Article – Local SEO: 7 Questions by Kelly Shelton

Proximity, The Number 1 Local SEO Ranking Sub-Factor – Local SEO Guide

By Dan Leibson

March 21, 2017

Featured , Google , Google Maps , Google My Business , Local Search , Search Engine Ranking Factors

The 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors, a survey of Local SEO professionals on what they think it takes to rank in local search, was just released at MozCon Local/Local U. Andrew and I both love participating in the survey, as it’s a chance to see what the Local SEO hive mind is thinking. I highly recommend checking it out to see how people are thinking about local search rankings.

Coming out of the 2017 version, the talk of the town is on Proximity (the distance between a user and a business) as the ‘#1 ranking factor’. Given the way local packs look, I totally get this. Proximity is massive. Just look at these Local Packs:

 

Let’s all shut it down, folks. Local SEO is dead! Just keep moving your biz and you will be #1 for all customers!

Calm down, I promise we are going to be okay. I’m not going to tell you your own eyes are wrong, Packs look like they are almost exclusively ordered by user proximity (with some occasional tie-breaking factors like reviews).

But, remember, those aren’t the only available businesses to show in a pack. Check out the same SERP with other businesses and my location annotated:

The green arrow & text is where I’m located and the purple arrows are all locations that are physically closer than the locations that are showing up in the Local Pack. This means that Proximity can’t be an overriding factor in terms of ordering businesses.

This makes perfect sense to me.

Often, there are more relevant and prominent businesses then Google can display in a Pack/Local Finder, and if they were to just rank by Proximity then the results could very well be bad businesses near you. Google knows this, which is why it isn’t happening this way.

So to me, Proximity is the #1 local ranking factor like RankBrain is the #1 organic ranking factor. Yes, it plays a role in almost all searches, but I don’t think it’s usually the main thing getting you into most local packs.

Here is a great example where proximity is clearly not the deciding factor:

As you can see, Starbucks is easily the closest coffee business near me. It is specifically closer than Coffee Nature (the top result) and yet it doesn’t even crack the top 5. Clearly, there are other factors at play here.

Let’s come at this from a different way. I did a search for tacos, then went to “more places” in the pack. Check out these results:

These results are not in order of closest to furthest. The top results are, but what determines which business are in those are the top results? It’s certainly not just proximity, just check out the case of poor Cabo Grill. The are totally left out of the top results even though, looking at proximity, it should be # 4 (it even has a good review profile!):

You know what it doesn’t have? A website. Pretty hard to have dominating prominence and relevance without a website in 2017. But wait, there is more. Check out Fresca’s Mexican Grill. Should be #2 by proximity, but it doesn’t even crack the top 12:

Likely because unlike all the other examples it doesn’t have “taco” in the business name. That means relevance can override proximity.

One last piece, the weight of something like proximity is also dependent on the type of query. For local searches there are 2 types of queries:

Implicit Geo Location – “tacos”

Explicit Geo Location – “tacos costa mesa” & “costa mesa tacos”

All the example I have shown have been with implicit geo-location. Check out the ordering of explicit geo-location queries on a desktop for “tacos costa mesa”:

It’s radically different from the implicit geo-location searches, and the proximity from my location matters much much less.

But Dan, maybe Costa Mesa is some weird vortex. Also, what about mobile?

I’m so glad you asked:

This search was conducted from Pleasanton CA, on an iPhone.

I feel pretty confident saying that Proximity matters much more with implicit geo-location searches. This is what we saw in our own ranking factor data as well.

I’ve been talking through this with lots of others in the Local SEO space. Darren Shaw is one of those people. I asked him to weigh in on this post and here are his thoughts:

“While Proximity to Searcher is one of the strongest factors in local pack results today (if not the strongest), it’s far from the only factor. There is still plenty of opportunity to improve your rankings by increasing relevancy and prominence through traditional local search work.”

