Comprehensive Local SEO Guide | Local SEO Checklist for Local Businesses

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LOCAL SEO SERVICES

Local SEO services company, GoDaddy Dave wants to share with you this 11 Point Local SEO Guide containing the exact steps that we take when we are ranking and optimizing a local business on the major search engines. We focus on Google, Google Maps, YouTube and other platforms where local consumers are active. Remember that content is KING on any platform. A business's purpose is always to provide value to their end user, or target audience.

As a business owner, local Google search engine advertising is more important than ever. Google’s algorithmic program prioritizes hyperlocal results, meaning that, that specializing in local search advertising could be a vitally important .

As many of you have

discovered, digital advertising and local seo will be tedious, but it is WORTH IT!

Good local SEO includes on-site and off-site techniques.

It additionally needs careful reputation managemen,t as reviews are currently significant a ranking factor on Google for 2019.

I have pieced together this local SEO list to assist customers in finding great local businesses and help businesses drive additional customers through the door.

In the end, I reveal my short list of most important localranking factors.

Top Ranking Factors for local Search

You can take many of these ranking factors and complete them in any order that you choose. Look for a tool that makes Local SEO Services easier to implement for the average business owner or in-house tech team

Proximity: how far the searcher is searching from your business or registered address on Google Maps plays a major factor in how high or low you rank.

Reviews: Reviews send a powerful telephone number to Google that you simply are a true, quality business. you ought to have a standardized strategy to encourage a lot of Google reviews.

Citations and Consistency: NAP: (Name Address Phone) The final thing Google wants to try to to is give the incorrect address or telephone number. Make sure that your contact information is the exact same on all platforms

Domain Authority: Domain trust matters, but not as much as with organic listings.

Google My Business Catagory: choosing the correct category or categories that mirror your services, tells Google where to send potential clients. Be clear. Choose the correct categories

Keywords in Business Title: though you will see local businesses abusing false spammy names, it's solely a matter of time till Google cleans up the local search rankings. Forget exact match they will be matching general mesaage and purpose, NOT kewords and phrases.domains. think about a keyword in your name, particularly if it works along with your brand. think long run.

Make Sure Your web site is Mobile Friendly: Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites. Since mobile searches surpassed desktop as of 2015, it's not shocking.

Use Google’s checker to test your mobile friendliness: if necessary, update to a mobile-responsive theme. You will lose leads and rankings if your web site isn't mobile-friendly.

Optimize Your Google My Business Listing: You already recognize that your Google My Business listing is crucial for local SEO.

Here are is another SEOs version of the precise steps to take to optimize your GMB:

Claim your listing: find out how to verify a Google my business listing. Remember that multiple locations ought to each have their own listings.

Enter a correct business name: Don’t add keywords or alter it in any manner.

Enter your complete physical address: the data ought to match your NAP. (Name Address Phone)

If you've got a local service business, choose local service business: Google won't show your address but can use the area in miles you provide to direct the appropriate clients to you..

Enter your local telephone number: do not use toll free numbers or tracking numbers.

Enter the address of your web site: If you're putting in multiple locations, link every GMB page to the page for that location.

Choose the categories that best fit your business. pay attention if your products/services vary by location.

Add photos of the inside and exterior of your business: this is often not the most effective use of Royalty Free Stock pictures. Use actual, pull out the camera phone, , distinctive photos. They build trust with Google and your customers.

Add complete data, like prices and hours of operation.

Optimize Your Content For local SEO: The content on your web site will make or break you.

Here’s the way to ensure it's the former:

The content of each page ought to be distinctive, no duplicate content. All content ought to support the theme and topic of that page.
Aim to own 500+ words of local content per page.
Use hyperlocal keywords and references whenever attainable. If you have got multiple locations, describe the merchandise and services offered.
Use local client testimonials on location pages.
Above all, ensure your content is clear and informative. It ought to be written for individuals, not machines.
Include or embed Google Maps
Google maps help customers notice local businesses.

Here’s the way to use them:

If you have one location, embed your Google map on your Contact page.
For multiple locations, embed a Google map of every location on its correct landing page.
Verify that your address and telephone number is simple to find, customers shouldn't need to search for your contact data.
It should be simple to search out, regardless of wherever they're on your web site. I always begin with guaranteeing it will be seen on the front page while not scrolling on both mobile and desktop.

Want to add a caption to this image? Click the Settings icon.

Optimize Your Title Tags

Example Title and Meta Description Tags

Your title tag dictates what's going to show on Google once somebody searches your keywords.

Do the following:

Write distinctive titles for every page on your web site,,include your primary (local) keyword for that page.

