My closing keynote presentation from Driving Sales Executive Summit 2018. Everything you need to know to succeed in local SEO in 2019.

1. How to AdaptYour Dealership to a
Radically Different Local Search
Environment
Darren Shaw
Founder,Whitespark
@DarrenShaw_

2. Local Search Has
Changed

3. Tightening of proximity
in local results
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

4. Google is sending less
traffic to websites
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

5. Proximity to searcher

7. clothing stores

8. restaurants

9. pest control

10. Dealerships often cluster
on the edges of the city

11. So people living centrally
likely won’t see those
dealerships in their results

12. With the extreme emphasis
on proximity, every
businesses will rank
somewhere

13. But it might only be at the exact
point of your location

14. You can overcome proximity
bias and expand your radius
with strong local search
signals

15. This dealership is
doing much better

16. Even when you zoom
out to 500m

17. 1km

18. And even at 1kmThey rank well across a
huge area

19. Compared to Southgate Audi who
is only ranking around their
location

20. Google is sending
less traffic to websites
from local results

21. Local pack links
used to go to the
website
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

22. Now they go to the Local Finder
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

23. And the Local
Finder has all
the info you
need

24. Just some of the GMB features
released in the past 2 years.
Google Posts
Description
Services
GMB Websites
Messaging
VideosQ & A
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

25. These features drive business
In a case study done by
Get Five Stars, they
found that 70% of KPIs
were happening
On Google.
https://www.getfivestars.com/blog/case-
study-key-performance-indicators-local-digital-
marketing/
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

27. Google is monetizing
everything
PAID
PAID
PAID
PAID
PAID
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

28. Just Released!
The 2018 Local
Search Ranking
Factors

30. The Contributors
Adam Dorfman
Andrew Shotland
Andy Kuiper
Andy Monte
Ben Fisher
Blake Denman
Brian Barwig
Brian Smith
Carrie Hill
Casey Meraz
Colan Neilson
Conrad Saam
Cori Graft
Dan Leibson
Dana DiTomaso
Darren Shaw
David Mihm
David Wallace
Dev Basu
Eric Rohrback
Greg Gifford
Gyi Tsakalakis
Joel Headley
Joy Hawkins
Lisa Kolb
Marcus Miller
Mary Bowling
Mike Blumenthal
Miriam Ellis
Nick Pierno
Nyagoslav Zhekov
Phil Rozek
Tim Capper
Will Scott

31. How the survey works

32. Local Pack/Finder

33. Local Pack

34. Local Finder

35. Local Pack/Finder Results
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

36. Signals Increasing in Importance
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

37. Signals Decreasing in Importance
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

38. Local Organic

39. Local Organic

40. Local Organic Results
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

41. Foundational Factors
vs
Competitive Difference
Makers

42. Foundational Factors Summary
Proper GMB Categories
Citation Consistency
Verified and Complete GMB Listing
Mobile-friendly Site
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

43. Competitive Difference Makers Summary
Links & Reviews
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

44. How To Win at Local
Search in 2019

45. Google My Business

46. Get your categories right
X
X
X
X

47. Get your categories right

48. Create separate listings for sales, service, and parts
Different categories
Different phone numbers

49. Set other listings to be “Located in”
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-my-business-located-in-26446.html

50. Get your GMB listing is as complete as possible
https://thrivehive.com/grader/

51. Add tons of photos and videos

52. Pay attention to Q&A on your GMB listing

53. Seed the Q&A with your own questions and answers

54. Google Posts!

55. Posts appear in the Local Finder

56. Posts appear in Google Maps

57. Posts appear in in
branded searches

58. “Google Posts! We've seen gains for clients in
competitive niches after consistent posting. The
posts don't have to link to their site, but it
appears that they should be topical and posted
consistently.” – Dana Damtaso

