Today’s webinar dove into the technical side of SEO for local and enterprise businesses. We were fortunate to partner with Linkmedia 360’s Chad Luckie who shared his firm’s tested formula for getting great SEO: an emphasis on a list of third-party publisher strategies combined with top-notch location page construction.
Check out the recorded presentation below or scroll past for key takeaways and slides.
Here are some key takeaways from the webinar:
Webinar Takeaway #1: There Is a Second Secret SEO List You Need to Know
Chad and Josh Ades, Connectivity’s Content Marketing Manager, told us that when we’re talking about digital marketing for local businesses, there are SEO basics. And then there is second, deeper SEO list that businesses should follow.
We learned to make sure to spend time on third-party publishers by verifying and syndicating content (such as claiming your Google My Business profile). We also learned that we need to push out our NAP (name, address, phone number, website) information to data aggregators. We need to do regular maintenance on our profiles and also make sure the category selection for our business is accurate. When we’ve done that, we turn our attention to the location pages on our website (see Takeaway #2, below!)
This second list points to a new normal in search: Google wants to place more emphasis on location pages. In fact, Google wants to show as much information on the search page itself as possible (such as click-to-call phone numbers). This means the home page isn’t the end of the rainbow anymore. Location pages are the new big news.
Webinar Takeaway #2: There’s a Secret Sauce to Location Pages
Chad and Josh shared a great grayscale image of a location page.
Chad told us that location pages are important because:
- People in the U.S. perform over 6.2 billion local searches every month
- 50% of mobile searches are users trying to find a local business
- 61% of local searches result in a purchase
- 50% of mobile users visit a store within a day of performing a related search
- 68% of smartphone searchers use the “get directions” or call button on smartphone local listings
- 90% of local searchers that take action do so within 24 hours of performing the search
Other tips: location pages on your website need to be built and optimized for each location with the URLs indexed. Each location needs its own page—even if you have 1,000 stores across the country. Chad taught us about making a master location data file that can be handed to a developer who can create location pages dynamically.
Pro Tip: On each location page, mention a local landmark such as a nearby museum, park or theatre for better SEO traction.
Webinar Takeaway #3: Get Busy Checking Your Local Search Checklist
We love checklists because they are so orderly and helpful. Linkmedia 360’s Local Search Checklist was no exception. Look at this beauty:
- Clean and optimize location data
create a master file for all syndications - Ensure each location page has a unique indexable URL
- Research and implement the most effective categories/keywords for each location
- Syndicate to all 4 major Data Aggregators
linking to individual location pages
- Verify Google+ and Bing location listings
- Upload individual photos, logos and location-specific content (Bing & Google+)
- Syndicate and Claim on other important online directories
- Add Schema Mark-up and Google+ Publisher Links to location pages
- Optimize content (body, title, headings, etc.) on location pages
Here’s a SlideShare link to the entire presentation. We hope you enjoyed this webinar; and we’ll see you at the next one!
Olga Traskova is a Senior Manager in Marketing and Sales Operations at Connectivity.
