The advancements of digital technology, predominantly mobile devices and social media, mean consumers (including you and me) are colossally wired and highly distracted. The Age of Digital Distraction has significantly contributed to the deterioration of the human attention span. A recent Microsoft report on shrinking attention spans found that across all ages, our ability to concentrate has shrunk. In 2002, the average attention span stood for 12 seconds. Today, it sits at a measly 8 seconds. In fact, most readers who clicked on this article probably won’t get to the end of it. This Microsoft study has significant implications for brands today. Brands, particularly local businesses, have less time than ever to capture the attention of consumers. Today’s noisy landscape means more consumers are skeptical and fickle than ever. Want to restore confidence in your brand? Here are the six secrets to standout local SEO to help your business stand out from the crowd and motivate customer loyalty. Is your company ready to stand out in local SEO? What actionable local SEO tip above will you start implementing immediately? Comment below!

1. 6 Actionable Local SEO Tips To
Standing Out In The
age of
distraction

2. Today’s average consumer
experiences information overload.
The advancements of digital
technology, predominantly mobile
devices and social media, mean
consumers are colossally wired
and highly distractible.
The Age of Digital Distraction has
significantly contributed to the
deterioration of the human
attention span.
Overcoming the Age of Distraction

3. Information overload has significant implications for brands today.
Brands, particularly local businesses, have less time than ever to
capture the attention of consumers. Today’s noisy landscape means
more consumers are skeptical and fickle than ever.
S T O R E

4. But, opportunities still exist within local search for brands to
capture their audiences’ attention. In a modern consumer world,
brands win by creating a more customer-focused business and
enhancing the customer experience.

5. Want to restore confidence in your brand? Here are six secrets to
standout local SEO that will help your business stand out from the
crowd and motivate customer loyalty.

6. Sponsoring local meetups can be a
great tool for local SEO. Sponsored
meetups result in local news
coverage, increasing visibility and
links to your company’s website.
TIP: To maximize your efforts and
promote your involvement, you
should also do outreach to
local press.
Leverage the link building power
of local meetups
Leverage the link building power
of local meetups

7. TIP: To maximize your efforts and
promote your involvement, you
should also do outreach to
local press.
Build credibility and influence
through customer reviews
Customer reviews influence the decision-making process. When
consumers read online reviews, nearly 70% make purchasing decisions.
The more positive reviews your business has, the better.

8. TIP: Claim and optimize your
Google My Business (GMB) page
and do periodic checks to
ensure all contact information
is updated regularly across
all channels.
Make sure your business information
is consistent across the web
Consistency is key. A well optimized GMB listing is one of the most
powerful drivers in increasing your local rankings. When Google’s
confidence in your business grows, so do your rankings.

9. Adding structured data markup to your website helps drive better
local search performance. When installing the correct local business
schema markup be sure to include the following data in your Schema
markup:
• Opening hours
• Google Maps link
• Social media profiles
• Markup for menus,
appointment options,
and reservations
</>
HTML
Install the correct business
schema markup

10. hunt for competitors breaking
Google’s rules
TIP: Use Google Maps to report
your competitors for their
violation.
Competitors violating Google’s guidelines can be reported for deletion.
One of the main violations businesses use that blatantly violates
Google’s terms of service are local listings that use fake addresses.

11. Build and earn quality local citations
for your business
An important local ranking factor, local citations help local
customers discover your business, positively impacting local search
engine rankings. Local business directories are a great platform to
earn quality local citations.
TIP: Use main keywords relevant
to your industry and a location
search. Once these citations
opportunities have been
identified, add your business
ensuring the name, address and
phone number are consistent.

12. Ready to put
these local
SEO secrets
into practice?
Let us help you get
found first on search
engines.
Contact us today:
seosherpa.com

13. Bonus : Resources
34 Experts Share Their No.1 (Actionable) Local SEO Tip
16 SEO Experiments That Will Change The Way You Think About
SEO (Forever)
10 Local SEO Hacks You (Probably) Didn’t Know
Search In The Age Of Distraction: Six Secrets To Standout
Local SEO
The Five Rising SEO Trends You Need To Master in 2017