Keep every title to but sixty characters: This ensures it'll show properly in Google Search Results.

By optimizing title tags, searchers and Google have a clear plan of what your page is about.

Unique actionable Meta Descriptions: Each page on your web site also needs a meta description. this is the description that appears below the title on Google. It tells folks what they're going to find on your web site. you'll want to:

Write clear meta descriptions for each page, using local keywords as natural: Keep your descriptions from 130-165 characters. include keywords and town, while not being spammy.

Be concise, clear, accurate, and include a call to action: poorly-written meta description will hurt your click through rate.

Optimize Heading Tags: Heading tags help to format the content on your web site, for search engines and users alike. Here’s the way to createmost of them:

Put at one H1 tag on every page: Include your primary keyword in it, ideally toward the front. using H1 headings properly helps Google establish your most vital keywords and therefore the topic of every page.

Use H2 and H3 headings as needed.

Structured Markup: Schema markup is code that enables you to feature relevant data regarding your business.

Here’s a way to make the most of it: Add structured data markup to your homepage if you've got just one location.

If you've got many locations, place local business schema on every location’s page: It is simple to add schema markup, and it will build a giant distinction in your on-page SEO.

Manage Your on-line Reviews

According to Bright Local’s survey, ninety seven out of 100 shoppers scan local reviews in 2018.

Here’s a way to create the most of your client reviews: Make sure your local business is listed on major review platforms. These include Google my Business, Yelp, Angie’s List, and social media like Facebook.

Identify any industry-specific or local review sites and claim your listings there, too.

Assign somebody to watch your on-line reviews: All client reviews need a response, even great ones. With positive reviews, you'll merely thank the client and say you hope to see them once more.

With negative reviews: apologize for his or her bad experience. Then, reach out to them in private and resolve the problem. In many cases, this may inspire the reviewer to revise their review.

Put a system in place to request reviews from your customers: you'll ask them personally. as an alterlocal, you willoffer them a handout or reach out to them via email. Note, Yelp has rules against requesting reviews.

Put links to your review pages on your web site: to make it simple for individuals to write down reviews.

All responses to reviews ought to be professional and timely.

Build local Citations: We already talked regarding NAP Consistency. currently it's time to make your citations.

Here’s what to do: Create a singular local citation for every businesses location. include the physical address and telephone number.

Eliminate any listings that uses a PO Box. Only physical addresses help with local SEO.

Standardize all abbreviations. If you use Ave rather than Avenue, do it consistently.

Locate inaccurate or duplicate listings: Contact pages and webmasters for inaccurate listings. when possible, correct them. If not, have them deleted.

Submit your details to these four data aggregators: Acxiom, Factual, Infogroup, and Neustar/Localeze.

Find niche directories and submit your web site and citation to them: Examples include Yellow Book and Superpages. There could also be others relevant to your trade and location.

Get listed in local business listings: The goal here is to standardize your listings. you'll add listings, however only as they're relevant.

Hyper-Local Link Building: Now you'll need to create quality local links. local link building provides your web site authority and makes it simple for patrons to find you.

Here’s what you need to do: Reach out to local blogs, offer to collaborate on blog posts.

Connect with different local business owners: produce partnerships to help each other out.

Join your city’s Chamber of Commerce and get listed on their web site.

Join the local BBB chapter and get your web site listed there, too.

Attend and sponsor local events and get your local business listed on the websites.

Build relationships with local media outlets.

Submit press releases once anything notable happens to your company.

This type of white hat link building connects you to the community.

Technical web site criteria

Everything that applies to traditional SEO also applies to local SEO.

Regardless of business model, each local business web site has to be indexable, error-free, multi-device-compliant, well-structured, and properly optimized. See the entire technical list.

In addition to the higher than, local web site improvement needs that you:

Have a "Contact Us" page that includes full name, address, and phone number of your staffed locations. If you have got ten or less locations, the entire name, address, and telephone numberof every ought to be within the sitewide footer part. Use Schema markup of your location knowledge. Your telephone number is extremely visible on your web site and clickable on mobile devices.

Your name, address, and telephone number(NAP) is consistent all over it's mentioned on your web site. watch out for naming discrepancies for any business or combining up NAP parts between multi-location corporations or multi-practitioner businesses.

All location pages are coupled to from a high-level navigation menu. If you would like to stay your address personal, don't publish it on your web site, however do make sure you're providing a telephone numberthat's staffed throughout expressed business hours.

Getting local content right

Content is a crucial a part of any SEO effort, thus confirm you're not tripping yourself up with skinny or duplicate content. Here's a listing of common content mistakes followed by a list of the way to extend the local SEO impact of your content.

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