How easy is local SEO?

[S Isaac]

I'm about to launch two new sites and will be optimising them for local (city and surrounding areas). Initially using Adwords to get some work in and then looking to use SEO to move up the rankings.

I know Google claims that EMD have no benefit for SEO, but I've always considered that they do have the benefit of being more 'clickable' if nothing else. I don't have EMD, but would consider getting one for the 'clickability' as I've yet to register one of the domains anyway.

So other than carefully including the location(s) correctly throughout the site and being careful not to keyword spam (although I've seen this work!), are there any tips for local SEO's?

 

[boring-friday]

How easy a keyword is depends on your competition, how many sites want to rank for it and how much they're spending/if they know what they're doing so local is obviously easier as there's generally less of both of the above. Depends what it is though, 'lawyer new york' is obviously difficult.

EMDs still have a advantage in general in my opinion, nothing worth shouting about, obviously the point you make aswell and also you can build more exact match anchors when you're link building.
Any tips I give would be based on building links, assuming you don't want that. I wouldn't keyword stuff though, I always leave mine below 1% now, unless its less than 200 words as I always use it atleast twice

 

[jacks009]

Local seo is very important but major important on page optimizations then local listing better for local seo.

 

[anijohn1318]

1. You will need to create separate Location based Pages and add location based keywords optimized content.
2. You can also add Geo targeted tags on those.
3. Get backlinks from local sites
in these ways you will easily rank for local ...

 

[Alan]

As mentioned, it all depends on the competition. Often it is very easy, as often there is virtually no competition. But of course that isn't always the case.

As mentioned, start with a quality site, i.e. one that is technically built well (e.g. a quality WordPress theme, like say something on the Genesis framework), then make sure it is hosted on a half reasonably performing host.

Then add quality content, i.e. that adequately and accurately describes the services and areas you operate in, and peripheral stuff such as legal entity, contact details, terms and conditions, privacy policy etc. And, very importantly, testimonials, lots of them. Of course do the 'title tags' and 'alt tags' too.

Then set up Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools (Search Console) and submit your sitemap / force a listing.

Then set up 'Google My Business' local listing https://www.google.com/business/ entry and verify that, link it to your website, add quality content to the description.

Then the next step is to forget about Google and move on to Facebook

Create a Facebook business page, add banner / description / link your website, add a 'call to action button' on the header.

Start adding content to your Facebook page, especially work photos and testimonials.

Once the page looks decent, do a very limited local area Facebook ad campaign to attract a few genuine likes.

After that, it up to you, but still forget Google, start participating in 'local' social media groups.

If you have very limited competition, by now (lets say 6 weeks ) you will already be on page one for your money keywords, if not position 1 somewhere near.

 

[neils3]

It really depends on the competition of the keywords you're trying to rank for. Really good advice by Alan above, and just a few other key factors for ranking for Local SEO include:

1. Website (Your Foundation) - structure, keywords, ease of navigation

2. Citations and Mentions of your business NAP (name, address, phone number) - e.g. get your business added to relevant directory listings online

3. Backlinks back to your website from other sites - this is where creativity comes into it. For example, you could do a talk at a local community and there website links back to you

 

[HazelC]

I do a lot of this for plumbers / electricians / tradespeople - we do separate pages for Plumber in Peterborough, Plumber in Huntingdon, Plumber in St Ives and so on - including local small villages and this does work for them as the larger companies aren't doing it and when someone looks on Google for a Plumber in Huntingdon my client comes up quite high.

It is different content on each page so it can't be classed as duplicate and then a few months later we tend to follow it up with a blog post using Plumber in Huntingdon as the keyword.

That's just my food for thought anyway

 

[makeusvisible]

EMDs are a factor, but it is not black and white. And exact match domain containing the keyword, can be out-ranked by a website not containing the keyword.... because there are hundreds of other factors in play.

Much more important for local SEO is the setup of your Google My Business account, your website's structure and readability, and your content.

You might like to take a look at this article on exact match domains.

 

[ethanmillar]

I think you have enough knowledge of getting Good local ranking for your site.

By the way you should more focus on your local business directory and do business listing for your website on that local directories.

One more thing you need to focus on social media, engage with local customers via social media.

Thanks

 

[Alessandro Paletta]

Hi, SEO is a long process, but a valuable investment.
There are several parts to SEO.
The first part is on-page SEO - This includes stuff like heading tags, title tags and page load times
The second part is link building - This is links going from other websites back to yours, and they count as a vote in googles eyes.
A third part is social media - You must be active on social media and make sure it's optimised well
Finally, content marketing - maybe the most important part of SEO, create valuable content that people want to share!
Then for local SEO you're going to need to utilise google maps and google places!

[removed by mod]

Hope this helps!

 

[Huque Chaudhry Associates]

I might recommend using The Hoth for local SEO, a few of my sites have done quite well with a £250 investment and helped locally. Alternatively you could work with us or a company like Alessandro above. If you need help, you really need a proper SEO specialists who knows about how to rank you over the long term. Prepare to pay a monthly fee for SEO and it has to be results driven.

 

[DoItRight73]

We used to create multiple pages per area until we discovered that you can add all areas to one page and still rank for each area.

We put emphasis on area keywords ny making them bold, italic and clickable links.

It also keeps the site clutter free and more user friendly.

 

[ZakTomlinson]

Those are great tips!
You can also take advantage of structured data markup. It can really make a difference.
Good luck!

 

[S Isaac]

Thanks all for your replies. Lots of info and clearly lots more to it than I imagined.

I think I'll do mostly DIY SEO to get off the ground and then look to get someone else on a medium to long term basis to move us higher and ideally keep us at the top for our main keywords,

 

[harish9]

Local listings are very important for SEO