59. https://searchengineland.com/google-posts-impact-ranking-case-study-285668

60. Increase Rankings
Google Posts
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

61. Increase Engagement
Signals
Google Posts
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

62. Drive Direct Conversions
Google Posts
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

63. Use CTAs in your posts
BOOKATEST
DRIVETODAY

64. Use videos in Posts!
https://searchengineland.com/google-posts-now-accepting-videos-for-some-local-businesses-
297829

65. Are a Competitive Advantage
Most businesses are taking a nap on
Posts
Google Posts
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

66. Your competitors when they realize they missed
the Google Posts boat

67. Remove Spammers

68. “When spammers are beating you or ranking for
keywords they shouldn't, you can really have a
positive impact on local pack rankings just by
reporting spam.” - Casey Meraz

69. #DSES @DarrenShaw_
Look at these assholes
I’d be
annoyed if
this was
my client

70. Look at these assholes
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

71. Check the website for their actual name
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

72. Find the listing in Google Maps and suggest an edit
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

73. If you’re a Local Guide, your edit may get approved quickly
I got this
email 2
minutes
after I made
the edit
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

74. WHO’S THE ASSHOLE NOW?!
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

75. Reviews

76. “In the search results I look at regularly, I
continue to see reviews playing a larger and
larger role.”
- David Mihm

77. Guess which
industry has the
most reviews
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

78. #DSES @DarrenShaw_

79. #DSES @DarrenShaw_
After hotels and restaurants, of course

80. If you’re in
automotive and
haven’t gotten
serious about
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

82. GOLDEN RULE
Ask every customer

83. PLATINUM RULE
Always follow up

84. Diversify. Don’t only ask for reviews on Google.

85. Incentivize employees, not customers

86. All the review tips:
https://whitespark.ca/blog/convert-local-searchers-into-customers-with-reviews/

87. Links

88. “Good old fashioned link building seems to have
improved pack performance even more this year
than in recent memory” - Cori Graft

89. Local
Sponsorships

90. One search to rule them all

91. Add &num=100 to the query

92. Export to CSV with the Moz Bar

94. Local Business
Associations

95. Industry
Associations

96. Website

97. Add some damn content to your homepage

98. At least 4 solid
paragraphs. Talk
about sales, service,
makes, models, what
makes you different,
financing, frequently
asked questions, etc.

99. Create a page for each service

100. Create a page for each brand

101. Add internal links to all your content pages

102. Citations

103. Ensure you have a solid foundation
https://whitespark.ca/top-local-citation-sources-by-country/united-states/

104. Get listed on industry specific sites

105. Get listed on city specific sites

106. Competitive analysis
https://whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/

107. Behavioral Signals

108. The Future of Local Search: Entity Authority
#DSES @DarrenShaw_
Tidings.com/vault/local-ranking-2020.html

109. The Future of Local Search: Entity Authority
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

110. The Future of Local Search: Entity Authority
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

111. Stars in the search results = more clicks

112. How to do it
https://whitespark.ca/blog/how-to-use-aggregate-review-schema-to-get-stars-in-the-serps/

113. More reviews = more clicks
Whoa

114. More photos and videos = more engagement

115. “Tell people to search for a business on Google
to get a coupon/discount/add-on that you're
offering via Google Posts on your Local
Knowledge Panel.”
- Mary Bowling

116. Where is Google
headed in the future?

117. Increased emphasis on
behavioral factors
#DSES @DarrenShaw_
The Future of Local

118. More saturation of the
SERPs with ads
#DSES @DarrenShaw_
The Future of Local

119. Keeping users on Google
and sending less traffic to
websites
The Future of Local
#DSES @DarrenShaw_

120. Implementing more
features to take a cut
of transactions
#DSES @DarrenShaw_
The Future of Local

121. This just
came out
yesterday

122. “Court”
- Phil Rozek
Any comments about where you see Google is
headed in the future?

123. Thank you!
Darren Shaw
Founder,Whitespark
@DarrenShaw_
#DSES