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Google+ Local SEO Improve Your Business Website Rankings Ryan England This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights Although the author and publisher have made every reasonable attempt to achieve complete accuracy of the content in this Guide, they assume no responsibility for errors or omissions Also, you should use this information as you see fit, and at your own risk Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms Finally, use your head Nothing in this Guide is intended to replace common sense, legal, medical or other professional advice, and is meant to inform and entertain the reader Copyright 2013 Ryan England All rights reserved worldwide Table Of Contents What is a Google+ Local Page? Introducing Local SEO How is this book broken down? Keyword Research: Claiming & Optimizing Your Profile: Setting Up Your Google+ Local Page Optimizing Your Profile Off Page Optimization Seeing Where Your Competition is Listed Website Optimization Normal On Page SEO Normal On Page SEO (Content Section) Local SEO, The Extra Steps Wordpress Users Setting Up Systems Out Of Your Control Methods In Your Control Method Method 1: Review Button On The Website Method II: Collect Reviews and Post Them Yourself Maintenance Bonus: Reputation Management What is a Google+ Local Page? These were originally called Google Place Pages, and essentially were business profiles in a directory similar to Yelp or the Yellow Page Businesses could post information about their business, and visitors could leave reviews of the company and read reviews left by others For many searches, they show up at the top of the Google Search Results in a separated section with the letters and corresponding map Google+ was started in June 2011 is Google’s Social Media Site that is most comparable to Facebook In May of 2012, they decided to combine Google+ and Google Place Pages leading to Google+ Local Pages This joined the social networking aspects with those of the business directory, creating a unifying platform between the two Introducing Local SEO Over the past few years, Google has gotten a lot better at serving local results when needed Instead of typing in “Dentist in Buffalo,” I can simply type in “Dentist” and they’ll use my computer’s IP/Location to provide me with the best results If a searcher is likely to be looking for someone local, such as a doctor or car mechanic, Google will usually provide those results without the need for an extra step by the user Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving a website’s ranking in the search results Searchers are more likely to click results that show up higher, making the top results a valuable marketing position for companies By outranking your competition for keywords in your market, you stand a better chance of driving those visitors to your site They’re actively looking for your service, making them high quality leads That’s what this book is about: Improving your business’ results in the local market and getting ahead of your competition How is this book broken down? Keyword Research: Finding out what people in your market are typing in provides loads of insight for the best way to craft your campaign I give you a quick overview and link to an in depth free resource Claiming & Optimizing Your Profile: I walk you through claiming your Google+ Local Page and filling out each section step-by-step Off Page Optimization: Mostly focuses on finding, claiming, and optimizing your business profiles on other important web directories Website Optimization: These are changes you make to your actual website You need a bit of website editing knowledge to this, or you can always send it to your webmaster Setting Up Systems: These are a few methods to be more aware of your online reputation and encourage quality reviews from real clients Ongoing Maintenance: Most steps in this book are set and forget, but over time it helps to a bit of upkeep to ensure quality rankings for the long term Bonus | Reputation Management: I share a blog post from one of my sites that explains how I run Reputation Management for a client Keyword Research: There’s a ton of great resources available for how to keyword research properly No need to reinvent the wheel, so I’ll be giving you the quick overview along with some pointers, followed by a link to the best resource I’ve come across Search “Keyword Tool” in Google and select the first result In the top right corner, click “sign in,” and login to your Google Account Create one if you don’t have one already as you’ll need it in the future In the far left column under Match Types, uncheck “Broad” and check “[Exact].” Enter your website in the website field OR enter a few search terms you think you should be ranking for in the field just above Click “Search” and then Click “Keyword Ideas” above the results Keyword: The keyword that is being typed in Competition: This is strictly for Adwords or Paid Ads, and doesn’t apply to SEO Global: Exact Monthly Searches around the world Local: Exact Monthly Search in your country This can be changed in Advanced Options CPC: Cost Per Click, or the price paid for each paid click in Adwords If you’re a local business, the most important parts are the