I agree with what Darren is saying here. While I feel like I have made the case that Proximity is not the #1 ranking factor, it clearly plays a large role in how local search functions. That doesn’t mean you have to give up,  traditional prominence and relevance signals matter just as much, if not more, then proximity. Speaking of…

The #1 Local SEO Ranking Factors are Relevance, Prominence & Proximity

I think there is only one conclusion; there are other factors that determine what businesses are in which buckets, or even better that there are factors that determine which sub-set of results that Google is then going to order by proximity. Those are things like traditional relevance and prominence signals. Things such as keywords in the business name, links, reviews, and others that you would typically expect to influence search results. If you are in for a refresher course, check out the 2016 Local SEO Ranking Factors to see what the data says.

So basically, like in most things, Mike Blumenthal is right.

So maybe we should stop talking about internal position within a local Pack for a bit because that is more about the user and less about the business. Instead, we should talk about “PackRank(™)”, because if you are in a Local Pack then you are probably showing up #1 to some users (based on proximity).

Remember, there are numerous business categories where users aren’t looking to find service half a mile closer (like attorneys, doctors, CPA’s, car dealers etc.). In the Proximity Mine Pack this is where things like reviews can drive a higher CTR. Though this could be a pretty big negative to the foodservice industry. Most people aren’t always looking to drive a couple miles for that single origin flat white or a truly excellent taco.

One final thing before I go. When it comes to prominence, relevance, and proximity what do you think is the most important type of local search ranking factor. Please fill out this quick survey and let me know!

 

 

http://www.localseoguide.com/proximity-number-1-local-seo-ranking-sub-factor/

On – 21 Mar, 2017 By Dan Leibson

source https://andlocal.org/proximity-the-number-1-local-seo-ranking-sub-factor-local-seo-guide/

8 Local SEO Tips to Help Your Business Grow

Local SEO is important. And its importance increases every day.

As searching gets more real-time, personalised and local, results are based not just on a person’s preferences and previous searches, but also on the person’s exact location.

Add to that the fact that Google tends to favour newer, smaller and more agile companies, then there’s no better time to consider boosting your local SEO.

If you’re searching for local SEO tips to help your business grow, we’ve got some of the most effective ones here.

But first be sure that you have a solid website. Not having one will affect all aspects of SEO and conversions and can create problems down the road that could negatively impact your overall rankings.

Incorporate these simple local SEO tips to rank higher in local searches.

Follow these tips to give your business the competitive edge.

1. Get listed on Google with Google My Business.

Google is where it’s at and we all know it.

Google My Business, or GMB for short, is the ultimate marketing platform for small and local businesses.

With GMB, you’re not only able to manage and update how Google displays your information, but you’ll also show up on Google Maps to help customers find you more easily.

Plus, you’ll be able to access insights as to how users find your business when they search, and you’ll be able to respond to any customer reviews.

To list your business, go to Google My Business and type in your business name and address into the search bar. Then you’re on your way.

2. Remember your meta descriptions.

Meta descriptions are a brief synopsis of what is on the page. They are typically between 150-160 characters and should be unique and original.

One of the best local SEO tips is to take the extra time to make your meta descriptions interesting and descriptive. Doing so could increase the frequency with which people click on your result when it is shown.

3. Don’t underestimate the importance of title tags.

Compared to the meta description, your title tag may seem small and uninteresting. But it’s one of the most important on-page SEO elements.

Title tags are the main text that appears in search results. It’s also what shows up on top of your browser tab and when you save bookmarks.

Titles not only give users a short overview of what to expect when they click, but they also tell Google what your page is about. And Google likes this.

So that they display correctly in Google, title tags are ideally under 55 characters and include your brand name as much as possible. And the home page title tag will always start with your brand name followed by your product or services.

For example: Alex Calinov | Website Design & Development

4. Include your NAP.

While a siesta would be nice, NAP in this context is short for name, address, and phone number. And as local SEO tips go, this one is pretty easy.

