoppers like to see that you are a credible business
Review review policies (i.e. Yelp) and stay ethical

46. THANK YOU!!
Prepared by
Jared Banz
Let’s Connect!
@jaredbanz
hello@SumoLeap.com
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