Kick-Start Your SEO Plan – In 6 Steps!
2013 analysis has shown that 30% of all search queries have a local intent and more than 40% of offline transactions start with an online search. This demonstrates that the potential to attract new customers via local search is enormous!
Kick-start your SEO Plan with these 6 steps:
1. Improve Website Citations
Citations are ‘online mentions’ of your business name, address and phone number (NAP) on other webpages. Citations from well-established and reputable websites (such as Industry Canada) help search engines determine the accuracy of your business information (NAP). Examples of citations include directories such as:
- Local Search Engines: Google Maps, Bing Places
- Local Directories: Yellow Pages, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Canoe
- Local business or industry associations: Chamber of Commerce, Industry Canada Business Listing, Canada 411
- Social Media: Facebook Places, LinkedIn, SlideShare
2. Create a Google+ Business Page and Link Your Website & Content
Google+ is becoming the spine of Google properties and a great branding tool for businesses! All businesses should complete a Google+ Business page in its entirety, including business information, products/services, images, links to blog articles, etc. Maximize the benefits of Google+ and outran your competitors on search engine result pages and appear in a unique and attention grabbing manner:
- Link your Google+ Profile to the content you create – View steps
- Link your Google+ to your business website – View steps
3. Get Business Reviews:
Business Reviews are a major factor in local search engine ranking algorithms. The goal is to provide users with the most accurate and relevant local information. Have a social media presence and gaining business reviews – and boost your search engine ranking!
4. Improve Your Website Local Relevancy
Search engines have issues indexing pages that have conflicting information, such as a business location page that has 6 offices listed across Canada. In order to maximize the benefits of Local SEO it is vital to create search engine friendly pages and:
- Include the full street address and phone number in the footer of each webpage
- Create separate landing pages for each business location
- Create separate landing pages for each city your business serves
- Use location-based keywords in Title and Body Text
- Create unique, fresh geo-focused content for readers.
5. Make it Easy for Users to Spread the Word
Adding social sharing buttons for sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ is a great way to encourage site visitors to share your content through social media. Add these buttons to every page on your website. Don’t miss these helpful tools: AddThis & ShareThis
6. Use Micro-Formats
Micro-formats embed data in website code and provide search engines with basic information about a website such as Name, Address, Phone Number, business categories, and associated social media accounts. There is a simple hCard creator that will generate the code needed. View hCard Creator Tool!
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