LOCAL SEO

I’ve recently fallen in love with Semrush Academy for all things relating to Google and small businesses.

I’ve taken several marketing courses over the last 7 years, but as the internet is continuously evolving, I’ve had some difficulty finding reputable platforms that keep their courses and certifications up-to-date. Semrush has been the end-all, be-all for me recently, and I’ve decided to retake all my certifications through them. As I go through this process, I’m going to share some of the basics of what I’m learning, so that any business owner can understand the value of their location, website, and marketing strategy.

So what is Local SEO? Heck, what is SEO?

SEO is search engine optimization. The course I took most recently, and what this blog post is going to focus on, is local SEO in regards to Google. Google results are what our customers at Laser Image Marketing are asking for. However, there are multiple search platforms that fit certain types of searches. For example, some people prefer to use Duck Duck Go because it allows a certain level of search privacy. When hiring someone or looking to get certified yourself, it’s important to know which platform is most important to your business or customers since each one of these platforms have different algorithms. Speaking of algorithms- let’s jump into it.

Google has many, many algorithms that are always being tested and changed (which is why it is important to renew your certifications at least once a year, minimum).

The first algorithm that we will go over regarding local SEO is conveniently called the local algorithm. Google’s local algorithm is entirely dependent on the address, the competition within your vertical, or the serviced area defined by the business.

When someone is searching for a product or service, Google will automatically populate a Map Pack into the Google search results. This Map Pack represents many different signals that Google has received about businesses that Google thinks are relevant to the search. Previously, Google used to personalize results based on previous searches on that device and the user logged in, however, Google has said that they are using it less and less, and barely affects results shown, if at all.

There are many signals that I’ll touch on, but like any platform, at the end of the day, Google wants you to stay on Google above all else.

For example, have you ever searched for an answer only to find that Google has clipped the answer from an article and other answers from other similar questions?

That’s Google giving you what you need from a reliable source without ever leaving its platform and encouraging you to stay and look up other related information. So how can you get Google to showcase your business and get people to your website?

Google’s local algorithm will show businesses according to their user data. Users that are looking up directions to your business and/or are contacting your business, help you jump to the top quickly. Another important factor to consider is if your customers are Apple users. Apple recently partnered with Yelp, so now if you want to appear on Apple Maps, you need to make sure that your business has a Yelp page.

The other issue you might have if your company doesn’t have a physical address, is worrying about losing out on people looking up directions to your business. Google has a solution, but it’s not getting a PO Box or a mailbox box at UPS (which looks like a real address), because adding those types of addresses to your google profile or website, can actally hurt your local SEO results. Google understands that service based businesses can’t always have a physical address, so instead it offers a Serviced Areas option. At Laser Image Marketing for example, we have selected the cities that we service the most.

The other important ranking factors change consistently.

If you haven’t already checked out the annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey, finish this blog post and check it out asap.

Local SEO isn’t one-size-fits-all. For example, what works in one business industry and one city, won’t work in another. Local SEO gets extremely complicated and has many factors to consider. Some of the most important local ranking factors are:

1. Google My Business

2. Local Links

3. Citations

4. Behavioral Signals

In no particular order, these different ranking items have different weights for different situations.

This is why it can get complicated and working with a company that is staying up-to-date with all of the algorithm changes is just as important as hiring someone that has tested out several situations and cities for different verticals. Remember, there are two algorithms to consider as well, the traditional and local.

When weighing the relevancy of local links for example, it is more important that the link comes from a local business or website. Industry-relevant links are valuable as well, but local links have the most weight even if the site or business doesn’t have high authority. How can you get local links? There are tons of ideas on Google, but here are our favorite three ways:

Sponsorships have some of the best opportunities. Not only can you write them off, but you can sponsor a local group that meets once a month, local events, local businesses, local team, and so on. It’s a great way to support a cause or group that has intrinsic value to you as a company at the same time!

Local Bloggers are another great option as well for both service and product based businesses. You can donate a product for a review, write content they need, or they could write content about you.

Local Meetups that meet regularly are easy to find on Eventbrite or Meetup.com. If your location has space, you can always host their meeting, provide valuable content for their meetings, or sponsor their food or drinks for each meeting. Again, this is a great option for getting involved with your community as well as build great local links!

Once you’ve got some great local links built out, you’re ready for the next ranking factors.

Google My Business is important for many reasons, but most importantly because Google wants you to use their platform and wants to keep users on Google. Your Google profile for your business needs to be up-to-date, match your business name on your website and social platforms, have reviews, questions asked and answered, and much more. This alone could be a whole separate blog topic.

I do want to note that Content is still vital for your Local SEO, but it’s not one of the most weighted ranking factors. However, it is quite literally impossible to rank for a keyword if those keywords do not exist on your website. It’s also important to note that your code needs to be clean, your website should load fast, and your pages should be indexed properly. Front-end and back-end SEO both matter. If you’re links are broken, your images are missing, or your page takes too long to load, your SEO will be punished for it.

Citations are incredibly important but differ wildly for local results based on your country. Again, these things are constantly changing as well, so it’s important to not get caught up in the specifics of which one is more important that the other. Instead, just focus on making sure each ranking factor is solid on your website. Citations can be a bit tricky to navigate if you’re not proficient in SEO. Tools like Whitespark's Local Citation Finder or BrightLocal can both help you find your citation issues and also provide a service to take care of it for you if you aren’t working with a marketing team already. At the end of the day, citations are simply your NAP (name, address, and phone number). If other websites mention your business, and the NAP isn’t consistent with your website, you’ll lose your Google credibility and have your local SEO suffer because of it. Lastly, citations are not heavily weighted like the other ranking factors are. Meaning it won’t be more or less important at any point than the other ranking factors. It actually is just a mandatory, foundational element. Metaphorically speaking, it doesn’t mean that you’ll win the local search game, but it is the only way that you’re allowed a spot in the race.

Behavioral Signals are very heavily weighted in the local algorithm, simply because it has a ton of real world metrics that are near impossible to fake. Some elements of behavioral signals like reviews and engagement with your GMB (Google My Business) can of course be faked. However, Google can track people’s activities and location to know when a business is most or least busy. It can also know if Google Maps is guiding someone to the business after a search, or if a phone call to the business was made by clicking the call button. So while you can’t force someone to create a strong behavioral signal, you can make sure that potential customers have the best chance for successfully making one on their own.

These are just some of the basics of Local SEO for Google.

If you’d like more marketing tips, be sure to check out our COURSES page where we showcase all our free and paid marketing advice.

Also, we offer free consultations if you need some one-on-one marketing advice for your business.