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Welcome to SMR Rochdale #2 etc: There is Tea and Coffee available
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Local SEO SMR2

Published on Jun 27, 2016

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Welcome To SMR Rochdale

Local SEO: A Super Awesome Blueprint for Success
Welcome to SMR Rochdale #2 etc: There is Tea and Coffee available

@TheSteveMills

Digital Marketing Manager @PMC Telecom & Captain @3iab.
Introduce Me, Josh & Jose
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@JoshzRose

Social Media Manager/Content - PMC Telecom
This is Josh he head up social media & content over @ PMC Telecom
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@JosieChynn

UX Specialist @Sage
This is Jose. UX specialist @Sage
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Local SEO

Top 10 Actionable Tips
And were going to show you, 10 actionable tips that can either improve your local SEO or your clients.
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There are 2 types of SEO!

So there are 2 types of SEO
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Traditional SEO

Optimising signals on & off a website to rank (bigseo) 
Traditional SEO:

This is where people try to rank keywords they want to be found for, regardless of location

Local SEO

Optimising signals to show up in a specific geographic area
Local SEO is separate.

This is because having strong local SEO, can help your overall SEO, but no matter how good your overall SEO is, your not going to rank locally without covering these basic bits of advice.
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They are different!

Local SEO and trying to rank for a national search term are two totally different things.

What works for one, may not really work for the other at all.
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Local SEO is actually

Not that hard. 
Luckily, Local SEO, is pretty cool because you can look at it like a basic checklist. As long as you get it right, its low maintenance, low cost + high reward

All companies with a physical location or serve customers in a location need Local SEO.

I can't stress how important local SEO is. Many, many, many companies simply neglect it. Huge agencies with larger clients, neglect it.

This actually gives your business a bit of an advantage, as long as you do a good job, you can definitely rank locally!
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Local SEO changes A Lot :(

But we're at an advantage in the UK : )
We are at a huge advantage in the UK.

As an SEO, I keep my eye on Search Engine Journal/Moz almost on a daily basis. - and all major Google updates will be on there before they hit the UK, especially in regards to Local.

So if theres a big shake up in the next year or so, we have no excuses in the UK not to have our local SEO on point.

2014 Local Ranking Factors - Moz

https://moz.com/blog/local-search-ranking-factors-2014

These are the local ranking factors in 2014.

I have included these screenshots in case you want to refer to them after the meetup. These can be found @ Tech-mag.co.uk



2015 Local Ranking Factors - Moz

https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

LSRF stands for Local Search Ranking factor.

Each section of "local seo" has been divided up, and given a % weight of how much it affects local seo.

For example: Google My Business is responsible for 14.7% of your local rankings, and backlinks to your site are responsible for around 20%. So you can really see where the wins can be made

Google Looks at you like pizza

More & more...
Google is getting better at better at deciding who is looking for local searches

Searching for "pizza delivery" for example, will always bring local results. So you need to know your industry and if your industry will need location based keywords.

Food delivery for example, does not. As when searching from outside the ranking area, you will still get the right results.

But with say, estate agents, its imperative you also bear in mind location based keywords, such as "estate agent Rochdale"
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A company once told me: "I want to rank in location: Manchester, London, Newcastle & Edinburgh.

They were based in Rochdale...

A lot of companies want to rank for keyword + place name, for places they arnt even in. Really, you want to focus on nailing down the area your in before you even consider anything like that.

And when you try and rank for keyword: "location + keyword" - you have to consider this is a bit old fashioned as well, as most searches like this are below the fold.
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Untitled Slide

So how do we rank locally?

Use Moz Data.. Links on this deck in notes
These tips are for businesses with a main physical location, that want to target 1-2 areas. This can be applied to a more complicated technique called Siloing, but more of that later...

Links are up. Citations are down. GMB is still massive. Reviews are important, consistent NAP = Extremely important

You have seen the stats earlier, they are on this presentation for your reference, and I have put links to the source information if you so wish to see it.

So how can we use this data to ensure we all rank really well, locally?

#1 Get Google My Business

The most important. By Far. (14.72% of LSRF)
Consumers are 38% more likely to click a site with an accurate GMB listing than one without, and 29% more likely to consider doing business with you (Source: Search Engine Journal)

Ensure it's fully complete, lots of images, descriptions of services, as much as you can.

This becomes a base for all your other local NAP.

If you already have a GMB - Check it !

LSRF = Local Search Ranking Factor

#2 Add Location in page title

Onsite Signals = 20.29% Of LSRF
LSRF = Local Search Ranking Factors
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#3 Add Location In H1 Heading

+ In the Content. (Ideally on every page)
This can help you avoid over using your NAP on your site. I mean, its making my presentation sound spammy.

#4 Town City In Alt text + URL

+ Meta Description
But don't sweat this one. Its a bonus
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#5 Embed A Google Map!!!

How many people have a contact page and no google Map embed?
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#6 Use A Local Phone Number

Even if your using Cloud. Contact PMC Telecom ;)

#7 Get Reviews!

8.39% of LSRF

#8 Get Links!

20.01% of LSRF
I think this mainly refers to Google. But I'm not 100% - maybe you guys can find an accurate source of information on this ? Moz only states "review signals" - its possibly dependant on industry.

Local Links are AMAZING

You can check them with Ahrefs/OSE
A lot of what we hear about Links is not true.

Links are SUPER important for ranking, and generally, the higher domain authority a website is, the better the backlink = the better you rank

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#9 Sponsor a Local Meetup

*Cough* *Cough*
While of course we're talking about links here, I always like to see the other side of a link and the actual benefit it will give you. Did you know you can sponsor meetup groups and get a link as well as get in front of your potential customers?

Meetup.com is a powerhouse website that connects like minded groups of people together through events they call meetups. If you have a good grasp of your target audience and you know where they hang out, you can get in front of them more easily.

For example, let's say that you're a bike store. Would it make sense to sponsor a local meetup biking club? Yes!

How you can do it

Sponsoring a meetup group does require the group owner to accept your sponsorship and terms. Your goal however is to get your business name, logo, discount, and link in the ad as shown in the example. If you're ambitious and a local store you could ask to have your NAP displayed as well for Local SEO purposes.


Step 1: Start by determining what type of groups might appeal to your audience. I have included some tricky examples below:

Attorneys - Maybe sponsoring a cycling- or driving-based meetup with the safety approach
Doctors - Sponsor a healthy living meetup
Airsoft or Paintball Store - Sponsor a singles group by offering an event
Construction - Sponsor a charity group or a new homeowners' group
That's enough to get the wheels turning. Write these ideas down and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Turn to Google to make your search easier! Use the search strings below to only search the meetup.com website with the keywords you're looking for:

site:meetup.com state+keyword or site:meetup.com city+keyword

Step 3: Click through the results and find a meetup group that seems to fit the bill.

Step 4: Show up to the next scheduled local meetup group.

Network. Meet the group owner and see if they're seeking sponsorship's.

Step 5: Negotiate and get your site up!

https://moz.com/blog/11-ways-local-businesses-can-get-links

#10 Use Moz Local

Questions?

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Final Food For Thought:

Blackhat: CTR: Rand Fishkin.