How do you rank in the maps?
If you’re a local business, the search engine maps are becoming increasingly harder to ignore. Move over phone books, the internet has taking over!
Do a search on Google for your local product or service… Are your competitors outranking you in the maps?
What might infuriate you is that some of the websites ahead of yours aren’t even local!
Let’s do something about it!
Getting listed in the local results on the search engines takes a number of steps:
#1: Local Page Optimization:
Your website should have a contact us page with your business name, address and phone number. If you have multiple locations, create a unique page for each one. Put your business contact information in hCard format so that it’s easily recognizable by the search engines. It’s also a good idea to have some specific text about the local area to make it even more relevant. By the way, we take care of this step with our On-Site SEO solution.
#2: Local Listing Optimization:
It’s likely that Google, Bing and Yahoo already have your business listed in their local databases. You just have to first claim those listings and then complete and update them with your proper contact information.
#3: Citations
There are countless other directory and review websites that index local business information such as Yelp, CitySearch, Insider Pages, Local.com and more. The listings on these sites are called citations and search engines like Google and Bing capture this information and take note of it.
From their point of view, the more citations you have, the more legitimate of a business you are and the better they will rank your site in the local results. Our Local SEO solution is all about building up the number of citations for your business. (More on this later…)
<<< This screenshot on the left is an example of a citation published on the bestoftheweb.com local directory.
#4: User Reviews
If you take a look at the local results next to the maps on Google, you’ll notice that some of the listings have reviews. The idea here is to do whatever you can to get accurate reviews from as many users as possible. The more you have, the better you should rank… Just take at the example below.
Notice a pattern? Keep in mind that Google places more weight on it’s own reviews as opposed to those they gather from other websites such as Yelp.com or Urban Spoon.
#5: Local Backlinks
Getting other local sites to point back to yours is another good local SEO strategy. These can be news sites, local blogs, review sites, directories, and other types of sites that list local business information. Our Off-Site SEO solution can do this step for you.
Your Local SEO Solution:
Investment: $290 plus $480 per year or $49 per month. Save $108 per year on the annual plan.
Our Local SEO service includes steps 2 and 3 above, local listing optimization and citations. As well, it may include a little bit of on-site optimization so that your site is more local friendly. Here’s what this service includes:
- Compile your listing data and organizing it into the standardized format.
- Ensure that your local profiles on Google, Bing and Yahoo are optimized.
- Make any necessary minor adjustments on your website.
- Submit your business information to over 200+ citation sources.
How To Sign Up
Let’s first discover if working together will be a good fit for both of us. Simply apply online for our SEO service… It’s FREE and only takes a couple of minutes. We’ll then get back to you right away with more information.