Here’s How Local Search Works

Aside from the whole “Organic SEO” bit, (which if you don’t fully grok, get in touch ‘cos it’s really important,) here’s the fundamentals behind being visible in local search results.

NAP & Digital Footprint

I’ve written about NAP before, (if you don’t understand what it is and how it affects your visibility, get in touch,) but it’s not just NAP - it’s about visual branding, about imagery, about standardized language and about knowing where and how to apply these things.

Top 10 Directories

Links back to your website are perhaps the biggest factor in online visibility, (see Organic SEO above,) however in the local world there is a category of links called “Citations” - these are links back to your website from online aggregators.

• Google is an aggregator - it aggregates the world
• Facebook is an aggregator - it aggregates friends
• YP.com is an aggregator - it aggregates businesses
• Yelp.com is an aggregator - it aggregates business reviews.
• Citysearch.com is an aggregator - it aggregates local businesses

This is not about having a blog post linking to your site with cleverly devised anchor text - this is a simple listing - your NAP (see above,) a link to your website and occasionally some photos and language.

You need a citation to your business from the top 10 aggregators at the very least - 5 of which are listed above - and citations are generally free.

The Next 50 Aggregators

• IRS.gov is an aggregator - it aggregates Tax information
• NAEA.org is an aggreator - it aggregates Tax Professionals
• CSEA.org is an aggregator - it aggregates Californian Tax Professionals
• TaxMama.com is an aggregator - it aggregates discussions between Tax Professionals

I’m using the word aggregator on purpose but you could substitute it for Directory.  There are thousands of websites that list or curate information where your business could get a citation.

Note that - as with organic links - not all citations are equal.  A link to your website from IRS.gov is going to have exponentially more impact than the flattering blog post on bryanslegoblog.com.

Researching the right sites for your business, creating the citation and following up to make sure it has been implemented correctly, all takes time.

It’s Not Rocket Science

I know that for my clients it’s not that they can’t do it or couldn’t learn how to do it, it’s that they don’t have time.

So the question becomes, who is going to do it?

If you’d like to get a jump on your local visibility get in touch - I have some solutions.

Written while listening to: Sadness Development by music2work2

Image Credit: Citation House, Worcester by Duncan Hull on Flickr

Nap Time

As far as your business is concerned, NAP stands for

• Name

• Address

• Phone Number

You would be shocked at how many variations there are of your business’ NAP “out there!”

Local Directories For Local Businesses

If you’re a local business, i.e. you depend on people finding you in a certain physical location, your presence in local directories is a must.

When you can’t compete against the heavy SEO and Adword budgets of the national chains, local search is your best chance to become visible

NAP Consistency Is Important

The more listings you have in local directories the more visible you are in local search, however - you must ensure that the NAP used across your local is the same.

This means making sure you use the right telephone number format, ensuring that if you use the +4 digits on your zip code in a few listings you use it in all your listings. The general thinking is that it doesn’t matter if you use Blvd. or Boulevard so long as you consistently use one.

What Do You Look Like?

Want to see what your business looks like in Local Search and how effective your current approach is?

https://moz.com/local/overview

If you’d like help working through the results, give me a shout.

Written while listening to: 191 BPM Session 1 by music2work2

Image Credit: Please take one by uncoolbob on Flickr