How do local customers find you? Through desktop and mobile search. And each produces different results. This presentation helps you learn how to optimize your local off- and on-page signals to help your site come up in all local searches for the products or services you offer.

1. D O M I N AT I N G L O C A L S E A R C H
GET YOUR BUSINESS FOUND BY LOCAL CUSTOMERS!
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
with a brief appearance by
Stoney G deGeyter
1

2. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
2

3. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
What is NAP?
Name of company
Address of company
Phone Number of company
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

4. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Why is NAP important?
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

5. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Where do engines and apps get your NAP?
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

6. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

7. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
How to verify your business
Go to:
Acxiom: http://www.databyacxiom.com/presence-management.html - free
infoUSA: http://www.expressupdate.com/search - free
Localeze: http://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/directory/true-identity - $25/month
Factual: http://www.factual.com/data/t/places - free
Yext: https://www.yext.com/pl/whitepages/plans.html - pricing plans
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

8. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 1
http://www.databyacxiom.com/presence-management.html
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

9. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 2
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

10. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 3
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

11. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 4
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

12. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 5
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

13. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 6
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

14. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 7
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

15. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Acxiom verification Step 8
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

16. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Express Update verification Step 1
http://www.expressupdate.com/search
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

17. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Express Update verification Step 2
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

18. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Express Update verification Step 3
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

19. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Types of local results
Blended Results
Carousel
Map
Pack
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

20. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Blended results
Places Data
Organic Data
Blended results = Places Data + Organic Data
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

21. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Carousel results
Carousel results
Carousel results = Slider with pictures/reviews
from Google
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

22. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Carousel results
Carousel pictures pulled from
Google+, or Google Places page
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

23. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Carousel results
Carousel
picture pulled
from Google+
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

24. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Carousel results
If no picture
available,
Google pulls
map pin
snippet
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

25. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Map results
Search returns picture of
map usually on top right
(includes pins of locations)
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

26. WHAT IS LOCAL SEARCH
Pack results
This is a pack result. Google
will show up to seven
businesses in the pack.
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

27. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
27

28. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Let’s order pizza
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

29. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Search parameters
This search was performed…
using the same iteration of the
keyword: “pizza”
without being signed into any
Google account
in the exact same location: PPM
Headquarters
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

30. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Results from mobile
2
1
4
3
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

31. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Results from tablet
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
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32. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
Results from desktop
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
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33. HOW RESULTS DIFFER ACROSS DEVICES
So what?
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

34. BIGGEST FACTORS IN IMPROVING YOUR LOCAL PRESENCE
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
34

35. Biggest Factors In Improving Your Local Presence
Survey says…
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

36. Biggest Factors In Improving Your Local Presence
Let’s focus on the top 5 factors
1. Place Page Signals
1
2. External Local Signals
3. On-page Signals
5
2
4. Link Signals
4
5. Review Signals
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
3
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

37. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
37

38. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
Proper category associations
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

39. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
Physical address in city of search
Maid to Satisfy
2307 Whipple Ave NW
Canton, OH 44708
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

40. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
HTML NAP matching Place page NAP
HTML - Website
Google+
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

41. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
Owner-verified local plus page
Verified Local Pages
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

42. PLACE PAGE SIGNALS
City, state in Places landing page title
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

43. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
43

44. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Proximity of address to centroid - city
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

45. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Proximity of address to centroid - zip
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

46. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Product/service keyword in business title
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

47. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Location keyword in business title
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

48. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Consistency of structured citations?
Facebook
YellowPages
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
BBB
Google+
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

49. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Quality & volume of structured citations
Structured Citations = IYPs
and Data Aggregators
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

50. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Quality and volume of unstructured citations
Unstructured
Citations =
Newspaper Articles,
Blog Posts
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

51. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Volume of citations from industry domains
Citations are different than links.
Citations are mentions of, or
reference to your business
without a link pointing to your
site.
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

52. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Volume of citations from locally relevant domains
Links are considered
citations, but citations are
sometimes a mention
without a link.
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

53. EXTERNAL LOCAL SIGNALS
Searcher/business distance
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

54. LINK SIGNALS
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
54

55. LINK SIGNALS
Quality, diversity and volume of links to domain
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

56. LINK SIGNALS
Quantity of links from locally-relevant domains
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

57. LINK SIGNALS
Business title in anchor text of links to domain
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

58. LINK SIGNALS
Location keywords in anchor text of links to domain
dui lawyer daytona beach
divorce law firms daytona beach
family law daytona beach
chiropractor in hartville
hartville chiropractor
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

