What is Local SEO Guide 2019 | Improve Search Ranking in Google?

Like SEO in general, Local SEO Guide is about increasing a business’s visibility on search. To make it simpler when someone asks what Local SEO is, it is a method to improve business presence on Google and Bing. Increasingly people are looking for local business through their mobile device, so it is imperative for businesses to be present on local search results. Brick and motor businesses like Dentists, or a service based business like plumbing companies, or window tinting should take this seriously if they want to get customers from online channels.

INTRODUCTION INTO GOOGLE LOCAL SEARCH

Well, why are we talking about Brick and Motor only? Should all businesses take advantage of Local SEO to get ranked on Local organic results right? Absolutely, but it’s the user behavior that decides if a business should do Local SEO or not. Example someone is looking to buy flowers; he or she will look for “florists near me” or “florists nearby.” This is the intent of someone who wants to visit a store and buy flowers. Majority of time people who want to visit a store/business will resort look for local search results. That is why brick and motors businesses should do Local SEO for sure. There is a whole lot of dope that is available on the Internet about Local SEO, but we will go through some basic on what is Local SEO Guide in 2019. If a business has a single location but wants to targets multiple locations in their digital marketing efforts, should look into local web pages instead of local listing. Even before we talk about Local SEO or Local Search, we should first understand why Google is displaying local search results over any other results. When Google first launched their algorithm in 1998, their algorithm as naive and then search engines like Yahoo and AOL were the best. With years Google tried and tested their algorithm until they realized “Local” was the way to go forward. How did the word”Local” pop up in Larry Page’s mind? There is an interesting story behind it.

If someone searches the

term “Website Creator” or “Website Designer” from a small town like Bowling
Green, OH Google will show the results of all the website development agencies
in the world. The results were sorted based on the monthly visitors it had. The
users would click on every link of the search results, only to get
disappointed. This increase bounced rates of all websites that were getting
ranked in Google. Looking at these results, Google then got into search results
specific to a certain country. That is why we see “Google.com” for the USA,
“Google.ca” for Canada and so on. Based on the users IP address, a local
country search page of Google is first opened. 

Unfortunately, this
solved 50% of the problem. Few users were satisfied, and few were still not
satisfied with the search results. Google then narrowed down the search to
state, city, and when they showed search results based on a users exact
location; they solved the problem. So now users searching for businesses or
services of the business are shown results that are close to their exact
location. From here on Google came up with “Local” concept and everyone were
happy. Apart from just location-based results, Google also used specific
parameters to figure out the rankings of results. Your right, even in local
search there are some signals that Google uses for ranking Local Businesses or
Local Services. We will talk about them soon.

What
is business Listings –

When you say “Local,” people say the word “Business Listings,” but what exactly does this mean? Business to get ranked in Local Search Results, need to be present online with the help of a website (their own, or anyone else’s). When business details are current in any website, i.e., not owned by them, it is called a listing. The website will have a unique url (identity), for the business, and it will have information such as Business Name, Business Address, Business Phone Number, and Business Description. The more such business listings you have, the chance of you getting displayed in local search results is more. These are also called as citations.

There are lots of
businesses listing websites where you can add your business details. But what
websites are relevant to which business? Best example, you cannot add your
manufacturing business to trip adviser, since they do not have a business
category for the manufacturing industry. Instead of blindly pulling out a list
of business listing websites, do a bit research on what business websites are
relevant for our business to be listed on. This is one of the factors in Local
SEO technique; we will be talking about all the elements very soon. You can
also use these Business listings as local search marketing.

Who
Should Do Local SEO?

Thanks to marketing
agencies, businesses are scared of local seo because of the cost of these
agencies charge. But the biggest question is, who should do local SEO? Well,
all businesses that are targeting local prospects with a physical presence
should do local seo. I know agencies charge a bomb, but you could always do it
on your own or use small business marketing providers like WebRowdy. If you’re
a business with multiple locations or you have expanded your business on a
franchise model, local seo is a yes for you. There are some live examples of
local seo that will convince you of the benefits. But first, let’s talk about
why you should do local seo when compared to a website.

Local
SEO is a Tool for Businesses, Website is a Tool for Brand Freaks

We must have used the
word, Local, Search, Google, Search results a lot till now. But why didn’t we
talk about having your website to rank in local seo? There is a reason.
Businesses are busy thinking about how to satisfy customers, and how to make
more money. Building a website, writing content on it every single day, getting
it ranked in search results, and finally expecting leads from it is a long haul
process. For a small business listings are cost-effective, and give results in
the fastest possible time. While large businesses who want their brand to be on
Google should invest in their website while doing local seo. Yes, your right!
Local SEO+, Your website, is a deadly combination.

Doing Local SEO for your
website takes time, but having a website and listing is always better. But once
again, the cost is a concern, so I strongly recommend small businesses to invest
in local seo or if you get Local SEO+website at the expense of Local SEO; Go
For It. You can check out WebRowdy for small business marketing solutions like
this one.