In order to show up on a local search, Google has to understand where your business is located. If Google is able to pick up NAP information on your website as well as on other sites around the web, it’s going to help you rank higher on a local search.

That’s because Google uses the consistency and quantity of NAP mentions as a ranking factor. So the more often your business information shows up, and the more consistent it is, the higher your local search visibility will be.

5. The customer is always right.

At least as far as consumers are concerned.

Over 92 percent of consumers read (and trust) online reviews in determining which local businesses and services they’ll choose. Plus, 60 percent judge a local business on its overall star rating. Over 40 percent consider 3 out of 5 stars to be the bare minimum rating before even considering a business.

So obviously it’s important to get positive customer reviews. You can do this by focusing on creating a great customer experience. Each time a job is finished or a product is sold, politely ask for feedback.

It’s valuable information.

You can also use places like Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare, Angie’s List and Houzz to receive and reply back to reviews.

Keep in mind that the quantity and quality of your online reviews play a role in your search visibility. The higher the number of 5-star reviews of your business, the more online exposure you’ll get.

6. Be mobile friendly.

This is one of the most crucial local SEO tips. If you’re not mobile friendly yet, then get to it. Google is penalising you.

On top of that, users don’t like dealing with a poor mobile experience of your website.

They don’t want to have to pinch the touch screen to zoom in and they definitely don’t like slow loading time.

Updating to a mobile friendly website means having responsive web design, that’s able to adjust to fit the screen size of any device. And from an SEO perspective, responsive websites are just easier to manage.

If that’s too much work, you can instead develop a separate website designed specifically for mobile. But whatever the case, you need to get mobile friendly.

7. Include citations and social profiles.

A citation generally takes the form of a local listing in an online directory. It is simply an online mention of your business with some or all of your NAP information.

A social profile is a citation on the next level. It’s usually more trustworthy, original, and customisable. Examples of social profiles would be getting a shout out on Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Pinterest.

Try to create as many citations and social profiles as possible. But be sure that they’re high-quality and relevant if you want to build your website’s visibility.

8. Link building is networking.

Back in the days of swanky parties and attending events in order to be seen, people handed out business cards to connect with influential and important people.

Link building is similar and shows up on nearly every list of local SEO tips. It’s the process of reaching out to authoritative and trustworthy websites to persuade them to link back to yours.

In Google land, a link to your site equals a “vote”. So the more votes your website has, the more often Google will show your site to its searchers – deeming it a must-see.

All of this helps build your online exposure while establishing your brand and increasing your website’s ranking and traffic.

Link building requires reaching out regularly and then following up. It can seem overwhelming. But it doesn’t hurt to get some quality links for your website while establishing new relationships in the process.

If you have other local SEO tips you think would help, let’s start a conversation. Let me know!

Posted in SEO

https://alexcalinov.com/8-local-seo-tips-help-business-grow/

On – 06 Apr, 2017 By Alex Calinov

source https://andlocal.org/8-local-seo-tips-to-help-your-business-grow/

Why Your Local Business Needs Internet Marketing & SEO in 2017

The world does not operate like it did 50, 20, or even 10 years ago. Gone are the days of newspaper or Phone Book advertising for example. There simply are few people reading newspapers and phone books today. In today’s world, no matter how large or small your business might be, you simply have to have a web presence. Over 90% of people find businesses online today, and more than that research businesses online. That number grows every year. That is why, now and in the future, beyond 2017, 2018, and even 2020, business owners who want to succeed have to take advantage of Internet marketing techniques and smart SEO practices. ·

