The number of search queries with local relevance is increasing. For example, more and more people are regularly looking on the internet for local businesses, service providers, and other vendors. Local companies need to pursue a comprehensive strategy for local search engine optimization to be found by potential customers.
Most Important Ranking Factors for Local SEO
Claim your Business Listing in Google
Go to Google.com/Business to start a listing claim. Follow the onscreen prompts, answering any questions that you can to help flesh out the body of the listing.
• The company’s address is in the city, referred to by the search
• The company was organized into appropriate categories
• The proximity of the address to the center of town you want
Off-Page factors:
• Number of structured citations in the Yellow Pages and similar directories
• Quality or authority of the structured citations
• Number, quality, and diversity of incoming backlinks
On-page factors:
• Domain authority of the website
• The town appears in the title of the landing page for the local entry
• The address on the website is identical to the address on the Place listings
Review factors:
• Number of Google Place reviews
• Product or service emerges as a keyword in the reviews
• Number of traditional third-party reviews
Social Media:
• Number of +1 on the website.
• Number of adds and shares on Google+.
• CTR from search results
Tips for local businesses Due to the development towards more hybrid local search results, it is necessary to have a holistic SEO strategy for local searches.
Basically, the following five issues are of particular relevance:
1. Optimize your website and Perform a comprehensive on-page analysis. With regard to Local SEO, the following aspects are important in the on-page optimization:
• Company name, address, and telephone number are correctly integrated into the site's on-page copy.
• Keywords with local relevance such as the company name or the product / service and its place should be in the h1 headings, meta description and title tags.
• If possible, put city in the URL <-----NOT MANDATORY
• Reviews should be offered directly on your own website.
2. Build and optimize citations Citations are mentions of the company contact data in the yellow pages, directories, or on evaluation platforms. Google crawls them and compares them with the address data on the company’s website. Citations increase the trustworthiness of the company: Google knows by the multiple mentions of the company that it is not a fake company and can assume that the address is correct.
3. Generate reviews Positive reviews & opinions from customers are a key success factor in local search. Not only are they important as a ranking factor, but they also help in attracting new customers. A study by Bright Local shows that 85% of users regularly or occasionally read online customer reviews to assess the quality and reliability of a local company. This is important:
• Be present on several review sites
• Ask customers directly via email for a statement
• Offer a guideline for writing testimonials
4. Build backlinks Building backlinks is part of every SEO strategy. It applies to local SEO since the right audience can be addressed. A good approach to building backlinks is the maintenance of a blog. Here you can publish content with local relevance, which appeals to the target audience and motivates users to link.
Negative Ranking Factors
• Listing identified at the false business location
• Keywords stuffed in the business name
• Discrepancy NAP/Tracking Phone Numbers, Places & Landing Pages
• Wrong business category, address on Places & Landing Pages
• Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same/Similar Business Title and Address
Source:http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
Conclusion Local search engine optimization is becoming increasingly important, especially because of the rising number of searches via mobile devices. Therefore, mobile optimization and local SEO go hand in hand, so to speak.
EXAMPLE BELOW CLIENT RANKING FOR KEYWORDS
Go ahead Google 'Renters Insurance Torrance'... You'll see www.PeninsulaGeneral.com. (Mastering P.o.P client) displays on the first page of Google for this phrase and many others. Peninsula General has one office location in Torrance CA, and they wanted to be on the first page for all the insurances that they offer. They service Southern California, but it was important for them to be on the 1st page of Google for the city where their location sits.
The screenshot below displays that the Title Tag & Description serves up the
Peninsula General Insurance also ranks for the following keywords and more.
- condo insurance torrance
- homeowners insurance torrance
- dump truck insurance torrance
- mobile home insurance torrance
- mobile home insurance torrance
- watercraft insurance torrance
- cargo insurance torrance
- etc
