Unless one runs a global corporation or a virtual service, it is very important to optimize your website or app for local search. It may appear difficult at the beginning because traditional SEO techniques do not always work for local ranking, but local search engine optimization is possible and not as difficult as some people think.
This complete guide to local search ranking will help people promote their business on the Web. It will go over the most important local search ranking factors and help users utilize their knowledge to build their online presence. Sounds good? Let’s begin!
1. Proper categorisation
Nothing is more important than assigning a proper category to your business listing. Do it wrong and your business will never make it to the top of the search results.
When a business owner is creating a Google+ Local page, he or she will need to select a primary category and additional subcategories for your listing. The first category one selects from the list is the key to proper categorization, so it is vitally important to make the right choice.
When you set your primary category, Google will let you choose up to nine other categories from its pre-set list.
Making the right category choice is relatively simple: if you want people to find you when they are searching for “wedding photographer Maine”, you must be listed as a photographer. If you choose the wrong category (for example, designer), you will never appear for your target search terms. If you have trouble categorizing your business, do a quick search using your desired keywords and see what comes up.
The bottom line is that you should use the most relevant categories no matter where you are placing a business listing.
2. Business address in searched city
Google’s goal is to show the most relevant search results to its users. That is why your business listing will most likely appear in Google’s local results if your physical address includes the name of the city. A dentist in Mountain View will most likely appear in searches for “Mountain View dentist” and not for “dentist in Charlotte”.
Ranking for large cities like San Francisco or New York can often be a problem because Google can be somewhat biased towards some city searches. This can present a major problem for service area businesses (SABs) that cover certain areas and include large cities, but have an address is the suburbs and not in their target city of search. A good solution to this problem is to create landing pages for target cities. This often helps to increase visibility in organic Google search results for the cities or areas you want to cover.
3. Consistent citations
A citation is a mention on the Web of your company’s partial or complete name and contact details. For better search results, all of your citations must be consistent, meaning that the information and spelling have to be the same in all listings. Having consistent citations will ensure that you do not split your business authority and identity on the Web and that all queries lead to you.
If you have recently moved your business or if you are planning a move, it is a good idea to update all your business listings with the new information. A good thing to do is to run a simple Google search for your company to find all your listings online and correct them. Make sure your name, address and phone number (NAP) are always consistent.
4. Citations quality and authority
In SEO, it is common knowledge that having a listing on quality influential websites will help your ranking. The same applies to local search ranking, which means that getting listed by authoritative local business directories should be your top priority. The more authoritative directories include your listing, the better.
Once you have submitted your initial listings, you should do your research to enhance your visibility and expand your listings. Doing a search for service terms and your geographical area will give you a good idea of where to submit your information.
5. Consistent HTML NAP and place page NAP
Google will compare your website page with the Google Places/Google+ Local page you linked it to and it will check your company’s name, address and phone number. If everything matches, then there are no problems. However, sometimes there may be inconsistencies that will make Google confused. Small thins like “str.” vs. “street” are not significant, but if there are any significant differences, you need to fix them as soon as possible.
If you run a home-based business, you may not want to list your address for privacy reasons. Some experts say that these types of businesses are at a disadvantage, but currently there is no real evidence to prove this.
6. The number of structured citations
We’ve already discussed why you need to have high quality structured citations in local business directories. The quality of your listing matters most, but the quantity is also important. The ideal quantity of listings mostly depends on the nature of your business and whether your niche is highly competitive in your area or not. As a rule, businesses in a competitive market need to build more citations. If you are competing in a quieter market, then you will only need to build new citations occasionally. It is good practice to perform a Google search for your preferred terms to get an idea how many directories you should submit to.
7. Your website’s domain authority
Domain authority is a metric that allows you to see how well a website may perform in Google results compared to other websites. The higher your domain authority is, the better chance you have to make it to the first page of Google for certain keywords. This is true for both local and organic search results.
There are tools from Moz and other companies that help you calculate the domain authority of any website based on a number of different criteria. These tools come in handy when you need to research competition and see how your website ranks. Just like in traditional SEO, the goal of any local business website is to have the highest authority possible.
8. Owner-verified local Google Plus page
The first step to make Google index your page is creating a Google+ Local page. Unless you verify your ownership, Google will not give you much weight. Usually verification means that you will receive a card through the post from Google with a PIN number that you need to enter in your account.