Keyword and Local Monthly Searches The best resource I’ve found for more in depth keyword research is here http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/keyword-research Claiming & Optimizing Your Profile: Setting Up Your Google+ Local Page Search “Places” in Google, and select the first result; or go to www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness/ Select “Get Started For Free.” Login to your Google Account if you haven’t already Enter Your Business Name, Phone, Address, and Website exactly as you want it to appear Don’t try and mix keywords in here, unless they are actually part of your name Select Your Business if it comes up; if not click “No it doesn’t match” and enter any additional information Verify Your Business a Phone: The quicker and easier option, but not always offered They call your business number and have you enter a code on the screen b Postcard: Always given as an option They send a postcard with a verification code and instructions within it After Verification, click “OK” and move on to the next section Optimizing Your Profile IMPORTANT: After verification, not change your business name, business address, phone number, or website information This may require a re-verification, and can harm any current rankings your page may have Country: Your Country Company/Organization: Do Not Change! Street Address/City/State/Zip: Do Not Change! Main Phone: Do Not Change! Email: Put in an email that can be listed publicly Website: Do Not Change! Description: Think of this section as an “elevator pitch” for your business Instead of 15 seconds, you have 200 characters Fill out the next step, “Category,” and come back Write about what you do, where you it, and how you it Try and include the category if possible Don’t stuff your keywords into this part, as Google is much smarter than that Category: Simply type in what category your business is in One or two is fine; just make sure they are the most relevant/specific ones If you’re a pizza place, you should choose “pizza restaurant” over “restaurant.” Try and use their existing categories Definitely use at least one of theirs, and don’t be afraid to create your own if you are in a special niche You can fill all as long as they apply to you Service Area / Hours / Payment Info: Fill out according to your business Photos: Upload all 10 photo spots Pictures can include company logos, facility, staff, equipment, etc Anything that is relevant to the company can go in this spot Videos: Having a YouTube Account is great for a business Videos don’t need to be complex, and can simply be made with a web cam or slideshow software Try and have videos on your YouTube account and link them in here Each video should be relevant to your business When you upload the video, be sure to have your company name, business info, website link, and geo-locate to your specific area (there’s a map in the YouTube video settings that makes this easy) Additional Details: I usually leave this section blank You can build off their examples, or keep it blank as well Don’t keyword stuff this section either Side Note: I usually keep all of this information in an Excel Doc or Spreadsheet, so I can easily access it in the future sections It’s an extra step, but will save time in the future Click Submit, and your page is now optimized 10 Off Page Optimization Put simply, this section is about finding business directories, claiming your profile, and optimizing it Google wants to see an established business, and one that every directory is listing is a decent indicator of that They can also see reviews on a lot of these listings, and will sometimes link to them from your Google+ Page These profiles and reviews are called citations You should save a list of these in a spreadsheet or bookmark folder for future reference Using GetListed.org: Recently acquired by MOZ (previously SEOMoz), GetListed.org helps you find and verify your business profiles Head to GetListed.org and enter both your business name and phone number using the same information as your Google+ Local Page Under “Choose The Most Accurate Listing” select your business, or click I don’t see my business (You should see your listing, as Google is quick to update) The next steps may take some time, but are very easy to follow Under Missing Listings, click “Create Listing” for each directory it shows until they have all been created Under Unclaimed Listings, click “Claim Listing” for all the listings it shows Under Found Listing, quickly review that all the information is right If any are listed under “We were unable to contact,” you should go to those pages and create/claim the listing, and make sure the information is accurate You will need to search for each site on Google and follow their claiming processes, but this is time well spent A new great feature by GetListed.org is the ability to see reviews and the “To Do” list We’re going to skip the reviews for now, and go right to the “To Do” tab Next to each directory, they give you a few tips to better optimize each page Optimizing these pages will help, but it can be time consuming Spread these out over a few days to maintain your sanity, and try your best to match all their recommendations 11 Seeing Where Your Competition is Listed Looking at