• Reach local customers: While you may only be right around the corner and your might have the best burger within 50 miles, it doesn’t matter if people don’t know it. Even nearby customers look for businesses and products and services they want online in the digital age.·
• Inform local customers: So you have the cheapest, best product in the whole city. People won’t know this from seeing a sign as they drive by each day. Reach them in the comfort of their homes using effective SEO that will attract them so you can tell them all they need to know about your business.·
• Get local customer feedback: Using SEO practices to attract local customers you can use positive reviews through platforms like social media to let the local market see how popular you are in your own area.·
• Offer real time deals and specials: There is no better way to attract potential customers than to use SEO to get their attention and offer a deal or a special on something they are in the market for.·
• Target specific areas: Using targeted SEO campaigns and various Internet channels, a local business can even break down small areas by district or even by neighborhood, allowing a small business to target as close or far away from their doors as they like. This can be altered for expansion as the business grows.
• Target demographics: Even within localized areas, using smart SEO tactics small businesses can target unique demographics. For example if your business targets men or women or a certain age group, SEO can direct your message to qualified impressions based on various demographics.
• Use grassroots campaigns to spread word of mouth: Social media in particular is a great way to get local word of mouth campaigns working utilizing certain SEO practices and methods.

Internet marketing and effective SEO services are imperative for the success of any business today as we live in the digital age. This will increase, not decrease, as an entire generation is growing up for the first time, dependent on the Internet. Even local businesses must adjust to stay viable in the near future and beyond. Smart local business owners will take advantage of best Internet marketing and SEO strategies now, so they can stay ahead of the curve. One Miami SEO has helped local businesses generate millions in new revenue using organic search engine traffic. ANDLOCAL located in Miami, Florida has been helping local businesses find success online.

Contact ANDLOCAL

Ph: 305-322-2753

email: info@andlocal.org

Website: andlocal.org

source https://andlocal.org/why-your-local-business-needs-internet-marketing-seo-in-2017/

How Facebook Advertising Can Help Your Business Grow

Like it or not, we have had a ‘Facebook President’ in Barrack Obama, and we have a Facebook generation coming up. The power of Facebook is unavoidable. The social media giant literally helped President Obama get elected. When he was an unknown candidate from Illinois running for the Democratic nomination, Facebook organized rallies that were huge, starting a groundswell of support that ultimately landed the Senator in the Oval Office. When the company went public, they blew the doors off of the IPO. It was the biggest ever for a technology firm, and one of the biggest ever IPO’s in history period.

Facebook is an Internet giant that the majority of people online use and it can help you grow your business. That’s right; Facebook can be good for more than connecting with old friends and playing online games. Facebook is a part of the fabric of everyday life for the majority of the population, especially those between the ages of 18 and 45, prime advertising markets. So why aren’t you taking advantage of it?

Facebook advertising, if properly planned out, organized and implemented, can be an extremely successful part of any online advertising or organic SEO campaign. In fact it SHOULD be a part of any online marketing campaign. Think about it. You are a business owner, but how many people do you simply know that use Facebook? How many people don’t use Facebook? That is a sizeable part of the online market you are missing, in many cases where they are most active, if you are not getting your business in front of people there.

Facebook also allows you to localize your advertising so you reach people who are actually close enough to patronize your business. If you’re an online business or a global business, Facebook can also help your reach people all around the world. It offers the best of both worlds, which is important to small businesses especially. What good does it do to have people find out about your business if they can’t spend their money with you?

If you need help designing and implementing an effective online marketing and SEO campaign, Andlocal.org can help drive traffic to your site, but not just any traffic, Andlocal.org can help steer qualified impressions to your site. Qualified impressions are people who see your site that are most likely to convert to customers, which is what you really want after all. It doesn’t do you any good to have a million views if you get no sales! Contact https://Andlocal.org, they can help you with an online marketing and SEO strategy that works, not just for traffic, but for your bottom line as well.

source https://andlocal.org/how-facebook-advertising-can-help-your-business-grow/

How a Miami Web Designer Helps Local Businesses Attract New Clients

We live in the digital age, so if you have a business in today’s world you really need to have a website and web presence. The website is today what a business card or the Yellow Pages were thirty years ago. No one uses the yellow pages to look up a business anymore, and even if they do uses a phone directory they find it online. So the simple fact of the matter is, to be in business today you must have a we presence. The better your web presence, the more powerful and successful your business will be.