Business Listing Websites

There are 100s of business listing websites, where you can list your business. The no1 business listing website is Google. Whenever you search for a business, you find a box on your right is the business details right? This means the business submitted their details to Google My Business. Like Google, there are loads of websites that rank in local search results. Google examples are Yelp, JustDial, YellowPages, and more. Always choose websites with high monthly traffic, and good DA (Domain Authority) before listing your business there. At the bottom of this blog, you will find 25 business listing websites where you should list your business.

Keywords
for Which You Will Rank

All this while we are
talking about Local SEO and why it is essential. But did you ever think what
kind of keywords will you get ranked for and how keyword research, after Local
SEO is done? Here are some samples for the search term “Indian restaurants near
me Manhattan, NY” (I am using this term to get local results in Manhattan, NY.
If you are in Manhattan, NY just search for the term ”Indian restaurants near
me,” and you will get the same search results like the below). 

You can see that in the search results page, the first slab is reserved by GMB (Google My Business), two and third positions are again reserved by Business Listing Website. So why are you waiting to analyze Local SEO? Get started now by visiting -> https://webrowdy.com/. They will list you in 50+ websites that are relevant to your domain and location.

These are generic
keywords. What if you search for your brand on Google? Here is an example:-

Google is automatically
showing results from business listings first, and their website is not in the
first place yet. But if you are a favorite brand like the below. Your website
will rank over the business listings. But even though this business is accessible,
you can see that it is available in numerous business listings. Do you know the
reason why?

This business wants to get leads from all sources like their website and their business listings. They want to get maximum visibility in Google. So they have Local SEO+ Own Website. Don’t run away, next I will be talking about Local SEO ranking factors.

Local SEO Ranking
Factors

Ranking in Local SEO is
fast and easy, but some key factors will come into play in Local SEO.

1) Google My
Business Listing–

You want your business
to rank in Google right? So it’s evident that you need to list your business in
Google My Business page (since Google uses data from it for displaying in local
search). You need to give you correct Business Name, Business Address, and Business
Phone number. Additionally, I would suggest you add your business working
hours, business store photographs, a complete 400+ word business description,
and social media accounts. One crucial thing uses your official work email id
while creating a GMB listing, and make sure you get it verified (Google send
you a secret code to the address you submit in Google). If you list your
business here, it will automatically be listed on Google Maps.

2) Business
Listings –

Google My Business is
not the only business-listing avenue. You should list your business in at least
20 other (I would suggest 50+) business listing websites that are relevant to
your location. Make sure all these business listing websites are high DA and
high traffic pulling websites. Your Business NAP (Name, address, and phone
number) is consistent across all business listings. 

3) Social Media –

You do the above two
steps and have zero social presence, then Local SEO effort goes for a toss.
Also, have numerous social accounts, and be active in at least 1 or two of
them. 

4) Reviews –

Having business listings
is not enough. You should have multiple reviews on your business listings so
that you rank high. When two stores at the same location and provide the same
service are ranked based on the reviews. So get as many positive reviews as
possible. 

5) Unclaimed
listings –

If you have a business
listed on multiple websites, and most of them are unclaimed (you do not have
access to them) then your Local SEO score goes down. You can use a tool,
agency, a freelancer, or DIY to claim all the listings.

6) Duplicate
Listings –

If you have more than
one business listings in a specific website than it is harmful to your local
seo. Always delete duplicates, and have individual listings in every website.
You can reach out to me for finding out how to remove duplicates. 

7) Business
Category –

Pick the right category
of your business in every website you list your business. Make sure this
category is consistent across listings.

8) Website –

I know the website is
expensive, but for Local SEO it is hygiene to have a website that is linked to
all your business listings. Make sure you add the same NAP used in all the
listings in the footer of the website. Write localized content on your website
and share them in social media accounts to improve your local search rankings.

CONCLUSION

Here is an overall view of Local SEO and why businesses should do
it. If you think Local SEO is a painful process and you can’t do it. Hire a
small business-marketing agency like WebRowdy or give it to a freelancer.

HERE ARE 14 BUSINESS WEBSITES WHERE YOU SHOULD LIST YOUR BUSINESS
FOR SURE

1 JAiCOUPONS         https://www.jaicoupons.com/
2 Google My Business https://business.google.com
3 Bing Places https://www.bingplaces.com/
4 Apple Maps https://mapsconnect.apple.com/
5 Infogroup https://www.expressupdate.com/
6 Acxiom https://mybusinesslistingmanager.myacxiom.com/
7 LocalEze https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/
8 D&B https://www.dandb.com/businessdirectory
9 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
10 Yelp https://www.yelp.com
11 Yellowpages http://www.yellowpages.com/
12 Foursquare https://foursquare.com/
13 CityGrid http://www.citysearch.com/
14 Yahoo! Local https://local.yahoo.com/