LOCAL SEO REPORT CARD

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1 LOCAL SEO REPORT CARD Despite the immense percentage of local searches, there are still many businesses who are surprisingly inactive when it comes to local search marketing. INTERMEDIATE

2 2 ABOUT POWERED BY SEARCH For business leaders, Powered by Search is a trusted digital marketing partner alike in developing and executing customized, high ROI-focused strategies that turn consumer intent into high quality leads. We provide a comprehensive range of inbound marketing services, including search engine optimization, paid search marketing, conversion rate optimization, content marketing, social media marketing, web design and development, and ROI analysis. Powered by Search is the go-to digital marketing partner for small to medium enterprises all the way up to Canada s and America s largest enterprises. We currently work with FedEx USA, RE/MAX, Rogers, Whirlpool, Intact Insurance, TJX, Public Storage, Primus Telecommunications, Volunteer Canada, and many other reputable organizations. We are accredited as a Google AdWords Partner, Better Business Bureau member, and Google Engage for Agencies member, and have been featured in the Globe & Mail, Financial Post, Toronto Star and CTV. Learn more about our award-winning digital marketing services at

3 3 ALL SET? Wondering if this is the right resource for you? Use this handy page to determine if this reading matches your expertise. BEGINNER Beginner content is for marketers who are getting their feet wet for the first time. These readings offer introductions to key concepts and instructions regarding their application. If you are just entering the inbound world, feel free to also check out our beginner s guide to inbound marketing. Intermediate content is for marketers which already have a basic marketing understanding and are looking to ascend to the next level. These readings go past the fundamentals and offer higher levels of tips and strategies. INTERMEDIATE EXPERT Expert content is for advanced marketers, or those wishing to become advanced. These readings offer the highest level of tips, strategies, and advice.

4 4 AUTHOR STEPHANIE LING Marketing Assistant

5 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Performing Customer & Competitor Research Chapter 2: Building a Local Online Presence Chapter 3: Optimizing Your Website Chapter 4: Having a Correct NAP Chapter 5: Proper Optimization of Store Location(s)

6 6 INTRODUCTION Local SEO is an excellent way for your business to better connect with local visitors. BrightLocal s Local Consumer Review Survey for 2013 noted that 95% of consumers are searching for local businesses online. By targeting local traffic your business will receive more leads, which will in turn convert to an increase in sales. Despite the immense percentage of local searches, there are still many businesses who are surprisingly inactive when it comes to local search marketing. A survey by Yodle showed that about 9 in 10 small businesses have not yet figured out how to use social media or online advertising to market their product. Are you one of them? When your business appears in local search results, information such as its location, contact information, and website are available to click through. Customers actively searching for businesses in their area are more likely to go with your product or service because it is convenient and easily accessible - that is, if your company is can be found locally. This report card will provide you with the right steps to improve your local search marketing and increase local business as a result.

7 7 CUSTOMER & COMPETITOR RESEARCH Check listing sources of high ranking sites for your keywords: Inform your own SEO strategy by doing research on valuable keywords, and how you rank in comparison to your competitors. There are a variety of online tools available to do so, such as: Google Keyword Planner, Geo Ranker, Whitespark, Brightlocal & SEMrush. Open a Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) Account & Verify Your Site: Link GWT to your Google Account in order to receive your ranking data from Google. This tool generates an array of data to monitor and maintain your site s presence on Google search engine results pages. It allows you to view your site from Google s perspective, identifying problems to easily track indexing errors. Create a Review Funnel: On your website create a review funnel for customers that allows them to share positive experiences through Google, Yelp or Facebook. The funnel prevents negative reviews from being publicized, and instead has them sent to your company as feedback. A great example of a review funnel can be found on our client s website:

8 8 Step 1: The review funnel home page should give customers the option to provide feedback about a good AND bad experience. Step 2: If the customer selects Good, they should be navigated to a new page with the option to share this experience on personal profiles and local portals such as Google+, Yelp, and Facebook.

9 9 Step 3: If the customer selects Bad then they should be navigated to a page, which allows them to share their feedback directly for your company to read. Review Your Reviews: Reviews are the easy way to get inside the minds of your customers. Use them as customer research to improve both your business operations and customer experience. Increased positive, online feedback will also help by contributing to your business online authority. Pro Tip! : Once you have received a minimum of five reviews, five golden stars will appear beside your organic map listing. Reviews legitimize your web presence and help provide more leads. Which company would you rather go with: the one with zero to none reviews, or the one with a couple of reviews and an average star rating?

10 10 73% of consumers say positive customer reviews make them trust a business more. 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations % 85% 60 of consumers say that they read online reviews for local businesses (Local Consumer Review Survey 2012)

11 11 BUILDING A LOCAL ONLINE PRESENCE - GET LISTED Google My Business (GMB): An integration of Google s previous Places and Plus, My Business consolidates social and places messaging to create a unified Portal. Business owners can see both Plus and Places information, and also interact with other Google business products (i.e. analytics). Yahoo! Local: Yahoo! Local offers a variety of ways for consumers to connect with business listed on the site. Some of the features include: location details, customized contact information, detailed business description, branding capabilities, and special offers. Bing Places: Bing Places is highly similar to Google+ Local Pages, and therefore will be quite familiar if you have already claimed your listing on Google Places. After all, Bing remains the third largest search engine in America, so don t miss out on another opportunity to gain visibility.