This means that once you have a web presence you must be found. So you have to account for SEO, search engine submissions and other tactics to make sure that the search engines find you so that real people can find you. But if you own a small local business in Miami or the Florida Keys, what good does it do if someone in Japan sees your website? They can’t walk around the corner and shop at your store or use your service.

You need to get what are known as qualified impressions. This means that you not only get people to look at your site, but you get people to look at your site that you can actually convert to sales and real dollars that affect your bottom line. You want people that are close to you who need or want your product and service to be able to find your product or service so they can do business with you and you can grow your local market share.

This is where expert miami web design can help local businesses attract new clients. You will be utilizing SEO campaigns and social media campaigns to attract visitors to your web site, but as a local business the process of attracting real local customers from the Internet starts with skilled web design. A talented, experienced web designer will build things into your website that attract local searches and potential local customers.

Excellent web design will utilize built in tools and tactics such as:

• Localized SEO:
• Built in Geographic Keys and Notations
• Localized Maps
• Localized Links and Backlinks
• Area Specific keywords and Tags to Attract Localized Searches
• Tagged Local Blogs and RSS Feeds
• Utilize Area Specific Social Media Widgets and Feeds

Andlocal.org, is a highly respected, extremely successful web design firm located in Miami, FL. Andlocal.org boasts many happy customers made of local businesses in and around Miami. If you have a small business in the Miami area and need a website constructed or need a website re-design to attract local customers, Andlocal.org can help.

source https://andlocal.org/how-a-miami-web-designer-helps-local-businesses-attract-new-clients/

How Local SEO Helps Small Businesses

Owning and operating a business is a hard proposition. You have to develop a product or service that people want. You have to find out what a fair value for that product or service is and then devise a business plan that will allow you to profit from it. You have to fight competition that exists and already has market share, and also competition that is new and on the rise. But most importantly people have to KNOW your business exists, and they have to UNDERSTAND why they should do business with you and not someone else.

For small businesses getting a foothold in the business world can seem nearly impossible. So many small businesses fail because they cannot gain enough traction or market share to exist long enough to get a fair chance. The biggest problem they face is people finding out about what they offer, or even that they exist. You can have the greatest product ever invented at an extremely affordable price, but if people don’t know about it, what good does it do you? People can’t buy things they don’t know about, or patronize a business that doesn’t exist.

That is why local SEO can help a small business so much in today’s world. Localized SEO practices can help people, not just any people but people in your neighborhood and area, find out about your business. Excellent local SEO can even find qualified impressions, or get the attention of local people who are most likely to purchase your products or services. A recent Survey given by Search Engine Land yielded results that said that over 85% of modern day consumers find local businesses to patronize on the Internet. For years many surveys and polls have shown that over 75% of consumers research businesses online before they make any type of purchasing system.

This means to find customers today you need to have an online presence and you need to be found online or you just doomed yourself to fighting for less than 20% of the possible market. That is a recipe that will quickly doom a business to failure. It doesn’t give a small business even the remotest fighting chance. If you cannot be found online as a small business today, why bother opening your doors?

To be found online means that you must utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so that search engines will rank your site and your online material. People look for businesses by searching through search engines like Google or Yahoo. If they want Pizza they may simply type ‘best pizza in Miami’ into a search query to find tasty nearby pizza. The better your SEO, the better your keywords are found and used, the higher the search engine will rank you. So if your SEO highlights the fact that you have tasty pizza you will be easier to find online.

But what good does it do you if someone in Kendall is looking for pizza if you own one small shop in Wynwood. This is where local SEO will help you find the customers who are looking for you. A skilled SEO marketing firm in Miami or expert will be able to use many techniques to highlight local SEO so your business is found, and is found by the people near you who you can actually convert to sales.

If you would like to find out how you can increase the visibility of your business visit https://andlocal.org or call 305-322-2753 and talk to a Local SEO expert.

source https://andlocal.org/how-local-seo-is-helping-small-businesses-in-miami/