their page: Go to Google.com and start searching your keywords that show the local results Open up the pages of your competitors that have reviews showing, and scroll to the bottom of their page These are some of the directories that Google is looking at in your market Take note of these directories and create/claim your listing on each Searching For More Directories: The two main directory types that we’re looking for are local and/or niche related Local Directories: Simply search Your City/Town + Business Directory in Google Go through the main results and create/claim your listings Ignore paid directories at this point, as it’s often wasted effort Niche Directories: This involves a few extra searches and weeding out of decent directories Search for Your Niche/Market + Directory in Google For example, “Dentist Directory,” yields directories that are either solely for dentists or contain sections for dentists Go through the top 2-3 pages and create/claim your listings You’ll see some listings such as Yellow Pages that we’ve already claimed 12 Tools In The Market Everything I’ve described so far is free, yet often time consuming There are a few tools that can speed up the process or handle it entirely Most of these are paid, although if you’re only doing one business; you can use them for free BrightLocal.com – A decent service for finding more citations and tracking results A free 30 day trial and $20/m after makes it one of the better paid tools on the market It has a few more features than GetListed.org, so this would be my recommended paid tool WhiteSpark.ca – This is a paid tool, but the free version works for what you need You can search either by your phone number or a keyword in the market The phone number shows your listings, and the keyword search shows the listings that show up for that keyword The results are mostly directories that you can claim your listing on, but there is some sorting needed Yext.com – A fairly impressive tool, this allows you to check and update all of your listings at once It has more sites than GetListed.org, and the listing updater is a great feature The negatives of this product are that you have to sign up for a year contract and the pay the full year up front This is going to cost anywhere from $200$800, although the $500 package is more than sufficient 13 Website Optimization This section is about editing your website If you feel comfortable making the changes yourself, they’re quick and easy; if not, send over this information to your webmaster Most of this is similar to traditional On Page SEO, but there are a few extra steps to properly optimize for the local market The goals of On Page SEO are to show Google that you’re relevant to your keywords and the areas in which you want to rank As long as you don’t overuse your keywords and stuff them into your pages, this is very difficult to mess up 14 Normal On Page SEO Title Tag: This shows up in your in the code, and is also what shows up in the blue text for a Google Search Use your keyword once, include the area, and write something to encourage clicks; all while staying under 60 characters Meta Description: This is also in the , and is the black description for listings in a Google Search Use your keyword once, and write something to encourage clicks Think what people searching for your service would like to read It could be discounts, guarantees, amazing service etc Keep it under 160 characters Meta Keywords: In the List your keywords using a comma to separate them Don’t repeat individual words, even if they are in different phrases List 5-10 per page *There’s a lot of SEO’s and data to support that the Description and Keywords are no longer used in rankings The description can help increase click throughs, and the keywords take all of 10 seconds to fill out, so it’s definitely worth the time Optimize your site for the long term, so if algorithms change; you’re already setup 15 Normal On Page SEO (Content Section) The steps below help, but the content is most important You want to use related terms that are normal “lingo” for your market For a dentist example, you’d also want to see words on the page such as dental, teeth, whitening, oral, dental hygienist, etc This is known as LSI or Latent Semantic Indexing Put your main keyword in an heading tag, usually in a short phrase For example if your main keyword was Dallas Dentist, you could put in the heading “Cosmetic Dentist in Dallas Texas.” If it makes sense to organize your content in sections, don’t be afraid to use other heading tags (h2, h3, h4, etc) I only recommend using one h1, and limit the use of the others Have your keyword in the first and last sentence of the page Emphasize the keywords or phrases on your page where it makes sense You can this by underling, italicizing, or bolding your keywords Don’t overdo it, and use it naturally Use the Alt attribute for images, and describe the image you’re using with your keywords Link out to an authority site in your market, such as a Wikipedia page *You don’t need to everything above if you don’t have enough content Don’t worry about keyword densities, and make sure all your content is relevant 16 Local SEO, The Extra Steps Put your business info at the bottom of your site in your footer, so it shows