Local SEO & Content Best Practices | Natalie Gould & Rachel Morgan

Local SEO & Content Best Practices

For Small Businesses

PRESENTED BY:

NATALIE GOULD & RACHEL MORGAN

@rachelkmorgan @nataliekgould

ABOUT US

Rachel MorganNatalie Gould

Director of Digital Marketing

● Been with Advice since 2012

● Lead the SEO team and develop SEO

strategies for agency accounts

VP of Content Management

● Been with Advice since 2013

● Manage the content team and develop the

content strategies for agency clients


Part 1: Local SEO Musts for SMBs


Why Does Local SEO Matter?

● Local SEO: process of optimizing your web presence so you can increase your local visibility

● It matters to us because it matters to Google. local ranking factors

● less opportunity in the local pack


https://moz.com/blog/top-20-local-search-ranking-factors-an-illustrated-guide

#1 Google My Business


1. Verify and optimize your Google My Business

page

2. https://support.google.

com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en

● Google considers this as local ranking factor

● How old the page is

● The quantity and quality of reviews

● NAP consistency

● Duplicate pages

https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en



#1 Google My Business Cont


1. Use proper category associations

2. http://blumenthals.com/Google_LBC_Categories

#2 Bing Places


1. Verify and optimize your Bing Places profile

2. https://www.bingplaces.com/

● You want to be listed in the top search

engines

https://www.bingplaces.com/

https://www.bingplaces.com/

#3 Yahoo Local


1. Verify and optimize Yahoo Local page

2. https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15966.html

● You want to be listed in all the top search

engines

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15966.html

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15966.html

Submit Your Business Info to the Top Directories

#3 Infographics#4 Local Directories

Paid


#5 Data Aggregators


1. A data aggregator is an organization that collects and compiles

data and then syndicates it out to citation sources

2. Infogroup: http://www.expressupdate.com/search

3. Acxiom: www.myacxiom.com

4. Localeze: https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/directory/index.aspx

5. Factual: www.factual.com

http://www.expressupdate.com/search

http://www.myacxiom.com

https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/directory/index.aspx

http://www.factual.com

#5 Data Aggregators Cont


#6 Chamber of Commerce

1. Search for your local chamber

2. https://www.uschamber.com/chamber/directory

Cost: $200-$500/year

● Gain a local, high authority link

● Networking/Partnership

● Add the chamber logo to your

site-good co-citation


https://www.uschamber.com/chamber/directory

https://www.uschamber.com/chamber/directory

#7 BBB


1. Become a member of the Better Business

Bureau

2. www.bbb.org

● Local trust signal

● High authority, local link

● Add the BBB logo to your site-good co-

citation

http://www.bbb.org

http://www.bbb.org

#8 Social Media Profiles

1. Claim and optimize your social profiles

2. Become active where your audience is active

● High authority link

● Best opportunity for community building

for your content

● Top networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google+,

Pinterest, LinkedIn


#9 Niche Citations

1. Find citation sources specific to your industry

and submit to them

2. Use Whitespark to find citation sources

a. http://www.whitespark.ca/

3. Google “[my industry] + citation sources”

4. Google “[my industry] + directory”

● Acquire industry-specific links


http://www.whitespark.ca/


#10 Geo-Specific Citations

1. Find citation sources specific to your location

and submit to them

2. Use Whitespark to find citation sources

a. http://www.whitespark.ca/

3. Google “[my location] + citation sources”

4. Google “[my location] + directory”

● Acquire location-specific links




#11 Hyper Local Content

1. Build and promote hyperlocal content on your

site related to cities you service

2. Write blog posts about local events related to

your industry, etc.

3. Example: we have a bicycle accident attorney, so

we post content about local cycling events, etc

● Goal is to rank for longtail neighborhood terms,

be seen as a local industry leader and gain local

links


#12 Quantity of Google+ Reviews

1. Can’t offer incentives for reviews

2. If you get too many all at once, Google may

not accept them

3. Third party reviews are important as well

such as from: Yelp, SuperPages, CitySearch,

TripAdvisor

● Make it easy to leave a review from your site

● Ask your existing customers to post a review

● Make it a business practice to ask for a review

after a positive customer experience


#13 Ranking Factors that are out of your control

● Proximity of physical location to the point of search

● Physical address in city of search

● Proximity of address to centroid


Options for Managing Your Local SEO

● Do it yourself

● Pay for a subscription software

● Pay an SEO agency


Part 2: Content Planning and Creation for SMBs


But why is content even important?!

● Fresh content makes your website more

relevant

● Links

● Keyword, traffic and ranking opportunities

● Google likes it


Where to get content


Cost: $2-$50 per page

https://www.textbroker.com/

http://www.writeraccess.com/

http://www.bkacontent.com/

https://www.constant-content.com/buy-seo-content/

How to plan content


www.RocksDigital.com/EdCal

How to come up with content ideas


1. Google Trends

2. Google Autosuggest

3. Google Keyword Planner

4. Competitor Research



5. Google Analytics*

● Take a look at the content

that is already performing

well

How to get to this:

Behavior > Site Content > All Pages

*This requires Google Analytics installation on your website. Go here to learn how: http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/setupchecklist.html

http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/setupchecklist.html

6. Research Top Things in Your Industry or City

“Top 10 Plumbing Tools”

“Top Places to Buy Plumbing Tools in Atlanta”

^^geotargeted

These are some ideas:





7. Research Popular How-Tos


How to share the content




















Social media best practices The 70/20/10 Rule

70%: business and brand-building

20%: shared from other sources

10%: self-promoting


Real Time Responses

• Real-time customer service; respond to questions, comments, complaints within an hour

• Never remove negative reviews (unless it is truly spam). Rather, address them and take them offline. Transparency and authenticity are the names of the game.

Social media best practices


Find Your Voice

• Make it approachable and conversational, but also authoritative.• Talk to your social media audience like real people, having a real

conversation

Social media best practices

CONCLUSION

Plenty of low-hanging fruit your business can take advantage of for link acquisition and content development.

WWW.ADVICEINTERACTIVEGROUP.COM

Google My Business

Bing Places Niche & Geolocation Citations

Local Directories

Yahoo Local

Data Aggregators

BBB

Share content

Come up with content ideas

Create a posting schedule

Find writers


Chamber of Commerce

CONTACT US

[email protected]

[email protected]

Yes, this is on SlideShare