59. REVIEW SIGNALS
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
59

60. REVIEW SIGNALS
Quantity of Google Places reviews (w/text)
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

61. REVIEW SIGNALS
Quantity of third-party traditional reviews
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

62. REVIEW SIGNALS
Product/service keywords in reviews
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

63. REVIEW SIGNALS
Location keywords in reviews
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

64. REVIEW SIGNALS
Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

65. REVIEW SIGNALS
Quantity of reviews by authority reviewers
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

66. REVIEW SIGNALS
Overall velocity of reviews
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

67. ON-PAGE SIGNALS
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
67

68. ON-PAGE SIGNALS
Domain authority of website
Contributing Factors to Domain Authority:
• Authority of inbound links
• Age of Domain
• Social shares/engagement
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

69. ON-PAGE SIGNALS
Product/service keyword in website URL
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

70. ON-PAGE SIGNALS
Geographic keyword in website URL
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

71. Top 10 negative ranking factors
1) Listing at false
business location
2) Keyword
stuffing in business
title
3) Inconsistent NAP
/ tracking phone
#’s across data
aggregators
4) Incorrect
categories in
listings
5) Multiple place
pages w/ same or
similar business
name/address
6) Inconsistent NAP
/ tracking phone #
on places pages
7) Violations to
place page listings
8) Absence of
crawl-able NAP on
website
9) Including
location keyword
in categories
10) Incorrectly
placing your map
marker
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

72. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Stoney G deGeyter
@StoneyD
72

73. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Why TITLE tags are important
Influences
Rankings
Persuades
the Click
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
Site Label
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

74. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How TITLE tags impact visitors
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

75. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How to craft a TITLE tag
<title>Website Marketing & Search Optimization Strategy Company</title>
Lead with
keyword
Be compelling
65 character
limit
Add georeference
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

76. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Common TITLE tag mistakes
X
Same title on
every page
Leading with
business
name
Just a list of
keywords
Lack of
keywords or
description
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

77. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Should you brand TITLE tags?
Front Branded:
Choice Hearing Center| Hearing Aids | Dover, Ohio 44622
Rear Branded:
Hearing Aids, Tests & Ear Molds, Dover OH | Choice Hearing Center
Non Branded
Hearing Aids, Tests, Custom Ear Molds | Dover, Ohio 44622
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

78. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Why meta DESCRIPTION tags are important valuable
Supports the TITLE
tag
Helps increase
click-through rates
(no ranking
impact)
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

79. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How meta DESCRIPTION tags impact visitors
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

80. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How to craft a meta DESCRIPTION tag
<meta name=“description” content =“Website marketing and search engine
optimization (SEO) services by Pole Position Marketing. SEO, PPC, analytics,
content, link consulting, and more.”>
Reinforce
keywords
Unique for
each page
150
character
summary
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
Compelling
Meta
Description
Call to
action
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

81. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
Why meta KEYWORD tags are aren’t important
People don’t
see it
Search engines
ignore it
It smells funny
Just because
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

82. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How meta KEYWORD tags impact visitors
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

83. ON-PAGE TAG OPTIMIZATION
How to craft a meta KEYWORD tag
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

84. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
Stoney G deGeyter
@StoneyD
84

85. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
Footer service area text
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

86. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
Service area scrolling text box
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

87. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
Service area link text
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

88. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
List zip codes
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

89. ON-PAGE LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGIES
City targeted pages
One page per city
Unique information on
each (no name swapping)
Relevant to your audience
Interesting facts and
statistics
Location area map
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

90. Resources
Google+/Place Page Cover Photo and Profile Image Sizes - https://plus.google.com/107547299046855814776/posts
Best U.S. Citation Sources by Niche - https://getlisted.org/static/resources/local-citations-by-category.html
The Definitive List of Local Search Citations - http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/definitive-local-search-citations/
16 Ways to Create Unique “Local” Content for Cities Where You Want to Rank http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/04/30/16-ways-to-create-unique-local-content-for-cities-where-you-wantto-rank/
Get More Reviews Without Becoming An Outlaw - http://www.iacquire.com/blog/get-more-reviews-withoutbecoming-an-outlaw/
Local Search Ranking Factors 2013 - http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
Where Do You See Local Search in 2014? 26 Experts Weigh In - http://www.poweredbysearch.com/local-seo-2014/
DOMINATING LOCAL SEARCH
@PolePositionMkg
#PPMedu

91. Thank You!
Annalisa Hilliard
@ahilliardm
with a brief appearance by
Stoney G deGeyter
91