up on every page Make sure it is exactly the same as you used for the directories If this isn’t possible, be sure to at least have it on your contact page Upload a KML File to your root directory I use, http://www.geositemapgenerator.com/ , which also gives you a geositemap This is no longer supported, so just use the KML file they give you Schema.org and Microdata This is the most code oriented part of the section, but it’s extremely helpful Basically you’re given extra tags to markup certain data that you can tell Google and other search engines about This can be a phone number, address, upcoming event, product, business hours, reviews, and dozens of other info pieces For a local business, the most important parts are going to be the brand, address and phone number If you have reviews on the page, mark those up as well At Schema.org you can see all the options available Head to Schema-Creator.org , for an easy way to get the code you need The easiest way to this right is to put these on your address in the footer, but at the very least your contact page (If you’re feeling advanced, feel free to put in your longitude and latitude) *To check that everything was entered correctly, head to http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets and use the tool 17 Wordpress Users You’re in luck, as plugins make everything easy On Page SEO: User either Yoast or All In One SEO plugin I also use Google XML Sitemaps Schema.org: Use Schema Creator by Raven KML File: I’ve not found a plugin for this, so FTP is what I usually use 18 Setting Up Systems The goal of systems is automation, or at least removing yourself from the equation as much as possible I’ve come across tons of methods for doing this, but will speak from experience with my recommendations Out Of Your Control Methods Some companies send mailings out asking for reviews on certain sites They’ll include a QR code to the review page, and maybe some sort of accompanying coupons Other companies offer incentivized reviews with either discounts or contents I don’t recommend these for the following reasons Mail response rates are extremely low You don’t know if the client was happy or angry with your services There’s tons of FTC red tape restrictions for seeking reviews 19 In Your Control Method *Don’t ever post fake reviews, and make sure you read the entire section before attempting to post reviews yourself There are two main methods I’ve used in the past with clients and have gotten fantastic results Method 1: Review Button On The Website This can go a few ways, but I’ll start with the most basic and go to the most advanced Link the review button to a contact form, and hope people click it You can collect reviews and use Method for distribution Link to the review sites People click the button and leave reviews on the page The reviews could either be good or bad Preferred Method Link to a “Review Page” on your site On one side there’s a happy face with the text “I was happy with my experience,” and on the other side there’s a frowned face for the “I was unhappy” client When you click the happy face, a drop down menu appears and it links to your review sites They choose which one they want to leave a review on When you click the unhappy face, it takes you to a contact form where the person can leave their review This helps filter the bad reviews from going out, lets the unhappy client feel heard, and gives you the chance to remedy the unhappy client’s experience 20 Method II: Collect Reviews and Post Them Yourself Collecting Reviews It’s hard to apply this to every industry, as everyone interacts with their clients differently You can collect reviews on paper or digitally, and it can happen during or after the actual transaction The most important thing is that you ask for the review Having social proof that you can provide to future clients will increase your closing rate significantly A web designer I worked with a few years back would go to his final client meeting to collect the last payment and provide them with all their website info In the back of his packet he had a review sheet, and he’d simply give them the option to fill it out then or send it to him Most of the time, he would walk out with a check in one hand and raving review in the other You can always offer to keep things anonymous, and sometimes that is for the best When people know their name is attached to a review, they may leave something that is over the top I know at least Yelp, but most likely several other review sites, have filters that actually won’t approve certain reviews if they sound too fake So it doesn’t matter how you get the reviews You can hand them a piece of paper or send them to a page on your site All you need is a name, a review title, a star rating out of 5, and their actual review Check the laws in your area, but fake names are allowed as long as the rest of the content is real 21 Posting Reviews An old client of mine would collect reviews and then would ask friends or employees to post them on their computers at home This isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but it can easily become a hassle to deal with The goal is to have different computer IP’s (locations) and different accounts to help bypass the filters I’ve tried other