12 12 Pro Tip! - What Not To Do In GMB If you are a business that doesn t make in-person customer contact (i.e. e-shops) or you lack a relatively permanent location, then your business is an ineligible business model and does not qualify for a local page. However, if your business is brand-based or is an organization, you can still take advantage of having a Google + Business Page! Claim listings on all major local portals & industry specific platforms: Local Listings will connect your business with customers who are navigating from a specific web domain versus a search engine. Most often these local portals provide a map, reviews, and contact information for visitors who are inquiring. Build a strong backlink profile by getting listed on local portals such as: Trip Advisor Urban Spoon Yelp Foursquare Find out where your competitors are listed, and see what sites have proved successful. If none are doing well in your location, find out what companies in the same industry are doing elsewhere. Get listed on key regional portals: If available, these listings include any community related sites for specific neighbourhoods, local news sites, and even offline opportunities such as local television programming and newspapers. Citations and mentions in the same vertical or location/city as the business have more weight when it comes to Google ranks.

13 13 OPTIMIZING YOUR WEBSITE Use a canonical URL: Canonicalization is a method of redirection that combines individual pages with multiple URLs. Be sure to set a preferred URL so that content from identical pages is not distributed via multiple URLs. For example: vs. Use the appropriate domain extension: For optimal local search marketing, it is recommended to use your country specific domain extension (i.e. Businesses with only Canadian audiences would use.ca). However, if your local business has an international audience, you would most likely stick with.com. Include detailed Titles Tags, H1 Tags & Meta Descriptions: Titles, headlines, and meta descriptions help both the user and also the search engine to better understand and preview your website before actually visiting. Try including location and contact information in order to target local customers. Optimize your images: Optimizing your images to include business-specific details will greatly help search engines better rank your site. Include descriptive details in the image ALT text, such as the location of your company, to increase chances of better ranking. The image above contains the ALT text The PBS Team

14 14 Create your website with responsive design: Coding your website for ease of reading and navigation across a wide range of devices is extremely important in providing an optimal viewing experience. The Powered by Search website as seen on a monitor. The Powered by Search website as seen on mobile or a smaller screen 88% of consumers conduct local searches on search engines using their smartphone. (Google) 72% of consumers who searched for local information on smartphone visit a store within 5 miles. (Google)

15 15 IS YOUR NAP ENTERED CORRECTLY? Have a consistent Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP): Citations and mentions are used when determining the authority of your site. A consistent NAP is extremely important in making mentions matter, think of it as the fingerprint of your business. The amount of mentions your company receives will not have an effect if your fingerprint is different every time. Warning: Don t have call tracking numbers for your phone number - keep everything local! Pro Tip! Good NAP vs. Bad NAP example: Did you see the difference? If you are a business that doesn t make in-person customer contact (i.e. e-shops) or you lack a relatively permanent location, then your business is an ineligible business model and does not qualify for a local page. However, if your business is brand-based or is an organization, you can still take advantage of having a Google + Business Page! Good Bad Powered by Search 505 Consumers Road Suite 507 Toronto, ON M2J4V8 Canada Powered by Search 505 Consumers Road Suite 507 Toronto, ON M2J4V8 Canada Powered by Search 505 Consumers Road Suite 507 Toronto, ON M2J4V8 Canada Powered by Search Inc. 505 Consumers Rd - Unit 507 M2J 4V8 Toronto, Ontario Canada Place your NAP in the footer & contact page: Have a consistent NAP that can be found in the footer throughout your site and also central to the contact page of your site.

16 16 ARE STORE LOCATION(S) PROPERLY OPTIMIZED? Embed a Google Map of your location: Embedding a Google Map onto your website will help visitors easily locate your business. Create a unique URL for each location: Don t hide your locations behind a search form! If your business has a large number of locations, it makes sense to create separate contact pages for each unique location in order to better leverage the on-page seo elements. There should be a unique, crawlable URL for each store. List your locations on a single or multiple contact pages: If your various locations are within the same general area, you could create a single contact page for all the listed locations. If you have multiple locations in various provinces (lets say), it would be better to create a unique web page for each geographical area linking to all the stores in that area. Pro Tip! If you re not sure how to make the content unique per geographical area, consider adding information about each specific location and how it relates to your business. Add directions and embed maps specific to the individual locations for better usability.

17 17 Thanks for reading! Powered by Search 505 Consumers Road, Suite 507 Toronto, Ontario M2J 4V6 Canada Web: poweredbysearch.com Call Toll Free: CONNECT WITH US TODAY: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/powered-by-search Facebook: facebook.com/poweredbysearch Google +: plus.google.com/+poweredbysearch Let s Talk! It s time to take your digital marketing to the next level. It s time to get Powered by Search. Here is what we offer: Contact us today! Get a FREE consultation Majestic marketing awaits GET STARTED