Good [geo] search rankings come from claiming profiles on the primary local sites, enhancing those profiles, and updating them with reviews and specials as well as building citations from your website and other directories.
With this in mind, the bullets below summarize our process for optimizing your website’s rankings:
- Verify and enhance profiles – we help verify your profile on Google+ Local, Yahoo and Bing. Each requires a postcard address verification. Our software lets you know when those cards will arrive and provides a way for you to give us the verification information. Once your listing is verified, we use content from your website and onboarding questionnaire to add photos, videos and other business information.
- Build Citations – We submit your business NAP (Name Address Phone) to national and local business directories. These business listings build credibility for your local listing. One of the most important citations for your business profiles is your website. We provide specific local seo recommendations for your website.
- Offers and Reviews – We work with you to get customers to add reviews to your [geo] pages. We setup an email program and provide badges for your website. Reviews improve the authority of your local profile and also give potential customers more information about your business. Additionally, many of the local sites allow you to periodically update an offer or special. We’ll help keep your local listings updated with new information.
While there is some similarity between tactics used for general search versus [geo] search, the local algorithm for ranking is different from the general search algorithm.
Often times Local SEO results are the fastest way for local businesses to get placement in search engine results page.
Local business listings works best for businesses that have established local operations in one or more locations.
National companies without local addresses cannot create local business profiles.
Mobile phone applications like Google Maps use the same ranking methods and database of business information used by the local results section of the SERP.
Finally, with search engines like Google adding social media services, Google has integrated their local search into Google+ Local.
The merger of local and social will continue so it is important that businesses establish their local presence on websites for [geo] like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and others.