methods which I’m choosing to leave out, as I’ve found a website called LBLRobot.com to be the most effective It’s a paid service at $97/m, but it has a ton of great features It posts to most review sites, with the exception of Yelp You can enter all your reviews at once It will spread those reviews out over the month, for a maximum of reviews per site It uses Local IP’s and accounts, meaning a high approval rate You can post to multiple companies, so it’s possible to share with a friend Again, there are a few similar sites out there, but I’ve had the best results using them 22 Maintenance Outside of continually collecting reviews and getting them posted, you should be having someone paying attention to your online reputation Near the end of this book, I’m including an updated blog post of mine on the subject which explains most of the ins and outs When a review gets posted on one of your claimed profiles, you should receive an email notification Most of the time, I recommend responding to these as it make you appear as a more involved business owner If they’re positive reviews, simply thank the customer for leaving it and respond to whatever else they said If you receive a negative review, keep the following things in mind People assume quality service, so they’re much more likely to tell all their friends when they’ve had a bad experience You want to turn the unhappy customer into a happy one Don’t take it personally, as hard as that may be Respond only when level headed Thank them for posting Don’t argue Try and resolve with them, without bending over backwards Free stuff always attracts attention It could be as simple as offering a meal on the house, or bringing them back in to replace their brakes for free The bad review is going to cost you a lot more than the cost of repairing the relationship, so it’s almost always worth taking the extra step Another way to keep an eye on your online reputation is to setup Google Alerts, Google.com/Alerts/ These basically setup notifications when someone mentions your website or company name They’re super easy to setup, and can be done in under a minute Login to your Google Account and head to Google.com/Alerts/ Enter your website abc.com (leave out the http://www.) Keep “Everything” for results Set either “daily” or “weekly” for frequency Select “All Results” Select your email and click “Create Alert.” *Repeat for company name, owner names, and whatever else might make it into reviews 23 Bonus: Reputation Management Now for cleaning up the reputation in the search engines There’s nothing worse than Google’ing your name (personal or business) and finding a poor review about yourself from an ex-business partner or unhappy client One of my least favorite sites to go up against is called RipOffReport (ROR) They’ve been around for years, have tons of authority with Google, and their On Page SEO is flawless Due to a law passed about years ago, a site owner is not responsible for user generated content, regardless of the validity This means he’s under no pressure to take them down, and is legally allowed to host them on his site From what I’ve heard, you can pay $10,000 to get the review taken down, which is outside the budget for a lot of people; but he is in the position of power DO NOT!!! Certain BlackHat SEO techniques and spammy links can get a site banned from the search engines However RipOffReport and the other big sites will not be affected by them I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard other SEO’s talk about spamming the negative site with bad links will take it down NOT TRUE!!! These links actually help the page, and make it headache to move it out It becomes far more expensive in cost and time to move it out The Right Way Negative SEO doesn’t exist* You cannot push a site down (It is possible on a newer site, but overtime rankings will return, so it’s only a temporary fix.) However, you can push the sites surrounding the negative site UP, providing similar results In a normal SEO campaign, we push site up to the top In Reputation Management, we may push 10-20 sites up, depending on how deep you want to bury the negative article Heads up, I’ve turned down clients in the past because, in my opinion, the negative article should have stayed on top I have to draw the line somewhere *Negative SEO didn’t exist until the Google Penguin Update of April, 2012 It will not affect well known sites, and can only be used in certain markets It’s a bad strategy for anyone, and you should focus on building yourself up instead of bringing others down I’ve tested the following system on about a dozen different clients This is the method I’ve found to work best The first step is identifying the negative site, and going through the top 50 or so results and finding sites that we can either influence by editing the content (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, other blogs, etc), or sites we’d definitely like to see in the top 10 (Favorable reviews, Yelp Pages, etc) Using Off Page SEO, we can move the sites around sites we don’t have access to We can also create additional blogs or profiles that we’d like to push up there Sites at a Time First I choose the best sites that are ranked just below the negative article Then I begin building