This document provides an overview of local search optimization strategies. It discusses the importance of local visibility and opportunities for placement in maps, carousels and local packs. The presenters recommend claiming and optimizing Google My Business listings, creating local landing pages with consistent NAP information, and pursuing citations and backlinks from sources like directories, review sites and social media to strengthen local rankings.

1. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
1
An inside look into Google Local and building local links.
LOCAL OR BUST!

2. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
2
RACHEL HOWE
Senior Search Marketing
Specialist
SEO Setup Lead
Outdoorsy. Crafty. Foodie.
RENEE GIRARD
Senior Search Marketing
Specialist
Part-Time Link Hygienist
Lover of Tea & Rescue Mutts.
WH O WE A R E
@r8chel_marie @renee_girard

3. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
3
Founded in 2003
HQ Milwaukee, WI
WH E R E WE WO R K
Milwaukee, WI
Ann Arbor, MI

4. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
4
BACKGROUND
Local search
fundamentals
THE OPPORTUNITY
Missed opportunities
for visibility
THE SOLUTION
Google My Business,
on-page & off-page
RESOURCES
Further learning and
key takeaways
A G E N D A

5. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
5
WHAT IS IT?
THE FUNDAMENTALS
LOCAL
SEARCH
BACKGROUND

6. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
6
What is it?
L o c a l s e a r c h e n g i n e o p t i m i z a t i o n i s t h e p r a c t i c e o f
i n c r e a s i n g y o u r v i s i b i l i t y f o r g e o - b a s e d s e a r c h e s .
WH A T I S I T ?

7. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
7
WH A T I S I T ?

8. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
8
Local Optimization Fundamentals
 G o o g l e M y B u s i n e s s – C l a i m , o p t i m i z e a n d s h a r e
 O n - P a g e O p t i m i z a t i o n – O p t i m i z e we b s i t e l a n d i n g
p a g e s (l o c a l i z e m e t a t a g s & c o p y )
 O f f - P a g e O p t i m i z a t i o n – C i t a t i o n s , b a c k l i n k s a n d
d i r e c t o r y l i s t i n g s (m o n i t o r & p u r s u e )
L O C A L S E A R C H F UN D A M E N T A L S

9. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
9
OPPORTUNITY
COSTS
LOCAL
ORBUST
THE OPPORTUNITY

10. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
10
Opportunity Cost:
 Less v isibil it y
 Lost bu sine ss t o
com pe t it ors
Why it Matters:
 Local v isibil it y
 Mobil e se arche s
O P P O R T UN I T Y C O S T
Source: http://selnd.com/1hBzXUQ

11. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
11
 Map Pack
 Carousel
 Local 7 Pack
P L A C E M E N T O P P O R T UN I T I E S

12. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
12
C o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n u n i v e r s a l s e a r c h a n d l o c a l s e a r c h
P L A C E M E N T O P P O R T UN I T I E S

13. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
13
A D D I T I O N A L P L A C E M E N T O P P O R T U N I T I E S
Non-Local
Query
Local Map
Pack
Local
7 Pack

14. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
14
T H E L O C A L P O T E N T I A L I S M A S S I V E
15-20%
of all searches
are on a
mobile device.
2015
The year when
mobile will
surpass desktop
usage.
79%
of people who own a
mobile device, conduct
local searches.

15. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
15
Sites that aren’t mobile
friendly, will see a
negative impact on
their rankings in the
mobile search results.
L A S T WO R D O N M O B I L E
Matt Cutts
H e a d o f G o o g l e ’ s W e b S p a m T e a m

16. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
16
PART I
GOOGLE
MYBUSINESS
THE SOLUTION

17. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
17
Google My Business
Interface for…
 B u s i n e s s P a g e s
 B r a n d P a g e s
 G o o g l e +
 M a p s
Functionality
 + 1 ( S h a r e s )
 R e v i e w s ( Z a g a t )
 C o m m u n i t i e s
 P h o t o s
 V i d e o s
 U p d a t e s
 H a n g o u t s
WH A T I S I T ?

18. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
18
G O O G L E L O C A L R A N K I N G F A C T O R S
What’s Important?
 Proper category
associations
 NAP consistency
 Name
 Address
 Phone Number
 Number of reviews
 Proximity to centroid
(location)

19. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
19
G O O G L E R E V I E WS
https://www.whitespark.ca/review-handout-generator
To encourage reviews for your business:
 Remind your customers to leave a review
 Become active on Google & respond to
reviews
 Verify your business!

20. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
20
CREATE & CLAIM
Create a Gmail
account. Claim (list)
your business(s) &
optimize.
INCLUDE
CATEGORIES
Select up to 5
category
associations for your
Google Local page.
ADD IMAGES, VIDEOS
& DESCRIPTION
Include a business
description, along
with photos and
videos.
GET REVIEWS!
Include a link to
Google page on
website & pursue
reviews.
G O O G L E M Y B US I N E S S

21. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
21
PART II
ON-PAGE
THE SOLUTION

22. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
22
C R E A T E L O C A L L A N D I N G P A G E (S )

23. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
23
On-Page – WordPress Landing Page
 Consistent NAP
 Keyword and city, state in title tags/H1 tag
 Keyword in URL
 Structured data for the Knowledge Graph
(schema.org/LocalBusiness)
 Embed Google Map
O P T I M I Z E L O C A L L A N D I N G P A G E (S )
Included in WP
plugins like Yoast
Local SEO

24. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
24
CREATE PAGE(S)
Each location
should have its own
page with mostly
unique content.
OPTIMIZE FOR
KEYWORD
Your keyword is the
category association.
Include it with City,
State in the meta data,
copy & URL.
ADD NAP & INFO
Include NAP along with
hours, contact person,
driving directions, 800
number, email address,
photos, etc.
LINK TO REVIEWS
Include links or icons
pointing to your
most valuable
citations such as
Google Local, Yelp,
Facebook, etc.
O N - P A G E O P T I M I Z A T I O N

25. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
25
PART III
OFF-PAGE
THE SOLUTION

26. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
26
A citation is not a backlink. It is a
mention of a business name in close
proximity to its address, phone number,
or both. Citations are used by search
engines to weigh both the accuracy
and popularity of businesses.
 Unstructured Citation: A mention of any part of
your NAP (Name, Address or Phone number).
 Structured Citation: A mention of your entire NAP
(Name, Address and Phone Number).
WH A T I S A C I T A T I O N ?
Source: http://bit.ly/1mrWUg3

27. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
27
Citations
 NAP consistency
 Number of citations
 Domain Authority of citation sources
 Proper category associations
 Proximity to centroid
 Number of reviews
C I T A T I O N F A C T O R S

28. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
28
Backlinks
 Anchor text
 Number of backlinks
 Domain Authority of backlink sources
B A C K L I N K F A C T O R S

29. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
29
Social
 Number of Google+ shares
 Number of Google +1’s
 Number of Facebook likes
 Number of Twitter followers
S O C I A L F A C T O R S

30. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
30
 Option #1: Purchase tool or software
 Option #2: Claim listings through local
data distributors
 Option #3: Manually find sources through
Google search operators.
H O W T O C L A I M Y O UR C I T A T I O N S

31. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
31
P R O S & C O N S O F US I N G D A T A D I S T R I B UT O R S
Pros
 Automatically submits
listings
 Manage listings from a
single dashboard
 Analytics reports
Cons
 Expensive
 Fixed list
 Doesn’t include all sources

32. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
32
T O P L O C A L D A T A D I S T R I B UT O R S : I N F O G R O UP

33. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
33
T O P L O C A L D A T A D I S T R I B U T O R S : N E U S T A R
L O C A L E Z E

34. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
34
T O P L O C A L D A T A D I S T R I B UT O R S : A C X I O M

35. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
35
T O P L O C A L D A T A D I S T R I B UT O R S : F A C T UA L

36. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
36
T O P C I T A T I O N S F O R T H E M I D WE S T
Angie’s List is
free to get
listed but paid
for users &
Service Magic
is now Home
Advisor
Source: http://bit.ly/1mrWUg3

37. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
37
T O P L O C A L C I T A T I O N S F O R C O N S UM E R S
Not all review sites are created equal. Yelp, TripAdvisor,
Angie’s List, Citysearch, and YP are the most popular for
consumers.

38. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
38
G O O G L E “ P I G E O N ” A L G O UP D A T E
Source: http://selnd.com/1rfWU6V
Shows Yelp results at the top of Google with queries that
include “yelp” and boosts other local directories.

39. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
39
C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E C I T A T I O N S
Get listed in your
local chamber
of commerce
 <city-name> + Chamber
of commerce
site:.<state-code>.us
 Chamber of commerce
site:.<state-code>.us
 <city-name> + Chamber
of commerce site:.org
 <city-name>+ Chamber
of commerce site:.com

40. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
40
S O C I A L C I T A T I O N S
Claim your social
profiles (but stay
consistent) & host
events on
Google Hangouts

41. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
41
CONSIDER DATA
DISTRIBUTORS/TOOLS
Consider doing both
automatic and
manual citation
building.
FIND CITATION
SOURCES
Moz Local, Whitespark,
search operators,
competitive research,
etc.
ADD LISTINGS &
RECORD PROGRESS
Use a spreadsheet to
record your listing
information, citation
progress, & citations
that need to be fixed.
CLAIM SOCIAL
PROFILES
Claim/add your listing
to social profiles even
if the your users aren’t
active on that
platform.
O F F - P A G E O P T I M I Z A T I O N

42. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
42
RESOURCES
PLUGINS
TOOLS
TAKEAWAYS
RESOURCES
HOW TO IMPLEMENT

43. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
43
Google My Business - www.googl e .com /bu sine ss
Moz Local Learning Center - m oz.com /l e arn/l ocal
Whitespark - www.whit e spark.ca/t ool s
Andrew Shotland - www.l ocal seogu ide.com
Dav id Mihm - www.dav idm ihm .com
Mike Blumenthal - bl u m e nt hals.com /bl og
Greg Gifford - www.sl ide share .net /G regG ifford
L O C A L S E A R C H R E S O UR C E S

44. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
44
W o r d P r e s s L o c a l S E O
w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / d h - l o c a l - s e o /
M a p P r e s s E a s y G o o g l e M a p s
w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / m a p p r e s s - g o o g l e - m a p s - f o r - w o r d p r e s s
W P G o o g l e M a p P l u g i n
w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / w p - g o o g l e - m a p - p l u g i n
L o c a l B u s i n e s s S E O
w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / m d p - l o c a l - b u s i n e s s - s e o
Y o a s t L o c a l S E O P l u g i n ( p a i d )
y o a s t . c o m / w o r d p r e s s / p l u g i n s / l o c a l - s e o
S E J L i n k P a t r o l ( p a i d )
l i n k p a t r o l w p . c o m
WO R D P R E S S P L UG I N S

45. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
45
G o o g l e L o c a l B u s i n e s s C a t e g o r y T o o l
b l u m e n t h a l s . c o m / G o o g l e _ L B C _ C a t e g o r i e s
M o z L o c a l ( G e t L i s t e d . o r g )
m o z . c o m / l o c a l
W h i t e s p a r k L o c a l C i t a t i o n F i n d e r
w w w . w h i t e s p a r k . c a / l o c a l - c i t a t i o n - f i n d e r
M o z L o c a l C i t a t i o n s b y C a t e g o r y
m o z . c o m / l e a r n / l o c a l / c i t a t i o n s - b y - c a t e g o r y
S c h e m a . o r g L o c a l B u s i n e s s M a r k u p
s c h e m a . o r g / L o c a l B u s i n e s s
G o o g l e W e b m a s t e r T o o l s D a t a H i g h l i g h t e r T o o l
s u p p o r t . g o o g l e . c o m / w e b m a s t e r s / a n s w e r / 3 1 0 6 9 5 9 ? h l = e n
L O C A L S E A R C H T O O L S

46. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
46
1. Google My Business – G e t o n i t !
2. Citation hygiene – C l e a n u p d u p l i c a t e o r
i n a c c u r a t e l i s t i n g s
3. Get citations – T o p r o v e l o c a l r e l e v a n c e –
p r e f e r a b l y i n w a v e s , m u s t b e p r e c i s e
4. Get links – T o p r o v e d o m a i n a u t h o r i t y ( w h i t e h a t
o n l y , l o n g - t e r m s t r a t e g y )
5. Optimize your local landing page(s) – I n c l u d e
c i t y , s t a t e a n d b u s i n e s s c a t e g o r y
T A K E A WA Y S

47. #WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard
47
GOOGLE MY
BUSINESS
Create a Gmail
account. List your
business(s).
Optimize.
CITATIONS
Clean up
duplicates or
inaccurate listings.
Build links through
citations.
LOCAL LINKS
Build authority
through local link
building.
ON-PAGE
OPTIMIZATION
Include city, state
in landing page
meta tags and
copy.
K E Y T A K E A WA Y S

48. 311 E CHICAGO ST SUITE 520
MILWAUKEE, WI 53202
RACHEL.HOWE@ZEONSOLUTIONS.COM
RENEE.GIRARD@ZEONSOLUTIONS.COM
THANKS!
Questions?
THANKS!