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You will learn how to optimize a site to show up in searches in a particular geographic area.
Watch the full free course at SEMrush Academy: http://bit.ly/2lPfSdj
0:44 Google My Business
2:05 Reviews
3:31 Personalization, behavioral signals, and social signals
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You might find it useful:
Find keywords that trigger specific Local packs with the Keyword Magic tool:
➠ https://bit.ly/3aPTLr8
Monitor your local competition with the Position Tracking tool:
➠ https://bit.ly/3bRU6uF
This course will help bring your business to the top of the map pack and local search results:
➠ https://bit.ly/3bRTwNv
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As we mentioned in the first lesson in this section, proximity is one of the most weighted factors of relevancy in local searches. Google wants to show results that are near the searcher, but it’s not only about proximity. It’s a tiered system – you have to have great local optimization to “make the cut”, and then the results are organized by proximity. You can’t optimize for proximity, but it’s important that you understand how it influences search results. You’ll also need to be sure to explain the proximity factor to your clients, since they’ll assume that it’s possible to rank #1 in the map pack anywhere in their city.
Google My Business is another important off site factor for local SEO. It’s important to claim your location and ensure that your information is correct. The information you enter in your GMB dashboard will populate the info in your Knowledge Panel on brand searches.
Unfortunately, mobile clicks on your website link in GMB or map searches are almost always attributed incorrectly. They’re all organic clicks – you can’t pull a map pack or business knowledge panel without a search. To make sure that you’re getting credit for the organic traffic, add UTM tracking parameters to your website link. Put whatever you want in the source value, but make sure that you set medium to organic.
Don’t try to fake your address – a GMB listing can only be created for businesses with a physical location, where customers visit the business at that location. You have to have clear signage with your business name as well.
If you’re having problems accessing your GMB listing, the best solution is to contact Twitter support. Hop on Twitter and send a tweet to @googlemybiz (https://twitter.com/GoogleMyBiz) and their awesome team will have you up and running in no time. They’re also able to help with merges and deletions, so don’t be shy – ask them for help!
Reviews play a major part in the local algorithm as well. Google reviews are typically the first reviews a user will see for your business, since they’re prominently displayed in your Knowledge Panel – but Google’s algorithm looks at other review sites as well. You should try to spread your reviews evenly between Google, Facebook, industry review sites that matter for your particular vertical, and Yelp.
In the US, Yelp populates the review stars on Apple maps – so any time someone searches for your business on an iPhone, they’re going to see Yelp stars instead of Google stars.
Outside of the US, you’ll need to check Apple maps to see which sites are feeding the stars – typically, it’ll be TripAdvisor, booking.com, or even foursquare. Make sure you’re getting reviews on the site that matters for Apple Maps.
Make sure you’re responding to all of your reviews on the various platforms. It’s important to remember, your replies to the negative reviews aren’t really to the person who left the review – they’re for the rest of the world who want to see how you deal with an upset customer. Make sure your replies are well-written and they actually address the situation – a generic “thanks for your review, please call us at this number” pasted as a reply to every review makes you look lazy.
Personalization, behavioral signals, and social signals also come into play, just like they do with traditional SEO. Even though you’ve got more to worry about with local SEO, it’s typically easier to achieve great results. You’re not fighting against every competitor on the internet – you’re only fighting against the few competitors in the same local area.
And, since most small businesses and digital marketers don’t know what local SEO even is, they’re not including the additional local focus – which makes it easier to out-optimize them and outrank them.
You’ve made it to the end! We hope you’ve enjoyed all of the lessons in our SEO course – we’ll be adding more in the future, so make sure you come back to learn more!
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