links to those pages at a rate of X, and building links to the pages above the negative article at a rate of X/2 This just ensures that everything is getting an upward boost, but the negative article I’ve tried moving 10 sites at once, which had very little effect; and I’ve tried moving one at a time, which moved far to slowly I’ve found sites to be the sweet spot Over time, usually 3-4 weeks, but sometimes sooner, the sites receiving the Off Page SEO will move above the negative site I then cut their links in half, and choose the next sites It’s very important to keep the links being built to all the pages above the negative site, to ensure they don’t slip back It’s a rinse and repeat cycle that can push down the negative site as deep as you want Page is usually sufficient, as very few people will click that far in Reputation is everything in relationships, regardless of whether they’re business or personal By following the steps above, you can control your online presence and stop letting those few unhappy people affect your future 24 We’re currently working on content, but to stay in touch; head to TheWebTutor.org Thanks for reading ~TheWebTutor.org 25 [...]... Recently acquired by MOZ (previously SEOMoz), GetListed.org helps you find and verify your business profiles 1 Head to GetListed.org and enter both your business name and phone number using the same information as your Google+ Local Page 2 Under “Choose The Most Accurate Listing” select your business, or click I don’t see my business (You should see your listing, as Google is quick to update) The next... to maintain your sanity, and try your best to match all their recommendations 11 Seeing Where Your Competition is Listed Looking at their page: Go to Google. com and start searching your keywords that show the local results Open up the pages of your competitors that have reviews showing, and scroll to the bottom of their page These are some of the directories that Google is looking at in your market... and describe the image you’re using with your keywords 6 Link out to an authority site in your market, such as a Wikipedia page *You don’t need to do everything above if you don’t have enough content Don’t worry about keyword densities, and make sure all your content is relevant 16 Local SEO, The Extra Steps 1 Put your business info at the bottom of your site in your footer, so it shows up on every page... Optimization This section is about editing your website If you feel comfortable making the changes yourself, they’re quick and easy; if not, send over this information to your webmaster Most of this is similar to traditional On Page SEO, but there are a few extra steps to properly optimize for the local market The goals of On Page SEO are to show Google that you’re relevant to your keywords and the areas in which... worth taking the extra step Another way to keep an eye on your online reputation is to setup Google Alerts, Google. com/Alerts/ These basically setup notifications when someone mentions your website or company name They’re super easy to setup, and can be done in under a minute 1 Login to your Google Account and head to Google. com/Alerts/ 2 Enter your website abc.com (leave out the http://www.) 3 Keep... looking at in your market Take note of these directories and create/claim your listing on each Searching For More Directories: The two main directory types that we’re looking for are local and/or niche related Local Directories: Simply search Your City/Town + Business Directory in Google Go through the main results and create/claim your listings Ignore paid directories at this point, as it’s often wasted...Off Page Optimization Put simply, this section is about finding business directories, claiming your profile, and optimizing it Google wants to see an established business, and one that every directory is listing is a decent indicator of that They can also see reviews on a lot of these listings, and will sometimes link to them from your Google+ Page These profiles and reviews are called citations You... but at the very least your contact page (If you’re feeling advanced, feel free to put in your longitude and latitude) *To check that everything was entered correctly, head to http://www .google. com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets and use the tool 17 Wordpress Users You’re in luck, as plugins make everything easy On Page SEO: User either Yoast or All In One SEO plugin I also use Google XML Sitemaps Schema.org:... to your keywords and the areas in which you want to rank As long as you don’t overuse your keywords and stuff them into your pages, this is very difficult to mess up 14 Normal On Page SEO Title Tag: This shows up in your in the code, and is also what shows up in the blue text for a Google Search Use your keyword once, include the area, and write something to encourage clicks; all while... frequency 5 Select “All Results” 6 Select your email and click “Create Alert.” *Repeat for company name, owner names, and whatever else might make it into reviews 23 Bonus: Reputation Management Now for cleaning up the reputation in the search engines There’s nothing worse than Google ing your name (personal or business) and finding a poor review about yourself from an ex -business partner or unhappy client