Local SEO

[DesignerNick]

I am working on a small project from a friend and I am starting to look into Local SEO.

So far I have created him a Google Page (waiting on the pin) and have used whitespark to get a list of citations to submit his information into.

Once the page is live he has some previous customers who will leave reviews on his google page.

My aim isn't so much to get him to the top of the organics but to the top of the local listings.

Has anybody got any killer tips to help get to the top for local rankings? It isn't a mega competitive term so shouldn't be too hard I don't think.

 

[fisicx]

Put the name of the location in the page titles. Put the address on the page. Add testimonials to the site that state the location.

 

[DesignerNick]

Put the name of the location in the page titles. Put the address on the page. Add testimonials to the site that state the location.

Thanks, have tried to put locations in without it being spammy.

I have their location in the footer with the markup for a Google v card as well as the testimonials showing location.

I have a couple of good backlinks from large local websites so just need the plus page to go live now and see where it comes in.

Have added 6 or 7 decent citations too!

 

[JonathanSEO]

Thanks, have tried to put locations in without it being spammy.

I have their location in the footer with the markup for a Google v card as well as the testimonials showing location.

I have a couple of good backlinks from large local websites so just need the plus page to go live now and see where it comes in.

Have added 6 or 7 decent citations too!

Should be enough to make it rank. But one of the biggest factors in local rankings is closeness to the city centre of the place you are trying to rank for.

So if you're way out then it's already an uphill battle depending if there are other competitors who has central business addresses.

Make sure he's in the right categories too in Google Places.

 

[DesignerNick]

Should be enough to make it rank. But one of the biggest factors in local rankings is closeness to the city centre of the place you are trying to rank for.

So if you're way out then it's already an uphill battle depending if there are other competitors who has central business addresses.

Make sure he's in the right categories too in Google Places.

He is halfway in the middle between 2 places but closer than the company who are top, the top spot in local haven't claimed their page and haven't set it up with no reviews.

I indexed the site today and it is sitting at the bottom of page 2 with a couple of backlinks but have to wait until his pin number comes through from Google.

I have made sure that address and number format in the citations have all matched to exactly how Google have them and his web site!

 

[JonathanSEO]

He is halfway in the middle between 2 places but closer than the company who are top, the top spot in local haven't claimed their page and haven't set it up with no reviews.

I indexed the site today and it is sitting at the bottom of page 2 with a couple of backlinks but have to wait until his pin number comes through from Google.

I have made sure that address and number format in the citations have all matched to exactly how Google have them and his web site!

Just re read my last post, think I need English lessons

Based on what you have said it sounds like there's little competition and the work you have done already should make this rank in the map listings easily.

Confirm the pin, give it a week and see what happens. I'd be surprised if it doesn't show up prominently.

 

[SEO Team Limited]

Thomson Local is also another good directory. It's basically the same as the Yellow Pages.

JonathanSEO has summed up what I would say very nicely.

 

[ledbuy]

List you business in local review based websites like Yell and Yelp. This will help you in improving local visibility of your business

 

[Ali-v-8]

If possible add google map listing to your contact page.
Also read up on IP related searches.

 

[DesignerNick]

Thanks, I have a map on the contact page already as well as the address and details

He is slowly climbing in organics and still waiting on his pin but have been getting the places like yelp setup and filled out with text and images and his customers have left the odd review so fingers crossed when it goes live on Google with a couple of reviews it should fly high.

It is nice to be able to experiment with things

 

[DesignerNick]

First job through today from a customer seeing the site on Google

 

[DesignerNick]

I have setup the address and also his local reviews from his site with rich snippets and hcard, the review but isn't showing just yet though.

 

[JD@fifty6]

Have you read any blogs specifically on 'Local Citations'? A well managed citations campaign based around correct NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency across platforms is a sure fire way to long term success is local rankings.

That sentence read awfully, please forgive me!

 

[jennifersimond]

In my experience, I feel that local SEO is much harder than international SEO. because we need to create local citation, Sometimes unavailability of local websites may push us back.

The best method is, create a city page in website and make sure that the content is more relevant to the city and the keyword you are targeting.

Include local address and phone number in all page footer. This will also help you get more local searches.

Good luck

 

[JonathanSEO]

In my experience, I feel that local SEO is much harder than international SEO. because we need to create local citation, Sometimes unavailability of local websites may push us back.

The best method is, create a city page in website and make sure that the content is more relevant to the city and the keyword you are targeting.

Include local address and phone number in all page footer. This will also help you get more local searches.

Good luck

local SEO harder than international SEO? lol. Guessing you have done neither.

Not saying local SEO is easy, Google maps is a joke half the time especially if you move locations but it doesn't compare to running sites on different country code domains and dealing with different languages.

 

[dougiehunt]

I am working on a small project from a friend and I am starting to look into Local SEO.

So far I have created him a Google Page (waiting on the pin) and have used whitespark to get a list of citations to submit his information into.

Once the page is live he has some previous customers who will leave reviews on his google page.

My aim isn't so much to get him to the top of the organics but to the top of the local listings.

Has anybody got any killer tips to help get to the top for local rankings? It isn't a mega competitive term so shouldn't be too hard I don't think.

1) Google Authorship - always helps with SERP click throughs.
2) Adding the address in schema / mirco data (http://schema.org/docs/gs.html)
3) Internal linking
4) External linking
5) On-page optimisation
6) If you are using WordPress and Yoast - then get the Local SEO plugin (amazing!)