The Top 10 Local SEO factors 2014 are based on the Moz results from their annual popular survey. This was put together using the data from the Moz Local SEO factors survey, and a range of hands on experience with what works and what doesn’t. Local SEO different from other forms of online marketing, the individual things that we do differently are specific to make sure the business is competitive in our local town. This is in the most part, in much the same way as we would usually approach a website, as described in the slideshow.
Firstly, your website Structure is important for crawlers. Keep your page hierarchy mostly flat, and make sure your main pages are clearly placed in the menu. Make use of internal linking for important pages. Be sure to include a sitemap.xml file and configure your robots.txt to Disallow resources you don’t want indexed. Use Schema so all the various platforms can read and understand the data on your pages. More on Schema: http://schema.org/LocalBusiness
Create Great Content
You will also want to create great content, lots of great content to describe your Services And your Products. Make sure you discuss the locations your business services using relevant local search terms. Investigate what is well known locally, the kinds of things locals identify with. Place the keywords naturally on your pages. Don’t overuse the keywords or you might get a Google slap for keyword overuse, also people wont read something that is contrived, so make sure it reads naturally.
Keep your content fresh by Adding new content every week if appropriate. Regular content helps to improve the crawl rate of your pages. Fresh regular content is also great for social sharing. Let your subscriber know by email notification. This will also help your content get picked up by RSS feeds and encourages links from bloggers.
Contact Form for Leads
Contact Us is very important, make sure contact details are obviously placed on your site. Use click to call Phone number at top right corner of your site. Use a contact form to make is easy for customers to send off a message.Place your address on every page so customers don’t have to click around to find it. Link to a Google map and include directions to your business location.
Get your Website Listed in Local Directories
You will want to submit your website to local sites and local directories, and build business listings using Yelp, Truelocal, etc. To save time and to increase accuracy you may want to use aggregator services to submit, such as UBL: https://www.ubl.org Use Google My Business to Claim/Create your listing. This was previously known as Places and is still often referred to as Maps. Accuracy is very important when entering the contact details. Please keep and eye our for the Postcard that Google sends out, as these could get lost in the mail or disregarded if not careful.
Accurate NAP information is very Important. NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone, and it must be accurate across all the citations you create on all the directories. Old or outdated information looks bad and can hurt your SEO efforts, so make sure to update every directory if your business address or phone number etc. changes. If this turns out to be a lot more work than you banked on you may consider using aggregator service, but keep quality in mind.
Use Social Media
Use Social media to spread your mesages, get onto Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. Use Foursquare to allow customers to ‘check-ins’ when they get to your premises. Consider any other relevant social platforms that may also be appropriate. Share your posts and use Social sharing icons on your pages to allow easy sharing of content. Ask your customers to follow you. Share all your blog posts and promote any special offers your business may have going, this gives your customers a good reason to share your content.
Get Google Reviews
It is helpful to get Google reviews, as these really pack a punch and helps your Local SEO efforts. It also increases the customer trust levels as people are really interested in good quality service and will read the reviews. Put a review system in place and follow up asking for a review. Satisfied customers love giving reviews, so be brave and ask for honest reviews, and you may have to deal with any negative feedback, so take it on-board. People love good service, they will be reading the reviews.
WordPress SEO by Yoast
You may want to use the Local SEO Plugin by Yoast. It includes a great lot bunch of functionality, including It Uses Schema, and Inserts Google Maps, Inserts address(es), Opening hours, and includes a Store locator: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/local-seo/
Some of the best Local Citations Sites include www.truelocal.com.au www.startlocal.com.au www.yelp.com.au Daniel Law has a good list: http://www.bigvisionseo.com.au/free-australian-local-citations
Top 10 Moz Local SEO Factors 2014 Survey
Below are the Top 10 Moz Local SEO Factors 2014 Survey, I have summarized some of the top 10 in the slideshow below prepared for a presentation and discussion the Melbourne SEO Meetup: http://www.slideshare.net/petermeadit/top-10-local-seo-factors-2014-moz-results
More details on Local SEO see the Moz website: http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
Peter Mead shares over 20 years experience in Digital and as an expert SEO Consultant. Peter draws further knowledge and experience from his involvement as a SEMrush Webinar host and a co-organizer of Melbourne SEO Meetup. Writing articles based on his hands-on analytical and strategic experience. Peter is passionate about contributing to client success and the improvement of the broader SEO community.
Peter can be found on some of these sites:
Hosting the SEMrush Australian Search Marketing Academy Webinar: https://www.semrush.com/user/145846945/
WordPress SEO Consultant: Peter Mead iT https://petermead.com/
Co-Organiser: Melbourne SEO Meetup https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-SEO/
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