Another important thing is that you should be in total and direct control of your Google+ Local page. It is OK to use some help, but your page should be done on your own Google account.
9. City and state in Places page title
When you create your Google+ Local page, you should link it to a page on your site. This page on your website should have an html title tag, which is a bit of code you put in the <head> section of the page. It is very important for the title tag to include your keywords and read well at the same time because this is for both your visitors and the search engines to see. Make sure you include your city and state in the title tag so that both Google and your website visitors know where you are.
10. Proximity of business address to centroid
This is something that you have no control over unless you decide to move, but it is a significant local search ranking factor. Typically, Google identifies the local search centroid as the city center, but recent studies show that the centroid location can vary from one business industry to another. The closer you are to the centroid, the better.
11. Quality and authority of inbound links to your site
Organic signals are very important in local ranking. This means that having a lot of high quality inbound links will improve your business website’s visibility in search results. Make sure the links are organic and come from relevant websites and blogs in your area. Concentrate on link earning and not link buying. Sponsored links are not worth the trouble because these links can do more harm than good. You can use Open Site Explorer to get an idea of your existing inbound links.
12. The number of native Google Places reviews
Having a lot of positive reviews with text on Google Places can help your business gain more influence. Encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews on your Google+ Local Page to increase your ranking, but remember that if you start getting too many reviews too quickly, some of them may be filtered out. Remember that you should never post paid low quality reviews. Build your online reputation genuinely and gradually.
13. Product or service name in business title
Your business title is the legal name under which your business operates. If you have your product or service name in your business title, then you are in luck because this will give you some advantage over your competition. If you don’t have any keywords in your business title, don’t go adding them because Google doesn’t allow it. In fact, doing so will damage your visibility. If you need to include these keywords, change your business name officially.
14. Number of citations from local websites
Locally relevant citations are another important factor. The more local websites and communities mention your business name, address and phone number, the better. This increases Google’s trust in the local relevance of your business. Examples of locally relevant citations are references on local professional associations websites, local blogs, community websites, and so on. A citation does not always need to link to your website. Even a mention is good enough.
15. Distance from searcher to your business
More and more people allow Google to detect their location for personalized search. In this case, the distance of business from the searcher is important because Google will show the nearest businesses first. If you are too far away, your business won’t be included in the search results. This is especially true for smartphone-based searches.
16. Number of citations from industry domains
Just like one needs to get citations on locally relevant websites, it is important to have as many citations as possible from industry websites. An industry relevant website is usually a website with authority in a certain industry. The more citations you have, the more your authority and ranking improves. Remember that these citations need to come from highly relevant and reputable websites.
17. Local area code on Google+ Local page
If you want to improve your local search ranking, make sure your business phone number has a local area code. Make sure you include it on your Google+ Local page because Google matches this information to codes associated with certain cities and areas. That is why it’s good to have both a local and a toll-free number listed on your website and Google+ Local page. Make sure you put the local number in the primary field.
18. City and state in title tags
As you remember from point 9 of this guide, the title tag is a very important element of any web page. This is true for all of the most important pages on your website. Make sure their title tags include your city and state, as they will have a positive influence on your ranking.
19. Number of third party reviews
While reviews on your Google+ Local page are very important for your search engine ranking, traditional reviews and testimonials on third party websites still matter. Google takes these reviews into account when it ranks local businesses, so it is useful to get reviewed. We know for a fact that these reviews are important to Google because they are often linked to from Google Plus.
Make sure that you get reviews on both locally relevant and industry relevant websites, and have your business profile everywhere your potential customers may look for reviews of your business.
20. Page authority of your landing page URL
We have already covered a similar factor in point 7. If your landing page is your website’s homepage, then you are good to go. However, some businesses have multiple landing pages, which means you will need to make sure all of them have high page authority. Again, use Open Site Explorer to check your landing pages. Higher landing page authority means better chances of domineering local search results.
Conclusion
Studying these 20 local search ranking factors will give you a good start towards getting to the first page of your local Google search results. Make sure you study your competition and understand the concepts covered by each of these factors. Remember that local SEO is not all that difficult to master if you put your mind to it.
The post The most 20 Important Local Search Ranking Factors: A Complete Guide appeared first on NJ SEO Company.
