LOCAL SEO DONE RIGHT

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet

As a local business, one of the most profitable things you can do is square away your local SEO (search
engine optimization) efforts. This will allow you to show up in both the Google Map Pack, as well as
in the organic listings for your desired keyword phrases.

We have a lot to cover, but if you go step-by-step through everything

in this guide, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition, and outranking
them in no time. Let’s go!

Part 1: Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

This listing is what Google pulls from when displaying information
in the map results. Here’s how to get it done right:

Go to: https://www.google.com/business/. Sign in, and create your listing as completely

as possible.
Select this option only if you travel out to your customers, or are a remote business (you
work from home, and deal with customers only over the phone/email.) Keep in mind,
this option may lessen your ability to rank in the top positions.

Finish all steps, and then Google will send you a postcard several days later, which you’ll
need in order to verify and complete your listing.
Once verified, complete your listing with your hours, additional business categories (that
make sense,) and geo-tagged photos.
Geo-tag your photos here: https://www.geoimgr.com/
Just drag and drop your photos onto the screen, input your business address, and click
download.
Next, upload them into your GMB profile
Include a description that mentions your category keywords, and city name (several
times if you can make it read naturally.)
If you can include your main category name in your business name, you will increase
your odds of ranking for that keyword in maps. But be cautious — this can look natural or
spammy depending on your circumstances, and may result in fewer clicks on your listing.
Additionally, whatever you input as your business name will need to be used everywhere
on the web, including citations, directories, and on your website.
Get plenty of real customer reviews. These aren’t a huge ranking factor, but they do
entice clicks once you show up in the map listings.

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Part 2: Your Website
You’ll need to include some important info on your website (your homepage in most cases) that
closely aligns with the information you gave to Google in your GMB profile. All of these elements
working together will further cement you in your locality in Google’s eyes:

Make sure it’s mobile friendly by visiting https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

Include your business category title and city in your headline, and several other areas
around your homepage.

Include a “Proudly Serving” section that lists the cities or neighborhoods you service,
and link each city name to that city’s official website

Embed a Youtube video on your page that’s titled “Business Name: Category Title, City,
ST, Zip”

Include your business name, category title, phone number, address and business hours
in your footer.

You should also include an embedded Google Map, and a link to driving directions.

If your site runs on Wordpress, install and activate the Local Business Schema Lite
plugin, and fill in all fields.

Use your blog to talk about local people, businesses or events, while keeping it relevant
to your industry.

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Part 3: Building Citations
Citations are any mentions of your brand online. These usually come in the form of directory
listings (like yelp,) or social media profiles. These consist of the N.A.P. (Name, Address, Phone
Number) and must be extremely consistent across your GMB listing itself, your website, and
your citations.

Start with an audit to make sure any citations you already have are complete and
consistent by visiting: https://moz.com/local/search

Fix any inconsistencies, and finish any that are showing as incomplete

Next, build more citations. Find your best opportunities by business category by
visiting: https://whitespark.ca/best-citations-by-category/ & by city: https://whitespark.
ca/best-citations-by-city/

Part 4: Building Backlinks

Once thought to only be a ranking factor in organic listings, getting links to your site
from other websites are actually very necessary when ranking in the map pack as well.

Start by filling out a profile on your local chapter of The Better Business Bureau. Begin
by visiting bbb.org and search for your local chapter by entering your zip code. Then
follow instructions until you’ve completed your listing.

You can write guest articles for other blogs and request a link back to your site in
return, or do the same with an original infographic or video. See more ideas in this
video: How to Build Powerful Backlinks for 2019

But building backlinks is time consuming, and affordable to outsource.

I highly recommend The Hoth for building your citations & backlinks using their Hoth
XLocal package.

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 Need one-on-one help from me?

Each month I have a limited number of 60 Minute

Kickstart Calls. I can answer all your website,
content, or digital marketing questions, offer
personalized advice, or walk through your website
or online funnel with you, offer suggestions for
improvement. If interested, you can book your
Kickstart call here.

BOOK HERE!

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